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Topic of the Week – Watch!

Stand fast on spiritual watch, because you don’t know when the Lord will call you to Himself.

In your earthly life be ready at any moment to give Him an account.

Beware that the enemy does not catch you in his nets, that he does not deceive you causing you to fall into temptation.

Daily examine your conscience, try the purity of your thoughts, your intentions.

Saint John Maximovitch

Adult/Family:

“Archbishop Averky (Taushev) of blessed memory was and is a firm and unabashed patristic voice… This holy man, beholding the events around him in the Spirit of Truth and looking ahead with deep prophetic visions, speaks words that are ever so fitting for our times. I hope that his inspired words will encourage your hearts to hold fast to Truth. May the wisdom he offers help us to navigate the situations and events of our day. May his holy intercessions strengthen us in the path of True Orthodoxy.

“See that Ye Walk Circumspectly” (Ephesians 5:15)… It is especially important for us “last Christians” living all over the whole world in the present twentieth century to remember this warning. At this time anyone who wishes to remain faithful to Christ the Savior and be a true Christian is surrounded on all sides by an infinite multitude of all possible sorts of temptations and trials… which are at times hard to discern, but which are especially dangerous and destructive.

The whole history of mankind… is nothing but the devil’s intense struggle, through people who have willingly or unwillingly submitted themselves to him, against true faith in Christ…

…if we are not spiritually blinded by these “ministers of Satan” and do not ourselves wittingly or unwittingly serve Satan, then by knowing this essential fact of the history of the world we can with relative ease make sense of what is currently happening and not be drawn into that terrible struggle “to the [spiritual] death” which is is being carried on in our times with special intensity and bitterness against our Lord and Savior and all His faithful servants and sincere followers.

But woe to those who remain blind and do not see anything or who, blinded by serving their own sinful passions, are so distracted by them that they simply do not want to see anything!

But the “ministers of Satan”… make use of this spiritual blindness of the majority of modern people and stubbornly and insistently do their work with genuinely satanic energy. With special efforts and with all available means, with the aid of all the resources under their control, they bind forcibly to themselves adepts who are wittingly or unwittingly, willingly, or unwillingly, cooperating with them in creating in the world circumstances and conditions appropriate for the very near appearance of the Antichrist as the ruler of the whole world and the master of all mankind.

How is this being done?….. “

To find out how and why it is being done, read the entire blog article See That Ye Walk Circumspectly

Preschool:

Elementary School:

 

“If we make every effort to avoid death of the body, still more should it be our endeavor to avoid death of the soul. There is no obstacle for a man who wants to be saved other than negligence and laziness of soul.

+ St. Anthony the Great, “On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life: One Hundred and Seventy Texts,” Text 45, The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 1)

 

Much of the time we are concerned with our bodily health but how often do we think about our soul? How would we bring about the death of our own soul? How are we able to assure that our souls will be saved?

Middle School:

“There was a king who had a wicked son. Having no hope that he would change for the better, the father condemned the son to death. He gave him a month to prepare.

The month went by, and the father summoned the son. To his surprise he saw that the young man was noticeably changed: his face was thin and drawn, and his whole body looked as if it had suffered.

“How is it that such a transformation has come over you, my son?” the father asked.

“My father and my lord,” replied the son, “how could I not change when each passing day brought me closer to death?”

“Good, my son,” remarked the king. “Since you have evidently come to your senses, I shall pardon you. However, you must maintain this vigilant disposition of soul for the rest of your life.”

“Father,” replied the son, “that’s impossible. How can I withstand the countless seductions and temptations?”

Then the king ordered that a vessel be brought, full of oil, and he told his son: “Take this vessel and carry it along all the streets of the city. Following you will be two soldiers with sharp swords. If you spill so much as a single drop they will cut off your head.”

The son obeyed. With light, careful steps, he walked along all the streets, the soldiers accompanying him, and he did not spill a drop.

When he returned to the castle, the father asked, “My son, what did you see as you were walking through the city?”

“I saw nothing.”

“What do you mean, ‘nothing’?” said the king.

“Today is a holiday; you must have seen the booths with all kinds of trinkets, many carriages, people animals…”

“I didn’t notice any of that,” said the son. “All my attention was focused on the oil in the vessel. I was afraid to spill a drop and thereby lose my life.”

“Quite right, my son,” said the king. “Keep this lesson in mind for the rest of your life. Be as vigilant over your soul as you were today over the oil in the vessel. Turn your thoughts away from what will soon pass away, and keep them focused on what is eternal. You will be followed not by armed soldiers but by death to which we are brought closer by every day. Be very careful to guard your soul from all ruinous temptations.”

The son obeyed his father, and lived happily….”

 

Read the entire article here:  WATCH! by St. John Maximovitch

What is the advice the king gave his son? How can we follow this advice in our own lives?

High School:

“…Watch, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. (I Corinthians 16:13).

The Apostle gives Christians this important counsel to bring their attention to the danger of this world, to summon them to frequent examination of their hearts, because without this one can easily bring to ruin the purity and ardor of one’s faith and unnoticeably cross over to the side of evil and faithlessness.

Just as a basic concern is to be careful of anything that might be harmful to our physical health, so our spiritual concern should watch out for anything that might harm our spiritual life and the work of faith and salvation.

Therefore, carefully and attentively assess your inner impulses: are they from God or from the spirit of evil? Beware of temptations from this world and from worldly people; beware of hidden inner temptations which come from the spirit of indifference and carelessness in prayer, from the waning of Christian love.

If we turn our attention to our mind, we notice a torrent of successive thoughts and ideas. This torrent is uninterrupted; it is racing everywhere and at all times: at home, in church, at work, when we read, when we converse. It is usually called thinking, writes Bishop Theophan the Recluse, but in fact it is a disturbance of the mind, a scattering, a lack of concentration and attention. The same happens with the heart. Have you ever observed the life of the heart? Try it even for a short time and see what you find. Something unpleasant happens, and you get irritated; some misfortune occurs, and you pity yourself; you see someone whom you dislike, and animosity wells up within you; you meet one of your equals who has now outdistanced you on the social scale, and you begin to envy him; you think of your talents and capabilities, and you begin to grow proud… All this is rottenness: vainglory, carnal desire, gluttony, laziness, malice-one on top of the other, they destroy the heart. And all of this can pass through the heart in a matter of minutes. For this reason one ascetic, who was extremely attentive to himself, was quite right in saying that “man’s heart is filled with poisonous serpents. Only the hearts of saints are free from these serpents, the passions.”

But such freedom is attained only through a long and difficult process of self-knowledge, working on oneself and being vigilant towards one’s inner life, i.e., the soul.

Be careful. Watch out for your soul! Turn your thoughts away from what will soon pass away and turn them towards what is eternal. Here you will find the happiness that your soul seeks, that your heart thirsts for.”

Read the entire article here: WATCH! by St. John Maximovitch

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