Reflection on the Twelfth Sunday of Matthew (St. Theophan the Recluse)

 Twelfth Sunday of Matthew

Matthew 19:16-26

By St. Theophan the Recluse 

"It is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 19:26). Here is meant a rich man who sees in his own self many methods and many powers unto his own prosperity. But as soon as one who has many possessions cuts off all attachment to them, extinguishes within himself all reliance on them, and ceases to see them as his substantial support, then in his heart he is the same as one who possesses nothing — for in this way is the road to the kingdom open. Riches are then not only a hindrance, but a help, for they provide the means for charitable works. Riches are not the misfortune, but rather reliance upon them and attachment to them. This thought can be generalized in this way: whoever relies on something and is attached to something is rich in that thing. Whoever relies on God alone and cleaves to Him with all his heart is rich in God. Whoever relies on something else turns his heart to it instead of God — such a person is rich in this other thing, but not in God. From this it follows that he who is not rich in God has no entrance into the kingdom of God. Here are meant such things as birth, connections, mind, rank, circle of activities and so forth. 

 

 

Holy Five Virgin Martyrs Thekla, Mariamna, Martha, Maria and Ennatha as Models for our Lives

Holy Five Canonical Virgins (Feast Day - September 26 & June 9)

 By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

The Holy Virgin Martyrs Thekla, Mariamna, Martha, Maria and Ennatha came from Persia and lived in the 4th century AD, during the years of King Shapur. They lived near a village called Ἀza and were dedicated to God. There they lived in asceticism and prayer and were guided by a priest named Paul, who, unfortunately, was greedy and kept for himself the money given by the faithful for the needs of the hungry. And this passion of his, because he did not strive to defeat it, led him, unfortunately, to eternal loss.

In the area where the nuns and their spiritual father Paul lived, there lived also a magician, who understood that Paul had money and he wanted in every way to get it. That is why he presented himself before the king and told him that these women and Paul were Christians. The king called for them and ordered them to deny Christ. Then the nuns openly confessed their faith in Christ, but Paul did not do the same. Instead, he asked the king not to take his money away from him, and when he told him that you could keep your money if you deny Christ, then he said that he would deny Him. Later, however, the king set a condition for him to keep his money, which was for he himself to behead the nuns, who in the meantime had been severely tortured. At first he hesitated to carry out this heinous act, but then, defeated by the passion of greed, he took the sword from the hands of the executioner and beheaded them. Before beheading them, they tried with warm words of faith and love for Christ to awaken his conscience and lead him to repentance, but, unfortunately, he remained unrepentant. The money, however, which he loved so much, he did not enjoy, since at the end the magician took it, and then in his despair he committed suicide, like Judas, that is, he put a noose around his neck and hung himself.

Saint Peter the Publican as a Model for our Lives

St. Peter the Tax Collector (Feast Day - January 20)

 

 By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Peter the Publican lived during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. He was responsible for collecting taxes in Africa, and in various ways he managed to get rich at the expense of others. He was greedy, hard-hearted and ruthless. Once a poor man visited him and asked for mercy and he expelled him abruptly. The poor man, however, would not leave and stood his ground still begging. Then, full of indignation and anger, Peter snatched a hot loaf of bread, which his servant happened to be carrying from the oven at that moment, and threw it with force, like a stone, at the poor man to injure him. He, however, took it, thanked him and left. After a few days, Peter became seriously ill and felt that he was facing a judgment seat, where he was asked to give a defense for what he had done in his life. He saw a scale and on its left side were gathered wild people with a dark face, where they placed his evil deeds. On the right side of the scale he saw white-clad men with bright faces trying to find something good he had done, to place it on the right side of the scale. They did not find anything, however, except that bread which he threw against the poor man. When Peter saw these things, he was moved with compassion, and came to himself, and as soon as he was healed, he distributed all his belongings to the poor, even the clothes he wore, and he dressed himself in the garments of the poor. After this act he saw Christ in his dream wearing the clothes which he gave to the poor. This led him to even sell himself as a slave and the money he received he gave to the poor.

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew - The Consequences of Debt (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew (18:23-35)

The Consequences of Debt

Today's Gospel reading refers to the debtor of a myriad of talents, who could not repay his debt and his master ordered that he himself, his wife, his children, and his belongings be sold to pay off the debt. But he asked for forgiveness, which was granted to him. While he repaid his debt with repentance, he was cruel to his companion, and he did not forgive him, despite him asking, and put him in prison. His master found out about this, he who had previously forgiven him, so it was returned to him and he handed him over to the torturers.

This parable refers to the Kingdom of God, into which those who repent and ask God for forgiveness will enter, but in return they also forgive all those who have wronged them.

9th Sunday of Luke: ‘A Fierce Condemnation of Greed’

 

By Protopresbyter Nikolaos Patsalos

On the Ninth Sunday of Saint Luke the Gospel reading (Luke 12:16-21) again revolves around the great temptation of the misuse of wealth. The Parable of the Foolish Rich Man is well-known and, at the same time, of enduring interest to everyone, not only to those who have a lot of money.

The man mentioned in the Gospel today was so rich that he didn’t have room to store all his wealth and goods. It appears that his sole interest in life was to acquire more and more goods. He was the type of man who, instead of being in love with the beauty of life, was someone with a life-long passion for an abundance of material goods. The poor man was under the illusion that, by hoarding wealth, he was storing up happiness.

The Foolish Rich Man

 

 

By Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortynos and Megalopolis

 

1. I mentioned to you on another occasion, my Christian friends, that our Church, like the caring mother it is, uses this period of winter - when living conditions have always been difficult - to present us with Sunday Gospel readings that sharpen our awareness of our brothers and sisters who are suffering. So, last Sunday we heard about the Good Samaritan and today about the Foolish Rich Man, which is a parable similar in content to the former.

2. Listen. The rich man in the parable didn’t become rich from the goods he acquired that year; he was already rich from previous years. So he had no worries about how he was going to get through the next year. He could easily have said: ‘I’ll give the whole of this year’s harvest as charity for the poor’. But he didn’t. And we don’t hear him thanking God either, for the blessing He gave with the rich yield from his fields. Farming depends mostly on God, since it it He Who’s responsible if the weather conditions guarantee a rich harvest. Yet, when the foolish rich man saw the bounty, we see and hear him thinking only about himself, and with great concern and anxiety. The hour is midnight: a time when the poor would be sleeping, exhausted from laboring throughout the day to earn their bread. The rich man, however, isn’t sleeping, even though he has everything and, with this exceptional harvest, has just acquired a great deal more. The rich man says something that really only very poor people and widows should be saying: ‘What am I going to do?’ His problem is that his granaries are too small to store that year’s rich harvest! As Saint Basil says: ‘The stomachs of the poor would have been other granaries in which to store this wealth of food’. ‘What am I going to do? asks the tormented and pitiable rich man in the parable. A very young school-child could have told him perfectly easily what he should do, but the rich man couldn’t see it. The child would have said: ‘Do some division’. If we know the price of many things and we want to know the price of one, we divide. This is the amount of your goods, this is how many poor people there are in the area, divide the first by the second and the solve the problem that’s confusing and worrying you and has you asking ‘What am I going to do?' Since I’ve mentioned Saint Basil, my friends, let me give you a wonderful excerpt from one of his homilies concerning today’s Gospel reading: ‘The more we use the water from a spring, the better it is for the spring and the water itself. Just as water becomes stagnant and polluted if we don’t use it, so unused wealth becomes unproductive and useless’.

Homily One for the Twelfth Sunday of Matthew - On Wealth and the Wealthy (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily for the Twelfth Sunday of Matthew

 

On Wealth and the Wealthy

By St. Luke of Simferopol

You heard today the Gospel reading about the rich young man who did not want to share his fortune to become an heir of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then the Lord told His disciples that it was easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Before interpreting what Christ said to the rich young man, listen to what the apostle James says about the rich: "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you" (James 5:1-6).

Homily One for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew - On Hunger and Abundance (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homily for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew

 

On Hunger and Abundance

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

 

The multiplication of the five loaves and the two fish is the miracle we heard today in the Gospel, which is known to all Christians, and is one of the most well-known events from the life of Christ. It is impossible for anyone to feed five thousand people, not counting women and children, with five loaves and two fish, and even to be left with a surplus.

Hunger is a big problem of our time. There are entire populations on the planet that suffer from a lack of necessities for their survival, and at the same time other populations throw away food from leftovers that they cannot consume. Christ is not responsible for this, nor should we expect Christ to come to perform this miracle, but it is the work of Christians, who must care about people who are suffering and tormented. Christ with this miracle showed us that we should also be interested in the needs of our fellow human beings and be moved by their problems.

Of course, this must be the interest of the governments of each country, but also the interest of the so-called rich people towards people who are deprived of even the most necessary. It is not possible in our time to consume large sums for cosmetics and luxury items, while there are people who die of hunger and various deprivations. If governments are not interested in this issue, then they have failed.

The Church, with its worthy pastors, is doing what it can in this matter. There are organizations that have been organized and are trying to deal with this great social problem, which as the needs of the family increase, so it grows. It is not only about hunger, but also about the fact that it is not possible for people to meet the demands of the modern age. The Church operates various institutions, but also with its Funds for the Poor helps people as much as possible. But the problem is not solved by charities. The State must become more social and focus on the problems facing people and their families today.

We should all take an interest in tackling this problem, and have good management of material goods. This is shown by the fact that many of our fellow human beings give priority to expensive entertainment, to the purchase of material goods that are not so necessary and thus are deprived of other goods that are necessary for their lives. We see families taking out holiday loans, making big financial gambles to make a lot of money, imitating those who can afford to live more comfortably, and then falling into great financial difficulty.

Therefore, Christ continues to perform this miracle today, in the sense that when the passions of ambition, lust and greed are healed, by the power of Christ, then there are the necessary material goods for our survival, but also we help those in need.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Synaxarion of the Holy Five Canonical Virgins Thekla, Mariamna, Martha, Maria and Ennatha

The Holy Five Virgin Martyrs (Feast Day - September 26 and June 9)

Verses

For June 9.

For the love of money the Canonicals,
Were slain by the sacrificer; O unfortunate sacrificer!

For September 26.

The Five Virgins longed only for Christ,
For the love of money the father killed them all together.

During the reign of King Shapur of Persia in the year 330, there was a Priest named Paul near the village called Aza, who being rich, he had with him five Canonicals, namely Virgin Nuns, who were adorned with the brilliance of the virtues. He served as a priest and chanted with them, while whatever money the Canonicals had they would give to him, and he would treasure them. The devil, who is a hater of good, being unable to behold the progress according to God of the Canonicals, which every day and hour was increased, and extended before him, what did the most-wicked one devise? Through a certain Persian named Nirse, news about this passed on to the arch-magi who in turn passed it on to the King, namely that "there is a certain wealthy Christian Priest, and if you want, O master, to gain his wealth, have him stand before you with the Virgins he has. And because they will not deny their faith, you will gain all his wealth."

On Gaining Riches as a Pretext for Almsgiving

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

You will hear this kind of justification from many who pursue riches: "When I become rich, I will be able to perform good works!" Do not believe them, for they deceive both you and themselves. St. John Climacus knew in depth the most secret motives of men's souls when he said, "The beginning of love of money is the pretext of almsgiving and the end of it is hatred of the poor" (Step 16). This is confirmed by all lovers of money, the rich or the less rich. The average man says, "If only it were that I had money, I would carry out this and that good work!" Do not believe him. Let him not believe himself. Let him look at himself, as in a mirror, at those who have money and who are not willing to do this or that good work. That is how he would be if he acquired some money.

St. John Climacus on the Love of Money (or Avarice)

The Ladder of Divine Ascent

By St. John Climacus

Step 16

On Love of Money (or Avarice)

1. Many learned teachers treat next, after the tyrant just described, the thousand-headed demon of avarice. We, unlearned as we are, did not wish to change the order of the learned, and we have therefore followed the same convention and rule. So let us first say a little about the disease, and then speak briefly about the remedy.

2. Avarice, or love of money, is the worship of idols, a daughter of unbelief, an excuse for infirmities, a foreboder of old age, a harbinger of drought, a herald of hunger.

Saint Plato of Ancyra as a Model for our Lives

St. Platon of Ancyra (Feast Day - November 18)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Plato was from Ancyra (Ankara) and lived in the late third century. He was born and raised in a wealthy family, but he was frugal, ascetic and merciful. Also he was zealous and inflamed in his earnest work to spread the gospel, at a time when the Church was being persecuted and believers arrested, cruelly tortured and killed. For his actions he was denounced by the prefect Agrippinos, who arrested him and tried to persuade him to renounce his faith, at first with flattery and deceit. He suggested he marry his niece provided, of course, that he renounce his faith and sacrifice to idols. Plato, unsurprisingly, rejected the proposal, boldly confessed his faith in Christ, and did not flinch before his horrible and inhumane torture. He gave a good confession and then sealed it with the blood of martyrdom. After being mercilessly flogged they burned his flesh with lit torches, but because he remained alive they decapitated him and thus he received the unfading crown of martyrdom.

Saint Arethas of the Kiev Caves Lavra and His Terrifying Vision

St. Arethas of the Kiev Caves Lavra (Feast Day - October 24)

Saint Arethas came from Polotsk and lived as a monk in the Kiev Caves Lavra. Although outwardly he renounced all things for the love of Christ, secretly he was a covetous and avaricious man. And as the Apostle Paul writes, "covetousness is idolatry" (Col. 3:5) and "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10). He would secretly hoard money and other precious treasures in his cell, and never gave anything for the maintenance of the monastery or the help of the poor. He wouldn't even spend his riches on himself, but only gathered and hoarded.

Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ as a Model for our Lives

St. Andrew the Fool for Christ (Feast Day - May 28)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

"Fool for Christ" is a category of saintly personalities who had many spiritual gifts, in particular the special gift of foolishness for Christ. They were not fools, or crazy, but they pretended to be so in order not to be praised and glorified by people for the spiritual gifts and miracles they displayed. They had deep humility, great love for God and people, and in a special way they helped those who were benevolent to be healed of their passions, and guided them on the path of progress and salvation.

Foolishness is a spiritual gift, which is given by God to those who have fiery zeal and ardent love for God, as well as the ability to tread this path until the end. Surely, however, what assists them in this task is their character. They mock the world, namely the worldly mindset, and the devil, who hates them to death. And they do this in order to substantially help people, and liberate them from being dominated by the passions and the devil, using various means, which in the eyes of "reasonable" people seem absurd.

The Personality of Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian (2 of 2)

...continued from part one.

"Our Faith Is Not Sold"

He never took money for healings, nor did he touch it with his hands. He was accustomed to saying that "our faith is not sold"! For instance, as Elder Paisios records:

A. Once they brought to Hatzefendis, from Tsahiroudes, a newly-married, possessed Turkish woman, bound with chains, for him to read prayers over. Since he was in retreat that day, the poor soul's relatives begged the church wardens to persuade him to receive them, because, although they had her tied up, they still could not keep her under control. Father Arsenios received them, and signaled them to release her. No sooner was the possessed woman set free, however, than she rushed at Father Arsenios, grabbed one of his legs and bit it. He was holding the Gospel to read over her, but he did not open it, just tapped her gently three times on the head and the demon at once left the woman, who then started to cry and kiss with reverence Father Arsenios' leg which she had bitten. Her father also fell at his feet and begged him to accept his whole kese (purse) and said:

The Holy Twelve Apostles as Models for our Lives

Holy Twelve Apostles (Feast Day - June 30)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

The birthday of a saint, on which the Church celebrates their memory, is considered the day of their death, because it is at the same time and day as their birth in the Kingdom of God. Thus, while each of the Twelve Apostles of Christ celebrates on different days, nevertheless for the Church to honor them and show the unity between them, it determined to celebrate the Twelve on June 30th every year. Besides the Twelve Apostles, Christ had a wider chorus of Apostles, seventy in number. The Twelve Apostles were His closest associates, who followed Him everywhere. After the deduction of Judas Iscariot from the chorus of the Twelve Apostles, his place was taken by Matthias. The names of the Twelve Apostles are: Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, John, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael), Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Jude the Brother of God and Matthias.

The Witness of Orthodoxy Today

By George I. Mantzaridis

Emeritus Professor of Ethics and Sociology

Sir Steven Runciman, the noted Byzantinist, in his last interview said: "Sometimes I am disappointed by the other churches. Nevertheless, it pleases me to think that before one hundred years pass, Orthodoxy will be the only remaining historical Church. I believe that she offers the real spirituality which the other churches can no longer offer."(1) If this foreboding rings true, then the universality of Orthodoxy becomes current. At the same time its apostolicity, which is one of the four distinctive features of the Church according to the Creed, is emphatically presented on the modern stage.

Apostolicity links the Church together with historical and institutional origin, while at the same time it denotes character and perspective. The Church of Christ is Apostolic because her origins and teachings are based upon the Apostles of Christ. Besides, the Lord’s command to the Apostles had universal scope: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."(2)

Christ was born as a man through the lineage of Judah to redeem the people of Israel and the whole world.(3) He did not overlook the other races and nations but recapitulated all in His theandric (Divine-Human) Body, namely the Church. Although the twelve Apostles represent the twelve races of Israel, they assume ecumenical conscience and teach "all the nations". Racial, national and other kinds of divisive characterizations exist before death’s borders. The Church, rooted upon the truth and actual experience of the victory over death, does not disregard such divisions, yet she transcends the distinctions and unites the entire world in one and undivided body.

The racial and national divisions existing during the time of the Apostles still exist today. Even idolatry powerfully introduces itself in both the non-Christian and Christian worlds in one of its most ancient forms, that of covetousness. The present age believes in money and is directed by capital. Capital governs man, corrupts his morals, shapes his social life and determines political choices.

The Holy Bible and the Fathers of the Church directly relate man’s freedom and justification to a detachment from money and to the broadening of one’s conscience to embrace the entire world. The Gospel indicates the metaphysical dimensions that money potentially acquires transforming itself and becoming Mammon.(4)

St. Paul says that avarice is idolatry.(5) The Fathers of the Church also condemn avarice as a crime.(6) However, the contraction of the ecumenical conscience of a Christian and the return to a nationalistic outlook of perception is also to be identified with idolatry.

Man has infinite value. In himself the persona is a kind of centre capable of containing in himself the whole fullness of divinity and humanity.(7) This is the claim of Christian anthropology, which is neglected by the Christian world but preserved in Orthodox Theology. It is true that on a moral and social level the traditionally Orthodox peoples may not hold a superior position compared to the non-Orthodox. This is because of the secularization that began in the West and was ultimately transplanted in the East, resulting in disadvantaging the Orthodox. The desire to imitate and the inherent difficulty to assimilate and exploit foreign cultural elements created personal and social turmoil. Nevertheless, the superiority of Orthodoxy stems from its theological foundations. Orthodoxy remains as a pure truth of Christian Faith. In the Orthodox Church, Christian truth is unspoiled and the eschatological perspective of Christianity is preserved. This is Orthodoxy’s greatest value and this guarantees the quality of what the Church profess to the world.

For the Orthodox, self-criticism and repentance is essential. From this perspective we see the challenge the Orthodox Church faces with globalization. When the spirit of the world in the form of avarice, love for power, religious syncretism, nationalism, liberalism or conservatism, entraps Orthodoxy in the inevitable web of corruption and death, the reduction or relativization of Orthodoxy’s absolute and universal spirit can be fatal.

Should the Orthodox Church rest upon a conventional presence in the contemporary world, should the Church fail to respond to today’s challenges with Christ’s universal spirit, man will be without help. Man will submit to globalization’s homogenization. However, if the Church fosters the spirit of Tradition on a personal and community level, the truth of Christ’s universality will trump the illusion of globalization.

Present perspectives are disappointing. All phenomena betray the crisis and portend the inevitable explosion. If man’s focus is on individual interests and man neglects fellow-man, society is undermined and is lead to an impasse. The economic growth model becomes the author of self-destruction. The rich grow richer with modern capitalism since wealth is retained by those that are wealthy. The poor grow poorer because the model’s cyclical fluctuations and inherent need to sustain viability affect the income of the poor the most. This process can only lead to self-implosion.

The solution shall surface only when man decides to turn his eyes outward to his surroundings; when he decides to follow a basic Christian precept: "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."(8) When everyone takes interest in their fellow-man, when the interests of others are in our focus, when man recognizes the benefit of others as the ultimate goal of work, then man will take the right place in human society. At that time man shall ascertain that his true self, his true being, lies in his neighbour.

Yet, all these are not simply human choices. They emerge as a consequence of man’s spiritual rebirth. Specifically, they spring as fruits of man’s participation in the life of Christ. The one who follows Christ and becomes a partaker of His death and resurrection, enters into the perspective of His universality. Whether the individual is an ordained priest or lay person, he is summoned to bear the grace of the "royal priesthood"(9) and to offer services in the work of the reconciliation of the whole world, which is accomplished through Christ. This requires intense asceticism and prayer, which in turn reveals the image of God in man.(10)

Every person, and Humanity as a whole, are an image of God. This iconological character of man makes necessary the nexus between man and God. When a person ceases to reflect God in his being, he becomes self-deleted. He becomes the image of nothing. Man’s reference to God is what gives substance to his hypostasis. It makes man a partaker of the Divine Being, a god by grace: "I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you."(11)

Such a high perspective for man and his life forms the ideal of the Orthodox Church. Besides, the Church is a "communion of deification".(12) The Church is the community constituted by the Presence of the Holy Spirit which elevates us to the status of the Universality of Christ. Yet, this elevation of humanity is concurrently given and demanded. It is offered as a donation from Christ in His Church, but it also has to be accomplished by the faithful through the activation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This achievement is not a painless process, yet it becomes possible by the means of humility and kenotic [i.e. self-emptying] love.

Man cannot easily chasten himself or get rid of his egotism to accept his fellow-man. Although the loving disposition is inherent to human nature, a lack of true love does characterize the "fallen" man. True love is revealed only through the sacrifice of egotism. The model for this love is the Triune God. Unity in the Holy Trinity is accomplished through the kenotic and loving inter-penetration of the Divine Persons, thereby being the model for the unity of Humanity and for the creation of the communion of deification.

Such love was revealed to the world by Christ. This kind of love is what the Orthodox Church proposes to man for his salvation, which is identified with his becoming a universal person. In the Church the believer is called to live the universal tragedy which runs through history, in order to proceed through repentance to the universal reconciliation, to the catholic communion of love. In this way the entire world is fraternized and every man is opened to universality.

The ascendance to such a perspective of life requires great effort. The created and corruptible man is summoned to assume the ethos of the uncreated and timeless Being. Undoubtedly, this is not achieved by his powers only. Orthodox Theology always speaks about the synergy between God and man. The limit of this synergy is death. In the final analysis, death proves man’s fidelity to God and his faith that death has been defeated. In this way the barrier of death is broken down and the new creation of the New Covenant is revealed. That is why, according to St Paul, the New Testament is not "man’s gospel".(13)

Many people characterize our age as a post-Christian age. This must mean two things: First, that the former ages were Christian. Moreover, that our age is no longer Christian and that Christianity has nothing more to offer. This premise is twice mistaken. Because neither the former period was Christian, nor is the potential of Christianity ever exhausted, with nothing more to offer for the present and future. This does not mean that Christianity has not affected the past and the present. It means that Christianity has not been lived in its authentic dimensions by the masses.(14)

Christianity is person-centred. The individual is not seen as being subject to the impersonal whole, nor juxtaposed to the community. Christianity perceives the person as being in communion in the Church, and sees in every man the ability to reflect in his person all humanity. Consequently, Christianity does not seek to amend society by altering social structures. It seeks the amendment of society in the amendment of each person. In this perspective Christianity prioritizes the internal unification of man, which is achievable through the reunion of the intellect to the heart. In this reunion lies the essence of godly hesychia (i.e. quietude, quiet contemplation or solitude; the practice of the prayer of the heart), a basic element of Orthodox Tradition.

In our turbulent age the reminiscence of hesychia seems unrealistic. This does not mean that it is beyond one’s reach or, worse, that it is useless. Orthodox hesychia means not stagnancy or dullness but self-concentration and intense activity on the level of the inner man. It is the presupposition for the internal reorganization of man and the establishment of his relationship with God and his neighbour. In the confusion of noises and information that our present society offers, man can easily lose his identity and humanity. Unless he concentrates on himself and returns to a true relationship with God and his fellow-man, all human progress is condemned to annihilation. That is why devout hesychia is a priority which leads to man’s perfection. This is in essence real social activism and missionary work.(15)

Orthodox Theology was cultivated throughout the ages through internal hesychia, which creates the conditions for the spiritual experience and for the avoidance of the alienating influence of the world.(16) The witness of the Orthodox Church in the contemporary world will be authentic and convincing only if it comes out of silence and hesychia. Hesychia, as perceived by Orthodoxy, can bring about a creative explosion of activity, which is man’s only hope amidst the suffocating fetters masterly scattered to the entire world by recent globalization. This spiritual explosion will promote the disclosure of the authentic human person in the impersonal globalized society. The counter-offer of the Orthodox Church to activistic globalization is the hesychastic universality.

The authentic human is universal. In this universal person the world can find its universality. The Saints were such persons. In the person of the Saint the whole of creation is sanctified. Moreover, in the principal holy figure, the Mother of God, lies the "universal joy"(17) and the "universal glory".(18) Unless we see the ontological content of the human person in this unfathomable depth we can not rightly experience the mystery of the Church.

The Orthodox Church, with her theological and ascetic tradition summed up in the Divine Liturgy, preserved the aforementioned perspective, something that can not be affirmed for the western theological tradition. Principal tenets of Orthodox Theology and asceticism, such as the teaching about the real communion between God and the world, the kenotic love, which culminates in the love for the enemies, and hesychasm, which rescues the priority of the human person, form essential presuppositions for the restoration of the alienated Christian world.

In the Divine Liturgy the believer experiences the communion with God and the whole world. He participates in kenotic love and is instructed in the application of this love for all people. He enters eternity, he renders incorruptible the created nature and he lives the universality. The Divine Liturgy and other services, give the believer the proper impulse for the right life as embodied in the petition "for the peace of the whole world". Thus, the believer evolves into an authentic person, into a universal man. In this way man’s desire for universality is satiated and man is properly armed to face the perils of globalization.

The above-mentioned are a treasure entrusted to the Orthodox Church. Here lies the Church’s importance and monumental responsibility. The witness of Orthodoxy is not a confessional case, because it is of a catholic and universal significance. It is a witness emanating from her quality as the Catholic and Apostolic Church. Meanwhile it is the witness which has to be given, so that we can cherish hope for the future.

The truth of the Orthodox Church is testified not in the air but in the hearts of the Orthodox. It is not offered with reference to the past but through experience and activation in the present. Today, at a time when the world considers money as the measure of all things, when mankind is governed by money and deifies money, the witness of Orthodoxy must be given through the scorn of money, through the crumbling of this false god. This witness must be primarily given by Orthodox monasticism as well as by the whole body of the Church.

If the world is induced to believe that everything can be bought with money, it is necessary to see authentic forms of life, such as an Orthodox cenobitic monastery, or a traditional family, which remain free from money. Moreover, the world must be informed that with money only "the inferior and the insignificant things" can be bought, whereas "the necessary which constitutes our life" are common to all.(19) The money of the whole world, and the world itself, is nothing compared with the value of only one man, of only one human soul.(20)

1. Magazine Pemptousia 4 (Dec.2000-March 2001) p.38.

2. Matt. 28:19

3. John 4:22

4. Luke 16:9-13

5. Col. 3:5

6. St Basil, Sermon on the verse “I will pull down my barns” 7 , PG 31,276B.

7. Arch. Sophrony, We Shall See Him as He Is, Essex 1988, p. 197.

8. Philip. 2:4

9. 1 Peter 2:5, 9

10. Gen. 1:27

11. Psalm 82:6-7

12. St Gregory Palamas, "Homily on the Holy Spirit" 2 ,78 in P. Christou, Gregory Palamas: Works, vol.1, Thessaloniki 1962, p.149.

13. Galatians 1:11

14. Archim. Sophrony, On Prayer, Essex 1994(2), p.97 (Greek).

15. Isaac the Syrian, "Sermon 23". Ed. Ioannis Spetsieris, p.93.

16. "Be still and know that I am God" - Psalm 46:10

17. Sticheron of the Vespers of the 9th of September.

18. Doxastikon of the Vespers of Saturday (1st mode).

19. St John Chrysostom, "Sermon on the Statues" 2,6, PG 49,43

20. Matt. 16:26

Source: Translated by Koutloumousiou Monastery, Mount Athos.

Saint Nilus the Ascetic as a Model for our Lives

St. Nilus the Ascetic (Feast Day - November 12)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

The venerable Nilus the Ascetic flourished in the mid-fifth century. Born in Constantinople, he was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom, and a contemporary of Saints Mark the Ascetic and Isidore of Pelusium. He came from a rich and glorious family and served as Prefect of his homeland. However, "his desire for God and the eros of his heart" led him to abandon his enviable position and walk the path of asceticism. He went to the Sacred Monastery of Saint Katherine at Mount Sinai and "indeed passed his life venerably". His spiritual wealth which for many years he collected he distributed generously, as another wheat-giving Joseph, and he nourished and continues to nourish generations upon generations of people. He was wise according to God, but also held a human education and knowledge, leaving us valuable and beneficial writings full of spiritual wisdom and inexpressible Grace. Two of his discourses are treasured in the first volume of the Philokalia, namely his "Discourse on Prayer" which is divided into one hundred and fifty three chapters, and his "Ascetic Discourse". Both of these discourses are spiritual food and drink. They nourish, quench, cool, but also sweeten the reader, as they are sweet and delicious as ambrosia, nectar and honey.

Below we will briefly comment on excerpts from the discourses of the Venerable One, which are always timely, instructive and beneficial.

- "Our opponent the devil is naked, like those running in the athletic stadium. While we who wrestle against him are not only clothed, but we carry on our shoulders a myriad of burdens giving him a lot of excuses to defeat us. For, how can one fight against the spirit of avarice who is stuck with money? How can one wrestle with naked demons dressed in a myriad of cares? ... On the path of athleticism they are bothered by the heavy thoughts of property and money. ... Let us hold our property and money in contempt... let us reject the burden and the vessel will be relieved a little."

These discourses of the Venerable One are addressed to monks, who have made the vow of landlessness, which is why they must be "naked", or free of burdensome thoughts of property and money. By analogy, however, it applies to everyone in the world since they also struggle for their salvation. Certainly, it is natural for the latter to have some money and property for the needs of their family, but this must be done with discernment and moderation, because the accumulation of many material goods, as the Venerable One emphasizes, is an obstacle to virtue. That which the venerable Nilus in fact condemns is the passion of covetousness - avarice, which makes a person hard and cruel, a slave of money and property and a plaything in the hand of the devil. Family needs must not become a pretext for covering over the passion of avarice.

One who truly loves God is not a lover of money, but is merciful and a lover of men. At this point it should be stressed that covetousness - avarice is not a privilege of the rich, since there are rich people who are lovers of God and lovers of men, just like there are poor people who are lovers of money and unmerciful and try in many and varied ways to get rich. The key is to detach the heart from the attachment and slavery of material goods and to give ourselves completely to God. Then a person is free from the tyranny of the demons, who, when acquiring sovereignty over them, operate through the passions, and literally enslave and humiliate them.

- "Do not want the things of your life to be as you want them, but as it is pleasing to God; then in your prayers you will be calm and pleased."

Many problems we face daily arise from the fact that we want to do things in our life that we want and not what God wants. That, however, which we want we cannot know if it is correct and beneficial for us, for that which is pleasing to God is for our interest and benefit, because God loves us, cares for us, each of us individually, and he wants that which is good for us. Obedience to our spiritual father, the bearer of Orthodox tradition, contributes richly towards our walking along the path of that which is pleasing to God and thus avoid the big and serious mistakes of our lives, and thus to be able to pray with peace and pleasantness.

- "If you are patient, you will pray with joy."

It is known that without patience no good can be attained in our life. Here the venerable Nilus refers to prayer and stresses that the patient man prays with joy. On the other hand, the impatient man is resentful and disappointed when they do not see the immediate results of their prayer. However, we must know that God hears our prayers and answers in due time, allowing in our lives that which helps towards our spiritual maturity and our salvation. Certainly a joyous mood strengthens prayer, but true prayer which is done with the nous and heart triggers an inner joy that is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Trust in the love of God and the striving to be obedient to His will, which means the voluntary crucifixion of the old man "with its passions and desires", causes people joy and makes them truly free.

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "ΟΣΙΟΣ ΝΕΙΛΟΣ Ο ΑΣΚΗΤΗΣ", November 2008. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Saint Menas the Great Martyr as a Model for our Lives

St. Menas the Wonderworker (Feast Day - November 11)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Menas lived in the third century during the reign of Maximian and Diocletian. His parents were pagans, but he became a Christian in his teenage years. From a young age he sought the truth, because the carnal life of idolatry could not satisfy him and he was looking for that which would fill his soul and give answers to existential questions. After fulfilling his military duty he withdrew into a deserted place, on Mount Kyateion, where he lived with fasting, abstinence and prayer for some time. He then returned back to the city and confessed Christ before the pagans, which resulted in his arrest and he became subject to horrible torture. They flayed his flesh with bristled clothes, threw him into a fire, and lastly dragged him over a rough road until his flesh was completely torn. Because he continued to live, they beheaded him and so he received the crown of martyrdom.

He received from God the gift of working miracles, and through his God-persuading intercessions he healed sicknesses of the soul and body. Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite records some of the many miracles of the Saint. One of them follows, showing clearly how God works through His saints the salvation of men, as well as how the spiritual law works.

A Christian and a Jew were inseparable friends and always trusted each other. Once, the Jew traveled and entrusted his friend with a sum of money for safekeeping until his return. But the Christian was defeated by the demon of avarice and kept the money of his friend, saying to him: "This time you didn't entrust money to me". The Jew was saddened and asked him to swear an oath in the Church of Saint Menas. Indeed, they went together to the church and the Christian swore his lies. When he came out of the church he tried to mount his horse to leave, but it became wild which resulted in him being thrown down and out of his pocket fell a key and his golden seal, without him noticing. He then climbed back on his horse and went with his friend to eat together. While they ate a servant came who was looking for the Jew, to hand over to him something he was holding. The Jew recognized his purse and the money and asked him who gave it to him. The servant responded that a brilliant young cavalry man gave it to him, who told him to give it to that Jew over there. The two friends were left to stare in amazement at each other. Then the Jew wanted to become a Christian and was baptized, while the Christian asked forgiveness from his friend and then confessed, having repented sincerely. God ordered things this way in order to correct the offender and benefit the other by his entrance into the Church.

The love of money is one of the biggest passions. Saint John of Sinai, author of The Ladder, calls it a many-headed demon and says:

Avarice, or love of money, is the worship of idols, a daughter of unbelief, an excuse for infirmities, a foreboder of old age, a harbinger of drought, a herald of hunger. The lover of money sneers at the Gospel commandments and is a willful transgressor. He who has attained to love scatters his money. But he who says that he lives for love and for money has deceived himself.

The love of money pushes a person along the dark road of lies, theft and appalling loneliness, since by this behavior he has essentially lost his friendships and communication. The miser tries to satisfy his avarice, but ultimately remains insatiable, since the more material goods he acquires, the greater is his desire to acquire more. He is hard and unmerciful and "never prays with pure prayer". In fact, he is pathetic, because "the lover of money will never be absent of rage and sorrow".

Love of money, which is born of self-love, is cured with "unwavering faith and the remembrance of death". Self-love, which is an unhealthy love for ourselves, is born of insecurity and the fear of death. When a person is above death in the limits of his personal life, through repentance and removal from the cross of Christ, by struggling to apply the will of God in their life, then they become a lover of God and a lover of man.

In the teachings of the Holy Fathers of our Church it is emphasized that avarice is not an exclusive trait of the rich, but there are poor people who are stingy just as there are rich people who are compassionate and merciful. Saint Gregory Palamas brings forward Patriarch Abraham as an example, who though he was rich, yet not only was he saved, but he became a location of the saved, because he was a lover of God and a lover of man. And Saint John of the Ladder, when speaking of avarice he refers to Job, who had plenty of material goods, saying: "In Job there was no trace of avarice; therefore, when he lost everything, he remained undisturbed."

The Saints, in being lovers of God they were lovers of men. They were friends of God, but also the best friends and protectors of those who have suffered injustice and not reciprocated their injustice, as well as all those who pray and invoke their intercessions.

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "ΑΓΙΟΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΜΑΡΤΥΣ ΜΗΝΑΣ", November 2004. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

What Would You Do If You Had More Money?

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

You will hear this kind of justification from many who pursue riches: "When I become rich, I will be able to perform good works!" Do not believe them, for they deceive both you and themselves.

St. John Climacus knew in depth the most secret motives of men's souls when he said, "The beginning of love of money is the pretext of almsgiving and the end of it is hatred of the poor" (Step 16). This is confirmed by all lovers of money, the rich or the less rich.

The average man says, "If only it were that I had money, I would carry out this and that good work!" Do not believe him. Let him not believe himself. Let him look at himself, as in a mirror, at those who have money and who are not willing to do this or that good work. That is how he would be if he acquired some money.

Again, the wise John says, "Do not say that you are collecting money for the poor; so that through and by this you give help to them, in order to gain the kingdom; remember, for two mites the kingdom was purchased" (Step 16; Luke 21:2). Truly, the Gospel widow purchased it for two mites, and the rich man, before whose gates Lazarus lay, could not purchase it for all of his countless riches. If you have nothing to give to the poor, pray to God that He will give to them and, by this, you have performed almsgiving and purchased the Heavenly Kingdom.

When St. Basil the New prophesied to the empress, the wife of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos, that she will first give birth to a daughter and then a son, the empress offered him much gold. The Saint refused it. The empress implored the name of the Holy Trinity that he should take the gold. Then, St. Basil took only three pieces of gold and gave it to the needy Theodora, who served him saying, "We do not need too much of these thorns, for they prick much."