“Faith is increased through prayer...We ask God to increase our Faith, not so that we can do miracles, but to love Him all the more.”

- St Paisios Spiritual Struggle V. 2,  pg 299. 

Reflection: 

Is our Faith as strong as it should be? 

Our Faith is our: relationship with God, love for God and neighbor(1), trust in God, our unity with Him. 

Increasing our prayer [both personal and worship at Church] increases our Faith, love, and trust in God.  When our love for God has increased, so will our love for neighbor.  When we love God and neighbor, other parts of our life begin to fall into place. 

Sometimes it is difficult to love our neighbor when they are not kind or when they believe very different things than ourselves. 

Loving our neighbor does not mean agreeing with or supporting every thought, word, or action they take. It means recognizing the image of God in them and treating them with respect and kindness each of us deserve as children of God. 

Loving our neighbor means being a loving presence for them, showing them that the doors to the Church, the path back home to Christ, is always open. 

Let us increase our prayer, so that we may increase our trust and love for God. We will then be a welcoming presence back to Christ, and our lives will increase in purpose, peacefulness, and inner joy.

Resources:

1) Matthew 12:30-31

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

“God will help us in our difficulties. But for God to provide divine power, people must offer whatever little they have and can give.”

- St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening, pg 256. 

Reflection: 

God has given us everything, our life, and our talents.(1)

From all that we are and have, let us give our time and talents to our neighbor, ultimately to Christ Himself(2) through His Church.

When we give back to God from all that He has given us, then our relationship deepens with Christ and our life becomes all the more fulfilling. 

Resources:

1) Matthew 10:7-8

2) Matthew 25:31-46

“When someone humbles you and you accept it,

then you have real humility, for real humility is

humility in action, not in words.”

- St Paisios, Passions and Virtues, pgs 181-182.

Reflection: 

We may be peaceful and communicate well before we are provoked, but what about after? For real humility, let us take into consideration:  We all have many gifts that God has given us, but because we sometimes forget these are gifts, and we begin to think we are better than other people.(1)

When someone corrects us, or even puts us down, Saint Paisios advises us to focus on the changes we can make to ourselves.(2) Imagine the the growth we can achieve if we utilize criticism as a learning moment - exercising patience, remaining peaceful, or correcting our behavior. We will avoid blaming others and focus on what we do have control over: ourselves. It is the knowledge of our own self that generates humility.  For the better one knows oneself, the clearer the eyes of the soul see his/her weaknesses.(3)  When we are given the opportunity for humility, let us accept it with meekness, so that we do not harbor resentment or pride inside us while showing humility externally.

As Christ shows us while being wrongly accused, beaten, spit upon, mocked, and hung on a Cross during His earthly ministry(4), let us follow His example and respond to every moment with humility in action.

Humility in action forms our hearts to be Christ-like, loving, patient, and life-giving.

Resources:

1) St Paisios, Passions and Virtues, pgs 178.

2) St Paisios, Passions and Virtues, pgs 186.

3) St Paisios, Passions and Virtues, pgs 187.

4) Matthew 26-27

“If you want to help the Church, it is better to try to correct yourself, rather than be looking to correct others. Naturally, if everyone did the same, the body of the Church would be in good health. But today, people concern themselves with anything but themselves. Judging others is easy, whereas working on yourself takes effort.” 

- St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening V 2, pg 81. 

Reflection: 

Is our first reaction in any given situation to judge the other person, or correct ourselves? 

“If we work to look more intently towards our ‘inner’ activity rather than our external, giving precedence to Divine help, we can in turn be of greater and more positive help to others.”(1) 

“When someone applies his/herself to external activity before having polished his/her spiritual inner state, they will be wrought with worry, anxiety, lack of confidence in God and frequent loss of serenity.”(2) 

The main cause of many of our worries, anxieties, even lack of faith, and inner peace - is that we have not worked on our inner self: our weaknesses, our struggles, our relationship with God and others. 

Let us take ownership of our current inner state and through the life of the Church let us work on our shortcomings and address them by way of the worship services, sacraments, ministries, and fellowship.

Resources:

1) St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening V 2, pg 81.

2) St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening V 2, pg 81.

“Do not believe your thoughts, neither when they tell you that you are terrible, nor when they tell you that you are a saint.”

- St Paisios, Spiritual Struggle, V.3 pg 47. 

Reflection: 

What is the beginning of every one of our opinions, feelings, actions, behaviors, decisions, and way of being?  Our thoughts.  

This matter is not simply psychological, it is our spiritual life that fuels our psychological and physical well-being. All spiritual life is based on thoughts.(1) Truly, the entirety of our life depends upon our spiritual life, therefore upon our thoughts.

This is not about simply good thoughts vs bad thoughts, since positive thoughts by themselves can be prideful and self-centered: a dead-end.  The key is to actively turn our thoughts toward a person - Christ.  

We must be vigilant to recognize when a thought in our mind is not our own, but rather a temptation. When attacked our mind is fogged with pessimistic or prideful thoughts in order to waste our time and distract us from prayer and our daily tasks.(2) 

We must choose to concentrate and direct our thoughts back to Christ.  If our mind wanders, call it back again and again. Do not allow your mind to wander.(3) 

When we turn our thoughts to God throughout our day in prayer, it is not a psychological exercise, it is deeper, engaging in a loving relationship and coming to know our Creator. 

When our spiritual well-being is grounded in love of Christ, then our psychological and physical well-being follows, and our efforts in the psychological and physical aspects of life flow more successfully.

Resources:

1) St Paisios, Spiritual Struggle, V.3 pg 63

2) St Paisios, Spiritual Struggle, V.3 pg 64

3) St Paisios, Spiritual Struggle, V.3 pg 63

“Geronda, when I ask for something from God, and He does not give it to me right away, should I persist? 

Yes, be persistent.  Within our prayer we must be persistent, just as the Canaanite Woman was with Christ…That you ask with humility and that you wait with patience. Prayer that is made with Faith, pain, persistence and patience, provided that that which we ask for is for our wellbeing, is heard.” 

- St Paisios, Περἰ Προσευχἠς [About Prayer], Volume 6, pgs 39- 40. 

Reflection: 

Have we ever considered that persistence is necessary in prayer? 

Let us follow the example of faith and humility of the Canaanite Woman(1): 

When we think we receive silence in our prayers, let us persist in faith, knowing God to have the answer(2). 

When there seems to be a roadblock, let us accept it with humility(3), and persist with faith for even the smallest consolation. 

With the Canaanite woman, "Christ showed how she does not give up even upon reproof so that the great virtue in the woman was revealed. His words were spoken not in insult, but calling her forth, and revealing the treasure within her.”(4)

Our times of struggling to wait for God's answer may be similar to the Canaanite Woman, that He may reveal something greater within us during the humble-patient waiting period. We must remain persistent as she was, running to the Church as she did to Christ.

As St Paisios describes, our prayer requires both persistent faith and humble patience. So let us never give up, while remaining humble, seeking the revelation of God's will in everything we do.

Resources:

1) Matthew 15:21-28 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

2) Matthew 15:23 & 15:25 "But He answered her not a word...Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” She persisted in Faith, even in the face of silence.

3) Matthew 15:26-27 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Even in the face of a road block, she accepted it with humility, not challenging Christ's words but continuing in Faith asking for even the smallest bit of mercy.

4) St John Chrysostom, Homily 52.

“If you had a little faith, almost everything would change, and if you had a little humility, the Grace of God would be with you.

Even when one has faith, this faith is rendered inactive if he also has pride.”

- St Paisios V 5 Passions and Virtues pg 289.

Reflection: 

Do we trust in God? Are we deeply confident that He will reveal what is best for us as we continue to do our part? 

While we may have faith in God and know He is with us, sometimes we are prideful and think that we accomplish things on our own. Our pride tells us that our success is only because of our efforts, forgetting that Christ our savior and creator is responsible for all of our abilities and potential to succeed.    

When we think with pride, we end up like the Pharisee in the parable(1), thanking ourselves in prayer (praying to ourselves!) for what we have accomplished, instead of recognizing our dependence on God: asking for His help, His mercy, and thanking Him for all He has revealed to us.

Let us build our confidence in God by asking Him for humility to recognize that we cannot fully succeed on our own and the revelation of His Will in everything we do.

Resources:

1) Luke 18:9-14 Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee 

“Arm yourself with patience and prayer and in time, you will acquire discernment as well.”

- St Paisios V. 5 Passions and Virtues, pg 313.

 

Reflection: 

Do we tend to act impulsively on our own, or take a moments to invite God into our moment and consider all parts of our situation? 

When we arm ourselves with patience, we defend ourselves against being egotistical. 

Arming ourselves with prayer invites God into the situation, opening our hearts and minds to possible solutions we could never think of on our own. We need Christ in order to make the best possible decisions.

Together, with patience and prayer, we humbly await God’s direction, we begin to trust in God.(1) This takes time.

When we fully trust in God, giving our joys and our troubles to Him in prayer and with patience, He grants us clarity and discernment in our decisions.

We will work together with God’s will in our lives, and the result is far better than anything we can imagine. 

Resources:

1)  Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

“If I am what he says I am, then I will be troubled and try to correct myself.

If I am not as he says I am, I am still troubled because I think that I must have erred in some other way; that somehow I was careless and provoked him.  I do not lay blame on the other person.

I examine how God will judge what I have done, not how I will be seen by others.”

- St Paisios, V. 3 pgs 154-155.

Reflection:

When someone points out something we may have done wrong, whether accurate or not, how do we react?  

We might become defensive, we might blame others and assign no fault to ourselves. Blame is often the result of the shame we feel. In these instances, we choose to look outward instead of inward for a solution(1). Instead we should be honest with ourselves about our thoughts/actions and strive to make things according to God's vantage point.

If we take the approach noted in St Paisios' quote, we will be sure to grow and make progress with every person we encounter.  We cannot change other people, but with God’s help we can improve ourselves. 

Let us examine our interactions from how God will judge them rather than how other people do.  This way the result of examining our inner selves will be growth, maturity, and peaceful progress in the relationships in our lives.

Resources:

1) Matthew 7:3-5 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

“One may study many books, but if this person doesn’t also study and observe his/her own inner-self, then all that has been learned from books will go to waste.”

- St Paisios the Athonite, Spiritual Struggle, pg 153-154. 

Reflection: 

Education without Christ-centered introspection of the heart, is a dead-end. 

Eventually we realize that worldly solutions do not suffice, for problems that are ultimately internal and of the soul. It starts with us acknowledging our strengths, weaknesses, and the state of our relationship with Christ. 

For real improvement in the world and in the relationships in our lives, we must examine our inner-self and start the change there: in the deepest parts of our heart and soul. We must acknowledge, confess, repent, and turn toward Christ. 

What is my response to the world, the people in it, and toward God Himself - the nature and degree of my ‘responsiveness’ to it all?

We educate our heart through our sacramental life in the Church; with the 10 Commandments(1), the Sermon on the Mount(2), Christ’s earthly ministry, His love and humility, and all the lives of the Saints as a litmus test for our heart and soul.  How do I measure up?

While we educate the mind daily, let us not forget to educate the heart also. When both are educated, there is balance, purpose, and understanding in our lives. 

This way we slowly come to know ourselves, our responsibility for ourselves, toward God, and toward our neighbor. Then our heart and mind work together united in Christ and we become as God intended; to be His Light, peace, and love in the world.

Resources:

1) 10 Commandments

2) The Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 5

“Heroic deeds are done by the brave; the bighearted - not the big-framed - who are determined to sacrifice themselves.” - St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening, pg 241. 

Reflection: 

Do we wonder if we make a difference in the lives of others? Who do you consider to be brave?  

As St Paisios reminds us, one can be as strong and “powerful” as humanly possible, but if this person has not love, he/she is nothing.(1)   

“God will help us in our difficulties.  But for God to provide divine power, man must offer whatever little he has and can give.”(2)  We must do our part with the intelligence and abilities that God has given us, and He will fill in whatever is lacking.   

In order to become “bighearted”, let us completely trust in the Lord as we assist and sacrifice for those around us.  God will reveal our purpose along the way, and we will do heroic deeds while humbly unaware of their magnitude. 

We will become the light of the world.(3)

Resources:

1) St Paul 1 Corinthians 13

2) St Paisios, Spiritual Awakening, pg 256. 

3)  Matthew 5:13-15

“When someone changes his way of life, should he attempt to correct the thoughts others had about him before?

St Paisios: He should not try to change the thoughts of others in a proud way; he will try first to correct himself and then the thoughts of others will be corrected or removed on their own. 

If the stigma of his past sinful life remains in society or in his narrow circle, this will be erased in time by his good behavior. There is no need to talk about it at all.

Through his sincere repentance, God will speak."(1)

'Panagouda' - St Paisios' Dwelling on Mt Athos

Reflection: 

Through our sincere repentance, God speaks.  God speaks to the hearts of those around us when we make the sincere effort to correct ourselves and continue to live a life in humility and repentance.

God will speak, when we trust in Him to help us. 

God will speak, and we will feel free from the worry of the opinions of others.

God will speak, and our relationships around us will improve. 

God will speak, and our lives will be filled with His Peace. 

Resources:

1) St Paisios, Vol. III Spiritual Struggle pg 188

“Spiritual Nobility... is sacrifice. A noble soul only makes demands of itself, never from others.  Such a soul sacrifices itself for others without expecting anything in return.

A noble soul forgets all that it gives, but remembers even the slightest thing given to it. Such a noble soul has philotimo(1), humility and simplicity, selflessness, honesty; it has it all. It also has the greatest joy and exaltation.”  

-St Paisios(2) Volume V Passions and Virtues, pg 247-248

Reflection: 

Have we been stressed lately?  More stress usually leads to closing ourselves off from others. As difficult as it may be, let us take St Paisios’ definition of a noble soul and put it into practice.  

Regardless of someone’s external appearance, opinions, comments, or mistakes in life - we are called to give our time, talents, and patience to others in this way. To give without measure, but repay even the slightest good done to us.

Let us keep ourselves accountable to sacrifice for our neighbor, and to acknowledge and repay those who have sacrificed for us. This is to treat everyone with the love of Christ(3), with spiritual nobility. 

When we ask Christ to help us act with a noble soul, our lives become more peaceful.  Our lives will become more joyful.  When we act in spiritual nobility, we will find even more fulfillment and purpose in each and every day.

Resources: 1) Read more about St Paisios the Athonite

2) St Paisios' Definition of Philotimo 

3) Matthew 22:35-37

 “Let us choose life.  Let us choose to love our brethren whom we can see, that we may learn to love our God whom we have not seen (John 4.20).”

-  Mother Raphaela, Growing in Christ, pg 20. 

Reflection: 

Christ tells us, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(1)

St Paisios reminds us similarly, “Concealed within our love for our neighbor, is our great love for God”.(2)  

What are our reactions in thoughts, words, and deeds online or in person when we witness something we are not fond of?  

Our relationships with our neighbor (friend and foe) affect our relationship with God, and vice versa, simultaneously. 

When we humble ourselves before our neighbor, putting our ego aside, reaching them on their level - we acknowledge that they are created in the Image and Likeness of God Himself.  We acknowledge the image of Christ stamped on their heart.  

Let us strive to recognize the Image of God in everyone, meeting them where they are in their development, and choose to be a vehicle of the Holy Spirit, to lift them up. 

In this way, we choose the way to think and act that is truly life-giving, allowing others to grow in our midst (instead of limiting them to their faults, since through Christ, all can be transformed). As Mother Raphaela said, let us choose life. 

Resources:

1) Matthew 22:36-40

2) St Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Volume V. pg 201.

 “If you increase your awareness of the presence of God, then you will increase your gratitude toward God. Now you say the “Our Father” and you don’t feel anything… but if you felt that God is indeed your Father, you wouldn’t be able to bear saying those words!”

-St Paisios Spiritual Counsels, V. 5 Passions and Virtues. pg 287       

Reflection:

Do our prayers often feel empty? Do we find it hard to dedicate time for prayer and when we do, our minds wander? 

These days, we have so much screen time and external stressors, our day passes by us without realizing it. While not always being able to attend Church services in person, and more time spent at home, our focus is shifted to growing our personal relationship and connection to God.  

How can we grow our personal relationship with God, and increase our awareness of His presence? We should approach our relationship with God the same way we would approach a relationship with our loved ones. To love with all our heart.(1)

To love God with all our heart and so forth, means to think more often and more readily about God and about what is pleasing to God.  It is a natural attribute of our heart that the one whom we sincerely love is constantly with us in our thoughts.(2)

To speak about and converse with the Lord God as often, as long and as readily as we can.  It is an attribute of our heart to speak as often, as long, and as willingly about and with whomever we sincerely love.(3)

To the greatest extent possible to try to learn the Will of God, since it is an attribute of our heart to know the will of someone we sincerely love, and to fulfill it with diligence and pleasure, no matter how difficult it may be.(4)

As we grow in fulfilling our Lord’s greatest commandments(5) by thinking, speaking, and seeking Him more often, we begin to move through our day, realizing with gratitude, His presence with us.  Our relationships with others simultaneously become more Christ-like. Then as we pray the “Our Father…” we will indeed feel, as is true, that we are never alone, that He is right there beside us.

Resources:

1) The Greatest Commandments Scripture passages

2) Metropolitan Gregory, How to live a Holy Life. pg 22.

3) Metropolitan Gregory, How to live a Holy Life. pg 22.

4) Metropolitan Gregory, How to live a Holy Life. pg 23.

5) The Greatest Commandments Scripture passages