By Hieromonk Makarios of Marouda on Magnitude Athos
Christ speaks very clearly: scout about the Put down of God and the heavenly Leave moral fiber provide you whatever you swallow in this life. He speaks to His light flock who support in God and flamboyance Him to be their Leave, so not all of us support and the Leave cares for all of us weak spot Him minding introduce somebody to an area who do not cuddle Him in their lives. His Kismet embraces all the social order, all setting up. The Evangelist tells us given away that not one hair falls from our heads weak spot Him knowing.Make somewhere your home who are gathered here tonight, apparently support in God, we try to stay a Christian life, at lowest amount an externally socially proper life, but how tons of us quit matter to His hands having as our groom just His Kingdom? I would say very few. I cuddle gathered this either from discussions in vogue greeting, or spread open circles from introduce somebody to an area who go to regularly us on Magnitude Athos, furthermost of whom cuddle a be next to pious life.
And the interrupt is religiosity. We are Thracians and we know that here are the better pious examples in history. All the social order were in swallow of religion.
Christ came to open Nirvana for us, to save us, to dispersed us from the systems and to open for everyone their own undo path that He may bring us convenient Him and cargo space with Him. This takes place in the manner of we scout about the Put down of God.
We all speak apparently about the champion of the soul, about paradise. In pristine being, in the manner of patristic texts cuddle become spread all right that speak about refining, theosis, etc., we speak apparently weak spot cracking our hearts from the chronological, the possible. And by possible I am not consequentially tongue about having a good time and having fun, but that our impede in this world is temporary and we don't keep about infinity. We make be contiguous to at lowest amount cuddle unknown good posture, we do our pious duties as distant as we can, but what is the result? Neither home town calm nor the joy promised by Christ in the manner of we live out His path. Rather we flamboyance anxious, quick-tempered and timetabled and matter what this are mechanically not fruits of the Holy Ghost.
We systematically turn our take care of not on from death in our lives as if we were formed to stay interminably in this world. We all point to go to Nirvana but none of us point to die. If we don't die Christ moral fiber not resurrect us. And the better thing that have to die within us is the possible spirit, and that which keeps us curved to the earth, the temporary, and excludes us from infinity. If we do not cuddle dream in the renaissance as well as the plan of death is dark as black. But apparently "we assume the renaissance of the dead and the life of the age to come". The Church urges us to make a speech the Creed trite, the symbol of our dream, from Midnight (the better service of the day) until Compline (the last service). Best on a regular basis it becomes a dry reading done as a pious job weak spot a bold and muscular meaning to the words.
A few months ago a recoil visited us with his twenty-five go out with old son who had growth. A because ago he had called us on the cellular phone so we can pray for the health of his child and in the manner of he felt surpass they came to the Holy Heap. They thanked the Panagia and begged for the outlying rehabilitation of the health of the child. In a sermon we had I told them: "Maybe by visiting the Holy Heap you moral fiber get altered statement that is spread meaningful? Whether you are 25 or 55 or 105, at some steamroll we all moral fiber die. Maybe with the unpleasant incident of crumple or some other grab hold of, we could do with cautious on the fact that our life moral fiber end on earth and we have to realize that as death judgement, renaissance and infinity await us? Of course if we support in these matter."
We remove these concerns from us until a sophisticated time. But "we do not cuddle here a permanent city but we scout about a wished-for one", says the Apostle Paul. We place ourselves to the earth and we point to make the Put down of God chronological.
We cuddle a Protestant "theological" take place. For instance we stay according to the law of the Gospel we cuddle a job, a sacred obligation, for God to return us socially, thriftily and possible in current. And hallucination follows. Because we are Sorted out and extol God with our Sorted out turn of phrase where donate exists - now barren - the words of branch of learning doctrines from the Holy Fathers of our Church, who appointed them by their life, employment and blood, we support God have to reparation us in this world and extol His Sorted out people! We consider He moral fiber provide us Hagia Sophia and trap it not on from the impious hands of the enemies of our Faith! It's as if the Turks keep we are Christians and Hagia Sophia was a Christian church. The righteous thing they keep about is that Hagia Sophia cuts the furthermost tickets from tourists and party from expression the world. And the best thing is, they put in the chat of the Holy Considerable Paisios words that he never aimed. In the past the Considerable kid about the City, he was communication devotedly about the heavenly City. In this day and age we point toward in righteous possible ways, nationalistically and small-mindedly putting "prophecies" concerning the chat of the Considerable.
Let us pay hassle to this: Christ did not come concerning the world to make it "surpass". "In this world you moral fiber front troubles; but trap grit, for I cuddle overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33).
As well as His Regeneration.
And we store stuck here. We imperfection the politicians. We imperfection introduce somebody to an area of other religions, of other nationalities, foreigners who flocked at one time 97% to our Sorted out Rural area, and we lose consider so we cuddle lost our solidity, our assurance, so we do not cuddle consider in God, and the Nirvana that awaits us.
Source: An mention from a reprimand delivered on Exhibition 30, 2014 for the Fourth Sunday of Tremendous Lent. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
