Christ's Love
“Love flares up from understanding that the Lord doesn’t turn away from the impurity and sinfulness of man, doesn’t withdraw from our guilt, criminality, and ungodliness: He never pushes anyone away, but on the contrary, always allows approach, draws near, listens, even caresses, shows mercy, and finally, forgives everyone!” (St. Seraphim Chichagov) “Love is service. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave us a great example of this when He washed the feet of the Apostles at the M
Life and Death
“Why was the entire dispensation of history and work of Christ necessary? Could not God simply have saved humankind by fiat?...The solution God has provided is to heal our nature from the inside out. By joining His divine, eternal life to human flesh, Jesus Christ has overcome the power of death; hence mortality will be abandoned in the grave when the universal resurrection dawns. If this explanation is not sufficient for the inquirer, ‘Say something like this to reasonable p
Words/Speech
“Words have something of a sacramental relationship with the reality they represent. Or, to be more precise, they have an iconic...
Dangerous Pride
“…pride is stupidity. Why? Because how can we be proud when everything we have is not ours? How can I be proud of my appearance if God...
Self-Denial
“Deny yourself…Adam, also denied himself when he fell into sin, but he denied his real and true self. When the Lord now requires that...
Forgiveness
“Christ seeks to examine within the heart of each believer. Have we embraced forgiveness of others truly? Have we embraced it in the same...
Peace
“Christ then appears through shut doors in the midst of them and tells them one thing: ‘Peace be with you.’ For these to be the first...
Sacrifice
“The rejection of egotism, that is, the ability to sacrifice your own interests for the sake of another, is an important and highly...
Money
“God needs a place in our hearts, to grab a hold of something in a man’s soul. Then the man can be helped. But if his heart and soul are...
Repentance
“What were God’s first words, having become man, in His peaching? ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ There are no hopeless...