Dear Son,
Have you noticed how obsessed we have become in doing things quickly? We have express lines in supermarkets, express lanes at toll booths – you can even find restaurants with express buffets! From morning to night, we find ourselves rushing around, constantly checking our watches so that we aren’t late for our next appointment. It has rightly been said that we are all in a hurry to get nowhere!
There is one area of our lives, however, where our pace needs to slow down a bit, and that is in the practicing of our Faith. Practicing our Faith properly takes time. We cannot rush through our morning and evening prayers and expect to derive any benefit from them. There is no “Reader’s Digest” version of the Divine Liturgy and other liturgical services of our Holy Orthodox Church. Their lengthy and often repetitious hymns have been so constructed to enable us to “lay aside all earthly cares” and to transport us to a timeless place.
Nowhere is this need to “take our time” spiritually more important than when we read the Sacred Scriptures. The Bible is not a book that lends well to “speed reading!” Its holy books were written centuries ago, and they reflect the culture and values of another era. In studying the Word of God, it is imperative that we take care that we digest every verse so that we fully understand its intended message. In Psalm 119:15, it is written: “I will meditate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways.” What a perfect way to experience the Scriptures: slowly and deliberately.
It’s probably too late for us to quit “living life in the fast lane.” But it is NOT too late for us to “drive in the slow lane” as we travel the path that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Love,
Dad
Showing posts with label Dear Son. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dear Son. Show all posts
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Deeds of Love Count A Lot
Dear Son,
Although the Holy Fathers praised monasticism as the angelic state, and although many of the greatest saints lived their lives and attained perfection in the soundless and lifeless desert, nevertheless, the Orthodox Church does not recommend the tonsure to all the faithful. “Neither were all those in the desert saved nor were all those in the world lost,” said one saint. To a city dweller who, with no inclination for monasticism, desired to enter the monastery, St. Niphon said: “My child, a place neither saves nor destroys a man, but deeds save or destroy. For him who does not fulfill all the commandments of the Lord, there is no benefit from a sacred place or from a sacred rank. King Saul lived in the midst of royal luxury and he perished. King David lived in the same kind of luxury and he received a wreath. Lot lived among the lawless Sodomites and he was saved. Judas was numbered among the apostles and he went to Hades. Whoever says that it is impossible to be saved with a wife and children deceives himself. Abraham had a wife and children, 318 servants and handmaidens and much gold and silver, nevertheless, he was called the Friend of God. How many aristocrats and soldiers! How many artisans and field-workers! Be pious and be a lover of men, and you will be saved!”
Love,
Dad
Although the Holy Fathers praised monasticism as the angelic state, and although many of the greatest saints lived their lives and attained perfection in the soundless and lifeless desert, nevertheless, the Orthodox Church does not recommend the tonsure to all the faithful. “Neither were all those in the desert saved nor were all those in the world lost,” said one saint. To a city dweller who, with no inclination for monasticism, desired to enter the monastery, St. Niphon said: “My child, a place neither saves nor destroys a man, but deeds save or destroy. For him who does not fulfill all the commandments of the Lord, there is no benefit from a sacred place or from a sacred rank. King Saul lived in the midst of royal luxury and he perished. King David lived in the same kind of luxury and he received a wreath. Lot lived among the lawless Sodomites and he was saved. Judas was numbered among the apostles and he went to Hades. Whoever says that it is impossible to be saved with a wife and children deceives himself. Abraham had a wife and children, 318 servants and handmaidens and much gold and silver, nevertheless, he was called the Friend of God. How many aristocrats and soldiers! How many artisans and field-workers! Be pious and be a lover of men, and you will be saved!”
Love,
Dad
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
For The New Day
Dear Son,
One person thought she was too busy for prayer in the morning until a friend told her that she time her three-minute egg each morning by twice repeating the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm. As we shower, have or dress, we can repeat some simple prayer or Bible verse we just read, or simply abide in the Presence, longing for an even greater presence.
Evagrios, one of the desert fathers, used to say to his disciples, “May the sun, on rising, find you with a Bible in your hand.” Dr. Paul Tournier, the eminent Swiss psychiatrist writes, “One day, almost a year ago, I realized I was doing myself harm because I had begun to read the newspaper before my morning meditation, the time when God was asking me to listen to Him before listening to the world. Correcting that was simple, but it was enough to brighten again the climate of my life.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “For Christians the beginning of the day should not be burdened or oppressed with besetting concerns for the day’s work. At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it. All the darkness and distraction of the dreams of the night retreat before the clean light of Jesus Christ and his wakening Word. All unrest, all impurity, all care and anxiety flee before Him.”
Love,
Dad
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
St.Sergius
Dear Son,
A saint is not remarkable on the surface. All his riches are internal, in his soul. A peasant came a long way to the monastery to see St. Sergius. When he asked for the abbot, he was told that he was working in the garden. The peasant went off to the garden and saw a man there in poor and dirty clothing, hoeing along with the other workers. The peasant returned to the monastery dissatisfied, thinking within himself that the monks were making fun of him, and repeated, that there might be no mistake, that he wanted to see the famous holy father, Sergius. Sergius arrived back at the monastery just then, and welcomed the peasant, serving him at the table. The saint looked into the heart of his guest, and saw there the thoughts about himself. To quieten him, he told him that he would see St. Sergius if he waited a little. Just then, a prince arrived at the monastery with his nobles. Both the prince and the nobles bowed low to Sergius and asked his blessing. The monks then removed the peasant from the room to make room for the new guests, and this peasant looked with wonder from afar, and peered to see whom he had spurned the sight of one from nearby. He chided himself for his ignorance and was deeply ashamed. When the prince had departed, the peasant quickly went up to the saint, fell at his feet and asked his forgiveness. And the great saint was gentle with him, and said: “Don’t grieve, my son; you thought a true thing of me, reckoning me as nothing, while others are deluded in thinking me something great.”
Love always,
Dad
A saint is not remarkable on the surface. All his riches are internal, in his soul. A peasant came a long way to the monastery to see St. Sergius. When he asked for the abbot, he was told that he was working in the garden. The peasant went off to the garden and saw a man there in poor and dirty clothing, hoeing along with the other workers. The peasant returned to the monastery dissatisfied, thinking within himself that the monks were making fun of him, and repeated, that there might be no mistake, that he wanted to see the famous holy father, Sergius. Sergius arrived back at the monastery just then, and welcomed the peasant, serving him at the table. The saint looked into the heart of his guest, and saw there the thoughts about himself. To quieten him, he told him that he would see St. Sergius if he waited a little. Just then, a prince arrived at the monastery with his nobles. Both the prince and the nobles bowed low to Sergius and asked his blessing. The monks then removed the peasant from the room to make room for the new guests, and this peasant looked with wonder from afar, and peered to see whom he had spurned the sight of one from nearby. He chided himself for his ignorance and was deeply ashamed. When the prince had departed, the peasant quickly went up to the saint, fell at his feet and asked his forgiveness. And the great saint was gentle with him, and said: “Don’t grieve, my son; you thought a true thing of me, reckoning me as nothing, while others are deluded in thinking me something great.”
Love always,
Dad
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Reflection on Alms Giving
Dear Son,
If you give alms to the poor, know that inasmuch as you do good works for your neighbour, so much and more do you do for yourself. St. Anthony says: “Both life and death come to us from our neighbour.” St. Peter Damascene writes: “As the poor should give thanks to God and love the rich who do them good, even more should the rich give thanks to God and love the poor; for they are saved by the providence of God, both now and in the future age, because of their alms. For without the poor, they not only cannot attain the salvation of their souls, but they also cannot avoid the temptations of wealth.” Alms which are given out of vanity or with disdain are of no benefit. In earlier times, the wealthy would bring gold to the hermits and beg them to accept it. It was a rare occurrence for the hermits to accept alms gladly, and when they did, it was out of compassion for the rich. The most destitute of men received alms out of compassion!
Love you son,
Dad
If you give alms to the poor, know that inasmuch as you do good works for your neighbour, so much and more do you do for yourself. St. Anthony says: “Both life and death come to us from our neighbour.” St. Peter Damascene writes: “As the poor should give thanks to God and love the rich who do them good, even more should the rich give thanks to God and love the poor; for they are saved by the providence of God, both now and in the future age, because of their alms. For without the poor, they not only cannot attain the salvation of their souls, but they also cannot avoid the temptations of wealth.” Alms which are given out of vanity or with disdain are of no benefit. In earlier times, the wealthy would bring gold to the hermits and beg them to accept it. It was a rare occurrence for the hermits to accept alms gladly, and when they did, it was out of compassion for the rich. The most destitute of men received alms out of compassion!
Love you son,
Dad
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
He Took our Flesh
Dear Son,
Gregory Nazianzen (Gregory the Theologian) talks about Christ who took our flesh.
He took our flesh and our flesh became God, since it is united with God and forms a single entity with Him. For the higher perfection dominated, resulting in my becoming God as fully as he became man … Here below he is without a father; on high he is without a mother: both these states belong to divinity … He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, but when he rose from the tomb he laid aside the shroud … “He had no form or comeliness” (Isaiah 53:2) but on the mountain he shone with a splendour more dazzling than the sun – the foretaste of his future glory.
As man he was baptized, but as God he washed away our sins. He had no need of purification, but he wished to sanctify the waters. As man he was tempted, but as God he triumphed, and he exhorts us to be confident because he has “overcome the world” (John 16:33), He was hungry but he fed thousands and he is “The living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:51). He was thirsty, but he cried, “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink,” and he promised that believers should become springs of living water (John 7:37). He knew weariness, but he is rest for ‘All who labour and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28). He prays, but he answers prayers. He weeps, but he wipes away tears. He asked where Lazarus has been laid, for he is man: but he raised him to life, for he is God. He is sold, dirt cheap, for thirty pieces of silver, but he redeems the world, at great cost, with his own blood … He was weak and wounded, but he cures all infirmity, and all weakness. He was nailed to the wood and lifted up, but he restores us by the tree of life … He dies but he brings to life, and by his own death destroys death. He is buried, but he rises again. He descends into hell, but rescues the souls imprisoned there.
For your meditation,
Dad
Gregory Nazianzen (Gregory the Theologian) talks about Christ who took our flesh.
He took our flesh and our flesh became God, since it is united with God and forms a single entity with Him. For the higher perfection dominated, resulting in my becoming God as fully as he became man … Here below he is without a father; on high he is without a mother: both these states belong to divinity … He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, but when he rose from the tomb he laid aside the shroud … “He had no form or comeliness” (Isaiah 53:2) but on the mountain he shone with a splendour more dazzling than the sun – the foretaste of his future glory.
As man he was baptized, but as God he washed away our sins. He had no need of purification, but he wished to sanctify the waters. As man he was tempted, but as God he triumphed, and he exhorts us to be confident because he has “overcome the world” (John 16:33), He was hungry but he fed thousands and he is “The living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:51). He was thirsty, but he cried, “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink,” and he promised that believers should become springs of living water (John 7:37). He knew weariness, but he is rest for ‘All who labour and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28). He prays, but he answers prayers. He weeps, but he wipes away tears. He asked where Lazarus has been laid, for he is man: but he raised him to life, for he is God. He is sold, dirt cheap, for thirty pieces of silver, but he redeems the world, at great cost, with his own blood … He was weak and wounded, but he cures all infirmity, and all weakness. He was nailed to the wood and lifted up, but he restores us by the tree of life … He dies but he brings to life, and by his own death destroys death. He is buried, but he rises again. He descends into hell, but rescues the souls imprisoned there.
For your meditation,
Dad
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Life's Journey
Dear Son,
We read in the Book of Psalms: "Blessed is the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor follows in the way of sinners." Life has been called "way" because everything that has been created is on the way to its end.
When people are on a sea voyage, they can sleep while they are being transported without any effort of their own to their port of call. The ship brings them closer to their goal without their even knowing it. So we can be transported nearer to the end of our life without our noticing it, as time flows by unceasingly. Time passes while you are asleep. While you are awake time passes although you may not notice.
All of us have a race to run towards our appointed end. So we are all "on the way." This is how you should think of the "way." You are a traveler in this life. Everything goes past you and is left behind. You notice a flower on the way, or some grass, or a stream, or something worth looking at. You enjoy it for a moment, then pass on. Maybe you come on stones or rocks or crags or cliffs or fences, or perhaps you meet wild beasts or reptiles or thorn bushes or some other obstacles. You suffer briefly then escape. That is what life is like. Pleasures do not last but pain is not permanent either. The "way" does not belong to you nor is the present under your control. But as step succeeds step, enjoy each moment as it comes and then continue on your "way."
- Basil the Great, Commentary on Psalm 1, 4
Love,
Dad
We read in the Book of Psalms: "Blessed is the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor follows in the way of sinners." Life has been called "way" because everything that has been created is on the way to its end.
When people are on a sea voyage, they can sleep while they are being transported without any effort of their own to their port of call. The ship brings them closer to their goal without their even knowing it. So we can be transported nearer to the end of our life without our noticing it, as time flows by unceasingly. Time passes while you are asleep. While you are awake time passes although you may not notice.
All of us have a race to run towards our appointed end. So we are all "on the way." This is how you should think of the "way." You are a traveler in this life. Everything goes past you and is left behind. You notice a flower on the way, or some grass, or a stream, or something worth looking at. You enjoy it for a moment, then pass on. Maybe you come on stones or rocks or crags or cliffs or fences, or perhaps you meet wild beasts or reptiles or thorn bushes or some other obstacles. You suffer briefly then escape. That is what life is like. Pleasures do not last but pain is not permanent either. The "way" does not belong to you nor is the present under your control. But as step succeeds step, enjoy each moment as it comes and then continue on your "way."
- Basil the Great, Commentary on Psalm 1, 4
Love,
Dad
Saturday, December 4, 2010
The will of God is that all Christians be holy
Dear Son,
I’d like to share with you a homily found in my Church Bulletin. This homily is on the will of God that all Christians should be holy. Ephesians 1:4 says, ‘According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love’
The one Church teaches and demonstrates that there was first a plan for the world, and that it was then created. This plan was in the wisdom and will and power of God. And we Christians, as the Church of God, are part of this plan. God chose us, in accordance with His plan, ‘before the foundation of the world’, for holiness and righteousness in love, God called us beforehand and adopted us in Him – in whom? In the Lord Jesus Christ. For, all that we are to God we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, man has no link, no relationship, no kinship with God, and our choosing and adoption, then, is in our Lord Jesus Christ. He chose us to be His Holy Church ‘according to the good pleasure of His will’, as Israel was aforetime chosen from among all the nations on earth. Let no one say: “This choice of God’s destroys man’s free will, so that neither will Christians be rewarded for being Christian nor pagans condemned for being pagan.” No; this is an utterly mistaken interpretation, for God chose Israel aforetime, and some Israelites perished and others were saved. He has also chosen His holy Church, calling all men and nations to Himself. But who among those called will be saved does not depend upon God’s choice but on man’s will and striving.
Pray with me: O eternal God, our Creator, who didst choose us for salvation before creating us; have mercy on us and save us. To thee be glory and praise forever. Amen
Love,
Dad
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Holiness and Adversity
Dear Son,
Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct my way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one and all, just as I do to you, so that He may establish your heart blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13)
On the adversity you are facing these days … recently, I’d like to share this with you.
St. Paul complained to God about his “thorn in the flesh” - a physical ailment that bothered him to no end. He asked God to remove it, but God said, “No, Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” And we can hear Paul answering, “God did not answer my petition but He did answer me. He did not make life easier, but He did give me strength equal to life’s demands. He did not remove the nagging thorn in my flesh, but He did help me to live with the thorn and to transform it into a powerful means of grace. I know from personal experience that in everything (physical ailments included) God works together for good with them who love Him”
Love you Son,
Dad
Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct my way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one and all, just as I do to you, so that He may establish your heart blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13)
On the adversity you are facing these days … recently, I’d like to share this with you.
St. Paul complained to God about his “thorn in the flesh” - a physical ailment that bothered him to no end. He asked God to remove it, but God said, “No, Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” And we can hear Paul answering, “God did not answer my petition but He did answer me. He did not make life easier, but He did give me strength equal to life’s demands. He did not remove the nagging thorn in my flesh, but He did help me to live with the thorn and to transform it into a powerful means of grace. I know from personal experience that in everything (physical ailments included) God works together for good with them who love Him”
Love you Son,
Dad
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven
Dear Son,
We must strive to be known by our Lord Jesus Christ. For in Matthew 7:21-23, He teaches:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast our demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Again in Luke 6:46-49, the Lord teaches:
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against the house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is not based on hearing alone, nor on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ.
James 2:24 says:
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Again James 2:26 says:
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
This summary of the organic relationship of faith and works shows that only God can save. We are entirely at His mercy. Lord, have mercy on us, sinners.
Love,
Dad
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Some words to think about
Dear Son,
I know you are busy with your life. Sometimes one needs to take a short break and be nourished in other ways. Here are some articles that I'd like to pass on to you. Please take a few minutes to read and ponder. These articles are the ones that you've seen before. You can read them here again whenever.
Story : Stolen Book
Thoughts: He who gives to the poor gives to Christ
Thoughts: Peace of soul is precious to all men
Thoughts: Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek ...
Homily: The power and mission of Christ as foretold by Isaiah
Prayer: Never A King Like This
I will send you some more soon. For now I hope these will help.
Love,
Dad
I know you are busy with your life. Sometimes one needs to take a short break and be nourished in other ways. Here are some articles that I'd like to pass on to you. Please take a few minutes to read and ponder. These articles are the ones that you've seen before. You can read them here again whenever.
Story : Stolen Book
Thoughts: He who gives to the poor gives to Christ
Thoughts: Peace of soul is precious to all men
Thoughts: Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek ...
Homily: The power and mission of Christ as foretold by Isaiah
Prayer: Never A King Like This
I will send you some more soon. For now I hope these will help.
Love,
Dad
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