Ξένες γλώσσες

In today’s reading, among the other things St. Paul the Apostle is talking about, references the sorrows and persecutions he was suffering (but never was defeated by). The matter of tribulation is a very important one for us all. Who doesn’t face sorrows in their life? Jesus prepared us with these words: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). Paul also was preparing those who were becoming members of the Church, in that “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). It is the universal rule that we are all going to face hardship. Even the best of humanity, and the saints themselves have gone through adversity. Even the Holy Mother of our Lord ...

From the Kyriakodromion of Monk Agapios These ten lepers, in the most succinct manner, provide an image of the whole of human nature, which was entirely leprous and rendered useless by sin. It had been justly expelled from Jerusalem Above, that is Paradise, just as the lepers were exiled from Jerusalem . They couldn’t be cured by Priest, Levite, Prophet or any other person, not even by an Angel, unless the Mighty Counsel of the Most High, the Messenger coaeval and consubstantial with God, came down from heaven, and humanely became human in order to save us humans. All of us, then, had this leprosy. None of us was free from sin except those whom the all-wise Lord Christ had ...

Wherever you are, don’t compare yourself with others to make your soul feel better. Otherwise, the devil may fool you into thinking you’re better than they are.

Don’t talk about things you haven’t seen with your own eyes as if you actually have. Don’t confirm with conviction anything you’ve only heard about. Accustom your tongue to telling the truth at all times. Lies are often born out of the desire to please others but they distance the soul from the fear of God.

Every day, a certain task is completed on earth. It’s the most important and sacred task that people can undertake. It’s the Divine Liturgy, the continuation of the Last Supper which Jesus Christ held with His disciples. People can do many and varied great things, but nothing greater, nothing more important than the Divine Liturgy. This is a unique privilege, given to us by God, because even the angels are unable to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. At this service, the angels work together with us, as we hear in the tropario of Saint Spyridon: ‘and in the singing of your holy prayers (i.e. the celebration of the Divine Liturgy), you have angels concelebrating with you’. Indeed, as Saint Peter writes, ‘on ...

Fr Jonah from Taiwan speaks on Jesus baptism and the temptations in the desert.

Christ is right next to us, even if we don’t see Him… Once in a while He’ll give us a slap on the head, because He loves us so much. Christ wants to bring you out of the thorns, because He’s a gardener, but all you want is to be left in peace.

Nobody’s the cause of perdition; only our own will is. God’s the cause of salvation: He gave us life and bliss, knowledge and power and His own Self. Not even the devil can bring us to perdition against our will; all he can do is put the recollection of wickedness in our mind. But it’s we, by our own will and volition, who decide to do evil. The good Lord doesn’t try to prevent us by force, so that we don’t disobey and become liable to greater punishment. Nor does He take away our free will, which He did well to grant us. So salvation or perdition is in our own hands.

The recollection of death helps us get beyond our former self, because it brings humility to the soul. When we forget death, we’re under the illusion that we’ll be on earth for ever and this increases our arrogance, our greed, our worship of the flesh and our proclivity for exploiting others. Recollection of death gives us the sense of our limitations on earth and the importance of our thoughts, words and deeds for our life after death and in eternity. It helps us to deal seriously with this present life, in the light of eternity, so that we don’t waste our earthly life in dissipation, heedlessness and frivolity, never giving a thought to the consequences. It was said by the ancient Greek ...

God’s gifts come by themselves, provided the heart is clean.

It’s natural to have feelings of guilt if we look at sin as a transgression against ‘the law of God’ rather than as a sickness we’ve inherited as children of the first Adam. Because if, over time, sin becomes second nature, it exercises authority in our soul making us do what we don’t want to, as Saint Paul says. As we all know, this brings its own pressure, peace is lost and turmoil arrives, with everything this means for our daily life. Because they knew themselves so well and therefore had a deep knowledge of human nature, our holy Fathers and Mothers speak of sin, festering within us, as an illness. So we aren’t guilty, but sick and we need to ...

This year, the Sunday after Theophany coincides with the handing-back of the feast. ‘The Saviour has appeared, Grace and Truth’. The Saviour has appeared, about Whom the prophets spoke in preparation for His coming. The greatest of the prophets, the Honourable Forerunner, who was granted the task of baptizing ‘Him who was foretold’, has affirmed to us that He Whom he baptized is the Son of God. John is now going to seal with his blood the truth of his testimony and his uncompromising struggle against every kind of lie. The Judge and Competitor The baton now passes to the Judge, Who ‘came out conquering and to conquer’ (Rev. 6, 2), in precisely this contest between the truth and lies, between the ...

We must have joy. Doctors and psychiatrists say that joy’s a mental phenomenon. No, they’re wrong. Joy’s a spiritual phenomenon. People go to the cinema to laugh and then, when they come out, they return to their problems. What did they gain by watching a film for all that time? Those who confess and take communion have joy within themselves because Christ’s in their heart. This is why joy’s a spiritual phenomenon.

‘When he heard that John had been delivered up, he withdrew to Galilee’. The way in which Christ behaved towards people wasn’t always the same. He expressed Himself in a variety of ways. Besides, Christ became incarnate and was made manifest to people; in this way His wisdom was revealed, so that His life could be an example for us to follow, as Saint Gregory Palamas observes. The way He acted depended on the situation as it arose. Not with tact or out of self-interest, but always with the aim of our salvation. Sometimes He’d speak with humility as regards His identity, while at other times He’d reveal His divinity. On occasion, He’d come to Jerusalem and speak in front of ...

You should know that, hidden away in sorrows and sufferings, in patience and faith are God’s promises, as also are His glory and the acquisition of the heavenly blessings. Because even the wheat that’s sown in the earth first has to rot and seemingly decay before we can enjoy its beauty and the multiplication of its yield. If it isn’t subjected to this rotting and decaying, there’s no harvest.

In today’s passage from the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul revisits the great topic of the unity of the faithful and their spiritual perfection. First of all, the Apostle Paul wants to eliminate any jealousy that may exist among Christians due to the diversity of gifts that are given to each by God. We all know from personal experience how easy it is to be envious of another person, especially one who is distinguished for their gifts. This envy usually leads us to try to diminish this person and make them feel inferior to us. If by chance this person makes a mistake, we tend to seize the opportunity to exaggerate it in order to reduce and potentially harm ...

If you fall, pick yourself up… until death finds you either in your fall or in your recovery. Isn’t it written: ‘Where I find you, there will I judge you’? Just pray to God that your last moment will find you on your feet in holy repentance.

And even if things are slow to happen, as they may well be, or even if it seems that God’s gone silent and is inactive, so long as you retain your trust in Him then He’ll reveal Himself in marvellous ways. The Scriptures tell us that nobody, nobody at all who has set their hope on God has ever been put to shame. David puts it beautifully: ‘Look back at generations of old and find even one person who hoped in God and was put to shame’. Find one person who can say ‘I had my hope in Christ and Christ didn’t respond. He didn’t help me. He abandoned me’. You won’t find a single one.

Dear readers, by God’s grace, here we are at the start of a new year, only a few days after the last one ended. We’ve been here before and have shared thoughts and resolutions for a better year in all aspects of our life. In our first article for the new year of the Lord (or better, for us, ‘with the Lord’) 2019, we’ll discuss the title. Certainly, it’s a polite and wonderful custom to exchange good wishes with other people, one which we all enjoy doing, but, if we’re content with that, in the long term it becomes at the very least an incipient illness which, unfortunately is persistent and general and which, because it’s unobtrusive, is hard to ...

Watch Fr. Jonah’s from Taiwan sermon on the feast of Theophany.