I Am He

Inner Life and the Life of Celebrity  During the last period of time I was watching the media and how they make heroes out of people and I thought about the real heroes who are hidden and nobody knows about them. Many people started to be driven to have their status or update their photos, to cope with this celebrity life. What concerns me is that when we do this, we are killing inside all of us the power to be a hero. We have started to perceive the heroic action only as the media displays it. But, my beloved, you, as you are, are a hero. You have inside you the power to change the world around you. Here I cannot do anything except to give respect to the Mahatma Ghandi when he said “be the change that you want to see in the world.” Remember my beloved how many times you were a real bright change to yourself and to the people around you. The life of celebrity is your life, it is about you and you are the hero not anybody else. Find the hero inside you . Forgive me for t...

Whose Reality Counts? (With all respect to my Professor Robert Chambers who titled one of his books as the title for this post) [i] It is very hard when you meet with people who are defeated by the devil’s power, people who seek the division of their houses. A husband married to a very beautiful woman leaves her to be attached to another one and leave his children behind him. A family whose main concern is to abuse the system and get the maximum benefit even if they do not deserve it. Parents who know nothing about their kids, children who hate their parents etc. The result of all this? Tears, broken hearts,  injuries, hurt, anger, hatred, psychological stress … the list goes on. Why does this happen? The answer is the ABSENCE OF GOD. I remember one time my professor said to me, “You know those simple villagers who wear a robe (galapia) and returns to their homes, sitting on benches and smelling the fresh air of the farm land, his wife preparing tea for him and his ki...

A Homily of our Father Abba Shenouda the Archimandrite may his blessings be with us. Amen. Let me inform you of two matters. Those for whom the heaven rejoiced for because of their repentance on earth will not suffer sadness or pain in the pace they are destined to inherit. As for those whom heavens did not rejoice for because they did not atone for their sins and did not repent for their inequities on earth, they will find neither joy nor comfort in that place. Because those who revel in pleasures and delights will enjoy neither happiness nor comfort in Heaven. Have you not heard his saying “Blessed are those who mourn because they shall be comforted.” Also those who do not rejoice on earth shall rejoice in heavens or have not you read, “Woe to you who laugh now for you shall weep and mourn. “Isn’t this the time when the meek is vested with power. And he who is not strong will say “I am strong” when he yields his heart to the written Word. As the prophet says, “Many are t...

Do not label me Labeling is a crippling method which brings no benefit to our lives, especially our spiritual lives and growth. I have heard brothers and sisters who say, “we just do not read this author,” or “we do not even listen to this person’s sermons,” or, in other words, we have blocked this channel from our receivers (our minds). Labeling, my beloved, is a grave action that harms yourself, not others. I want you to review in your mind, how many people you labeled, only to discover your label was completely incorrect. One lady asked a priest known by his seriousness, “are you Fr. Abd El Masieh?” He said “yes I am.” The woman continued saying, “No way, it must be wrong. A long time ago I was on my way to attending this church, but someone met me and said never go to this church, you will hate your life, but today I was in heaven in this liturgy.” Another story I just read was narrated by Fr. Tadros Malaty. He said that a priest was sent to one church to pray the...

Holies for those who want to be holy (part 3 of many) Sexual temptations are curable, even if you think they are not. The consistent spiritual advice in our church through the ages is to focus on God's grace more than focusing on the sin. This shift in thinking is the key answer to how you can overcome these temptations. See if you talk about the sin more than talking about how God is accepting and uplifting you and helping you to add to the edification of the church. There is a famous story narrated by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware [i] concerning this monk who was asked what does he do in the monastery? He answered, "I am falling and rising up."   Our life is a wave of falling and rising up by the God of resurrection. The great saint of the Russian Church St. Seraphim of Sarov [ii]  used to greet people regularly by saying "Christ is Risen." How powerful is that? Flee from the situation that motivates you to sin; scatter your thoughts as St. Anto...

Holies are given for the people who want to be holy (Part 2 of many) My beloved who is tempted by different kind of sexual temptations, for you I am writing. Who is church for? Church is for YOU, as I am sure you want to be holy even if you are not now. The tips I am going to share with you are from your brothers and sisters who overcame sexual temptations over time. First, Thank God every time you fall, as he came for you and for you he is giving His Body and Blood. Remember the story of the monk who was asked by someone, “What are you doing in the monastery?” The monk replied “I fall and rise up.” Yes, he falls and God (Christ is risen) raises him up. Another tip is to start to inject in your mind words of blessing, so they can purify the scenes, words which are not for the sons and daughters of light. The third tip to consider is to decorate your room with the saying of saints, like the famous saying of St. Moses the Great: “Repentance turns adulterers and adulteresse...

Holies for the Holy   (part 1 of many)  I will start to talk more openly about issues I have been hearing about lately in an attempt to tackle them as faithfully as I can with my poor knowledge. Youth who are tempted by sexual temptations in all its different shapes and ranks, when they come to the church and see sermon-level people behaving well (the people who know how to raise up their hands high enough to reach heaven, who close their eyes while they are praying, who beat their chest)--these tempted youth just reach a point where they would say to themselves, "you know what buddies, it is not for us to be here." They would go away without return. My beloved if these sermon-level people were holy enough they would contain you in their heart. They cannot be holy if they do not seek YOUR salvation. They cannot be real holy creatures without YOU. Holiness is the unity of the church with ALL its members, the healthy and the unhealthy. No matter where you...

HIM   (Part 2 of 3)  Fr. Lev Gillette ( http://orthodoxwiki.org/Lev_Gillet) visited Egypt once. My senior priest Fr. Athanasius Farag narrated this story about him: His Grace Bishop Moussa, Bishop of Youth, and Fr. Athanasius were in charge of preparing his schedule, so one time Bishop Moussa was showing   Fr. Gillette the schedule, and he did not comment or say a word, so Bishop Moussa thought that he was upset about the schedule or agenda of that day. So Bishop Moussa asked him, "how does this agenda sound? Do you have any changes?" Here Fr. Lev looked deeply and said to Bishop Moussa: "I trained myself to speak ONLY to Him and about Him." Who is He? Are we trained to do the same? Some of Fr. Lev Gillette's books: The Jesus Prayer http://www.amazon.com/The-Jesus-Prayer-Lev-Gillet/dp/0881410136 In Thy Presence http://www.amazon.com/Thy-Presence-Lev-Gillet/dp/0913836346/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345087458&sr=1-3&keyword...

R U following me or following HIM? I see many of us these days running after famous persons, priests and bishops, etc. This reminds me of John chapter 6:51, when Jesus talked about His body and Blood not in a representative form but in reality: “ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” We read in the same chapter that “ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more,” as they said,“This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” (John 6:60).  Are you following the person, or Christ who is in the person? How much time you spend, my beloved, running after this person, listening to him or her, following from place to place, organize your day around this person, regardless of whether  you have time to sit in your room and talk to Christ, who is in that person and who is in you too? Faithful i...

Bowing from the waist or from the knees? (part 1/3)  I read this story in the humorous book by Fr Joseph Huneycutt,  “We Came, We Saw, We Converted: The Lighter Side of Orthodoxy in America.”  (https://www.conciliarpress.com/products/We-Came%2C-We-Saw%2C-We-Converted.html).  T here was a debate in one of the churches about how to worship God. As the title shows, the two teams quarreled with each other, almost becoming physical in their fight, and at the end they decided to go to Elder Hermit Sosimas. When they revealed their argument,  “Holy father, as you see , during   the holy season of   Lent, we have almost come to blows, our parish is being rent at the seams, we are at war with each other. Tell us, what is the ancient way of the Church?” The elder looked at them with tears streaming down his face, his heart aching, and said, “ But, my dear children, this is the ancient way of the Church!”  So quarreling also was in the ancient ch...

Part 3 "Therefore, do not say that the Lord’s commandments are difficult. For if it was difficult, the Lord would not command us to do it. How can He command us to do something which cannot be carried out? God cannot command us to do the impossible. He gives the commandment, no matter how difficult it seems, and at the same time He gives the capability for its execution. He gives the commandment and with it He gives grace. The Holy Spirit works within the heart in order to qualify it for work, and participates with it in the work. Otherwise no one would have been capable to overcome Satan, who is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)." From the Book of HH Pope Shenouda "Life of Repentance and Purity "

“I will not open up to you as I am satisfied with my life like this, without your advice.” Part 2 My beloved, I say to you, how do you measure your satisfaction? Is it momentary or is it something that can secure a good future for you? Is it “just live your life now and do not worry about tomorrow”? What kind of satisfaction are you referring to? “Okay Father, do you believe that I can enjoy a harsh life of prayers, fasting and repentance? This is a huge burden for me, and now I am happy without you.” My beloved, or my happiness in Christ as St. Seraphim of Sarov used to call the people, it is a harsh not lovely life, I cannot deny this – but only if you try to do it on your own. But this is not the truth, do not fool yourself. Without God’s Grace we cannot love what we are doing. Do you want to tell me that the youth who are living among us and who overcome temptations   do it out of force? No, they definitely do it out of love. So the key is in God’s Grace if you wan...

To my sisters and brothers who refuse to meet me, part 1 I knocked your door and waited for you to come out so we can sit together, but you did not open to me. I heard your cough and you heard my voice so our voices met but our faces did not. I was praying deeply to meet you. I knew what was on your mind: "Here this black dressed priest came back. He's going to ask why I didn't come to church, why I didn't come to Sunday School, why I didn't confess. I am just satisfied the way I am man, leave me alone. I don't want to see you." Oh... I will never ask you questions my sister or brother. I will listen to you. I am following the words of my master St. John Chrysostom, who said, "Who would leave a bag of diamonds in the street -- how about the soul of your brother and sister? It is more precious than a bag of diamonds." That is why I am knocking at your door. Not to "blame and shame" you, as my professor Olga at the Coady Institute ta...

Dear Servant, Are you helping by being a brick to build the church or a brake to slow the church down? When I trust you to help the building up of the church, I do it as God delegated responsibilities to his disciples and so on. If you take the responsibility, either be honest, or say I cannot do it, or ask how to do it. But if you take the responsibility, but do not want to listen and learn, this harms our one body in Christ. Are you helping Jesus Christ ? In what way?

To you I am writing, My Sisters and brothers are away from God’s Divine love because of …….(people who think they are Christian but they are not). If you are one of those who hate to meet with a priest like me wearing black, or talking to people who stay two hours Sundays mornings in a different address than your home one (i.e. Park Ave, or any address of any church)… If you are one of those , I ask you to sit with yourself and think again, if you felt your presence in the church has no value, it is not your fault; it might be my fault or others who use the microphone. My beloved, without you the body of Christ is lacking one member, if our church was keen that the ill people should receive the Holy Communion after Sunday Liturgy, that is because even if this person is ill but he is part of Christ’s body, without him or her we cannot be united as a Church, that is why the Church delivers the Sacrament to the houses and hospitals. You might have seen in your life many ...