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Reflection on Jn 14:27
Post date: 2014-11-22Autor: BCP
Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Jesus says: “…My peace I give to you; not as the world gives…” Do you want to have peace which the world cannot give? Only Jesus gives such peace. Jesus gives peace and joy in suffering and persecution to those who come to Him! He says: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest (peace) for your souls.” (Mt 11:28-29)
Patriarch Elijah’s message on the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary
Post date: 2014-11-20Autor: BCP
We celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. The Word of God says: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Jesus said the same words at the end of the Sermon on the Mount which begins with the Beatitudes and ends with the parable of two men who built a house. One man built a house on the sand and the other on the rock. Those who hear the word of God but do not keep it build on the sand. Those who hear the word and put it into practice build on the rock. This reveals the essence of the way of our salvation.
Prayer of unity and power
Post date: 2014-11-13Autor: BCP
Mk 11:23: "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."
Reflection on Jn 14:26
Post date: 2014-11-08Autor: BCP
“He will bring to your remembrance…” We can know the whole Scripture by heart, we can have a large amount of information like a computer, but that’s not essential. We need the right information at the right time, and this information may be much useful or it can even save life. We need to project it on the screen of our mind. This reviving in the spiritual sphere is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of Christ is no human philosophy or human wisdom. The words of Jesus are the Spirit and life. They are simple and call for action. It is not enough to hear them and lead religious discussions. That’s too little. We need to actualize Jesus’ commandments.
The mystery of the gift of a new nature
Post date: 2014-11-07Autor: BCP
God promised to give us a new heart and a new spirit (cf. Ezek 36:26). He performed this transplantation of heart when Jesus, dying on the cross, said: “Behold, your mother” and the disciple received her. Each of us must be a disciple standing bravely by the cross like John. It is the place where our salvation and transplantation of heart is accomplished.
Hear, O Israel! You shall love God! (Deut 6:4-5)
Post date: 2014-11-04Autor: BCP
To love God means to lose my soul for His sake. There is no other way. By losing my soul and its spiritual powers, which are infected by original sin, I will keep it for eternal life.
Reflection on Jn 14:23
Post date: 2014-10-25Autor: BCP
Jesus said these words the night before His death. These and other words, which He said before His death, are contained in chapters 13-17 of John’s Gospel. Jesus speaks about love which is necessarily connected with the keeping of His commandments. Jesus the Son of God acts as the Law-giver on His own authority. He repeats several times: “But I say to you…” Jesus does not abolish the Decalogue; on the contrary, He points out its essence. He points to the root of sin, lusts, pride, hatred, revenge. Christ makes more accurate the commandments of the Decalogue.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Post date: 2014-10-21Autor: BCP
What is it – Christ’s commandments? What the Ten Commandments are, it is clear. They are God’s laws formulated in ten clear commandments of God. And what are Christ’s commandments? Is it the same or is it something different? Nobody speaks about them, nobody emphasizes them. Nobody has taught us about them. Christ’s commandments are partly expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, then in the words of Jesus the night before His death, and in other places of the Scripture too.
The message by Patriarch Elijah on the feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God
Post date: 2014-10-14Autor: BCP
In relation to this feast, Jesus says in the Gospel: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (Lk 11:28) The first thing is to hear the word of God and the second thing is to keep it. How many obstacles there are in us and around us which prevent us from hearing the word of God, thinking about it and keeping it so that it may become incarnate in us. This word should become incarnate in us just like in the Blessed Virgin – in her the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And how did it happen? She was prepared. She lived by faith, wholly devoted to God.
Reflection on Jn 14:21
Post date: 2014-10-11Autor: BCP
True love for Jesus is connected not only with the receiving of the Word but there is also one condition: the keeping of His commandments. In fact, it means the following of Christ, which involves the loss of our soul for His sake: “Whoever loses his soul for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” If a disciple keeps Christ’s commandments, he will be loved by the Father and by Jesus, and Jesus will manifest Himself to him (see v.21). “We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (v.23) We thus become a living tabernacle like the Blessed Virgin. So the knowledge of Christ cannot be acquired through theological, philosophical or psychological studies but only through love – agape – which becomes manifest not in phrases but in the following of Christ, i.e. in the keeping of Christ’s commandments.
Victory over sin
Post date: 2014-10-03Autor: BCP
People can overcome sin neither by means of psychology, nor by modern theologies, nor by oriental meditations… The victory depends on our deep communion with Christ. The essential thing is to be in Christ Jesus, our Lord, by faith. It means that in the particular present moment I am in Him not only passively but at that moment I love Him with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength.
Practical spiritual advice /4/ - True and false repentance
Post date: 2014-09-10Autor: BCP
If I confess my sins in the light, it means that I confess them in God’s, Jesus’ presence. I cannot confess sins like Judas, for that was not in the light! That was in despair. He returned money into the temple, took a rope and went to hell. If he had fallen on his knees and said: “Lord, forgive me, I have sinned…”, we would now have St Judas. Although he was a traitor, God would have forgiven him. But he believed the devil instead of God. Jesus died for my sins however small or great they are. We must wholly trust in God’s mercy. Not to degrade God’s mercy by saying: “God is merciful, so I can sin.” That’s a deceit. Remember that God is just at the same time. I must not rely on God’s goodness, sinning. I must resist sin.
Practical spiritual advice /2/ - The assurance of forgiveness
Post date: 2014-09-05Autor: BCP
The First Epistle of John reads: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” So there is a condition: to walk in the light as He is in the light. It concerns God’s presence. There is no need of a vision or apparition; I just realize that God sees me and focus my attention on this truth.
Practical spiritual advice /1/ - So what is the truth then?
Post date: 2014-09-02Autor: BCP
What is the greatest commandment of the Old and New Testaments? To love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our strength. When did you love God in this way? You need the experience. How to get it? First of all, I need to focus my attention on God’s presence, give Him my sins, wholly trust in Him, trust in His omnipotence, and at that moment I am so closely united to God by faith and love that I am ready even to give my life for Him rather than commit a sin.
Anniversary of the jubilee renewal of baptism
Post date: 2014-07-06Autor: BCP
On Sunday, 6 July 2014, we will mark the first anniversary of the renewal of baptism in the Dnieper River in Kiev. We vividly recall the canonization of John Milic of Kromeriz, Czech preacher of repentance and prophet, by Patriarch Elijah of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate during a solemn liturgy in front of the Church of St. Sophia in Kiev on the eve of the feast of nativity of St. John the Baptist.
Three words of advice about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit
Post date: 2014-06-18Autor: BCP
Many people have been baptized and confirmed. The Holy Spirit is with them but not in them. Why? Because they were not led to turn to God with all their hearts and to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and God and the only Saviour. As far as conversion is concerned, no one can be converted instead of you, be it your father, mother, godparents, priest or bishop. Conversion allows no substitute!
Reflection on Jn 12:27-28
Post date: 2014-06-07Autor: BCP
In verse 27, Jesus speaks about His soul: “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?” And Jesus Himself answers: “But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” These words are an example for us too. In verse 26, Jesus says: “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.” Jesus did not use the word servant but slave (doulos).A slave belongs wholly to his earthly master and has no right to leave him, being his property. The earthly master can do with him anything he likes.We humans are not mere servants but slaves of sin! Sin is our master and we are its slaves. But we refuse to admit it. Who will make us free? Jesus, the Son of God, alone! He makes us free indeed.
Reflection on Jn 12:24-25
Post date: 2014-05-24Autor: BCP
The mystery of a grain of wheat is not a matter of philosophy but of the practical following of Christ. It is about renouncing our will in every-day life. One form is to give thanks for everything. Not to blaspheme or grumble in suffering but to accept it as purgatory on earth and to give thanks to God, being aware of one’s own sins.
Reflection on Jn 11:23-25
Post date: 2014-05-10Autor: BCP
The Blessed Virgin said: “How can this be?” How can impossible things become possible? And the reply was: “The Holy Spirit shall do it!” We do not need to know how but who will do it. She said: “I am the slave of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.” And Elizabeth testified: “You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.” You are blessed too if you believe God. The Holy Spirit will raise Ukraine to life. The Holy Spirit will raise up heroes of faith in Ukraine. The Holy Spirit will unmask the spirit of lies and death. The Holy Spirit will bring to life the dry bones of the Ukrainian people. How? By His divine power. Through whom? Through you. “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
Reflection on Jn 10:27-28
Post date: 2014-04-26Autor: BCP
Who is a shepherd, a bishop or priest, after the example of Christ? Which of the bishops or priests cares in the first place to feed the sheep entrusted to him with sound doctrine? Which of these shepherds is ready to give his life for the sheep? Many of them are no true shepherds but mere hirelings. Jesus emphasizes that His sheep hear His voice. They will never follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus repeats several times that He is the Good Shepherd, and knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. He gives His sheep eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of His hand.