Vol: 8 Issue: 12
Kiahk 1731 / Dec 2014
What Shall I Do To Inherit Eternal Life? By: H.H. Pope Tawadrous The Lord was asked this question by the young rich man who was beloved and respected, the Lord “looking at him, loved him’’ (Mark 10:21). He was also religious and a leader in the Jewish community. He was also polite approaching the Lord kneeling gently and meekly. Most importantly he was seeking the kingdom of heaven diligently, longing to keep all the commandments. The issue here is about money which of course is a gift from God however, it could be a deadly trap that the devil can use, either by its abundance or its scarcity, to enslave people. Money is mentioned in the bible 2000 times! The most popular time is when the Lord said “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and mammon’’ (Matthew 6:24). Many people may struggle with the same problem in their spiritual life, they wish to only keep part of the commandments or part of the bible. The Lord says ’’No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old and no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled and the wineskins will be ruined (Luke 5:36-38) We note that the young rich man was actually worshiping the inner idol, ‘‘the love of money which is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim 6:10). Theoretically speaking he knew the commandments however he did not keep them or live by them. He ought to have had a heavenly treasure not an earthly one, thinking that being rich is an indicator on how much God is pleased with Him. He was not following the good Sheperd and simply was worried about his future. Through this worry he broke the first commandment “you shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). We look then at the answer given to this question by the Lord “one
thing you lack; Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me. But he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.’’ (Mark 10:21-22). 1- GO is the first thing the Lord said: Go in the way of repentance and change your way of life. Repentance = Change (Mitania) as God said to the Angel of the church of Ephesus “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works’’ (Rev 2:5). 2- Sell whatever you have: Give away everything that binds you to the world; money, possessions, thoughts, so that you can live freely. Do not make you heart connected to the world. Do not make mammon your master but rather make it your servant. Fasting helps us to cut all the chains that binds us to the world as St Paul says ‘’And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition’’ (1Tim 6:8-9). 3- Give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven: We should live throughout our life always giving as the more we give the happier we will be “It is more bless to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). And you will have treasure in heaven. We see here the amazing relationship between the poor and Heaven as St John Chrysostom says “The poor are the guardians of the kingdom of heaven”. Thus this is the reason why the church tells us during lent “Blessed are the merciful who give to the poor”. So then try to be a giving person not only during fasting. If you are giving for the sake of the Lord, even if it is little, be sure it is great to God as the Lord does not look at quantities but to the heart. “assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given; for they all put in out of their abundance, but, she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mark 12:43,44). 4- Follow Me: Follow the commandments as the Bible is not just many small commandments but rather a way of life which we need to live. One day “as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him “Follow me”. So he arose and followed Him. So we see that it is evident if this tax collector did not obey and follow the Lord when He called him, he would have stayed as a tax collector for the remainder of his life and he would not have become the great apostle St Matthew. 5-Take up the cross and follow Me: This is the life of striving that we should live as the Lord carried the cross for you and for everyone. We then ought to also carry the cross of spiritual striving, particularly against every sin and weakness, trying to progress every day as God’ grace allows as St Paul says “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things” (1 Coin 9:25). You should therefore then follow these five steps and God will help you “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mat 19:26).
Right: A Group of youth from St George church at the monastery
Left: St Mark’s Youth at the monastery
Right: St Anthony’s Y12 class visiting the monastery
Left: Year 12 boys from St Mark’s Church spending a retreat
Page 3
Virginity and New Creation By: Fr Anthony St Shenouda “How light are thy wings, O Virginity, that soar and go up to where thy Bridegroom sits at the right hand of the Lord of the Heights.” St Ephraim the Syrian The patristic fathers have often considered the life of virginity as a witness to the new life in Christ, that is the New Creation spoken of by St Paul: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.” This concept is clearly shown in the rite of the ordination of monks, as the candidate lies down, the funeral prayer is prayed on him sympolising the death of the old man, he later is raised again as a New Creation in Christ Jesus. Fr Youssef Assad (a contemporary priest) in his letter to a monk says: “I believe that the presence of a monk or a nun or any rank of virgins in the Church is a great witness to the heavenly life that we are waiting for, as it says in the scriptures ‘in the resurrection they neither marry or are given in marriage but are like angels of God in heaven’ (Matt 22:30)” The same is also expressed in the expression usually used to describe monks as ‘earthly angels or heavenly people.’ This expression shows the inability to express in words the nature of this life of New Creation that is lived in the monastic life. Life of virginity has also been likened to this life of New Creation in Christ, in the writings of the patristic fathers and especially in the writings of St Gregory of Nyssa. In his sermon on virginity he shows how living in virginity is sharing in one of the attributes of God in his relationship with His Son Jesus Christ: “here at the outset is a paradox, that virginity is found in Him, who has a Son and yet without passion has begotten Him.” He further points out how virginity was a critical aspect in the mystery of the incarnation. “Jesus Christ Himself, the fountain of all innocence did not come into the world by wedlock” but by the Holy Spirit in the womb of St Mary who even though gave birth to Christ, her virginity remains concealed. We also are invited to share in this great mystery but “no longer does the Master come with bodily presence; we know Christ no longer according to the flesh; but, spiritually , He dwells in us.” St Clement of Alexandria also praises virginity presenting it as a life that is for those who want to imitate the image of Jesus Christ and his saints. “The womb of a holy virgin carried our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and the body which our Lord wore, and in which He carried on the conflict in this world, He put on from a holy virgin. From this, therefore, understand the greatness and dignity of virginity. Do you wish to be a Christian? Imitate Christ in everything.” Page 4
St Gregory beautifully concludes that virginity is the channel that God used in His incarnation to be known to us on earth; at the same time through the life of virginity we are lifted up to share in the image of the heavenly. “Seeing then that virginity so much as this, that while it remains in heaven with the Father… It nevertheless stretches out hands for men’s salvation, that while it is the channel which draws down the deity to share man’s estate (through incarnation), it keeps wings for man’s desire to rise to heavenly things.”
Two New Priest Spending the 40 Days at the Monastery
Year 12 Girls from St Mary’s Church
Monasticism And Its Interior Make Up By: H.G. Bp Moussa Monasticism is grounded on celibacy, voluntary poverty, chastity and obedience. These monastic vows are distinguished in the monastic life from their superficial appearance to the true practice of these virtues in their depth. It is not enough to abide by these vows only in the monks exterior life but it should also extend to the depth of their spiritual life to be rooted in their nature. 1- True Celibacy: Celibacy is not only to be unmarried as there are many situations where people could not get married for economical, health or social reasons. The genuine celibacy however is to devote the whole life to God! As for monks it is love for the Lord Jesus Christ - to the extent of spiritual marriage. Genuine celibacy is a real marriage where the spirit is united with the Lord Jesus in a unity that makes other marital bonds seem very insignificant! The Lord Jesus is the soul’s groom; He is the all in all, the source of all satisfaction and the real joy! Thus the monk is in continuous unity with the Lord every single moment just as blood runs through arteries and air through lungs. It is befitting then at the least to offer up unceasing prayer - as a response to this strong marital bond. Saint Anthony taught his disciples to continuously pray the Jesus prayer (Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me the sinner, my Lord Jesus Christ help me, I praise you my Lord Jesus Christ) centuries before a Russian Hermit came along with the same teaching in recent centuries. The Russian Hermit was moving between ascetic fathers asking for their advice on how to practice unceasing prayer “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). They advised him to continue praying psalms and any written or verbal prayers as much as possible during the day. He, however, was not convinced with their advice as he did not want to spend any time away from the companionship of the Lord. He met a father who advised him on how to practice the Jesus prayer with every breath possible, calling on the name of the Lord as he breathes in and as he breathes out: “My Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me I am a sinner”. He started to learn how to pray this Anthonian prayer, which is attributed to Saint Anthony and can also be traced back to the prayer of the tax collector in Luke 18:13. While praying this he would work on making beaded chaplets and would recite the prayer with every bead he would make. With one bead he would say the first half “My Lord Jesus Christ” and with the next bead he would recite the next half “Have mercy on me I am a sinner”. As he continued in this, he started to forget about the count and progressed to pray deeply with all his emotions and thus the Lord became the all in all for him, occupying all his heart. Likewise this state is reached in genuine celibacy and extends from the body to the soul, from thoughts to spirit to a deep relationship! We see then that the Lord becomes the all in all!
2- Voluntary Poverty: Here we do not mean that there are no possessions of money or materialistic things as this is the trivial form of poverty but rather being weaned off all materialistic things. The monk then is to give up the love of all materialistic things not only by striving and training but also with radical weaning off everything that exists in the world obeying the Lord’s commandment “Do not love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15).The real monk is weaned off all things including: People: He loves everyone without being emotionally attached to anyone. Worldly Possessions: Thus he can use all things without being used or bound to it. Spiritual Ambitions: To avoid self satisfaction. Choosing Preferred Spiritual Training: So as to not satisfy his own inflated ego. Certain Ascetic Practices: By which he may gain credit for himself. Most prominently for any monk is to have a profound bond with the Lord. The soul’s groom is in its midst, talking to Him by day and by night, and in every breath in and every breath out! 3 Sincere Obedience: It is the devotion of the inner self and will to God. God becomes the fundamental motive and the honest leader of our human will “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). Seeing then that it is glorious for our will to be submissive to God, how much more then when our will is entirely devoted to God to such an extent that it is united with His will. Furthermore, to an extent that our will be destroyed which eventually will be achieved, by God’s grace and sincere striving - in the heavenly Jerusalem. So whoever can empty himself from his ego and devote all his will to God, The Lord then will become the captain of his ship and so he will reach peacefully the goal of righteousness. Jeremiah writes “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). The Lord Jesus Christ is the leader of the way, the fellowship of the way; He even is the way itself! The Lord did not give us instructions regarding the way saying ‘that this is the way and these are its guidelines and description, search for it, walk throughout it and follow it to reach God and to heaven’. However, He told us “I am The way”. Undeniably there are many paths to salvation; marriage, celibacy or monasticism, the life of contemplation or serving but ultimately there is only one way for salvation: The Lord Jesus Christ Himself of whom we refer to as ‘the way’ as He is the only WAY. Those who unite with the LORD by continuous prayer will find himself continually on the way as much as he is honest with himself
Page 7
Our Books on Kindle Now you can read another two of our new books in Kindle. Whether you have a kindle device or a kindle app on an apple or android devices you can use them to read our books on the go. Visit the kindle store to buy our kindle books.
Page 8