English > UOGCC Publications
Our home is in heaven
Post date: 2016-06-03Autor: BCP
Our home is in heaven. We are mere pilgrims here, and we know neither the day nor the hour. We really need to be mindful of eternity. We will grow old, fall ill...The goal of our life is to be united to God and to live in this communion for all eternity. Eternal life begins already here on earth where God puts us to the test. The length of this test varies from life to life. These few decades of life will pass very quickly; and, moreover, they are full of suffering, disappointment... True happiness cannot be found in a career, money or pleasures. All is vanity. Everything will pass away. True happiness lies in a pure heart where God dwells. He who has received Jesus need not fear death anymore because Jesus is his Saviour to whom he gives his sins every day and Jesus forgives him again and again. And when he dies, he will just pass over to eternal joy and attain true happiness in heaven.
In heaven we will have everything the human heart desires
Post date: 2016-05-31Autor: BCP
Do we desire wealth and power? In heaven we will be heirs of God. Just think how rich our Father is and what an inheritance awaits us! All that belongs to God He will give us. He says that we shall be joint heirs with Christ. The Heavenly Father gave everything to Christ, and Jesus gave Himself to us and for us. To us who have received Him as our Saviour and are ready to endure a brief suffering or humiliation in this world for His sake He will give the crown of eternal glory. We need to know it.
Let us be dependent on Jesus alone
Post date: 2016-05-28Autor: BCP
There must be nothing to replace Jesus in our life, no other source of pleasure but Him alone who loved us from eternity and humbled Himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross, for our sake.
Let us live this day, this very moment, by faith
Post date: 2016-04-16Autor: BCP
Someone can say: “I will live a lukewarm life, which will not cost me much effort, and then I will go to purgatory.” But this is foolish. What costs pennies here on earth will cost thousands or millions in eternity. Only a fool would miss a chance to escape purgatory. We have a precious thing here on earth, which is called time. Let us redeem the time, transform it by faith.
Great Lent (video)
Post date: 2016-02-10Autor: BCP
Great Lent. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
In moments of crisis, just lift up your eyes
Post date: 2016-01-24Autor: BCP
Let us never forget the essential thing: To love God more than anyone or anything else, that means, more than our ego too! In moments of crisis you only need to lift up your eyes and to be aware that God sees you now and to bear the present pain.
Ein Leben des Sieges /german version/ (+video)
Post date: 2016-01-23Autor: BCP
Ein Leben des Sieges / + Elija Patriarch des Byzantinischen Katholischen Patriarchats
Lernt Gottes Wort auswendig! /german version/ (+video)
Post date: 2016-01-16Autor: BCP
Lernt Gottes Wort auswendig! / + Elija Patriarch des Byzantinischen Katholischen Patriarchats
Sei dir bewusst, dass du Jesus von Angesicht zu Angesicht begegnen wirst /german version/ (+video)
Post date: 2016-01-12Autor: BCP
Sei dir bewusst, dass du Jesus von Angesicht zu Angesicht begegnen wirst / + Elija Patriarch des Byzantinischen Katholischen Patriarchats
Reflection on Jn 19:28-29
Post date: 2015-09-12Autor: BCP
Jesus feels physical thirst caused by the loss of blood during the scourging and crucifixion. However, He also experiences spiritual thirst. He thirsts for the accomplishment of the work of redemption and love: “God so loved the world (you) that He gave His only begotten Son…” Jesus fervently desires to finish the work of salvation. But He also thirsts in you – He thirsts for your love, He desires you to be spiritually transformed, to be in spiritual union with Him. This is the way of following and the way of the cross. It requires daily self-denial in small matters.
Lord, let Your fire burn it up!
Post date: 2015-09-05Autor: BCP
Jesus baptizes us with fire too so that this fire will burn up all dirt of moral impurity in us. If there are some impure images in our mind, let the fire burn it up. Our eye, the inner eye, must be clear. Everything must be brought to light. We need to repent time and again. We must call a lie a lie, evil evil, just as it is. This is repentance. God will then work.
You cannot serve God and mammon
Post date: 2015-09-01Autor: BCP
What is mammon? We suppose it to be money but it is not just money. There are a lot of things which can become mammon. Mammon is all that we prefer to God whom we should love with all our heart. In other words, it is all that our heart clings to and we then serve it. We unite to it in our spirit, open ourselves to it and then we are no longer able to serve God. Mammon can be our bondage, as was the case of Mary Magdalene. Jesus delivered her from her bondage, from unclean spirits. She was a slave; her bondage was her mammon. She was unable to serve God. But Jesus delivered her.
God wants to open our eyes
Post date: 2015-08-27Autor: BCP
The most important thing in our life is to walk in the truth, i.e. to be humble. The devil is a very, very intelligent spirit. If we try to fight against the spirit of lies with logic, he deceives us. However, if we really want the Holy Spirit to lead us and to work through us, we need to stop: “Lord, I see, feel or understand it in this way but now I stand in Your light.” Jesus says: “I am the light of the world.” So if we stand in the light of God, Jesus opens our eyes as He opened the eyes of Mary Magdalene after His resurrection. She did not know Him; she supposed Him to be the gardener. Only when Jesus called her by name, her eyes were opened and she cried out: “Rabboni!”
Let us serve God
Post date: 2015-08-25Autor: BCP
Let us serve God. Yes, we are weak, but the Apostle Paul says: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Cor 12:10) I keep falling but I must repent. Let us come to God as we are, wretched and miserable. Jesus is waiting for us to give Him our weakness, our sin, because He wants to give us His forgiveness and peace.
Love for Christ
Post date: 2015-08-20Autor: BCP
What is love? It is no sentimentality. Love for Christ means to keep His commandments. It means to have a personal relationship with Christ, i.e. to be personally aware of the following truths: “You died for me. You love me. You suffered for me, You carried a cross, fell down, humbled among criminals and murderers as if You were one of them. Finally, You were crucified at Calvary. I am ready, too, to suffer or even to lay down my life for Your sake.
The spirit of the Prophet Elijah
Post date: 2015-08-08Autor: BCP
God’s almighty power is connected with obedience to the Word of God, as we can see it in the case of the prophet Elijah: I have done all these things at Your word. God sent him to the Brook Cherith, so he did go there; when God sent him to Zarephath, he did go to Zarephath; when God told him what to do on Mount Carmel, he said: Let this people know that I have done all these things at Your word! So the essence of the prophetic spirit is the obedience of faith and obedience to the Word of God. God wants us all to be prophets. He wants to speak through every one of us. We should learn, too, the obedience to God’s Word so that we may unite to the almighty power of God in a prayer of faith.
Reflection on Jn 17:24
Post date: 2015-08-01Autor: BCP
Jesus now speaks to His Father in heaven: “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me...” Who are they? The apostles and all who have believed in Christ and received Him.“...that they may be with Me...” Where? Jesus lets us into a secret: “...where I am...”. And where is Jesus? When He was praying, He was physically present in Jerusalem, in the upper room, but through prayer He was in union with His Father. Now Jesus is in glory but at the same time He is mysteriously present in all who received Him. We can live this unity in prayer, realizing the deep truth of unity with Christ, which He speaks about and emphasizes in many places. The most important thing in our life is to be with Christ!
I am strong with Jesus. He gives me the strength
Post date: 2015-07-27Autor: BCP
Evil is in us and around us. The devil exploits our weakness so that we love to hear lies and hate to hear the truth. He works through our egoism, i.e. the enemy in us who drags us to hell. Therefore we must resist original sin – the old self, and we must know that we need to fight and not make peace with it! There is no peace with sin. We must fight against it and this fight will only end 15 minutes after death. We must not make peace with sin nor accept it as a norm. We must not give up and say: “I am weak, I have no more strength!” Yes, I am weak but not so with Jesus. I am strong with Jesus. He gives me the strength!
We must learn to fight
Post date: 2015-07-13Autor: BCP
We must learn to fight in the spiritual battle. It is no good opening our hearts to impudent and unscrupulous people. It holds true: “Don’t throw your pearls to pigs!” We need the spirit of prophecy so that we may discern correctly. Spiritual battle is no showing off; it is a tough job. But what shall we fear? Illness, suffering or death – we need not fear it. God is with us always, and if we can suffer for the sake of Christ, we shall have glory in heaven. The goal is to save our souls and the souls of others – and that is the sense of mission.
Be like Abraham
Post date: 2015-07-11Autor: BCP
Be like Abraham, be men who give the first place to God. Because of Abraham, God gave His blessing to the whole generation. In these times, too, we need a community – the Church is a community. Where two or three are gathered together, there is power. If you put the divine truths into practice and embody them in your life, your word is with power.