English > UOGCC Publications
One for all, all for one
Post date: 2016-10-12Autor: BCP
Although the four musketeers were fighters of the world, fighting in unity against evil and against church hierarchy, there was a lot of sense in their motto, if correctly understood: One for all, all for one. Jesus is the One because He has already died for us, and He wants to build this unity in us all.
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness (video)
Post date: 2016-10-11Autor: BCP
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Abraham trusted in God with all his heart (video)
Post date: 2016-10-09Autor: BCP
Abraham trusted in God with all his heart. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
The vision of restoration of Christianity in Russia and Ukraine
Post date: 2016-10-06Autor: BCP
It is necessary for the Orthodox priests to resolve to devote at least one and a half days a week to God and their souls in prayer and reflection on God’s Word. This would lead to the spiritual resurrection of all Russia and Ukraine.
He must increase in me, but I must decrease
Post date: 2016-10-01Autor: BCP
Jesus is my King, but unless my soul dies like a grain of wheat, Jesus cannot be my King, for my sin, my ego, my old self is my king then. John the Baptist calls: “He must increase in me, but I must decrease.” This is a process, the way of following Christ, seeking the kingdom of God in myself and in my brother. Then I will be able to remove the speck from my brother’s eye without hurting him. And he likewise will be able to see Christ not only in himself but in me too, and when the hour of death comes, we shall see Him not only in the light of faith but also in the light of God’s glory.
Lord, let me see!
Post date: 2016-09-27Autor: BCP
We should see Christ in our neighbour. In the parable of the Last Judgment, Jesus says the same to those who will be saved and to those who will be condemned with only a slight difference: “…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine” or “whatever you did not do”. And then He says: “you did for Me” or “you did not do for Me”. Jesus is in my neighbour, especially in my brother – he is baptized, has received Christ, wants to follow Him with a sincere heart, and even wants to sacrifice his life for His sake, and yet there is a barrier – spiritual prison. My brother does not see Christ in himself and neither do I, and what is more, I do not see Christ in me either, so there is double blindness – the two of us do not see.
God’s requirement: true fellowship
Post date: 2016-09-11Autor: BCP
A living communion with Jesus – this is the mystery of a living Church. What is necessary is fellowship, the condition of which is a living faith and willingness to repent genuinely time and again. God can give a great blessing even through our weakness, through our faith and our unity in the following of Christ. We are called to make unity (although we have completely different characters), and this true unity in Christ presupposes spiritual dying, spiritual cross and spiritual death of all members of community. This mission will then be of great benefit. A Latin proverb says: tres faciunt collegium. Three makes company. That is also why Jesus says: if two or three agree… If two agree, it is a great success, and if three agree, it is the height of success in that all the three, in order to come to an agreement, have to renounce their own visions even if these were given by God many times, just as Isaac was given to Abraham by God.
Bear one another’s burdens
Post date: 2016-09-09Autor: BCP
Our mission is to seek Jesus together, to carry our own cross and, as the Apostle Paul says: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” If we bear one another’s burdens, people will feel divine love which is founded on a living faith, self-denial, carrying one’s cross and the following of Christ. We must allow Christ to reign in our life, that it may be true: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Jesus is with us – and where are we?
Post date: 2016-09-03Autor: BCP
We must see Christ both in ourselves and in our neighbour. However, this is not possible without denying ourselves, especially our opinion of ourselves, various philosophies we were acquainted with or various views which must be put aside, because seeing Jesus in ourselves is a question of faith. But beware – this is no autosuggestion. This is reality. We can recall in a flash several times a day: “Where is Jesus in this situation?”
The problem of our character
Post date: 2016-09-01Autor: BCP
It is programmed in the nature of each of us that it is natural for us to do good things, but at the same time there is a kind of spiritual poison in our nature, a specific form of pride, blindness and negative manners which practically destroy that which is positive in us. And this is the same in all people, only the tint is slightly different in each. Behind certain natural gifts there is the poison of sin which we have inherited from Adam. It only takes different forms. It is the old self in disguise which has only one aim: It refuses to repent and to call the poison in us, that which is negative, by its proper name, and if anyone touches it, the fat is in the fire.
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them
Post date: 2016-08-26Autor: BCP
It is said: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” And then Jesus says that if two agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them. This really is the key not only to building a living Church as the basic cell but also to true unity where Jesus is in the midst and where it is necessary for both of the believers to become powerless, i.e. to deny themselves and take up their cross, and then Jesus can show His power. If we do not obey the principle of self-denial and if we refuse to carry our cross, Jesus is paralyzed.
Take up your cross – your nature and character
Post date: 2016-08-24Autor: BCP
We must take up our daily cross. This cross is in the first place our own nature and character. If someone tells us his attitude towards us, it hurts us. The problem with many beginners is that although they have received Christ, their nature, the old self, is so strong that it cannot stand criticism and use it as an incentive for true repentance. They fail to use this inner pain to look at Christ scourged, crowned with thorns and crucified or to unite their pain to His pain. The old self, on the contrary, either turns this painful wound into hatred towards the brother – this works automatically without any effort – or indulges in self-pity, which also is a false path. So we really have reason to know ourselves more and more deeply and motivation to fight against the spiritual poison in us.
The process of evangelization
Post date: 2016-08-22Autor: BCP
On the one hand, there is a need for evangelization, but on the other hand, there is a need to pray to the Lord for evangelizations to be organized in a certain rhythm, because although they bring zeal and dedication, and one can say a spiritual harvest in their climax, they are just like the exodus from Egypt. Then follows the Red Sea and the desert, i.e. a series of trials. And then the people of God came to the land of Canaan, but we see that they very quickly turned away to pagan practices again, as described in the Book of Judges, and actually in the entire history of Israel. The tendency to go back to the old way of life – paganism and the cult of the old self connected with it – continues.
Jesus obtained heaven for us with His own Blood
Post date: 2016-08-18Autor: BCP
The Divine Saviour obtained heaven for us with His own Blood. He did not need to purchase heaven for Himself but He sacrificed His life and His Blood for our sake to open the path for us to eternal happiness in heaven. He left all His rights and claims to us, His least brethren. In view of the merits of Jesus Christ, His passion and death, I may say: Heaven belongs to me.
What makes heaven heaven?
Post date: 2016-08-17Autor: BCP
The most important thing which makes heaven heaven is that we are in communion with God which will never end, or in other words, we participate in the life of God. Angels are close to God and live a perfect life. Unlike them, we share in the very life of God because Jesus became man. Becoming man, He grafted the divine life onto our nature. We who have received Christ have eternal life already on this earth. The essence of eternal life consists in receiving the divine nature, becoming joint heirs of the kingdom of God. We have been literally grafted onto Christ.
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.
We can do nothing more than seek and do His holy will
Post date: 2016-05-25Autor: BCP
We should always try to discern what the Lord wills. The process of a sincere seeking of the will of God in serious life decisions is painful but what we do according to the will of God remains forever! We need to carry His cross, to accept the cross of uncertainty, seeking and powerlessness. Such are the ways of God – it is dying in practice. But it is worth it! Life is too short and we can do nothing more than seek and do His holy will.
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.