15 Νοεμβρίου 2017

Sunday’s Gospel of the Good Samaritan has as its core message ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’. But the story is a reply to a specific question and obviously doesn’t exhaust all facets of the issue. For example, in this particular case, the ‘neighbourly’ thing to do next would be to guarantee the safety of the road so that future travellers would not fall victims to robbers. In today’s terms, it’s clear that we must look after refugees and provide them with shelter, food, medical facilities and an environment acceptable to them, but also that we should be working towards making their countries of origin self-sufficient and safe, to the extent that the refugees can return and prosper there ...

The monastic life has been called the angelic state, as being the pre-eminent way of imitating and following the life of the angels. Monastics are always striving to live as citizens of heaven. They consider themselves no more than temporary visitors on earth and their constant desire is to be ‘a little less than the angels’ (Ps. 8, 5). They want to live an angelic life here and to replace the ranks of the fallen angels. Indeed, the organizer of the common monastic life in Cappadocia, Saint Basil the Great, in his 2nd letter to ‘his comrade’, Gregory, asks: ‘What then is more blessed than to imitate the state of the angels?’ The ascetic Fathers declare: ‘Let the life of a ...

The holy and renowned Apostle Philip came from Bethsaida in Galilee, that is the same town of which Saints Andrew and Peter were residents. He was distinguished for his depth of understanding and spent a great deal of time studying the books of the prophets in the Old Testament. He remained chaste throughout his life. The Lord found Philip in Galilee, after His baptism and urged him to follow Him. Philip lost no time; he immediately followed the Lord and became His disciple. Not only that, but when he met his friend Nathaniel shortly afterwards,  he said to him: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son ...