The Jesus Prayer (Part I)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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THE JESUS PRAYER
By Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov

In the beginning, to speak of the prayer of Jesus, I invoke the aid of the All-Good and Almighty Jesus that He may assist my dullness. At the beginning to speak of the prayer of Jesus, I recall the righteous Symeon's utterance concerning the Lord:  "Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against" (St. Luke 2:34).

Just as the Lord was and is a true sign, a sign that is spoken against, an object of dispute and disagreement between those who know Him and those who do not, so too prayer in His All-Holy Name, which in the fullest sense is a great and wonderful sign, has become a subject of dispute and disagreement between those who practice it and those who do not. A certain father justly remarks that this way of prayer is rejected only by those who do not know it; they reject it through prejudice and through false ideas that they have formed of it.

The prayer of Jesus is said like this: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Originally it was said without the addition of the word "sinner." This word was added to the other words of the prayer later. This word, remarks Saint Nil Sorsky, which implies consciousness and confession of the fall, is fitting for us and pleasing to God Who has commanded to offer prayers in acknowledgment and confession of our sinfulness. The Holy Fathers of the Church allow beginners, in deference to their weakness, to divide the prayer into two halves, and sometimes to say, Lord Jesus Chrisst, have mercy on me, a sinner, and sometimes, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.  But this is only a concession or indulgence, and not at all an order or rule requiring unfailing compliance. It is much better to constantly say the same, whole prayer, without distracting and bothering the mind with changes or with concern about changes. Even he who finds a change necessary for his weakness should not allow it often. For example, the first of the prayer can be prayed till dinner and the other after dinner. Saint Gregory the Sinaite forbids a frequent change, saying:  trees that are often transplanted do not take root. 

Praying by the prayer of Jesus is a divine institution. It was instituted not by means of an Apostle or by means of an Angel; it was instituted by the Son of God and God Himself. After the Mystical ("Last") Supper, among other sublime, final commandments and orders, the Lord Jesus Christ instituted prayer by His Name. He gave this way of prayer as a new, extraordinary gift, a gift of infinite value. The Holy Apostles partly knew the power of the name of Jesus; they healed incurable diseases by it, they reduced devils to obedience, conquered, bound and expelled them by it. This most mighty, wonderful Name the Lord orders us to use in prayer. He promised that such prayer will be particularly effectual.  "Whatsoever ye shall ask," He said to the Holy Apostles, "the Father in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask "anything in My name, I will do it" (St. John 14:13-14). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it to you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (St. John 16:23-24).

What a wonderful gift! It is a guarantee of unending, infinite blessings! It came from the lips of the unlimited God, clothed in limited humanity and called by the human name of the Savior. The name by its exterior form is limited, but it represents an unlimited object, God, from Whom it borrows infinite, divine value or worth, the power and properties of God.

In the life of Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch, who was crowned in Rome with a martyr's death under the emperor Trajan, we read the following:

"When they were taking him to be devoured by wild beasts, and he had the name of Jesus constantly on his lips, the pagans asked him why he unceasingly remembered that name.  The Saint replied that he had the name of Jesus Christ written in his heart and that he confessed with his mouth Him Whom he always carried in his heart. After the Saint had been eaten by the wild beasts, by the will of God among his bones his heart was preserved intact. The infidels found it, and then remembered what Saint Ignatius had said.  So they cut that heart into two halves, wishing to know whether what they had been told was true. Inside, on the two halves of the heart that had been cut open, they found an inscription in gold letters; Jesus Christ. Thus Saint Ignatius was in name and in fact a God-bearer, always carrying Christ our God in his heart, written by the reflection (or meditation)  of his mind as with a reed."

Saint Ignatius was a disciple of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Divine and was privileged in his childhood to see the Lord Jesus Christ personally. He was that blessed child of whom it is said in the Gospel that the Lord placed him among the Apostles who had been arguing about priority, took him in His arms and said: "Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (St. Matthew 19:3-4; cf. St. Mark 9:16).

Certainly, Saint Ignatius was taught the prayer of Jesus by the Holy Evangelist and practiced it in that flourishing period of Christians like all other Christians. At that time all Christians learned the prayer of Jesus, firstly on account of the great importance of the prayer itself, and then on account of the scarcity and costliness of the handwritten holy books, on account of the rarity of literacy (most of the Apostles were illiterate), and on account of the convenience, satisfaction and very special action and power of the prayer of Jesus.  (Source: Orthodox Heritage)

(To be continued)

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"Glory Be To  GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

Psalms and Prayers

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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PSALMS AND PRAYERS

Psalm (142 (143)

O Lord, hear my prayer, lend Your ear to my supplication in Your truth, and in Your justice hear me. And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight, no living person can be justified. For the enemy has persecuted my soul, and has brought my life down to the ground. He has forced me to live in the darkness like those dead for centuries, and my spirit is in anguish, my heart within me is troubled. I reminisced the days of old, I meditated on all Your works, on all the creations of Your hands did I contemplate. I stretched out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Hear me speedily, Lord, my spirit has failed me. Do not turn away Your face from me, else I will be like those who go down in the graves. Make me hear Your mercy in the morning, for I have hoped in You. Make know to me, Lord, the road  I should walk on, for I have lifted up my soul to You. Deliver me from my enemies, Lord, for I have fled to you; teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me in straight paths; for Your name's sake, Lord, You shall give me life. In Your justice, You shall bring my soul out of affliction, and in Your mercy destroy my enemies. And will utterly destroy all those who afflict my soul, for I am your servant.

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Psalm 50 (51)

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight--That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought for in majesty, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part, You will make me You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of  my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart--These, O God, You will not despise.

Do good to Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt-offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

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A PRAYER

O Christ our God, Who at all times and in every hour in heaven and on earth is worshiped and glorified; Who are longsuffering, merciful, and compassionate; Who loves the just and show mercy upon sinners; Who calls all to salvation through the promise of the good things to come; O Lord, in this hour, receive our supplications and direct our lives according to Your commandments. Sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our minds, deliver us from all tribulation, evil and distress.  Surround us with Your Holy Angels, so that

guided and guarded by them, we may attain to the unity of the faith and to the full knowledge of Your unapproachable glory. For You are blessed unto ages of ages.  Amen.

JUST BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP

Into Your hands, O Lord Jesus Christ, I commend my spirit and body; bless me, save me, and grant me eternal life. Amen.

BENEDICTION

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

Hope - The Fortress of Life

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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HOPE - THE FORTRESS OF LIFE

PSALM 90 (91)

He Who dwells under the shadow of the Most High, shall abide under the shelter of the God of Heaven. He will say to the Lord: "You are my support and my refuge, O my God: in Him, I shall put my trust." For He will deliver you from the hunter's snare, and from every troublesome slander. With His broad shoulders, He shall overshadow you, and under His wings, you shall rest secure; His truth shall cover you like a shield. You shall not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day; nor the thing that lurks about in the darkness, nor any calamity or the evil spirit at noon. A thousand shall fall at your side and ten thousand at your right, but nothing shall come close to you. Instead, you shall observe with your eyes and see the retribution of the sinners. For You, Lord, are my hope; You made the Most High my shelter. No evil shall come to you, and no pestilence shall approach your dwelling. For He will put His Angels in charge of you to protect you in all your ways. They shall tread upon the asp and the viper, and you shall trample upon the lion and the dragon. Because he hoped in me, I will deliver him; I will shelter him because He knew my name. He will call on me and I will answer him; I am with him in trouble and I will deliver him and glorify Him. I will satisfy him with a length of days and I will show him my salvation. Amen.

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"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the 

Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Romans 15:13).

HOPE - JOY AND PEACE

Hope occupies the central place in the three: hope, joy and peace. The meaning of each of these three excellences should be understood in the background of the other two. Hope itself plays a role in activating faith and love; hope enriches faith by uplifting it to a deep conviction, and it keeps alive the content of love. It is because of hope that Christians expect with eagerness the fulfillment of the essence of this hope; salvation is a deep feeling of expectation, and as such gives wings to faith and love. For these reasons, we invoke Almighty God as the "God of hope" to make firm these three excellences as the foundation of the spiritual and moral life.

The Gospel of Christ is a Christian way of life; it is a daily experience in living. This way of living can be attained and safeguarded when the pious Christian delves constantly in the Divine Word, especially in the Gospel of Christ, when also he elaborates the Message of the Gospel in his thinking and meditation for an experience of his own; and then prayerfully invokes Almighty God to lift up his heart in the hope of the attainment of salvation and also the attainment of his expectations, of his hope...

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing steadfastly in prayer" (Romans 12:12).

"Rejoicing in hope" is the admonition of a great preacher who overthrew the power of evil. Apostle Paul fought the two battles and established his victory in the hope of a new destiny of life. Apostle Paul expresses his experience to each of us. Such rejoicing in hope lives in the hearts of the faithful; it becomes stronger at moments of tribulations; it becomes more fruitful in genuine love for others; it becomes more powerful in abhorring evil; hope's strength is derived from constant prayer and from practicing charity (Romans 12:9-13).  (Source: O Logos)

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Beloved,

I ask all of you that you follow our holy Orthodox Christian traditions of praying unceasingly, of lighting your votive light (kandili) and offering incense, daily. All of these spiritual practices bring us the strength of faith and comfort. We are reminded through them of God's presence and of His unending love. If you have the service of the Small Paraklesis (Supplication) service to the Theotokos offer it daily. The Paraklesis service can be conducted by all at hope or any other place and is chanted in times of distress and sorrow of soul.

Let us turn to a few of the Hymns to the Theotokos and Mother of God

O Theotokos, we shall never be silent. Of your mighty acts, all we the unworthy; Had you not stood to intercede for us Who would have delivered us, From the numerous perils? Who would have preserved us all Until now with our freedom? O Lady, we shall not depart from you; For you always save your servants, From all tribulations.

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Deliver us, All of your servants, from danger, O Theotokos; After God, we all flee to you, For shelter and covering, As an unshakable wall and our protection.

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A fervent prayer, and wall most unshakable A merciful spring And shelter of all mankind; Fervently, we cry to  you: Theotokos, our Lady, Come to us And from all dangers now deliver us The only protection who speeds to us.

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All those Do you shelter, O Good One, Those who in their faith flee unto you, With your strong hand, you protect; We who sin have no one else, Who intercedes for us Before God, praying endlessly, In ills and all dangers, For us who are laden with Our many sins and mistakes; Mother, of our God in the Highest Therefore, we fall down to you, humbly; From all misfortunes, keep your servants safe.

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My numerous hopes are placed Before you, most holy one; Mother of God, Guard me with care, within your sheltered arms.

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PLEASE KNOW THAT ALL OF YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY PRAYERS. MAY OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST BLESS AND PROTECT EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"-- Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

Hellenes Celebrate the 119th Anniversary of Greek Independence

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God the Only True God and the Only True Savior,CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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THE 199TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE

Today marks the 199th Anniversary of Greek Independence Day. This is when Hellenes remember their long struggle against the Ottoman Empire, an effort that eventually leads to Greece's Independence.  

The Ottoman Empire enslaved the Greek people for 400 years. Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since 1453. The Greek revolt was precipitated on March 25, 1821, when Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the flag of revolution over the Monastery of Agia Lavra in the Peloponnese. The cry "Freedom or Death" became the motto of the revolution.

 Greeks experienced early successes on the battlefield, including the capture of Athens in June 1822, but infighting ensued. By 1827 Athens and most of the Greek isles had been recaptured by the Turks.

Just as the revolution appeared to be on the verge of failure, Great Britain, France, and Russia intervened in the conflict. The Greek struggle had elicited strong sympathy in Europe, and many leading intellectuals had promoted the Greek cause, including the English poet Lord Byron. At the naval battle of Navarino, the combined British, French, and Russian forces destroyed an Ottoman-Egyptian fleet. Although this severely crippled the Ottoman forces, the war continued, complicated by the Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829). A Greco-Turkish settlement was finally determined by the European powers at a conference in London; they adopted a London protocol (Feb. 3, 1830), declaring Greece an independent monarchical state under their protection. By mid-1832 the northern frontier of the new state had been set along the line extending from south of Volos to south of Arta; Prince Otto of Bavaria had accepted the crown, and the Turkish sultan had recognized Greek Independence (Treaty of Constantinople; July 1832).

The celebration of the Greek Independence coincides with the Orthodox Church's celebration of the Annunciation to the Theotokos, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Ever-Virgin Mary and told her that she would bear the Son of God.

Zeto e Ellas!  Zeo to Ethnos!

+ Father George

The Holy and Glorious Feastday of the Annunciation

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND SHALL EVER BE.

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THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS FEAST-DAY OF THE ANNUNCIATION

When the Most Holy Virgin had lived and served in the Temple at Jerusalem for eleven years and was by then fourteen (14) years old -- when that is, she was entering on her fifteenth (15) year -- the priests informed her that, according to the Law, she could no longer remain in the Temple but must be betrothed and marry. But, to the great surprise of all the priests (rabies), the Most Holy Virgin replied that she had dedicated herself to God and wished to remain a maiden till death and enter into wedlock with no-one. Then, by God's providence and under His inspiration, Zacharias, the high priest, and father of Saint the Baptist and Forerunner, in consultation with the other priests, chose twelve unmarried men from the tribe of David so that they might entrust the Virgin Mary to one of them to preserve her virginity and care for her. She was thus entrusted to Joseph, an old man from Nazareth and a kinsman of hers. In his house, the Most Holy Virgin continued to live in the same manner as in the Temple of Solomon, passing her time in the reading of the Sacred Scripture, in prayer, in pondering on the works of God, in fasting and in handwork. She scarcely ever left the house, nor took an interest in worldly matters or events.  She generally conversed very little with anyone, and never without a particular need. She was intimate only with the two daughters of Joseph. But when the time prophesied by the Prophet Daniel had come and when God was pleased to fulfill the promise made to Adam when He drove him out of Paradise, and to the Prophets, the Mighty Archangel Gabriel appeared in the chamber of the Most Holy Virgin, at the precise moment as some priestly writers have related that she was holding open on her lap the book of the Prophet Isaiah and pondering on his great prophecy:  "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son".  Gabriel appeared to her in Angelic Light and said to her: "Rejoice, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee", and so forth, just as is related in the Gospel of the divine Luke. With this Angelic greeting and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the salvation of mankind and the renewal of creation were set in motion. The Archangel turned the first page of the story of the New Testament with the word 'Rejoice', to show by this the joy that the New Testament signifies for mankind and for all things created. And therefore the Annunciation is looked upon as a joyous, as well as a great, feast.  

HOMILY

--on God's Almighty word.  

'For with God nothing (that He says) shall be impossible' (St. Luke 1;37)

And God said:  "Let there be light", and there was light until God spoke the word there was no light. Neither could anyone conceive of the nature of light until God spoke and light came to be.  In the same way, when God spoke, the water and the dry land came into being, and the starry vault, the plants and the animals, and finally man. Until God spoke, there was nothing of all this, neither could anyone except God know what might exist. By the power of His word, God created all that was created in heaven and on earth. Whatever God wished to be and called into being, that had to be, and it was impossible for it not to be because the word of God is irresistible and creative. The creation of the world is a great miracle wrought by the Divine word.

Having created all things, God also established by His word the order and manner of existence of all things and their behavior and relationship one with another. And this order and manner of existence which God has established is a great miracle of the Divine word.

But as well as this order and manner of existence among created things, visible and comprehensible to us, there is an order and manner of existence unseen and incomprehensible. From this invisible and incomprehensible order and manner of existence, which is a mystery hidden in the Holy Trinity, there have occurred, and continue to occur, phenomena which people call miracles. One such phenomenon was the conception of our Lord Jesus Christ in the womb of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who had not known a man. This seems to be an interruption of the visible and comprehensible order and manner of existence, but it is not at all a strange event for the invisible and incomprehensible world. This birth is indeed a great wonder (miracle); perhaps no great wonder has ever been revealed to us mortals. But the entire created world is itself a miracle, and the entire visible and comprehensible order of things is a miracle, and just as this miracle came to be by the word of God, so in the same fashion the Lord took human form in a virgin's womb. Both the one and the other took place by the power of the word of God.  Therefore the wondrous Gabriel replied to the Virgin's question (a question asked by all generations: 'How can this be?'): 'With God, nothing that He says shall be impossible.'

O Lord God, our Creator, eternal and ever-existent Worker of wonders (miracles), give light to our minds that we may no longer doubt but rather believe, and direct our tongues no longer to question Thee but to praise Thee. To Thee be glory and praise forever.  Amen. (Source: The Prologue from Ochrid)

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It is meet indeed to bless Thee, the Ever-blessed and Most Pure and Mother of our God. Thee  that art more honorable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, who without spot of sin didst bear God the Logos/Word; Thee, verily the Mother of God, we magnify.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

"To Everything There is a Season..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-14)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND SHALL EVER BE.

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"To everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.
A time to give birth
And a time to die;
A time to plant
And a time to pluck what is planted.
A time to kill
And a time to heal;
A time to pull down
And a time to build up.
A time to weep
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn
And a time to dance.
A time to throw stones
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace
And a time to refrain from embracing.
A time to seek
And a time to lose;
A time to keep
And a time to throw away.
A time to tear
And a time to saw;
A time to keep silent
And a time to speak,
A time to love
And a time to hate;
A time of war
And a time of peace."
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-14)

The Eternal Logos/Word--the beginning, and the end--came into time and redeemed all things.  He turned our weeping into joy, our mourning into dancing, our hatred into love, and our time into eternity.

"That men would fear before Him" (v. 14) expresses the Preacher's understanding of why the world is the way it is. God uses the world to turn us to Himself, for at the end of the age, the time will come for judgment. (Orthodox Study Bible)

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

All of us without exception, at some point, must go through different seasons of life. There will be times that we will experience joy and happiness and moments when we must endure deep sorrow and pain. There will be times of joy at the weddings of our friends and family and periods at the passing of those that we love so much. We will have moments of silence and there will be times when we must speak up for something that we believe to be right. As human beings, we will have those times that we love those around us and there will also be times that we retain our love from others. In our lifetime we must live through many wars and there will also be those times of peace. As human beings, we will experience many different seasons of life during our time upon this earth.

The writer in the first chapter tells us that "Everything under the sun" is meaningless. So how do you and I find meaning in our daily lives out under the sun where so much seems to be meaningless?

We usually look for meaning in all of the wrong places in this world that we live in. Wisdom and meaning cannot be found in the world, it can only come from God, our Creator. We often focus on making a name for ourselves and leaving behind a legacy so that others will remember who we were and what we accomplished. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that even kings or other important people are soon forgotten after they die.

The world that God created for us to live in poses a problem for most of us. We look to the world for happiness, fulfillment or validation and we never seem to find any of those things. Nothing on this earth seems to satisfy us, at least not for a long period of time. The things of this world cannot fully satisfy us because we were not made of this world, we were made for eternity. We were made to live with Our Creator God in heaven, where God is Ruler of all. (Daily Walk with God)

I believe that we can find meaning in life if we remember this one important thing. We must, my dear friends, come to realize that meaning comes from the Almighty and Merciful God; it does not come from this world, God has set the gift of eternity in our hearts but we still cannot begin to comprehend all that God has done for us as mere human beings. We only find meaning and purpose in this life when we come to joyfully accept everything that comes our way as coming from the hand of God. Remember the words of Saint John Chrysostom who said, "Glory Be To God for all things." As humans, we have no control over the seasons of our lives, Who is Eternal and Sovereign, determines all of the seasons and activities of our lives.

Live out your life knowing that your Creator loves you and cares for you. Acknowledge His goodness and His Wisdom and you will discover that this life "under the sun" does indeed have meaning and purpose. And we will fully discover that purpose as we spend eternity with Our Father in His Kingdom.

As we continue on the journey to the All-Holy Pascha we recall the words of the holy Desert Fathers saying, "Better someone who has sinned, if he knows he has sinned and repents than a person who has not sinned and thinks of himself as righteous."

Let us use this holy season and time, to strengthen our love and commitment to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us strengthen our relationship with our husband or wife, children and friends, our co-workers and our fellow citizens. Let us use this precious time to reconcile with our enemies and do good to them. Let us be thankful for the many blessings granted to us by Our Heavenly Father. Our life here on earth is, as you see, brief, and it is important to understand that we can be and should be, an instrument of God to bring joy and love to all of His children, men, women, and children of the world.  

Let us use this priceless time and season to prepare for the eternal life that has been promised to us by our Lord. Let us prepare to hear the Divine words of our Lord when we come before Him to be judged by Him at His Second Coming, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me...Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me" (Saint Matthew 25: 34-40).

The standard of judgment is uncalculated mercy toward others. The works produced by faith are emphasized, for saving faith always produces righteous works. What we do, reflects our true inner state. The least refers to all the poor and the needy. The needs described in this Parable include both physical and spiritual needs. Therefore, the hungry or thirsty are not only those who need food and drink but also those who hunger and thirst for compassion and love. They also hunger and thirst for the word of God.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),

The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George