Upper Room Media Blogs

Whom are you Seeking?

By: Andro Bosse

You have been serving the house of the Lord for a long time.
But have you been serving the Lord of the house?

Christianity is a faith characterised by preaching, but you can say it was spread more through role-models than sermons and teachings. Growing up in the church, we were always told that you cannot call yourself a Christian if you do not serve – if you do not have some sort of service. We read in 1 Corinthians 8:1 “love edifies” so we know that service is not only limited to formal roles and teaching; it is strongly connected to love and therefore all of us are invited to this life of serving.

Friedrich Nietzsche, a famous philosopher, once stated “If you want me to believe in your Redeemer, then you’ve got to look a lot more redeemed.” How you might ask? Fr. Bishoy Kamel once said, “People don’t need to hear about Christ any more, they have heard enough. They rather need to see Christ in us.” If we love someone, the best way to honour them is to use their example. Many people love Pope Kyrillos VI yet very few follow his example, his life of discipline and self-denial. We are called to be servants in the example of the true Servant Christ as St. John of Kronstadt says, “the Lord has become everything for you, and so you must become everything for the Lord.”

Many of us have heard or experienced the huge blessings that come from serving. Yet can service itself be a hindrance to the spiritual life? One of the spiritual fathers said, “You spent your whole life serving the Lord’s house, when will you serve the Lord of the house?” What does this mean? Do we sometimes miss the aim? In Hebrews 3:3 we read the verse “He who built the house has more honour than the house.” Notice that both of the above references do not condemn the service pertaining to the Lord, yet they point to the true purpose of the service – the Lord of the house. This reminds us of Mary and Martha and the war of busyness which fought Martha, with Christ eventually telling her “You are worried and troubled about many things; but one thing is needed.” – Luke 10:41, and this still exists to this present time where we do the same thing. We are sometimes like the Shulamite woman who used to say, “my beloved is mine and I am his.” (Songs 2:16). Yet when she matured in her spirituality she reversed the role, she said, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” (Songs 6:3). We belong to the Lord of the House – the House of the Lord does not belong to us.

So what does God really want? One of the fathers says that everything we do, should be “in Him, through Him, with Him and for Him – the aim is Christ” Fr. Daoud Lamei in one of his sermons jokingly suggested that the Samaritan woman could easily have been a Coptic woman, she asked Him silly questions – ‘Should we worship on this mountain or over there?’ The same with us, “Are these biscuits fasting or not? If I can’t fast until 2pm can I fast until 12pm.” These questions miss that the aim of everything we do is to attain the one-on-one relationship with Him as the Lord responds to her; “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” The Lord also in Isaiah 66 hints to us what He is really seeking from serving Him when He says, “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” It’s as if the Lord is telling us that ‘there is nothing you can do that I cannot do, everything is Mine – I just want you and your heart.” The Lord also says to one of the kings of Judah “because your heart was tender…” (2 Kings 22:18). How cool is that, the criteria with God is simply a tender heart.

Well you might ask, what is wrong if I serve the House of the Lord? Especially if I serve it ‘heartily to the Lord and not to man.’ Is that not a good thing? Well the answer is yes, it is a very good thing. Even the Lord Himself served the House, when He overturned the tables of the money changers it was said, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” Also in Acts 6 we find men who ‘were full of the Holy Spirit” serving tables. I think the difference is that this service came as a result of knowing Him, it came after being filled with Him. I remember when one of the priests here at St Mark’s church was being ordained, he said one piece of advice he received was that his time should be split 2 to 1 – every hour of service should be accompanied with two hours of prayer/personal spiritual time. So it is knowing Him, not necessarily knowing about Him. It is a scary thought that the disciples who spent 3 years with Him did not know Him. On the night of His betrayal they all fled and left Him knowing not that He could bring “legions of angels” to protect Him. When the soldiers came to Him with a crowd having soldiers and clubs, He said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” Let this question be for all of us when we serve, ‘whom are you seeking?’ I was fortunate to have spent some few years studying interstate with a big group of youth. During this time, I can really say that I knew them very well, yet with the Lord how is it that we spend all this time in His house and still do not know Him? The Lord says this verse to His disciples but I feel like He is also speaking to us; “Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? (Mark 8:17).

I love the ministry of John the Baptist and how he was commissioned by the Lord. When the people said to him ‘who are you?’ he knew who he was! He quoted to them an Old Testament verse about himself! “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness…” (Isaiah 40:3). He was chosen by the Lord of the house for a specific role, he did not serve on his own accord. How about us? Do we serve on our own accord? Look at Pope Kyrillos VI who ran away from everything who said “I would have loved to live as a stranger on the earth”, the motto of his life which he used to hang on his door; “forsake worldly pleasures, and God will love you. Renounce what people possess in their hands, and people will love you.” So we see that even letting go of ‘self-appointed’ service which we may be doing to fill a void of boredom or to feel good about our self, we see that when we give it up then the Lord really chases us with His will, with true service. The desert fathers used to advise their children saying, “Refuse any virtue which the devil offers with the intention of destroying another virtue which you have, and say to them,

‘This virtue is good, but for the sake of God I do not want it.’“

One time I asked one of the well-known servants in the Church to help MC a certain church event. He declined, and his response was very touching; “I have had enough taking credit for services I am not involved in.”

St. Seraphim of Sarov says, “the true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ’s sake, they are only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. Mark my words, only good deeds done for Christ’s sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ’s sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God in this life.” One of the common phrases that the prophets used to say was, “as the Lord lives, before whom I stand.” They knew whom they served. It should be the same with us. Let us not count it as a day lived or as service if there was no encounter with the Lord. Let us remember that the Lord can say to us, “I do not know you.” (Luke 13:27). Also the devil can mock us by saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” (Acts 19:15).

The question is, how do we know if we serve the Lord of the House? The answer is if we have a desire to spend time with Him alone. Pope Shenouda III says, “It is amazing how many people prefer service more than prayer. And reading more than prayer. And contemplation more than prayer. And attending religious gatherings more than prayer. That is why they fail in their relationship with God. They therefore pray, read, have a service and attend their meetings, but are separated from God. There is no relationship.” So our prayer life should be our service to Him. A servant once answered someone who asked him; “How long have you been preparing for this sermon?” And he answered “40 years”, i.e. all his personal experiences during the past 40 years of his life. So we see that what we do in our rooms in private affects the thousands around us, this is how we serve the Lord of the House. On the contrary if we, like Jonah the prophet and the older brother in the story of the prodigal son, become upset when others come back to God or when they find favour in the eyes of God, then how can we say that we truly serve Him? We need to pray with King David, “Enlarge my heart” (Psalm 119:32) & with Sir Francis Drake; “Disturb us O Lord when we are so comfortable with ourselves.”

In conclusion it is good to mention that this topic needs wisdom and discretion along with our confession father. Yet it is safe to say that the best way to serve the Lord of the House is to know Him and to be fixed with Him. When we know Him we know love (because God is love), we know wisdom, we know everything. Let us remember that the most powerful people living in the world today are the ones who can move the hand of God in prayer, when they pray, God listens to them. It is interesting to note that St. Augustine mentions that a priest lying on his sick bed, may be more effective in his service than with all his preaching. With this in mind, let us pray and aspire to be like this and let us say with Pope Kyrillos VI, “Let us disappear so that God can become manifested in His glory.”

 

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“Dying Daily through the Resurrection”

By: Sherry Mikhail

Christ is Risen! Trampling down death by His death!

“I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” (1 Corinthians 15:31) First let us start by noting that this verse does not say “I die daily in times of fasting” or “in times of want” it just says “daily”. Thus, there is no limitation to the time dedicated to this calling.

During the Holy Pascha Week, the Church teaches us to delve intensely into communal Pascha prayers consisting of readings, prayer and praise. It’s a time for contemplation and for sharing in the sufferings of Christ, eventually leading to the Cross. The Great Lent is the long lead up to this one, Holy week that the church highly anticipates from year to year. And so, we live this week spending every moment sitting under the Cross of Christ whilst seeing the church dressed in black; hearing the Word through the Old Testament prophecies and their precise fulfilment in the Gospels; tasting as we partake of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday; smelling the incense and worshipping via prostrations and strict fasting. By the end of the week, we are finally met with the Glorious feast of the Resurrection of Christ, or rather, our own Resurrection in Christ as we are fully transformed.

Death was defeated on the Cross, and manifested in the new life of the Resurrection. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)

On the Glorious feast of the Resurrection, we are transformed as we continue with the presence of the Church in us. For the following 50 days, the church is draped in white, the hymns sung are joyful, and the church ceases from fasting and prostrations. A festive procession for the Resurrection takes place on each day leading to Pentecost. And so, all year round the Orthodox Church, in its wisdom, engages us as a whole person in worship through our senses.

Although the church radiates joyfulness in the Resurrection and most noticeably when fasting has ceased, we often overlook our continued need to be fed spiritually. In saying this, let’s not forget the Lord’s prayer; “Give us this day our daily bread” referring here to the ‘Bread of Life’ that is, Christ and His Kingdom.

To be Christ-like means to die on the Cross. Let us die with Him. Dying to all that is of this world in order not to hear His rebuke “get thee behind me, Satan!” (Luke 4:8)

Some things that we have learnt from the journey of Great Lent and Holy week can be extended into the Holy 50 days with adjustments to suit the joyful spirit the Church has set out for us. Just because we have ceased fasting for the coming season does not mean that we may begin to succumb to our laziness. One such exercise that could help may be that when we step into the church, just as we did during Holy Week, we can attempt to free our minds and to enter church with clear goals set so that we may be focused in our prayers. More so, we may continue to bring our problems to the altar, leaving it there knowing confidently that the Lord will take care of it.

Our laziness may be due to another issue. It could be because of the way we consume food, which plays a huge role in our lives, with the Church identifying this in the way it prescribes fasting. Therefore, it is ideal to still consider our eating habits. Continuing to eat reasonable portions is an excellent idea because, let’s not deny it, gluttony is still a sin. We need to be eating according to what our body and health accepts, keeping in mind any health restrictions keeping us from consuming certain foods. We are still called to be both reasonable and sensible in taking care of our bodies. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). It is likewise valid to add that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

The Church doesn’t call us to ‘take a break’ from Sunday Liturgies or other spiritual activities otherwise the church itself would’ve taken a few weeks off. The church continues again on Easter Monday commemorating The Road to Emmaus where “He was made known to them in the breaking of Bread” (Luke 24:35). So, let us commune with the Life-Giving Body and Blood of our Risen Lord, who through our union with Him and through the light of His knowledge abides in us and grants us eternal life.

As we can recall, there is a lot of emphasis on the Sunday’s of Lent, but in fact it is still important to understand that the Sunday Gospels during the Holy 50 days are also highly relevant. The first Sunday after the Resurrection, ‘Thomas Sunday’, is so significant that it is considered as one of the Minor Feasts of the Lord unlike any other Sunday in the year (besides Palm Sunday being a Major Feast). Likewise, the Sunday readings during this period are commonly referred to as the “I ams…”, in other words, Christ reveals that His Person is the life, way, truth, water, bread etc. For example, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35); “the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13); “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6); “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” (Jn. 12:46).

Furthermore, as mentioned previously, the church does not call any of us to idleness during this season; it is therefore the best idea to keep on reading our bibles and praying from our Agpeyas daily. How else do we enjoy the Resurrection if we do not die daily with Him only to rise again as we wake up every morning in prayer and thanksgiving?

How then can we say that the best proof of the Resurrection is the living Church if we do not immerse ourselves in the teachings and practices the Church is setting out for us? If time allows, let us also pick up a good spiritual book that can further our eagerness to live the resurrection.

“And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” (1 Corinthians 15:14). St John Chrysostom says the following; ‘Although what followed in due course would have been, “but if Christ is not risen, you fight against things evident, and against so many prophets, and the truth of facts;” nevertheless he states what is much more fearful to them: “then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” For he wishes to shake thoroughly their mind: “we have lost all,” says he, “all is over, if He is not risen.” See how great is the mystery of the economy? For thus: if after death He could not rise again, neither is sin loosed nor death taken away nor the curse removed. Yea, and not only have we preached in vain, but you also have believed in vain.’

Let us be joyful in Christ in a way that cannot be taken from us! Let our soul be joyful in the Heavenly Bridegroom and say with the Shulamite of the Song of Solomon, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved’s mine…When I found the one I love, I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him to the house of my mother and into the chamber of her who conceived me (the Church).” (Song of Solomon 6:3, 3:4)

“Ooh, Heaven is a place on earth!”

“Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh heaven is a place on earth
they say in heaven love comes first
we’ll make heaven are a place on earth
Ooh heaven is a place on earth”

 

In 1987, Belinda Carlisle sung these famous words about a notion we could spend our whole spiritual lives contemplating on – heaven. What exactly is heaven? We know that it is a place where there’ll be no more death, no more sorrow, no crying nor pain (Revelation 21:4); we know also from the book of Revelation that heaven is full of angels, the Archangels, the twenty-four priests, our Queen and Mother St Mary and the ‘great cloud’ (Hebrews 12:1) of all the saints, whose stories and intercessions we cherish so much.

We know that our beloved Lord Jesus Christ desires for all of us to be in heaven with Him, and He even spoke to each and every one of us in John 14:1-3 when He said He is going to prepare a “place” for us there if we would strive on the “narrow path” and be found worthy of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14).

For religious sceptics, ‘heaven’ is reputed as a mere fairy-tale and perhaps for many they feel there will be nothing but oblivion when their last breath has expired and they leave this world. However for us, we know the amazingly comforting truth that is contained for us in the Gospel: “…the hope of which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of truth of the gospel.” (Colossians 1:5). The iconic verse John 3:16 also tells us that God loved us all so much that He gave up His life for us: His Son, Christ our King, defeated death by His death, and has raised us up by His resurrection. Therefore if we believe in Him, we truly shall have eternal life in heaven as He promised. This is a great comfort when we experience the loss of loved ones, to the extent St Paul wrote:

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”

+ 1 Thessalonians 5:13-14 +

A Place Not Far Off

What about Miss Carlisle’s song? Do we have to wait until our life here has ended to experience the beautiful promises of heaven discussed above? Or can heaven truly be a place on earth?

Our Lord Jesus Christ gives a powerful answer to this question when He said in Luke 17:21, “the kingdom of God is within you.” It is something to be experienced and tasted, right now. From our Baptism, to our repentance and confession before a priest, to our partaking of the Holy Body and Blood of our Lord in the Eucharist – living a life within the sacraments of the Church unlocks heaven on earth for us. When we attend the Holy Liturgy at Church, the heavens are truly open. Attending with us are many that we cannot see; the angels, the archangels, and all the saints that are constantly before the throne of God saying, “Holy, Holy Holy is the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:3).

The Kingdom of God is more than feeling the blessings of the mass or of attending various Church services and Bible studies though, as our Lord said it is within us. A ‘kingdom’ is simply where the king resides, and therefore if we enjoy the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts – truly His kingdom will be within us. Again from Christ’s own lips, we are promised this kind of internal dwelling if we love Him by obeying His commandments:

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home within him.”

 

+John 14:23 +

And again in the book of Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Chapter 3, verse 20).

God does not force Himself upon us, but honouring our free will, offers us in His meekness the incredible chance to have Him dwelling in us and to enjoy His love. If we will rise from our laziness and from our sins and open the door of our hearts to Him, we will enjoy the kind of intimacy that we read of in the Song of Solomon in the Bible. There we see the Bride (the Church, as well as each of our souls on an individual one-to-one level) imploring the Bridegroom (Christ) saying, “let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth, for Your love is better than wine” (Chapter 1, verse 2) and exclaiming “I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine.” These beautiful images of the bridal intimacy are fitting descriptions of our souls when our hearts have become the dwelling place of our King, Creator and Beloved.

The more we immerse ourselves in true and genuine practice of the sacraments, study and obedient contemplation on God’s Word, and persistent striving in prayer in our rooms – the more the Holy Spirit will stir up this bridal love for God, and we will truly taste heaven on earth. St Theophan the Recluse reflected on this in his work, ‘The Art of Prayer’:

“From the moment when your heart starts to be kindled with the divine warmth, your inner transformation will properly begin. This slight flame will in time consume and melt everything within you, it will begin and continue to spiritualize your being to the full.”

It may feel at times that God is far from us, but really He is right next to us, longing for us to open the door of our hearts to Him –; “…so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;” (Acts 17:27).

Heaven & Palm Sunday

With Palm Sunday being a few days away, it’s worthwhile spending some time in contemplation – understanding the poignant meaning behind Jesus being welcomed as the King of Israel, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 that the King would come “sitting on a donkey’s colt.” We will experience the kingdom of heaven in our lives as much as we are prepared to welcome Christ as the King of our hearts; to the degree that we are able to place Him as number one – denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Him as we were called to do (Luke 9:23).

Our hearts must be a throne for our Lord where He can reign, and that means there can be no contest – no desires, sins, bad habits, passions of the flesh that compete for a space that rightfully belongs to Him. He said this when He charged us, “No man can serve two masters…either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the one and despise the other…” (Matthew 6:24).

To this end St Augustine contemplated and said:

“Therefore whoever wishes to love God and to beware of offending Him, let such a one cleanse the upright intention of his heart from all duplicity. In this way, he will ‘think of the Lord in goodness and seek Him in simplicity of heart’” (Wisdom 1:1).

There is no room for duplicity of heart if we’re truly seeking to taste heaven on earth, to taste the intimacy with Christ our Bridegroom. As Father Anthony Messih from the Church in Washington DC says, ‘we can’t enjoy the kisses of His mouth, AND the kisses of the world.’ We must choose, lest we are guilty of being adulterers and adulteresses by ‘cheating’ on Christ’s unconditional and life-giving love by choosing to give ourselves to the deceitful ‘love’ the world and its ruler the devil offers (James 4:4). If we’re truly to enjoy the heavenly ascent here and now, the extremely heavy burdens of our lusts and laziness must be cast away, so that we can “…lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews 12:1).

This may be the reason that we all feel so much of an extra spiritual boost during Passion Week: For most of us it’s the only time of the whole year where we drop everything and endeavour to have Christ as our only focus, following His every step to the Cross and to the empty tomb of His resurrection. The extensive fasting and prayer and long Pascha services lift our eyes up to heaven in a way that is so powerful and so unique to this most sacred time for the Church.

Heaven’s Dress Code: The Wedding Garment

We know that when it came to describing the Kingdom of Heaven, our Lord almost always spoke through a parable. A very famous one is found in Matthew 22:1-14, where the King of Heaven is likened to “a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son” (verse 2) and a great wedding banquet is set up. Unfortunately, “those who were invited were not worthy” (verse 8), so the king then invites everyone and anyone, even from the streets and “highways” to attend instead of the original guests (verse 9). Eventually, the story takes a very harsh turn as Jesus talks about a man who was found inside the big wedding party who didn’t get the dress code memo…

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

+ Matthew 22:11-14 +

The imagery is clear: the life of the world to come in the Kingdom of Heaven will be a beautiful and joyful feast with our Bridegroom. Sadly however, many will choose to ignore the invitation, and some will even “make light of it” (verse 5) by mocking the Gospel. But why was the punishment so severe for this man without the garment? How can we make sure we don’t share his fate of losing out on Heaven? What does that garment symbolise? St Gregory the Great offers a beautiful answer:

But since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our holy church, as a result of God’s generosity, be careful, my friends, lest when the King enters he find fault with some aspect of your heart’s clothing. We must consider what comes next with great fear in our hearts. But the king came in to look at the guests and saw there a person not clothed in a wedding garment.

What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For if we say it is baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast, but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy church. He may have faith, but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this is what our Creator himself possessed when he came to the marriage feast to join the church to himself. Only God’s love brought it about that his only begotten Son united the hearts of his chosen to himself. John says that ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for us.’ (John 3:16)”

 

According to this ancient church father, we must be clothed in love if we are to have the right dress to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And we have heard this before! The famous ‘love chapter’ 1^st Corinthians 13 tells us that we are absolutely nothing if we do not love. No matter how much we serve, how much we know about God, how high our position in the church is, how successful we are, if we even perform miracles, give prophecies or die as martyrs for Christ- if I “have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:2)

We are called to love God, and to love all people – this was the summation of the law as we read in the interaction between the scribe and Christ (Mark 12:28-34).

Therefore, experiencing heaven on earth is not a private matter of just our individual loving relationship with Christ, but it must also be practiced “in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18) by loving all others around us; from our closest and dearest to our enemies. The ones that are easy to love, and the ones that are a labour to love. There can be no partiality in how we live out this calling as St James wrote (James 2:8-9). If we fail to love those around us, we are lying if we claim that we love God (1 John 4:20-21). Our patriarch Pope Tawadros II said in a sermon once, “Brotherly love is our crossing to heaven; you can’t reach heaven without loving everyone around you…the core of Christianity is to love your brother.”

 

This is the law of Christ, and the true diagnostic as to whether or not we are His disciples, that we bear genuine self sacrificing love for all members of the body of Christ (John 13:35).

 

St Anthony the Great reflected on this when he said, “Our life and death is with our neighbour. If we gain our brother, we have gained God. But if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.” Likewise St Silouan the Athonite said, “The less one loves, the more one alienates himself from divine life.” It is a very true fact that sinning against one another will rob us of the joy of heaven on earth, it is very much dependent on loving all around us. For this reason we find a very scary verse in Isaiah, where God actually said He would reject our prayers because of the ‘blood’ of our neighbours on our hands, and in cleansing us demands we change our approach to others as part of our restoration:

“‘When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

‘Come now, and let us reason together,’
Says the Lord,
‘Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.’”

+ Isaiah 1:15-18 +

 

St John Chrysostom gives us a very encouraging description of what it looks like when someone manages to live out this heavenly command of love:

“Do not, I pray, suppose that this sort of love means loving one person only, but instead it is a love for all alike…such a person will live on earth as if it were heaven, everywhere enjoying a kind of serenity, and weaving for himself innumerable crowns! Such a person will keep his own soul pure from envy, wrath, jealously, pride, vanity, evil lusts, every profane love, and every bad temper… the loving person himself will stand with Gabriel himself even while he walks on the earth. This is the profile of one who has love.”

 

It sounds like Belinda Carlisle’s 80’s hit was actually a powerful theological statement! Truly heaven can be a place on earth for us. If we are receiving from the Church the nourishment of the sacraments, if we are focusing our eyes upward on Christ and His Passion and Resurrection rather than the troubles and temptations of this world, and most importantly if we are walking in love towards our Bridegroom and all of those around us – we will find our King will have already made His home within our hearts; bringing the joy of His kingdom with Him. In Heaven love truly does come first, and being called to be the light of the world, it should be our task to make heaven a place on earth.

How to Benefit from Holy Week?

How can we benefit from Pascha week? How can we truly be renewed and transformed by this week which follows the final days of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in such detail and such intimacy?

The Church in its wisdom has set out for us a week full of prayer, worship, singing and reading. It drapes its walls with black and invites us to be transported to the side of our Lord and to share with Him in each moment leading up to His suffering on the Cross; to contemplate on its meaning for me as an individual. It is actually a gift bestowed upon us by the Church. It is a gift because it gives us an opportunity to discover who Christ is in His most intimate moments and it allows us to delve into it, be immersed in it and be transformed by it. And through it we begin to understand the meaning behind each event, and the fine fabric that is woven throughout the whole Bible, epitomised by the clear continuity between the Old Testament prophecies and the happenings in the Gospel. It is through this that we have proof of the Gospel from within. We are convinced of the authenticity of the Bible, with each of the writers of the different books of the Bible writing with one mind and one spirit, despite being separated by centuries, circumstances and contexts.

One of the most important things about this week is not to waste it, or to let it pass by without having taken something out of it. If we think about the small number of years we live here as sojourners on this earth, the number of Pascha weeks we attend is limited. And yet these weeks have the ability to change our lives and to allow us to redirect our focus towards what truly matters in our lives. That is, it can draw us nearer to the harbour of salvation, to the only One who is able to save us, to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

But how can we do this? Reflection, Repentance, Revival and Revelation. These 4R’s can be the backbone for our approach to benefit from this week.

Reflection
We must reflect on what our goal is, not what our goal as a church is – for this is clear – but what is my goal as an individual? Do I want to give up a particular sin, do I want to develop a particular virtue or do I want to understand a particular quality of God in more depth? An exercise to ensure I am focussed when I am in church could be stopping each time just before entering the church, closing my eyes and asking myself what do I want to achieve? This can help us to redirect our minds and thoughts, especially when they begin to wander during the service and we start judging the voice of the person singing the psalm, or thinking about when the psalm will end or about what we’re going to have for dinner later.

Repentance.
One of the major answers to the question of what I want to achieve this week must be repentance, and a goal must be to return to God in response to His loving sacrifice. When we realise the great mystery that is before us, that God, the Almighty, the Powerful, the Creator became man for us, and not only did He become man but He was slapped, beaten, cursed, spat upon and crucified all for my sake, then I am forced to consider the magnitude of these events and I am forced to respond. And the perfect response is repentance from the sins which caused my Lord to endure such things out of His love for us.

Revival.
This repentance and renewed understanding of my Lord’s love and sacrifice should lead me to make a commitment to be revived and to rise above the superficialities and trivialities of the world, making a commitment to be in the world but not of this world… to be transformed. And this transformation should lead me to rush to be at the feet of the Lord, learning from His example of humble, obedient servitude.

Revelation.
This all leads to revelation, which is a gift from God where we realise one of His attributes that we had never dwelt or focussed upon, or we receive a revelation which adds to the depth of our personal relationship with Christ. Within this week there is an opportunity for the visitation of the grace of God. But this is dependent on us removing ourselves from the guiles of the devil, by focusing and ridding ourselves of our beloved sins and being decisive in progressing in repentance. If you make this commitment during this week, be sure that the Lord will not disappoint you. But this visitation requires a level of spiritual maturity so that we can truly understand the depths of the events and of Christ’s redemption of us from our sins and from our certain death. Asceticism produces and accentuates this understanding, whereas cheap pleasure dissipates it. And so it is important to understand the importance of fasting as a tool to unlock this depth of understanding of this great mystery of Love. And this maturity is not dependent on age. A little child can grasp this depth, whereas an adult may go many years attending without having truly understood the love of God and the significance of His actions. But this depth can only come if we avoid trivialities and if we shift our focus to the Cross, so that we are constantly reminded of the importance of crucifying our sins and constantly reminded of Christ’s love for us. Each time we stand before the crucifix we can say this prayer “Lord, change me completely when I look at your Cross”.

Now what should our mindset be during Pascha?
We should be focused on the love and hope that comes from being sure of Christ’s resurrection and defeat of the sting of death. Things that give us hope include the fact that Christ is waiting for us to return from whatever struggle or sin we have. During Pascha week we have the opportunity to leave that particular sin or habit at the foot of the Cross both figuratively and literally. There will be a “sin bin” at the foot of the crucifix icon where we can put down a sin which we want to be freed from on a piece of paper, showing we are resolute to rid ourselves of it and that we are awaiting the power of the grace of God to intervene to allow us to overcome it. This sin can then be wiped away and we can be renewed by going to Abouna for confession. If we do this we become Christs, as we attempt to share in His crucifixion, by crucifying our passions. In becoming His, Christ becomes obliged to defend us, to help us, and to take us to the new Jerusalem when we are raised up with Him.

Also, we have hope because we know Christ is always waiting for us to return, because we know He is merciful. How do we know this? Well, there was the Old Covenant, but what came after? The New Covenant! And so we know with God that there is always renewal, there is always a second chance, He is always looking for us to have an opportunity to return to Him. And we are filled with hope because we know He forgives us when we deny Him or leave Him. The perfect example of this is St Peter. Even though He made strong professions of love towards the Lord, we eventually see him abandoning the Lord when it came to the hardship of the Cross. And yet when Christ is resurrected He asks to see Peter. And what does He do? He doesn’t curse him, but He restores him and even entrusts him to become His honest and faithful servant. All of this is offered to us, and Pascha week is an opportunity for us to embrace it.

As a practical tool, how can we measure our love for Christ?
We can measure our love by considering the following: how sincere is your repentance and how quickly do you pick yourself up when you inevitably fall? Do you quickly stand up and pray, and then seek Abouna for confession as soon as possible, or are you relaxed and tell yourself that you’ll see Abouna when you get the chance? How eager are you for prayer? Do you just do it as a duty at night to tick a few boxes, or are you eager to stand before Him, to enjoy His presence, to converse with him, to stand humbly and reverently under the shadow of His wings. How about in attending services like the Pascha services or the liturgy? Are we just attending to please our families or to fulfil a social obligation, or are we doing it to have an encounter with the source of Life and our Saviour. How do you react to your enemies? Do you seek to forgive them, to placate their anger and to win them over or are you seeking an opportunity to get them back, or worse do you treat them with indifference? And importantly do you long and yearn for Heaven so that you can finally be fully in the embrace of Christ, not forgetting that this opportunity is afforded to us here on earth as a foretaste? Pascha week is the perfect opportunity to measure our love for Him and to take active steps to increase our love for Him.

Speaking of those long psalms, practically what should I be doing during them?
These psalms are an opportunity to spend time with Christ, to close our eyes to dwell in His presence in quiet contemplation. It can be a time of simplicity; it doesn’t have to be a time to be academic or a time to let our minds wander. And the inspired, ancient tunes of the psalm which have such power and force are able to facilitate our prayers and contemplation to come from the depths of our hearts and the depths of our beings. What about the busyness and the difficulty in finding a car spot and then in finding a seat? Instead of complaining about something that can’t be changed, embrace the chaos! How boring would it be to just be standing there by yourself or with just a few people. This is our opportunity to see the Body of Christ in full action with all these people from different walks of life gathered together in one mind and one spirit giving glory to God.

Now should Pascha week be a time for mourning at the pain of our Lord, or should it be a time of triumph at the victory of our Saviour?
It should be both with a steady movement from one to the other. We should lament over our distance from Christ and at our sins which put Him on the Cross. But just as weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning, so too does the journey of Pascha Week according to the wisdom of the Church, take us in a movement from such sadness to the inexpressible joy at the abolition of death and the resurrection from the dead in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Glory be to God forever.
Amen

 

These days many youth are in the church and that is an unspeakable blessing. It can be easy however to forget how many youth are also away from the church. Many times these youth may go without someone asking about them for years. I remember even hearing a terrible story where a particular person was away from the church for so long and had not been contacted. By the time someone tried contacting that person, one of their parents picked up the phone and told the caller that their child had died. They had died and the servant didn’t even know it…

Now if you would care to invest your time, let us consider this topic with a rhyme.

When was the last time you sought the one and left the ninety nine – instead of being on Facebook all the time?

How about your prayers at home? Do you speak to God in your room when no one is looking or are you too busy watching shows about cooking?

Don’t get me wrong cooking is great – but have you taken the time to seek your mate?

Your mate who was in your Sunday school class all those years ago. Remember? The one you would tease so your other friends you would please. They’re gone now and no one has contacted them for years. Literally years.

Besides they’re not your responsibility right – why should you have to fight for your friend’s soul? They’re not interested in Christ anymore you say, but dying on the cross for them you did not pay.

Why not let God lead you for once instead of relying on your base logic? Do you think Christ can’t reach them anymore because your logic says so? Well moving a mountain with prayer isn’t logical and that happened. Opening someone’s eyes with mud isn’t logical and that happened. Why limit God when you know His power your mind hasn’t fathomed?

Guard against the love of ease for then only yourself will you please. Real service is difficult. In true love and humility Christ bled. But for you sacrificing pleasure is a dread.

Arise from laziness and put your hand to the plough – your friend has been away too long till now.

Get up and call your mate. If you don’t have their number then look them up on Facebook. If you still can’t get in touch with them then look through old Sunday school lists – you just might find their number that way.

Isn’t it true when for that pair of shoes you were looking, sadly you didn’t find them, and it led you to inward sooking. Why don’t you pursue your friend as much as you would pursue things that make you look good? You want to adorn your body so you look nice but in the past 5 years, have you, for their soul, even prayed thrice?

Please don’t look at this like a guilt trip, just be encouraged to wrestle like Jacob when God touched his hip.

But in all this forget not to pray – asking that we all may inherit the Kingdom on judgement day.

Rhymes may be cheesy but it makes writing easy – Read again what is above and take from it what is true, then let God be the one to guide you…

The Forgotten Medicine

By Mary Girgis

The sacrament of Confession, is one of the most important spiritual practices of the Christian faith because it is a necessary requirement for entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. And yet, it is the one that is most often forgotten. St Augustine, the prototypical confessor, explains the gravity of the sacrament of confession in a way that we cannot ignore:

“Let this be in the heart of the penitent: when you hear a man confessing his sins, he has already come to life again; when you hear a man lay bare his conscience in confessing, he has already come forth from the sepulchre.” – St Augustine of Hippo

We are made dead by sin but made alive again by confession. So why do we continuously avoid it? Why do we keep choosing death over life?

Because death is sweeter.

There’s a certain bliss that comes with ignoring my sin. When I deny myself of the medicine that is confession, I lose all accountability for my actions. How liberating! To be free from guilt.

Perhaps for a time.

At first, I ignore my sinful actions, living in a spiritual stupor. But it isn’t long before I am roused by an unrelenting conscience. It is then that I realise that I am enslaved by sin.

What can free us from this slavery?

“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)

Under the new covenant, the one perfect sacrifice of Christ is enough to procure spiritual pardon for all nations and ages. Our only task is to repent and confess before the Lord, and He will free us from our sin, and in effect, our guilt.

If I am to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, I must partake in true repentance with:

1. Remorse for my sins
2. An honest intention to improve
3. Faith in Christ and assurance of His mercy
4. Verbal confession of my sins before a priest

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:18

Jesus gave his apostles the divine discretion to “bind” or “loose” sin. A sentence is not valid until it is endorsed by Christ’s representatives who, for us, are the priests. They are the ones who have been given the authority by Christ to absolve us from our sins.

Again, that’s what we often fear about confession – a heightened sense of guilt. But God has given us a superior alternative – His grace, which is sweeter than any flavour of death.

Turn it Up

By Mina Iskander

“There is no doubt that the sounds of music, at the Lord’s command or with His permission, have unleashed great forces.” St Gregory of Nyssa.

I may not realise it or want to admit it, but music affects me. A song with a fast beat makes me drive a little faster, whilst a slow song makes me feel sad, or even cry if no one is looking. And that song from “The Good Guys” ad is just irritating.

St Gregory of Nyssa calls music a “fabulous material” and reminds us of the biblical evidence for its power. “We read that by means of David’s tuneful harp the demon was expelled from Saul. The divine reading attests that the walls of Jericho at once collapsed at the din of trumpets.” He concludes, “There is no doubt that the sounds of music, at the Lord’s command or with His permission, have unleashed great forces.” These great forces can be constructive or destructive. Which do I continually choose? Which lives in my iTunes library? Which is emanating from my headphones?

Music is one of God’s creations for humanity to enjoy. God created every tool that we use in order to produce, listen to and ultimately enjoy music. An infant, before they are even capable of speaking or seeing clearly, squeals with delight when they hear their favourite song. Music therefore cannot be inherently bad. The simplest evidence for this is the fact it plays such a central role in Orthodox worship!

Some claim, however, that since God created music then all music is suitable for my ears. That is like saying that because God created humanity, all human actions are suitable for me. I must therefore ask myself, am I enjoying music in the manner that God intended? In the words of St Gregory, are the “forces” being unleashed by the music I listen to destructive or constructive?

In 2 Samuel 6:5, we see how David and the people of Israel used music to celebrate the return of the Ark of the Covenant: “Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.”

Origen the scholar links this passage to the promise of Jesus that: “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them” (Matt 18:19). He explains that the well-tuned instruments “have in them that harmony of tones which is of such power that if only two people bring before the Father in heaven any request with that symphony which is found in divine and spiritual music, the Father grants it to them—which is most remarkable.” How constructive a force this is! If two people are united in prayer and song, their prayer will be answered! Imagine a united couple, family, group of friends, and indeed a whole church!

As a church we often pray together using the psalms, which were originally written as songs. The psalms are themselves littered with references to singing and music. Perhaps one of the most frequent words we see in the psalms is “selah”. Biblical scholars debate the exact meaning of the word, but most agree it is akin to “pause”. St Gregory of Nyssa writes beautifully about these pauses.

He explains that it “is a pause that occurs suddenly in the midst of the singing of a psalm in order to receive an additional thought that is being introduced from God.” How constructive this is! Is the music I am listening to interrupted by additional thoughts from God? Or is He far from it, perhaps waiting and hoping that the next song may be more suitable?

We need to turn our music up. Our desire for music is God given and thus should not be stifled, but rather should be redirected to Him. Let’s turn it away from violence, dysfunctional relationships, sexual immorality, immodesty, and materialism and turn it up to the love of God. Turn that music up!

PS – Apologies if that Good Guys song is stuck in your head. Replace it with something more constructive.

A Servant in Poetry

Depending on which church you go to you’re called a “servant” after you graduate from a preservants course, which could take one to several years to complete.

But is that really what makes us servants?

Now if you would care to invest your time, let us consider this topic with a rhyme.

True servanthood belongs to the one who reflects their true Parenthood. We have been adopted from above and the sign of that is that we show true love.

Indeed without love we may serve but from the upright path we will swerve.

Preaching sermons doesn’t make us servants, nor teaching Sunday school for that matter, indeed without love all this would be but chatter.

You see in the end one of the most important things to remember about service is that service is not the most important thing. Your personal relationship with Christ is. Dear servant, where do you stand in your personal relationship with Christ?

You consider yourself as sent but are you someone who still repents?

You want your listeners to be in submission, but when was the last time you had confession?

You’re good with your words and want to stand on the block, but when God looks into your heart can He see a person who actually cares for the flock?

Take heed not to serve for show, otherwise your heavenly reward you will blow.

Take a moment and consider your end. Leave no lesser legacy than that you were His friend.

Rhymes may be cheesy but it makes writing easy. Read again what is above and take from it what is true and then let God be the One to transform you.

Tolle Lege – Take up and read!

“…I read on and on, all afire”
(St. Augustine)

The exercise of reading conjures up all kinds of different feelings and emotions for different people. For some, reading is one of life’s greatest pleasures, for others readings is an avenue for attaining and retaining desired knowledge, but for many others, the exercise of reading is so foreign that they often claim: ‘I have never a read a book from cover to cover’. School students are always reminded that reading is an essential element in developing their literacy skills. What about the Orthodox Christian servant? Is reading an essential element in developing ‘spiritual literacy’ skills?

Reading is one effective avenue for a servant to fill themselves continually. St. Paul, realising the importance of reading for the servant, exhorts the young St. Timothy saying: “Till I come, give attention to reading…” (1 Tim 4:13). Reading has often been viewed as a means to attain knowledge, but in fact reading is not only a means to attain knowledge, but a means to be transformed in every aspect of the spiritual life. H.H. Pope Kyrillos, a holy man of prayer, suggests that reading is an essential element to an effective prayer life. He says:

“Honour reading and persist in it, if possible, more than prayer. Reading is the spring of intelligent prayer”

Having now established the importance of reading for the servant, how then should reading be approached? What should be our intention as we read through sacred scripture and other spiritual books? Very simply, reading should be approached as a life-transforming exercise. St. Augustine used the metaphor of fire when encountering any spiritual text; “I was on fire as I read” he would say. In the Confessions he reconstructs his first reading of a psalm as a newly converted catechumen. He read, he says, with intense excitement and his experience like fire:

“How loudly I cried out to you, my God, as I read the psalms of David…How loudly I began to cry out to you in those psalms, how I was inflamed by them with love for you and fired to recite them to the whole world, were I able…I shuddered with awe, yet all the while hope and joy surged up within me…I trembled as I heard these words…How these words moved me, my God…As I read these words outwardly and experienced their truth inwardly I shouted with joy…The next verse wrung a cry from the very depths of my heart I read on and on, all afire.”

The Lord answered the prayers of St. Monica, by calling St. Augustine to read. As he was sitting in a garden, he heard some children singing: “Tolle lege, tolle lege” (“Take up and read, take up and read”). He responded to this call by opening the sacred Scriptures and reading a verse that would forever change the course of his life:

“Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:13-14).

St. Augustine would later recount this event saying:

“I had no wish to read further, nor was there need. No sooner had I reached the end of the verse than the light of certainty flooded my heart and all dark shadows of doubt fled away”.

The transformative reading experience of St. Augustine and other saints like St. Anthony who changed their direction in life from a single verse, reveals to us the potential impact reading can have on our lives. We must learn to read for life, to read for transformation.

But what sort of literature should we read? you may be asking.

When Fr. Tadros Malaty was in Sydney not so long ago, I was given the privilege of driving him to one of his appointments. I was very excited that I would get a whole hour of un-interrupted discussion with him and I could ask him all the questions I wanted. When we got in the car I thought long and hard about a good question to ask him. I wanted the question to be an intelligent one, worthy of the person I was asking. I remembered that he really enjoys reading and writing so I thought of the perfect question to ask (well at least I thought it was perfect at the time): “Abouna, what’s your favorite book that you have read” I asked. Without a second to think, he responded “the Bible”. After taking a moment to swallow my pride due to the not so intelligent question, I realised how essential it is for the Bible to be the centre and core of our reading. It is the most life-transforming text you will ever read.

Having the Holy Bible as the centre of our reading, we should also ensure that our reading is well balanced covering all areas such as Bible commentary (especially from the Church fathers), spiritual, social, theology, Church History, Saints and so on. Let us draw upon the wealth of Orthodox literature that is now readily available to us in the English language.

May we respond to the same cal that St. Augustine received: “Take up and read, take up and read” and may we moreover be transformed in the same way St, Augustine was transformed. By in so doing, we will also transform those whom we serve.

Glory be to our God forever, Amen.

Attaining Godly love

Bible reference- Luke 14: 25-35

Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

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In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God Amen.

In chapter 14 of the Gospel of St Luke Christ teaches us the harsh truth of what is required of us as children of God to attain the Kingdom of Heaven. We are generally used to Christ telling us to be joyful because God has fulfilled His promise of salvation and deliverance through the coming down of Jesus Christ. In John’s gospel Christ even says ‘Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.’ (John 16:24).

In the beginning of this gospel passage we can see that Christ now had a great multitude following Him. With anyone else but the Son of God, you would think that once they had attained such a large following, that they would take the opportunity to be a crowd pleaser so that the number of followers would swell up. If this happened the thousands which followed Him might have become a hundred thousand within a month, but God does not work in this way- He turned and told the congregation the difficult sayings we see in this gospel passage. He tells the multitude “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple”.

For the people it would have been very hard to hear this, they probably said to themselves: “What are we supposed to do? This man tells us to love one another and then next he is telling us to hate. This is so difficult to understand”. The saying would have confused many, but this is the nature of God.

He says in Deuteronomy “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24), this is even repeated by St Paul to the Thessalonians:

“we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:4-8)

These words may seem harsh to us, but this is the truth which God Himself tells to both the believers and the non-believers through those who were chosen by Him to preach the gospel. We call Christ the true physician who knows exactly what we need, and thus these ‘harsh statements’ are meant so that we may be healed; to remind us to keep God as the focal point of our lives because this is what will grant us true comfort, peace and rest – things which those in the world seek after but never find.

In Matthew’s gospel, Christ says “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). All people need rest; most of us go on holidays at least once a year and society as a whole spends vast amounts of money to get the best holiday possible to be able to achieve this aim, but this rest is a bodily rest which does not last. The true rest we seek is through Christ Himself-only He can grant us the living water which leads us to everlasting life. If we are to love anything else besides God, we cannot attain this rest that we all need; we cannot attain peace. He is telling us in Luke’s gospel that He should be the central point around which the rest of our lives revolve around and upon which our lives depend.

If we occupy ourselves with other types of love, without first loving God, even if it may be for “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters” we cannot attain the heavenly rest Christ desires to give us. We must first love everyone through Christ, then it is possible to obtain genuine love for everyone around us, otherwise we are worshipping a different ‘god’. Christ himself even says unless you accept this command which I give you, you cannot be my disciple.

We have many examples of people throughout the Bible and the early years of Christianity who show us just how important this command Christ gave us in Luke’s gospel is:

-Adam loved his wife more than he loved God, eating from the tree of knowledge to appease his wife and thus he fell from eternal life and was exiled from Paradise

-Samson, when he no longer kept the fear of God in his heart and loved Delilah, was led into many sins which resulted in him breaking his covenant with God, losing both his strength and his eyes

In contrast there are the many saints who loved God more than all else, counting their lives as nothing so that they may attain eternal life and live with God:

– All the countless martyrs and saints who brought their bodies into subjection

-Abraham who loved God more than his son Isaac, willingly giving his only son through whom the covenant was to be fulfilled, up to death. We even see that he left early in the morning to stop his wife Sarah from knowing what was going to happen or having the chance to intervene. Likewise, he did not allow his servants to follow him the whole way so that they could not get between him and the duty he was given by God

-St Demiana despite loving her earthly father, said to him when she saw him serving idols ‘I don’t want to know you. You are not my father anymore’, placing the commandments and love of God first before that of men

And we even have God the Father Himself who set us the most perfect example. Despite His immeasurable love for the Son (Christ), He gave Him up to crucifixion for us so that the plan of salvation could be carried out for His creation. As we are commanded to love Him, He too loved us perfectly granting salvation to those who follow out His commandments and statutes; to love Him with all our hearts, minds and souls.

We find in our lives that we are preoccupied with many things which will mean nothing for us on the final day of judgement, we are like the individuals in the parable of the ‘Great Feast’ (Luke 14:16-24) – we have excuses that we use to justify why we cannot follow Christ. In order to attain the Kingdom of Heaven we must become disciples of Christ, a feat which is only possible if we empty ourselves of the concerns of this world and put Christ first in all that we do. In doing so we can truly and purely love everyone else; as soon as we put on Christ, as soon as we love Him, then we can earnestly love even those we consider our enemies.

To become the people chosen by God, we first need to get close to Him and love Him. The love of everyone else and true heavenly love for yourself, which compels you to seek salvation, naturally follows from first loving God. All the martyrs had no care for their own bodies readily giving them up for Him as they counted their lives as nothing because they loved God and put Him first. We need to be like that. We may not be able to become physical martyrs in today’s society, but we can put all other love in our heart which is not for God aside, and put our whole focus on Christ, to become martyrs of the spirit. In doing so we can attain the everlasting joy which comes from God and is not of this world and can then attain the rest we desire by becoming His children and disciples.

Glory be to God forever. Amen