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The Twenty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. Ho, Ho, Holiness in the Simplicity and Purity of God (Part II)

By Fr. Stelyios Muksuris Every year it seems the feast of our Lord’s Nativity in the flesh becomes more and more secularized. Atheists would advocate a humanistic approach to the festival of lights, seeking to “demythologize” the festival by stripping it of its Christocentric character. Christmas, they would claim, is about the magnanimity of the human spirit to transcend the fallen world by loving others and graciously giving to them. Any notion of a miraculous

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. Ho, Ho, Holiness in the Simplicity and Purity of God (Part I)

By Fr. Stelyios Muksuris “THINK of shepherds who are made wise, think of priests who teach, of women who are delighted, when Gabriel teaches Mary joy, when Elisabeth has inside her own womb John kicking. Anna spreads the good news, Symeon opens his arms worshiping the great God inside a little infant, without despising what they see, but glorifying the greatness of His deity. His deity is revealed like light through hymens of glass, through

The Purpose and Method of Christian Life (Part II). The Goal and Telos of Christian Life (Part II)

So, what do the terms “purity of heart” and “kingdom of God” mean? We begin with purity of heart. Abba Moses speaks at quite some length about what it is, as well as what it is not. First, we will look at what Abba Moses says about purity of heart in positive terms-what he says about what it actively is. Abba Moses connects purity of heart to a variety of other terms and concepts that

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent. Having the Right Values

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 (Epistle of Palm Sunday) I could write an entire week of reflections on this verse alone! It mentions virtues that are quickly disappearing from our world today. As we reflect on this verse today, think of the

Three Steps to Everlasting Life (Fourth Sunday of Great Lent)

By the Very Reverend Vladimir Berzonsky “For as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). On the fourth Sunday of the Great Lent the Holy Church honors the memory of St. John called Climacus, which means “The Ladder.” He’s called that because of the astounding book he

WATCHFULNESS IN HOLY SCRIPTURE (Part III)

We could say that the Lord’s entire Sermon on the Mount (18) is a neptic homily where our Theanthropic Saviour pinpoints for us the root of the passions, but at the same time He plants the root of the true spiritual life. This is where the work of watchfulness is to be found: where the finest pulsations of the heart are, the beats which move and direct everything: thoughts, words, memories, feelings, actions, and deeds.