I Am He

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...