31/10/2012
Daily readings from scriptures November 2012
1 Col
2 Col
3 2 Cor 5:1-10
Lk 9:1-6
5 1Thess 1:1-5
Lk 12:13-15,22-31
6 1Thess
1:6-10 Lk 12:42-48
7 1Thess 2:1-8
Lk 12:48-59
8 1Thess
2:9-14 Lk 13:1-9
9 1Thess
2:14-19 Lk 13:31-35
10 2Cor 8:1-5
Lk 9:37-43
11
2Cor 4:6-15 Lk 10:25-37
12 1Thess
2:20-3:8 Lk 14:12-15
13 1Thess
3:9-13 Lk 14:25-35
14 1Cor 4:9-16
Jn 1:44-51
15 1Thess
5:1-8 Lk 16:1-9
16 1Thess
5:9-28 Lk 16:15-17:4
17 2Cor 11:1-6
Lk 9:57-62
18
Eph 2:14-22 Lk 12:16-21
19 2Thess
1:1-10 Lk 17:20-25
20 2Thess
1:10-2:2 Lk 17:26-37
21
Exod 40:1-35; 1Kg 7:51-8:11; Ezek 43:27-44:4 - Heb 9:1-7 Lk 10:38-42;11:27-28
22 2Thess
2:13-3:5 Lk 18:31-34
23 2Thess
3:6-18 Lk 19:12-28
26 1Tim 1:1-7
Lk 19:37-44
27 1Tim 1:8-14
Lk 19:45-48
28 1Tim
1:18-2:15 Lk 20:1-8
29 1Tim 3:1-13
Lk 20:9-18
30 1Tim 4:4-16
Lk 20:19-26
7th Sunday of St Luke
Luke 8:41-56
By
His
Eminence
Metropolitan
Panteleimon of Antinoes
In man’s life all things are relative. Everything
which takes place is relative. In other words, from the moment of man’s birth
nothing is absolutely certain. In our daily life, we use the expression: “Everything is written”. But, in
reality, nothing is written. Man himself writes his own history, according to
his own free will, choices and actions. The future is not written and it
remains unknown, the present is known but, yet, it becomes past. But,
everything which takes place in time belongs to relativity. For example, it is
relative if one will study, or if he will be successful in business; or if one
becomes a good parent, or someone will be happy or unfortunate, healthy or ill;
if one lives for many years or his life time shall be short; all the previous
mentioned fall under the law of relativity. But, one thing is very certain in
man’s life and this event is unavoidable and the only certain event in his life
which is death. Everything which is born in this life will face death.
The ruler of the synagogue Ja’iros had an only
begotten daughter who was dying. She was
only twelve years old and she was at the final stage of her life. Death waits
without any feelings, without any compassion, without any mercy, and with his
painful sting he brings the final strike in Ja’iros’s house. The message: “Your
daughter is dead”, was heard as like a lightning.
Death from the time of the Fall of the first
created man became an inseparable companion and an enemy of man. The decision
of God in the Garden
of Delight Kingdom
of Heaven
The death of one beloved, relative or friend,
creates a confusion of feelings. Sadness, fear, anger, anxiousness and many
times even disappointment rule those moments. Man is lost in his thoughts and
with tears in his eyes, facing the unknown, he stands with helplessness
concerning his future.
Ja’iros when he heard about the death of his only
beloved daughter, he became speechless and helpless. And before any other
thoughts had the chance to enter into his mind, our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, interferes and says to Ja’iros: “Do not be afraid, but have
faith”! Don’t be afraid because you have heard this sad message, but
have faith in Me and your daughter will be saved.
Only when man is closed to Christ he does not
fear death. Only with Christ one has hope. Only with the faith to Christ man
overcomes death. And for this reason all the Saints through the faith in Christ
were victorious against all the methods of Satan and at the end they were
victorious over death himself, who is the last enemy.
Faith in Christ is the power which saves and
gives life o man. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is man’s
only certain hope and salvation. No one can overcome death but only the Saviour
of the world, Who through His death on the ross overcame the power of death and
offered life to all those who will believe in His Name. Jesus Christ, the Son
and Word of God, is the Lord of Life and death.
Man’s life many times I described as the sea. The
problems of life rise as enormous waves, which struggle to take us down into
the ocean’s depths, into despair and hopelessness. The abyss opens its mouth to
swallow us. But, when one is armed with the faith in Christ, then in his most
difficult moments, man finds the power to face and to confront these difficult
moments, which as great waves they break out upon the ship of life in the
multiform of tribulations, illnesses, temptations and deaths.
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, invited Ja’iros to stand well in his faith to Him. Believe and do not be
despaired. Do not lose your hopes. The fruit of the faith to Christ is the
victory of the faithful against death himself. For this reason the holy Martyrs
of our Holy Orthodox Church were able to gain victory over death, because they
were steadfast in their faith into Christ.
Man who does not have faith, can be described as
a ship without a compass. Faith is the victorious power, which leads man into
the virtuous way of life. If one is without faith, he cannot achieve any
virtue. If man is without faith, then he cannot only overcome the smallest
problems of life, but, neither can he will be able to face the frightful hour
of death and everything which follow death!
When the hour of death arrives, no one can help
us, neither the best and skilled doctors, nor our friends, nor the powerful and
rich, nor our relatives, nor scientists, nor those in authorities, nor those
who have money and riches. Only Christ can save and comfort us. And the Lord
saves all those who turn to Him, as He saved Ja’iros’s daughter. And this was
the result of his solid faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Our faith must be solid and truthful, we must
stand in steadfastness avoiding any form of doubt. We must never bend before
the problems of life, no mater how great they might be. The faith in Christ is
a strong alliance, which will never disappoint anyone who believes. This is the
reason why during the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, the Priest asks the
God-parents to confess faith in Christ, by asking them: “Do you join Christ”? And they respond saying: “I do join Him”!
Man’s life intermingles between joy and
sadness. The joyful moments are
exchanged with sad moments. For this reason St Paul teaches us saying, that one
should be joyful with those who are happy, and sad with those who are
misfortune, for our life is like the field of lilies, which today they flourish
and tomorrow the wither and die.
Everything around us witnesses the vanity and the
mortality of all earthly pleasures. The problems of life will never end. Christ
is offering the only solution. Let us strengthen within us the faith in Christ.
Only, when we have been armed with the spiritual armor of God, which is offered
to us by the Grace of the Holy Spirit, in other words faith, hope and love, and
we practice these virtues in our daily life, then we shall be able to overcome
all adversity powers and finally death itself.
A Pastoral Word on Halloween The Joyous Feast of Pumpkin
by Bishop [now Archbishop] Kyrill
It is that time of the year when
the secular society in which we live is preparing for the festival of
Halloween. Many do not know its spiritual roots and history, and why it
contradicts the teachings of the Church. The feast of Halloween began in
pre-Christian times among the Celtic peoples of Great
Britain, Ireland
and northern France.
These pagan peoples believed that life was born from death. Therefore they
celebrated the beginning of the "new year" in the fall (on the eye of
October 31 and into the day of November 1) when, as they believed, the season
of cold, darkness, decay and death began. A certain deity whom they called Samhain
was believed by the Celts to be the Prince of Death and it was he whom they
honored at their New Year's festival*.
From an Orthodox Christian point
of view, we can see many diabolical beliefs and practices associated with this
feast which have endured to this time. On the eve of the New Year's festival,
the Druids, who were the priests of the Celtic cult, instructed their people to
extinguish all hearth fires and lights. On the evening of the festival, a huge
bonfire built from oak branches (oak was regarded by the Celts as sacred) was
ignited. Upon this fire sacrifices were burned as an offering in order to
appease and cajole Samhain, the Prince of Death. It was also believed that
Samhain, being pleased by the offerings, allowed the souls of the dead to
return to their homes for a festal visit on this day. It is from this belief
that the practice of wandering about in the dark dressed up in costumes
imitating ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, fairies, etc. grew up. For the living
entered into fellowship and communion with the dead by what was, and still is,
a ritual act of imitation, through costume and the activity of wandering around
in the dark of night, even as the souls of the dead were believed to wander.
21/10/2012
On Hesychia and the Cleansing of the Mind and Heart
A proven lover of the desert
was the blessed Russian hieromonk Father Serapios, who visited the great
hesychast and recluse Kallinikos in 1912-13, to ask his bless¬ing that he might
depart and join those athletes who contended in the field of the desert.
Elder Kallinikos, an
experienced teacher of the Jesus Prayer, described to the Russian monk the
dangers, traps and delusions which the enemy of our salvation uses to attack
those who live in seclusion, especially those without a spiritual guide. But
when he saw Father Serapion's wounded heart, burning with divine desire, he
gave in, on condition that he could be his guide. Father Serapios celebrated
the liturgy in St. Gerasimos' chapel and then, with the prayers tid blessing of
his coach and elder Kallinikos, left to go toward Athos' peak.
Twelve years passed since
that meeting. Then one night, around midnight, the great hesychast's disciple
came to his teacher's remote hut and knocked on the door. Elder Kallinikos,
thinking that the knock might be a delusion from the devil, asked, before he
opened the door, for the Symbol of Faith to be recited. Father Serapios obeyed,
even adding the "Our Father" and the "One is Holy, One is the
Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father." At this, Elder
Kallinikos opened the door, threw his arms around him and asked, "Where
have you been all these years, my brother? Believe me, I thought you were lost,
although I never stopped praying for you. Where did you stay? What was your
food?"
"Holy Father,"
replied Father Serapios in a weak voice, "after you blessed me, I went to
the peak of Athos. I stayed three days and nights,
but not being able to endure the cold, I went to Panagia.1 I tried to stay
there, but I could not find my beloved hesychia, because many pilgrims visited
there.
"A bit farther down, I discovered a cave. Not even the shepherds of Lavra when herding their sheep could see me there, because I hung an old cassock over the cave's opening. I ate the things I found in the forest: chestnuts, shoots, acorns, roots and bulbs. I drew water from the well near Panagia's hut. Day and night my soul was filled with ineffa¬ble bliss coming from the Jesus Prayer and visions.
"A bit farther down, I discovered a cave. Not even the shepherds of Lavra when herding their sheep could see me there, because I hung an old cassock over the cave's opening. I ate the things I found in the forest: chestnuts, shoots, acorns, roots and bulbs. I drew water from the well near Panagia's hut. Day and night my soul was filled with ineffa¬ble bliss coming from the Jesus Prayer and visions.
6th Sunday of St Luke
(Luke
8:26-39)
By His Eminence Metropolitan
Panteleimon of Antinoes
As our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ visited the villages of Judaea, he met a man from the
village of Gergeseen. Now, this particularly man few years ago became possessed
by many demons, who made him suffer in many ways. The possessed man was in a
wild condition, the result of the demons’ influence. He was ripping off his
clothes and was living in the tombs of the dead. Although his relatives were
tiding him up with chains, in order that he will be unable to harm any other
human being, he was breaking his chains and was led by the demons into the
wilderness.
In this miserable condition our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, meets with the possessed man. The
appearance of the possessed man is pitiable and frightful. Yet, the Merciful
Lord walks into the wilderness in order to meet with His troubled creation,
man. He meets with him and opens a dialogue with the unclean spirits, which
with His Divine authority casts out and banishes them away from His creation.
The Work of Salvation of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ had as its final goal to free man from the bondage and
the tyranny of the evil one, Satan. With man’s fall into sin, day after day,
year after year, he was drifting far away from God, falling more and more into
the traps of the enemy. Mankind became enslaved to the devil. The peak of this
tyranny is achieved, when man is possessed by evil spirits.
When the evil spirit posses man’s
soul, then it rules over both his soul and body, in other words man’s whole
existence. Man acts whatever Satan tells him to do, without having
understanding of what he says or does. Man’s soul and conscience are paralyzed
by the evil forces and are unable to react against them. Man lives the greatest
misery of his existence.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
for the love towards man, came to free him. He came to meet with every man. He
came to discuss with us and to guide us back to God the Father.
20/10/2012
Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Synod
In the year of our Lord
726 AD, the Emperor of Byzantium, Leon III Isauros, influenced by the heretical
teachings of the Nestorians and Paulicians, who opposed the use of holy icons,
forbidden the veneration of the holy icons. But this imperial decision was not
accepted by the majority of the Orthodox people of the Byzantine
Empire. The reaction of the Orthodox faithful reached its peak,
when the Emperor ordered to remove the miraculous holy icon of Christ the
Savior, which was above the palace’s main entrance. This action was considered
as an act of high treason. Thus, from that moment the iconoclast period began
and lasted more than 120 years.
The heresy of iconoclast
doesn’t refer only to the prohibition of the veneration of the holy icons, but
it was a wide religious and ecclesiastical reformation. The iconoclasts refused
not only the veneration of the holy icons, but also that of the holy relics of
the holy Saints, their intervention and those of the holy Mother of God, the
Ever Virgin Mary and Theotokos.
The Orthodox people rebelled and, having as
their leader someone called Kosmas, gathered an army and sailed against the
capital city of Constantinople.
Unfortunately, Leon III, as a skilled general and Emperor, managed to overtake
the rebellions, captured and beheaded Kosmas. From that day Emperor Leon III
enforced the general prohibition of the veneration and use of holy icons. He
raised a cruel persecution against anyone who was a friend of the holy icons.
The Orthodox Empire entered into a period of struggle which lasted more than
120 years. The people were divided into iconoclasts (those who destroy the
icons) and those who were friends of the icons.
Numerous martyrs and confessors gave
their lives defending the true teachings of the Orthodox Church concerning the
holy icons, the holy relics and the interventions of the holy Saints. Many
scholars, Bishops and Monks, wrote books clarifying the true meaning of the
veneration of the holy icons. They distinguished between the worship which is
offered only to God and the honoring veneration which is offered to the holy
Saints, who are in reality the true friends of Christ. Among those who defended
the holy icons are St John of Damas, St Basil the Great, and St Theodore Abbot
of the Monastery of Studite.
08/10/2012
3rd Sunday of St Luke
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(Luke 7:11-18)
By
His Eminence
Panteleimon
Metropolitan of Antinoes
When
death occurs it saddens our hearts. For man was not created by God to die; but,
was created with the possibility of not dying. If Adam never had disobeyed
God’s Commandment in the Garden
of Delight
In today’s Gospel’s reading, we see
before our very eyes a mother who accompanies her only begotten son to its
tomb. The whole picture moves our hearts. The mother with great pain in her
soul accompanies the fruit of her womb to its final resting place. She is
surrounded by many people and, yet, she remains by herself with the only
thought, the lost of her precious child, who was her only comfort in life as
she had lost her husband some time ago.
The
situation is dramatic. During this hopeless time, the moment, when she preceded
towards the tomb, unexpectedly Christ meets with her. Christ meets with the
dead young man and changes the course of life. The Source of Life confronts
with the death of His creation, and with authority He commands saying: “Young man, I say to you, rise” (Luke
7:14). Immediately, “the dead sat up
rise” (Luke 7:15).
The
people of Nain were filled with sacred fear, a deep astonishment and an
indescribable admiration, when they witnessed this sensational miracle. They
had seen and heard about the many miracles which the Lord had performed. But,
this, which took place before their very eyes and only by His commandment, was
stunning. They witnessed a dead man being raised from the dead. They saw a
fellow countryman, who they thought that was for ever lost, coming back to
their society alive and in good health.
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