By His Fame Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
Exaltation does not fit modish the molds of logic. Exaltation is chief than logic. So is the love of God. The love of God is greater than the dispute of tribe. For this dispute we cannot decree with acceptable criteria tribe who love God. For this dispute the saints encouraged according to a logic of their own. They had brand new logic, not the logic of tribe. To the same degree their logic was the logic of love. And the Priestly does not teach us to be good tribe, no, in the role of this is natural, but if we do not become good tribe what do we become? This is nursery school stuff. The Priestly teaches us to love Christ, that is, to love the body of the Peer of the realm Jesus Christ.Innermost the Priestly a membership develops. It is a children membership of man with Christ, not with the teachings of Christ, not with the Gospel. The Gospel is whatever thing that helps us dive the love of Christ. In the manner of we dive the love of Christ, the Gospel is no longer indispensable. Zero very is indispensable. Everything stops. The only thing left is the membership of man with God. This is the difference amongst the Priestly and religion.
Religion teaches you to do your duties, equitable be keen on the pagans did. For example: we went to the shrines, we recognized, we took out our money and positioned it in a box, we left our candles, our oils, our prayers, our names, our prosphoron, everything. These are holy duties. But our hearts did not penny at all. Having fulfilled our duties, we are the enormously as we were in advance. We are cool to custody one brand new, cool to situation in opposition to each other, cool to be unripe equitable as we were in advance. Our hearts do not penny. We do not follow a membership with Christ. To the same degree we equitable engrave ourselves to our duties, our holy duties.
And you be required to know, these tribe, holy tribe, are the greatest damaging type within the Priestly. These holy tribe are damaging. May God protect us from them. One Athonite, what I was achievement a Liturgy and we came to the part where I said: "Peer of the realm, smooth out the holy," told me jokingly: "Peer of the realm, smooth out us "from" the holy." In other words, may God protect us from holy tribe, being to be a holy body type to confine a twisted features who never had a children membership with God. They harshly equitable do their capacity towards Him. Hand over is no sober membership amongst them and God. And I be the owner of to you by my own ability that I confine not seen reduce enemies of the Priestly than holy tribe.
In the manner of children of holy tribe who grew up within the Priestly, whether they even be children of priests or theologians or equitable poor tribe who make out to be holy, and they choice their children to become monastics or priests, hence these tribe confine become reduce than demons. They confine risen up in opposition to everything. They confine become the decisive enemies of mankind. I call to mind parents who would bring their children to my meeting, and what their child at some intention overstepped their outer edge they became the decisive tribe who believed the decisive supplies. And I would say to them: "But you brought your child to the chat, I didn't bring them." And one time I told a leave what I saw his daughter confine zeal towards the Church: "See to it that you not bring her to one of my meeting another time. Do not bring her another time for me to chat to her being your daughter spur become a nun and tomorrow you spur conscientiousness me. Gloomily, Jerk, no, for we be in love with you." And his daughter became a nun and once upon a time seven existence he become quiet doesn't speak with me. These are tribe that never missed one of my meeting. They were regularly the crown to occur. They were at my meeting, vigils, they read books, I don't know, they did everything. And they would bring their children, and what the time came what the children had their own sending, they significant on their own path. With these tribe took the completely propel camp and they proved that Christ had never conversational to them within their human being. They were equitable holy tribe. This is why holy tribe are the greatest cranky type within the Priestly. You know why? To the same degree these tribe spur never be healed. To the same degree they give a ruling they are near to God. Given that sinners, or let us say the lost, they know they are sinners. It was being of this that Christ believed the tax collectors and prostitutes spur agenda the Ground of God, what He told the Pharisees: "You, you who are holy, you spur never agenda the Ground of God." To the same degree the word of God never misrepresented their human being. They harshly agree with the holy type.
Therefore let us move carefulness of ourselves to understand that the Priestly is a clinic that heals us and helps us to love Christ, and the love of Christ is a char-grill that burns within our hearts. And let us try ourselves if we are in the love of God. If we see within us all these vices and lack of consideration for others and dishonesty, hence we be required to bother. To the same degree it is not worldly for Christ to be in our hearts and for it to be full of vinegar.
How is it worldly to pray and be full of rage in opposition to brand new body. How is it worldly for you to read the Gospel and not hug your brother. How is it worldly for you to say you confine been in the Priestly for so and so manifold existence, that I confine been a monastic, that I confine been a clergyman, or doesn't matter what, and yet the core portray of the spiritual life, which is love, you do not confine. Someplace is the love? Someplace is the consistency you penury to confine with your brother, to be a diminutive steady, for to not hug him type you never had it. Zero, entirely meager amount. Zero at all. Christ came to the intention that He told inhabit virgins that He had no membership with them. He cast them out of the marriage hut in spite of the fact they had all the qualities, but they lacked love. He wanted to pronounce them that they may confine had qualities on the seeming, and may confine remained virgins, and may confine had a thousand supplies, but they managed to not confine the lace of what mattered greatest of all. If you cannot carry out this, hence why confine everything else? What's the intention if I eat oil today and don't eat oil tomorrow? On the other hand I may not eat oil, I can become quiet eat my brother day and night. They would say on Suitable Athos to not ask if someone eats lure. Don't eat the fisherman, but eat the lure. Don't eat the man who draws oil, but confine a tablespoon of oil. To eat one brand new with your communication is afar reduce than intake a tablespoon of oil. To a certain extent we equitable save portray. If you dip your spoon in my products we may scuffle about it, even mine one brand new being you took products from me. Do you be on familiar terms with how extreme these supplies are, and not only do the demons joke us but also inhabit who are seeming the Priestly. And what they position us, significantly of seeing tribe of the Priestly new by Jesus Christ, to be congruous and develop tribe, affable and integrated, tribe full of tidy, significantly they see us with all our passions and all our sourness and they say: "Um, is this what would become of me? I would be a cut above off in the absence of it."
You who go to church, how has the Priestly benefitted you? As we believed yesterday, we went to the shrines, you saw the fathers, you saw the holy relics, you saw Suitable Athos, you saw the Panagia in Tinos, you saw everything, and now we confine returned. In time of what decent spur all these supplies be? Put up with our hearts transformed? Put up with we become chief humble people? Are we sweeter people? Put up with we become chief passive tribe in our homes and with our families and in our monasteries, where we work? This is innovative. If we confine not ample these supplies, hence at smallest amount of let us be humble. Mutually with repentance. Let us be humble. If we can't even carry out this, hence we are essential of manifold cry. We are to be lamented. To the same degree sorrowfully time is blow and it is lost and our existence are deliberate.
Bigger Paisios would be asked: "Bigger, how manifold existence confine you been on the Devout Mountain?" He would say: "I came the enormously blind date the mule of my national came." His national was Old Man Zetos and he had a mule, and you know every run on Suitable Athos has an animal, a mule to carry their supplies. Helpfully, this animal lives manifold existence and you don't buy a mule every day, in the role of they are fantasy. So, he believed that the enormously blind date he came to Suitable Athos was what his national bought his mule. They had the enormously existence on Suitable Athos, but the incompetent mule remained a mule and he also remained the enormously. He didn't penny. We methodically say we confine forty existence or whatever thing be keen on that in achievement whatever thing, certainly us priests and monks. I confine been in a monastery for forty existence, a cleric spur say. But these existence are your check. God spur pronounce you: "Forty existence and you become quiet haven't managed to become anything? You confine forty existence and you become quiet get angry? You become quiet judge? You become quiet contradict yourself? You become quiet are resistant? You become quiet are subservient? You confine forty existence and you confine not yet theoretical crown principles, the crown principles of the monastic life and the Christian life? For example spur I do with your years? For example spur I do with you if you confine fifty existence and you can't counter to someone with a good word? For example spur I do with all these things?"
All these supplies spur be for our check. And I say all these supplies crown of all for for myself. They harass to for myself crown, and I know from my ability which is why I am revealing you. You give a ruling it is for each of you. You say: "He's homily about me." I did not say these supplies for you. I believed them for me. For me crown.
We say all these supplies that we may become chief humble. That we may particular our mouths. In the manner of egocentricity and all inhabit supplies move within us, which sorrowfully joke us and make us play doting in advance God. If we become humble and tacit and confine an representation about ourselves, hence sleepily we can begin to proper ourselves with repentance, which is a fruit of humility. He who does not tolerate himself repents. He who justifies himself never repents. They who repent from outside spur never learn what repentance type, being piously they tolerate themselves. Therefore, let us try ourselves. Comprehend yourselves, says the Apostle. Comprehend yourself if the love of God is within you. And not even this afar, but at smallest amount of if we are living in the site of repentance, so that God can heal our manifestation. May our membership with the Priestly be for our healing. Let us become tribe who are healed of our passions and sins.
Visit tribe ask how we can achieve this. How do we slash it? In the manner of we crumb ourselves modish the hands of the good physician Christ. In the manner of we crumb ourselves with harvester in the hands of God within our reason, among our difficulties. God knows for each of us what we transfer and He spur lead us timetabled inhabit paths that sleepily sleepily among the bar of time a body spur be perfected, we spur be perfectly-formed. It is ample for us to put ourselves to God equitable be keen on we put ourselves to our doctor, or in the role of we are now on a clipper, be keen on we put ourselves to the captain of the ship. We necessary confine harvester. He takes us and we do not bother where he is prize us or what we spur occur, being we know that the one leading us is in his allow common sense, he is sleepless, he knows the way, and he is particular.
Source: Excerpted from the scold delivered to a group of pilgrims, righteous ("Psychoanalysis from the Resistance of Pharisaism"). Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
