Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 9, 2017 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Glory to Jesus Christ! It is important to remember as we celebrate Holy Week that it is not about recreating the past. It is about taking the time at this particular moment to open our hearts and minds to Jesus as his Passion is remembered. Few of us take the time to open our hearts and minds to
The presence of God is infinite, everywhere, always, and forever. You cannot not be in the presence of God. There’s no other place to be. It is we who are not present to Presence. We’ll make any excuse to be somewhere else than right here. Right here, right now never seems enough. It actually is, but it is we who are not aware enough yet. All spiritual teaching—this is not an oversimplification—is about how to be present to the
Another old man came to see one of the Fathers, who cooked a few lentils and said to him, “Let us say a few prayers,” and the first completed the whole psalter, and the brother recited the two great prophets by heart. When morning came, the visitor went away, and they forgot the food.22 Sanctification of the monk is a state of being in which the life of the person manifests the likeness of God.
When we look within, the “I” that looks is saturated by this Vastness; when we look without, this “I” is liberated of itself by its immersion in the very Vastness that indwells it (Jn 14:10; 17:22-23), much like the sponge that is immersed in the ocean depth that fills its every membrane. When the sponge looks out, it sees only ocean; when it looks within, it sees only ocean. We are graciously immersed in Jesus’
A brother came to see Abba Theodore and started to talk and inquire about things which he himself had not tried yet. The old man said to him: “You have not found a boat or put your gear into it, and you haven’t even sailed, but you seem to have arrived in the city already. Well, do your work first; then you will come to the point you are talking about now.” ONE OF THE
© 2020 Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
