Author: ramez

NEW YEAR, NEW ME

by Shery Abdelmalak

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Oh man, this is definitely going to be my year, I can feel it!

*Slightest of inconveniences*

Nah, it’s done, this year will be the worst year, EVER.

Why do we let a point of time determine the quality of our lives? St James warns us of a life of apathy where we become like waves of the ocean, driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:6). In Ecclesiastes 1:15, this is described as, “the crooked that cannot be made straight.” The crooked way is described by St Basil the Great as an inclination to stray from the path of salvation, whether that be by excess (e.g. boastfulness) or deficiency (e.g. dejected through humiliation and affliction). On the contrary, to be upright in heart is to direct one’s endeavours toward means of virtue, and not to one’s self.

A common misconception of pursuing one’s spiritual life is that it will be tedious and full of struggles. Yes, it may be hard to start. Yes, it may be extremely confronting, but fear not, these sources of perturbation are alleviated when Christ is truly sought above all else – when He is put above our own egos and our own self-doubts.  Put on the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6:11) that gives us the power to trample over serpents, scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Fr David Shehata reminds us this new year of a crucial consideration; everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose.

There is no reason we cannot fulfil this. Stop making the devil’s job so easy because you refuse to fight your own will, let alone any obstacles the devil may tempt you with. Have a vision with clear reasoning so that when you come to read the Bible, when you come to pray, when you come to serve, it is done with purpose and reflects where you want to see yourself come this time next year. His promises have never changed. He has never changed. Those promises that He gave to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to all the generations that came before you and I are still true. In this world, you will have tribulation but be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33). While this primarily provides comfort, there is a challenge involved. Strive to overcome the world and the hold it has on you.

When Jesus tells us that there will be tribulation, He does not tell us to avoid tribulation or to fight tribulation; He tells us to focus on Him, for He was overcome the world. In modern day psychology, this displays the benefits of positive reinforcement over a fear of negative punishment and associated consequences. Studies have shown children are more likely to continue in good behaviour if this is praised in comparison to punishment of bad behaviour. Punishment results in confidence depletion, with little impact on promoting good behaviour. St Paul uses the same method in his epistles to the early churches. While acknowledging the difficulties the Ephesians faced, he emphasised the following;

“Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”- Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV

If you are avoiding the vanities of this world, then you are choosing a difficult path that is unlikely to cause any change in behavior. BUT to focus on Christ and to always look toward Him, you will find great difficulty in ever looking back to what once brought you pleasure in the world, if love and purpose is continually renewed in Him.

St John Chrysostom also reiterates this saying, “When the thorns are plucked; the field is still unproductive and will bring forth weeds. Hence, it has to be occupied with what is good. Anger is removed and is replaced by kindness; bitterness is removed to be replaced by compassion; evil speaking and malice are taken away to be replaced by forgiveness.”

In 2018, may we learn to walk in imitation of St Paul;

To walk in love (Ephesians 5:1-2)
What else attracts people to Christianity but love? The kind of love that knows no bounds is what we strive for.

To walk in light (Ephesians 5:8-10)
The fruits of the Spirit can only come to the one that is empty of their own ego and filled with Christ. Only in a state of humility will virtues grow.

To walk in wisdom (Ephesians 5:15-17)
To be wise is to make use of your time and recognize that it is finite in nature. The wise do not allow a single day go to waste where they have not sought Christ and entreated Him to reveal Himself, that He may replace our weaknesses with His glory.

And to walk in unity (Ephesians 4:1-3)
As members of the Body of Christ, we are knit together in love. Each to their own role that come together in the beauty of harmony. The early church as described in Acts 4:32 is the perfect example of this; “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.”  For all clothing, all money, all talents, all wisdom, all skill that you have that could better provide for another, then that is not your own, but theirs. If God has entrusted it to you, then it is so you can serve your brothers and sisters. Do not bury your talents in the sand through boasting. Use these for service and for His glory lest we become like the lazy and wicked servant Jesus spoke of in His parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

God Became Man

by Anthony Bebawi

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We again find ourselves approaching the time of year in which we celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Logos, who came and took on the form of His creation to achieve for us the salvation we could not hope to gain ourselves. Looking back, I wonder if I truly understood what this actually meant. It is all well and good that we celebrate this event, for as we see in the Gospel according to St Luke the angels could not stop themselves from proclaiming in awe “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14), however I feel that every time I attend the liturgy on the eve of the feast, there is something I look over without truly realising its true value – God became man. What does this mean? How could God become His creation?  To use a metaphor, it is equivalent to saying a carpenter became a chair. When it is put in this way, the incarnation becomes all the more amazing. In order to, God willing, assist in finding some way to understand the incarnation (as much as we are able) let us consider a few points.

Firstly, in contemplating the incarnation we must accept a concept which sounds strange to unfamiliar ears – the incarnation is not meant to be understood. When reading St Luke’s recount of the Incarnation, we strangely do not read of any crazy reactions from St Mary, St Joseph or even St Elizabeth upon hearing the news of Christ’s coming; in particular, St Mary’s lack of questioning is almost surreal. If we turn to the first chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke, after the Archangel Gabriel announces the good news, we read:

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man? “And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:34-37)

The only thing that St Mary questions regarding the birth of Christ is “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” Even then, the response of Gabriel raises questions that I don’t think I could even begin to ponder. How was she then able to find comfort in those words? The answer to this and the first thing we must have when contemplating the incarnation is faith. It is by no mistake that St Paul says “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”(2 Corinthians 5:7) We are asked to accept the providence of God knowing full well that we may not understand what it is that may be planned for us. This, contrary to what we may be told, does not make us weak, but in fact makes us strong for we know that whatever happens to us, it has been allowed having first passed through the Hand of God. Thus, no matter what lays before us (and in the case of St Mary, the answer of the angel), knowing that it has been established by God should in fact grant us the same comfort Mary had. For as St John Chrysostom says:

If the Son of God has become a Son to David, therefore do not doubt, you son of Adam to become God’s son. If God has descended to such depths, then He has not done this in vain, but rather to raise us to the highest! He was born of the flesh so you would be born a second time according to the Spirit. He was born of a woman, so you would become a son to God.

The last line of St John Chrysostom commentary in fact brings us to the main point of this blog – what it means for God to become man. During Saturday Tasbeha (midnight praises), in the Psali, we chant “He took what is ours and gave us what is His” a phrase taken from St Athanasius’ book ‘On the Incarnation’; a work I will heavily quote in order to learn the meaning of the Incarnation from one of the church’s greatest theologians. For us to do this we must first touch on a little bit of theology (hopefully I don’t lose too many people).

We begin with the fall of man. Man, as we read in Genesis was made in the image of the Trinity: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26 – partial quotation). However by disobeying God (through the deceit of the devil), man corrupted the Divine image which they held for they no longer were in union with God who was the source of their being. As a result of their free will (a thing which would not exist unless man was able to reject God, as well as accept Him) man faced corruption and death which propagated throughout generations becoming ever worse; similar, if you would like, to the way one mouldy apple can ruin an entire basket if left among the good apples.

God faced a Divine Dilemma (if it is possible to say that God could face a dilemma) upon which St Athanasius comments saying:

It was unworthy of the goodness of God that creatures made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit wrought upon man by the devil; and it was supremely unfitting that the work of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits.

So, there was only one solution; God the Son was forced to take flesh and be incarnate in order to correct the corruption inherent in the nature of man. As St Athanasius puts it, the corruption could not be corrected by repentance since this could not stop men form sinning, causing then death, as this was their nature; the only way the corruption of man could be fixed was by God coming in the form of man to correct it in Himself. How so? By being the first to overcome death, having resurrected after His crucifixion.

What does all of this mean? To put it simply, the incarnation was the means by which man was able to overcome their weakness and attain to that which was lost to them i.e. they are again able to be in unity with God, returning to the original likeness they were created in. This feast of the Nativity becomes for us all the more amazing due to this fact. It is not simply the foreshadowing of the Passion, but a strong depiction of God’s selfless love for mankind for God the Son took on our likeness, knowing full well that we were corrupt; being God, yet willing to take the form of His creation (carpenter becoming a chair) in order that creation which he shaped and knew from the beginning would not be placed under the sway of the evil one.

To conclude, I would like to end with yet another quotation from St Athanasius that many of you have probably heard:

“God became man so that man could become god.”

+ Glory be to God forevermore. Amen +

A Fool on Earth but Wise for Eternity

by Shery Abdelmalek

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Text: Matthew 25:1-13

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The message to this parable is clear – Watch for you do not know the day and hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Simple enough, yet where we tend to get caught up is the part where the foolish went to the wise, and were turned down. The wise literally had salvation in the palm of their hands yet chose not to give it to the foolish. What kind of Christians are these “wise virgins?” Jesus taught us to lay down our lives for our friends yet they ask you for oil and you say, “No?”

The modern day dilemma that stems from this same line of thinking is, how can a loving God allow His children to be condemned to hell? The answer to this one is easy – because He is a loving God. He gave us free will so that we would not blindly follow His every command. He is no dictator. He is the author of love. If you are moved to compassion for those that go to hell, how much more do you think it pains God to see His children choose death over life? Think of the most excruciating pain you could imagine – this is worse.

If excruciating comes from the word crucifixion, we can take that as an example of the height of human pain. Nails through the hands and feet, suffocation as the body struggles to lift itself up to breathe, organ failure, elbows that dislocate under the pressure of holding up the entire body. This is just the start. Jesus spoke while on the Cross – while the two thieves on either side of Him were struggling to life their bodies up to breathe. Jesus prayed for the salvation of those that mocked and condemned Him to death. The pain of crucifixion was not what phased our God though. He fell under the weight of the Cross. Not because it was physically heavy, but because on it laid the weight of the world’s sin. Yours and mine alike. He carried it all – when He prayed in Gethsemane while sweating blood, so that we could spend eternity with our Creator. You don’t think He is not phased by a child lost to sin? He feels that same pain at the loss of every child. How dare we question that He is a loving God.

If you truly believe that their fate is not fair, pray for them. Don’t turn the question of “How can a loving God allow His children to go to Hell?” into some kind of trivial pursuit. Pray so hard that it pains you at their loss. Even at the height of your prayers, you will not feel the pain He feels, but you will learn to love that little bit deeper. Your love that is limited will imitate His limitless love just that little bit more. This life cannot be separated from the hereafter. You keep living the life you lived on earth. Those that choose the path of sanctification with the heavenly over the earthly, naturally move on to heaven. Heaven is home. For those that choose to satisfy the wants of their earthly beings above all else, how could God then stop them and say, “No, come home with Me instead,” when they have lived a life of continual rejection of Him? Look back on your own life, and all the obstacles and challenges you have faced, that have led to the strengthening of your faith, do you not think that God did not try to reach out to them just as He reaches out to you? Of course He does.

So back to our parable – the wise virgins that refused to share their oil. They could not share it because it was not their own. The oil was good works, and salvation was the reward of their works. This could not be given away. This is the oil of love and compassion that comes from living a life at Christ’s feet. You can’t give away your salvation to someone else.

In those wise virgins, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are might.” (1 Cor. 1:27 NKJV). From a worldly perspective, the foolish virgins were the wise and the wise virgins were foolish. The wise virgins spent their lives collecting oil while the foolish virgins did what pleased them, knowing that when the time of the Bridegroom came, then they would collect oil. In the same way we live a life full of compromises and lukewarm faith, because our time has not yet come. Do not use your human logic against the wisdom of God, “for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matthew 25:13 NKJV)

The wise and foolish alike had one thing in common, they were all virgins. The virginity of the foolish was yet not accredited to them. This suggests that their virginity was for worldly profit – for the praise of men and not of God. Their very enquiry to the wise, that their good works which they gathered, could simply be handed to another, is suggestive of their superficial and dim views of salvation. In school, you can ask someone for the answers to a test, but you cannot ask them for the knowledge you have gained in finding those answers for yourself. This was the attempt of the foolish virgins. They had tricked the nations into believing their faithfulness their whole lives, to the extent that they thought they could trick the Bridegroom also. God looks at the inward not the outward, He weighs the intention over the action.

by Monica Boughdady
Original post by Becoming Fully Alive blogsite

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“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves”
Malachi 4:2

“If my life is broken when given to Jesus, it is because pieces will feed a multitude, while a loaf will satisfy only a little lad.”
– Elizabeth Elliot

“Much of your pain is the bitter poison by which the physician within you heals your sick self.”
– Khalil Gibran

Hurt people, hurt people…
I am tattered with scars, scars that if you look closely, you can trace contours and grooves, like lines of a map. They are clues to a treasure, a quest I am still embarking. They are knitted together with love like a patchwork quilt, each part is unique and chosen.

Scars are never ugly because they always have a story.

A story of grace and healing, a story that says that though He wounds,He will bind up.

A story that says that though you were once sick like Simon’s wife’s mother, you too will be called to arise and serve those that healed you and those that hurt you.

“Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.”
– Mother Theresa

It’s true, sometimes the thorn that pierces us can leave others bleeding as they embrace us, the broken sometimes have spiky edges. But what if one day the thorn that once pierced my flesh becomes a seed that grows into a beautiful garden of compassion.What if hurt people stopped hurting people? What if hurt people could heal people?

“Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.”
Hosea 6:1

“For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal”
Job 5:18

“But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them”
Mark 1:30-31

I have been wounded for love. I have learnt that love and pain are streams that lead to the same river, they are notes in one long symphony, they often meander and intertwine. That is why it is said that Love is as strong as death, because if it doesn’t kill you, it sure will make you bleed. To really love someone, means to suffer with them, and sometimes because of them. But, through the pain, I have cast out my blood stained robes of pride, so that unveiled and wounded, I have learnt what it means to partake of His suffering…and of other people’s.

“Through compassion it is possible to recognise that the craving for love that people feel resides also in our own hearts, that the cruelty the world knows all too well is also rooted in our own impulses. Through compassion we also sense our hope for forgiveness in our friends’ eyes and our hatred in their bitter mouths. When they kill, we know that we could have done it; when they give life, we know that we can do the same. For a compassionate person nothing human is alien: no joy and no sorrow, no way of living and no way of dying… The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.”
– Henri Nouwen

God uses the broken for His glory. Blessed are the cracked, for they let the light in.

Hannah had bitterness of soul over infertility and a broken domestic situation.
Elijah felt so beaten down that he asked God to take his life.
Job and Jeremiah cursed the day that they were born.
David repeatedly asked his own soul why it was so downcast.
Even Jesus, the perfectly divine human, lamented that His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow.
He wept when His friend died.

Our pain is always with purpose, there is a always a message in the mess. Our pain is the point at which, even for just a fraction of infinity, His heart touches mine because He knows what it means to be wounded for others. But, once our wounds have healed they no longer ooze with regret and self condemnation. The wound is the place where the light enters you, where we bleed out love and healing. Our wounds scream out; its because you are glorious that these things happened to you. Through our healing, we can heal people.

I pray and ask, how can I be the oil of the good Samaritan? The Greek word for Mercy is ‘eleos’, which is the same root of the old Greek word for oil. So I pray, let our mercy be poured out on the wounded. Let us stand by valiantly, even in silence, close enough to warm broken hearts, avoiding the distance of pity as well as the exclusiveness of sympathy. Our God is not a God of confusion, so let us reflect the Divine by not adding tip or trick. Having the ability to go to the place of our own suffering and meet them right where they are , having the patience to tolerate not knowing and not saying but facing the reality of the the pain in its fullness, letting it be felt.

“The path to God is a daily cross. No one has ascended to heaven by way of ease. We know where the easy way leads.”
– St Isaac the Syrian

“If God sends you many sufferings, it is a sign that He has great plans for you and certainly wants to make you a saint.”
– St Ignatius of Loyola

Greek Mythology;

‘The Greek myth of Chiron, the centaur from whose name chirurgie is derived in French and surgery is derived in English, can help us to understand. The Greek gods Apollo and Artemis taught medicine to Chiron. Chiron was wounded by an arrow from Heracles’ bow. He did not die (because gods are immortal); instead, he suffered excruciating pain for the rest of his eternal days. It was because of his grievous wound that Chiron became known as a legendary healer in ancient Greece. Chiron later took an orphaned child, Esculapius, into his care. The son of Apollo and a mortal, Coronis, Esculapius had been spared certain death when Apollo snatched him from his dead mother’s breast just as she was about to burst into flames. The orphan was entrusted to Chiron, who taught him everything he knew about the healing arts. It was thus that Esculapius became one of the two founding fathers of Western medicine.

In 1951, Jung first used the term wounded healer. Jung believed that disease of the soul could be the best possible form of training for a healer. In a book published days before his death, Jung wrote that only a wounded physician could heal effectively. In so doing, Jung drew upon the myth of Chiron, making it one of the most fundamental archetypes of human history and modern medicine.

There is always a star in the darkness of the night;

Purity and Oysters

by: David Ibrahim

Let me start by asking a question. True or false; every single jewel is made from the earth?

The answer… false. Every jewel is made from the earth, except one.

One jewel alone is made from a living creature. Any idea which one?

Yep, it is in fact… the pearl.

Let me tell you quickly how they are made.

Step 1: An oyster lays about until an irritant, like sand, makes its way through the hard, rough shell.

Just like that oyster which is surrounded by sand, we too are surrounded by desires to be impure. It’s everywhere.
To judge someone, to lust after someone, to envy someone.
And just like the grain of sand or parasite that bursts through the shell, so too do these thoughts and desires creep into our senses.
“Did you see what she was wearing?”
“How did he get that promotion?”
“You can look, but not touch”.
Or the infamous: “When an attractive girl comes my way,  God will only judge me if I take a second glance…. So I better make sure the first glance is a long one!”

Impurity has become so common that we are accustomed to it; we consider ourselves to be righteous relative to the world.

Step 2: The oyster is unable to expel the grain of sand. Wanting to protect itself, it produces a smooth, hard, crystalline substance to coat the intruder. If the oyster does not produce the substance its organs will be damaged and it will die.

This is the reality. The sin of impurity, for 99.99% of us, is already dwelling within me, and if I leave it untouched then it will become a source of destruction for me.

Now we have a choice. Do I let this invader dwell within me or do I protect myself by building layers?

If you choose the first, then be prepared for a rough time, because although the path seems wide and fun, the predator “comes only to steal, kill and destroy (Jn 10:10).

“Okay, I want to protect myself. But I’ve tried in the past so many times. What are some ways I can build these layers of protection?

1. Repentance

In Ezra 9, the people disobeyed every law (to the point where Ezra tore his garment and even PLUCKED OUT HIS HAIR). So what did he do? He fasted, fell on his knees, and said, “Our iniquities have risen higher than our heads… Yet Our God did NOT FORSAKE US in our bondage… So Here we are before You”

2. Make a covenant.

a. Ezra after this prayer, made a covenant to God with all the people to “put away” their sin.
b. Job said “I have made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1)

3. Flee

When Joseph was tempted he fled. He even left his garment behind and ran, because sin had touched it.

 

So our process:

1. Remember the Lord never forsakes us, even in the midst of the worst sin
2. ARISE and ADMIT my sin.
3. Make a covenant to the Lord that I will put away all my former impurity
4. Consecrate my eyes, my mind, my heart, my thoughts to Him.
5. Flee from temptation when it comes.
6. I must leave behind any TV Series, any place, any social media, and ANYTHING that causes me to be impure in thought, word, or action.

Step 3: Now back to the Pearl for the final lesson!

It keeps putting layer upon layer until the sand is completely covered. Now the grain of sand, the parasite, the intruder, has become a pearl.

Initially, the sand or parasite could KILL the oyster.
BUT if it protects itself, then this fatal enemy is what gives it WORTH.
It turns the ugly, useless oyster into a DESIRED, FLAWLESS TREASURE.

Impurity of mind, heart, soul, and body can KILL me.
BUT if I protect myself, purity is what will give me WORTH.
It will turn ugly, sinful, me into a DESIRED, FLAWLESS TREASURE!

Lord when I am drowning in sin; catch my hand like you did to St Peter.
If my eyes cause me to lust; give me new eyes like you did to the blind man.
If my ears are filled with impure words; give me new ears like you did to Malchus.
If my mind is filled with impure thoughts; give me a new mind like you did to St Paul. 

And whenever I feel the struggle against me is too great, remind me that the king of kings became the bloodied offering on the Cross for me and told me;“Whenever you feel that you are impure, look at the word ‘impure’, and let it be a reminder to you that ‘I’m pure’. So therefore you, YES YOU, are pure IN ME! ‘The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that He had and bought it.” (Matt 13:45-46).

You are that pearl of great price. You are worth me selling everything for. Yes You! No one else could make the same pearl that you can.  And your pearl, made from purity, is the one I want. I want you!”

The Effects of Reading

By: Anthony Zaccariotto 

I cannot think of a more excellent way for a person to change their perception and observation in life than by a good book. When I was in high school I had no desire to read or study, in fact I thought it was for nerds only. Yes, many times in my life I have fallen into the trap of misconceptions and have held many false views on other people. God has many times turned my wisdom into foolishness and I think if there was one habit that has contributed to growth in my life both spiritually and intellectually it has got to be the habit of reading. I am sure many people in the church are living very busy lives and can easily say that they don’t have the time. However, I am going to propose a few ideas to you throughout this blog and try work this powerful habit into your lives. I wouldn’t do this unless I genuinely felt that it was going to help you.

My journey to the church didn’t just happen overnight. The one thing that initially helped me to open up my mind was my decision to pick up a book. This was not the Bible, however the book I picked up did assist my journey to my faith. For the first time in my life I felt that I was able to improve myself from reading other people’s experiences, and also experiencing something more real other than just watching actors on TV. The influence these books had on me was astonishing. I noticed some of the books I read had a different impact on me than they did on other people too. This could be directly related to how a person may read the scriptures. For example, an atheist may read it with a proud heart and get nothing out of it, whereas a person with a humble heart may completely transform their life by it. It was Edmund Wilson who said that “No two persons ever read the same book.” I can highly relate to this statement surrounded by many people with different worldviews.

How many times have you read a book, finished it, put it down and then felt tremendous peace and comfort? I love taking suggestions from people on what books have touched their hearts because I want to experience this too and experience what they felt. We really need to get into the habit of reading in our lives. If we spend the first 30 minutes to an hour of the day before we go to work or school and pick up a good, positive and inspiring book, this can set our minds up for the whole day. This is the moment you are absorbing the most after a night of rest. How often do you notice at the beginning of your day your mind is so much quieter and focused instead of the end of the day? By setting aside 30mins – 1 hour in the morning, waking up early and reading a good positive book can make a tremendous change in your attitude. When I first started reading I would read a lot of positive thinking books in the morning and everyone throughout the day would notice a huge shift in my energy and attitude. I was so much happier, focusing on the good rather than the bad. My preference in the morning now is of course the New Testament due to the profound words and wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. I need this to keep me in check and remind me throughout the day of where I am going and what I need to do.

It is very easy for us to make excuses and neglect the necessities in our spiritual life. I think the only way a person is going to break the habit of not reading or not praying is to first force themselves. St Ambrose of Optina once said “if you do not feel like praying, you have to force yourself. The Holy fathers say that prayer with force is higher than prayer unforced. The kingdom of heaven is taken be force (Matt 11:12).” Every time I have substituted time I could have spent reading to time I spent watching TV, playing games, eating copious amounts of food or watching YouTube videos, I always ended up regretting it. I realised that what was becoming the biggest obstacles to my reading was my distractions and excuses. Imagine the progress I would have made if I had cut out all the idle things I was getting involved in.

One of the traps I fell into when I first started receiving suggestions from people on what books to read, was the guilt of not finishing it. This was particularly difficult when the book was not interesting me at all. Please do not feel that you have to finish every book you read. There is nothing wrong with stopping and moving on to another book that interests you, lest you lose your passion and get discouraged. Josh Jameson said that “There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book.”

This can also work the other way around too. If a book has highly influenced you, transformed you or had a profound positive impact on you, read it again! Can you imagine if we only read the Bible once and then never picked it up again? C.S Lewis says “I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.” Recently I started re-reading books that had a profound impact on me some years ago and I was now able to pick up some incredible information I didn’t pick up before. It was truly amazing and it helped me grow even more than other books I have been reading and wasn’t able to contemplate much on.

If you were able to set time aside and just read 10 pages a day of a spiritual book, the odds are you could read 20 books within a year. Can you imagine the spiritual progress you would make if you just read only 10 pages a day! What if you read only 3 chapters of the bible each day? You would be able to read the Bible at least once every year until you finally get to be with Him. “Every book we read is pouring ingredients into our mental faculties and the fabric of our lives are built from these ingredients” – Jim Rohn. Remember the parable of the sower that our Lord Jesus Christ told us. Imagine if we were constantly reading and allowing these seeds to fall on good ground and then bearing these fruits in our subconscious with patience. Can you imagine the spiritual progress we would make!

We should always keep a book on us at all times, whether in our car or in our bag. Many of us don’t realise this but the amount of time we spend in cars, standing in line for food at a shop, waiting for a friend to pick us up, going on the train or bus etc. can also be used for reading too. We should utilise the time we have and take advantage of these moments. Another opportunity we have is in our travelling. We should try to play more audio books in our car and pick up on some incredible life lessons and wisdom. By doing this we won’t get bored and we will always be learning and improving. Before we know it we will have achieved great progress in our lives and it was all done by filling in the time we had all along.

Take some time to examine things in your life that are preventing you from picking up that book. How much TV are you watching, how much food are you eating (this can make you very lazy and unfocused), how much time are you wasting on non-spiritual things,

how much are you sleeping in, how much time are you spending watching YouTube clips or going on Facebook, Instagram, snapchat etc? Don’t let these things be an obstruction in your spiritual life. Remember what our Lord Jesus Christ said to us in Matthew 5:29 ^“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Its time for us all to start eliminating the junk from our lives and start building ourselves up for the Kingdom to come and one of the best ways to accomplish this is by forming the incredible habit of reading.

I have read many books and I will leave you with a short list of the ones that have really stood out for me in the church, if anyone would like some suggestions:

-The Bible
-The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
-Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis
– Jesus the bridegroom by Brant Pitre
– Our Thoughts Determine our Lives by Elder Thaddeus
– The Gurus the Young Man and Elder Paisios by Alexis Trader
– The Imitation of Christ by Thomas E Kempis
– The Fear of God by Pope Shenouda
– Everyday Saints and other Stories by Archimandrite Tikhon
– Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father

By Mark Ghali

The upper room was foundational in the formation of the early church. The use of the upper room is established by Old Testament practice, cradled by early Christian doctrine and acted as the springboard for the spread of early Christianity. Even though there is debate if there is a single or many upper rooms what remains clear is that it was the location where union with God and others could be achieved. The upper room held great significance to the early church as it seemed to be a place for the founders of the Church to congregate, especially during her formative years. This includes events which form the backbone of Christianity such as: the Last Supper, where the New Covenant was instituted and the Eucharist was first celebrated and Pentecost where the Holy Spirit descended. The upper room also proved to be the place of various meetings and miracles which strengthened and emboldened the faith of early Christians, proving to be a place conducive to meeting in fellowship and in prayer which are crucial elements of the Christian faith.

From the time of the Old Testament, the ‘upper room’ was usually a room that was built on the roof of houses and was used as a place of prayer to entreat God’s power. It was so essential to those of the Jewish faith that even the poor kept such a room furnished so that guests could be welcomed. There are a number of examples in the Old Testament of an upper room being used. An example of the upper room being used as a place of prayer and worship occurs in the story of Daniel, where he retreats to his upper room to pray, as it was his custom, even when a decree is put out to kill those who worship anyone besides the king. This is also seen in the book of Tobit, where Sarah goes to her upper room crying and supplicating to the Lord in despair, with her prayers even being answered there. Examples of the use of the upper room in entreating God’s power can be clearly seen in the miracles performed by Elijah and Elisha in raising the widow and Shunammite’s sons respectively Therefore, it is clear that an upper room was common amongst the people of Israel, and that it was considered as a place of retreat and prayer, as well as a place where God’s power was shown.

Key elements of the Christian doctrine have found their roots in the upper room. One of the key events of the early church that occurred in an upper room was the Last Supper with Jesus and His disciples, instrumental members of the early church, being present. It states in the gospels of Mark and Luke that there was a large upper room, that was furnished and prepared for the Passover which the Lord asked to use. It was here that the Lord washed the disciple’s feet, providing for them a model for Christian service which would prove to be a defining characteristic of the early church, continuing to communities such as those established by St Basil. Another key aspect of early Christianity established in the upper room during the Last Supper was the Sacrament of the Eucharist, considered to be the pinnacle of Christian worship, and the centre-thought of many early Christian writers. St Paul describes appropriate decorum when partaking of the Eucharist in his epistle to the Corinthians showing the early Church would meet together to partake in it. Its importance is also clear in the inclusion of the Eucharist, alongside the rituals of baptism, in the Didache, a document that describes some of the practices of the early church as well as its being described by St Justin Martyr in his ‘First Apology’. St Ignatius, an Apostolic father, highlights the Eucharist’s significance to the early church in his epistle to Smyrna, by stating that where a bishop is celebrating the Eucharist, surrounded by the faithful, then there the fullness of the Church is present. Therefore, we see that the upper room was the site of an event which was a fundamental element of the early church.

Similarly, the upper room is the site of a significant and transformative event in the early church. Following the ascension of Jesus, when the disciples are gathered in one accord in prayer and supplication, the Holy Spirit descended upon them on the day of Pentecost, and they prophesied in fulfilment of the words spoken by Joel. There is a clear transformation that occurs in this upper room. Peter, who had previously denied Christ in front of a servant girl, miraculously and courageously converts three thousand men, with his first sermon, during the Feast of the Harvest in Jerusalem. It was from here that the fearful disciples, who previously gathered together for fear of the Jews, were now able to go out boldly, preaching and converting people, even to the point of martyrdom. This model of martyrdom would later be followed by countless others and would be crucial in establishing the early church.

There is debate if there was a single upper room that was used in the early church which held intrinsic value or whether the disciples were merely congregating in many upper rooms. This debate arises because it is unclear whether the upper room used for the Last Supper and in Pentecost were different rooms. In the gospel of Mark and Luke, the word used for the upper room of the Passover comes from the Greek root noun, “anogeon”, and it is the only time it is used in the New Testament. Whereas, in the book of Acts, which is believed to also have been written by Luke, the Greek root noun “huperoon” is used, also referring to an upper room. Therefore, it is uncertain whether Luke meant different upper rooms, or whether he simply used a different term for the same room. However, according to the Coptic Tradition it is believed that St Mark the apostle’s mother, Mary, ministered to the Lord with her resources by offering her house for the Passover to be held, and that this was the same upper room that the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples as they assembled. This is hypothesised because the man carrying the pitcher of water, of whom Jesus said that they would eat the Passover at his house, is believed to be St Mark. St Cyril posits the reason Jesus did not reveal the owner of the upper room was because the devil had already entered Judas’ heart, and so it was important that the name of the owner of the upper room was kept secret so the betrayal plot could not occur in the upper room during the Last Supper. This was so it did not occur before the institution of the New Covenant and the giving of the Eucharist, again illustrating the importance of the Eucharist to the church. The fact that Mark’s mother’s house was ever used is attested to in the book of Acts, where it is mentioned that St Peter came back to the house of Mary following his release from prison, where many were gathered together praying. Therefore, it can be seen that there is evidence for and against whether it was the same upper room that was used.

However, despite it being unclear whether it was or wasn’t the same upper room, what is clear, is that the use of an upper room is a feature of the apostle’s ministry in establishing the early Church. This is shown in the book of Acts where many events such as miracles and preaching occurred in the upper rooms of the faithful. For example, when entering the city of Joppa, Peter is taken to the upper room to raise a charitable woman called Dorcas. As a result, many people in the city hear about Peter and accept the faith., The aforementioned return of Peter occurred following his release from prison by an angel as he went to encourage the disciples and tell them about the amazing work of God and His care for His church. In and amongst their spiritual atmosphere of prayer, Peter stood to tell them about how he had experienced the power of the Resurrection and how the Lord frees those who are imprisoned and under captivity, freeing them from darkness and taking them into life, drawing both spiritual and literal contemplations, about how God opens doors. Later in Acts we see Paul preaching to a group of people in the upper room, and then a young man called Eutychus falling to his untimely death. Here we see an early form of liturgical worship in the early church with the faithful gathering to listen to the word of God, and then breaking bread at the dawn of Sunday, that is, celebrating the Eucharist. This gathering may have needed to occur in the upper room of a house due to practical reasons as the Jews would have been using the Temple, therefore Christians needed to have their own place of worship. Hence, we see that the upper room was a practical place of meeting for the faithful in the early church, and served as a place for the strengthening of their faith.

However, there isn’t only practical significance to the use of the upper room, with many of the early church fathers seeing spiritual significance to the events being held in such a space. Some, such as St John Chrysostom, see that the upper room is merely a meeting place that is representative of a dwelling together of men and women in prayer, remembering the words of Christ that “where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them” and that indeed nothing is more powerful then this gathering together of people in the name of the Lord. Whereas others like St Jerome, see that prayer would occur in the upper room, such as with Daniel, as a means to elevate the soul to meet God above earthly matters. St Cyril goes further to state that the upper room represents the exalted and high thought of dwelling with Christ and not remaining on earth, but instead having their thoughts and “their citizenship in heaven.” Therefore, it can be seen that not only was the upper room a space conducive for the gathering together of the faithful, but it was also representative of their elevation above the world to be united with Christ; which is the ultimate aim of the Christian life.

Whether it was the one upper room, or many upper rooms, one thing is clear that many of the early events of the church occurred in an upper room. These events, such as the Last Supper and Pentecost, were attended by the founders of the church and placed an indelible mark on the foundation of the early church. The upper room may have been chosen because it was conducive to the requirements of Christian life, as a place where the disciples could congregate together and pray and offer up their hearts to God. It was from here that they underwent their transformation before going out and preaching to the nations, proving pivotal to the spread of the early church. Finally, the spiritual significance of the upper room means that the upper room is not only foundational to the early Church, but indeed to all Christians who are similarly called to congregate, to raise their hearts in prayer, and to ultimately be transformed and united to Christ.

Glory be to God forever Amen.

Mental Health and Christianity

What are our unique tools?

By Dr.Bassem Wilson

Mental health is a major issue that affects many people, and even Christians can struggle with it. We will discuss a few points on how a working faith will help mental health.

• Having access to a support network is one of the most important fundamentals when dealing with mental health. A support network is not classified as having people surrounding you but further, having people that you can talk to and open up about any struggles you are faced with. The main people that struggle with mental health issues, like depression, are those that lack an active support network in their lives. Support networks may include people like family, friends, psychologists, or your confession father. But the main and ultimate support is the Lord himself. Prayer allows you to communicate and put all your problems before the Lord, essentially like a 24/7 support network.In Christianity we often look at prayer as a ticked boxed that needs to be completed, although it should be used more for our own benefit. As such, the Lord places us in certain tribulations, so that we can reach out to Him and so He can hear our voice.

 

• The second point is the concept of ‘conflict resolution’. Conflict can be one of 2 things: either between you and someone else, or it can be between you and the Lord (separation). If it is conflict with another person, you won’t be forgiven unless YOU willingly and solely forgive, as this is a mercy act for yourself and not the person. If the conflict is between you and the Lord, the only way to resolve it is through true repentance and confession.Confession acts as an advantage because you are able to be persistently absolved. The partaking of the Holy Communion is one of the most important yet highly underestimated tools against mental health issues. Having the body and blood of God with a repentant heart acts as an enormous support. “When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine” – Revelation 6:5-6 NKJV. This passage highlights the fact that although barley and wheat were valuable at the time, while wine symbolising the sacrament, and oil symbolises the Holy Spirit, were not harmed.

 

• The last and final tool for use, is praising God at all times. Being thankful and showing praise to the Lord is a tool that can bring us up. It allows us to continue prayer and feel joy, not by asking but rather praising. It is a really strong tool that is able to lift our spirits and allows us to feel happiness without complaining or seeking anything from God.

 

Glory be to God, forever Amen.