~Fr. Andreas Agathokleous 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
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous Amid the turbulence of our life, the deafening noise surrounding us, the long and pointless conversations on the telephone or in person, the stress and uncertainty regarding the state of the world today and tomorrow, the Church offers us the period of time of Great Lent. What meaning can this period, beginning with Monday in the first week and lasting until Great Saturday, have for all of us who live the modern
~Fr. Andreas Agathokleous Every person’s history comprises various phases, some pleasant, others not so. When we reflect on them, it may be that we’d rather some of them hadn’t happened and that, if we were able, we’d alter them. And yet they all contribute to our spiritual development and maturity. They’ve all given us something without which we wouldn’t be who we are and wouldn’t have our own story. It’s been said that our life
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous The notion that the Church has laws for all people and all circumstances appears not to be the case in practice. Moreover, such an idea would negate the uniqueness of the person and would amalgamate all people together, which would contravene God’s plan. When John the Baptist preached his message of rebuke, he roused the souls of the crowds who came to him to be baptized and asked him: ‘What shall we
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous People today have a real need to speak and to be heard. When the most profound experiences are shared, the pleasant ones are intensified and the unpleasant ones are alleviated but only when those who are listening ‘listen with their heart’. If you’re going to listen with your heart, you have to be interested in the other person, have real love and humility. In other words, you have to be in a
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous It’s not easy to look at the world. You have to step back a bit, as you would with a painting. Not too far, though, because then you lose the relationship, you don’t hear the messages, the words of its silence. The world’s characterized by noise, bustle, cares and not insignificant problems. You can’t see everything. It’s impossible to know everything. You can just guess at it, looking through your own microscope.
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous It would seem that human behavior isn’t merely strange, but also unpredictable. It can’t easily be gauged and at times it’s surprising, inasmuch as it’s strange, weird and unnatural. Is it not natural for the beneficiary to feel gratitude and to want, as far as possible and to the extent of their ability, to repay the benefaction? And yet, exactly the opposite might be the case. In the book Wonderful events and advice
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous Amid the turbulence of our life, the deafening noise surrounding us, the long and pointless conversations on the telephone or in person, the stress and uncertainty regarding the state of the world today and tomorrow, the Church offers us the period of time of Great Lent. What meaning can this period, beginning with Monday in the first week and lasting until Great Saturday, have for all of us who live the modern
~By Fr. Andreas Agathokleous The Feast of the Annunciation lends a pre-Paschal feeling to Great Lent, during which it always falls. The atmosphere of compunction recedes and gives way to the joy of the great feast. This is why we have a dispensation to eat fish. The hymns, the celebrations and all the other things associated with a Feast of the Mother of God dispel the spirit of mourning of Lent and offer us the
~By Fr. Andreas Agathokleous I don’t know if, in other eras, people experienced confusion regarding words, that is, that they said one thing and meant another. Despite the great achievements of scientific progress, technological development, the shrinking of distances, and tremendous communications, I think that, in our own age there’s the following particular contradiction: although we’re always waxing lyrical about love (in songs, poetry and prose), in reality we don’t know what it is, because,
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