In English

The recollection of death helps us get beyond our former self, because it brings humility to the soul. When we forget death, we’re under the illusion that we’ll be on earth for ever and this increases our arrogance, our greed, our worship of the flesh and our proclivity for exploiting others. Recollection of death gives us the sense of our limitations on earth and the importance of our thoughts, words and deeds for our life after death and in eternity. It helps us to deal seriously with this present life, in the light of eternity, so that we don’t waste our earthly life in dissipation, heedlessness and frivolity, never giving a thought to the consequences. It was said by the ancient Greek ...

God’s gifts come by themselves, provided the heart is clean.

It’s natural to have feelings of guilt if we look at sin as a transgression against ‘the law of God’ rather than as a sickness we’ve inherited as children of the first Adam. Because if, over time, sin becomes second nature, it exercises authority in our soul making us do what we don’t want to, as Saint Paul says. As we all know, this brings its own pressure, peace is lost and turmoil arrives, with everything this means for our daily life. Because they knew themselves so well and therefore had a deep knowledge of human nature, our holy Fathers and Mothers speak of sin, festering within us, as an illness. So we aren’t guilty, but sick and we need to ...

This year, the Sunday after Theophany coincides with the handing-back of the feast. ‘The Saviour has appeared, Grace and Truth’. The Saviour has appeared, about Whom the prophets spoke in preparation for His coming. The greatest of the prophets, the Honourable Forerunner, who was granted the task of baptizing ‘Him who was foretold’, has affirmed to us that He Whom he baptized is the Son of God. John is now going to seal with his blood the truth of his testimony and his uncompromising struggle against every kind of lie. The Judge and Competitor The baton now passes to the Judge, Who ‘came out conquering and to conquer’ (Rev. 6, 2), in precisely this contest between the truth and lies, between the ...

We must have joy. Doctors and psychiatrists say that joy’s a mental phenomenon. No, they’re wrong. Joy’s a spiritual phenomenon. People go to the cinema to laugh and then, when they come out, they return to their problems. What did they gain by watching a film for all that time? Those who confess and take communion have joy within themselves because Christ’s in their heart. This is why joy’s a spiritual phenomenon.

‘When he heard that John had been delivered up, he withdrew to Galilee’. The way in which Christ behaved towards people wasn’t always the same. He expressed Himself in a variety of ways. Besides, Christ became incarnate and was made manifest to people; in this way His wisdom was revealed, so that His life could be an example for us to follow, as Saint Gregory Palamas observes. The way He acted depended on the situation as it arose. Not with tact or out of self-interest, but always with the aim of our salvation. Sometimes He’d speak with humility as regards His identity, while at other times He’d reveal His divinity. On occasion, He’d come to Jerusalem and speak in front of ...

You should know that, hidden away in sorrows and sufferings, in patience and faith are God’s promises, as also are His glory and the acquisition of the heavenly blessings. Because even the wheat that’s sown in the earth first has to rot and seemingly decay before we can enjoy its beauty and the multiplication of its yield. If it isn’t subjected to this rotting and decaying, there’s no harvest.

In today’s passage from the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul revisits the great topic of the unity of the faithful and their spiritual perfection. First of all, the Apostle Paul wants to eliminate any jealousy that may exist among Christians due to the diversity of gifts that are given to each by God. We all know from personal experience how easy it is to be envious of another person, especially one who is distinguished for their gifts. This envy usually leads us to try to diminish this person and make them feel inferior to us. If by chance this person makes a mistake, we tend to seize the opportunity to exaggerate it in order to reduce and potentially harm ...

If you fall, pick yourself up… until death finds you either in your fall or in your recovery. Isn’t it written: ‘Where I find you, there will I judge you’? Just pray to God that your last moment will find you on your feet in holy repentance.

And even if things are slow to happen, as they may well be, or even if it seems that God’s gone silent and is inactive, so long as you retain your trust in Him then He’ll reveal Himself in marvellous ways. The Scriptures tell us that nobody, nobody at all who has set their hope on God has ever been put to shame. David puts it beautifully: ‘Look back at generations of old and find even one person who hoped in God and was put to shame’. Find one person who can say ‘I had my hope in Christ and Christ didn’t respond. He didn’t help me. He abandoned me’. You won’t find a single one.

Dear readers, by God’s grace, here we are at the start of a new year, only a few days after the last one ended. We’ve been here before and have shared thoughts and resolutions for a better year in all aspects of our life. In our first article for the new year of the Lord (or better, for us, ‘with the Lord’) 2019, we’ll discuss the title. Certainly, it’s a polite and wonderful custom to exchange good wishes with other people, one which we all enjoy doing, but, if we’re content with that, in the long term it becomes at the very least an incipient illness which, unfortunately is persistent and general and which, because it’s unobtrusive, is hard to ...

Watch Fr. Jonah’s from Taiwan sermon on the feast of Theophany.

When people avoid too much talking, quarrels, upsets and turmoil, the Holy Spirit casts His shade over their soul and then, however barren they are, they bear spiritual fruit.

We forget that, if we judge others, God will also judge us. We forget that we have no right to judge our neighbour, because it’s not our business, but that of God, Who is the Supreme Judge and Who alone knows our heart and can deliver a fair verdict. But we judge our neighbours, and often enough very harshly. We don’t think that perhaps they’ve already repented and that their sins have been forgiven because of this deep repentance.

For many people, Christmas, New Year, Epiphany and other feasts aren’t feasts at all, nor days full of joy, but times that bring sorrow and hardship. Hard times for the souls of those who aren’t in a position to celebrate in the way that others are. Apart from those who are embittered by life’s ills, the bereaved and the sick, most of these people have been forced by necessity into becoming beggars and needy. Many of them perhaps don’t care much about their own happiness, but have become beggars through wanting to bring joy to their children or others dependent upon them. Such people weep in secret over their woes and they’re the greatest martyrs, swallowing their chagrin day and ...

When you can’t sleep and various thoughts keep bothering you, say the prayer ‘Rejoice, Virgin Mother of God…’ continuously. Sleep will come and Our Lady will give you great joy.

The life and activity of John the Baptist and Forerunner is an enduring testimony in Christ, culminating in his martyrdom for Him. Just as then, when he was active in the wilderness of the Jordan, so today his voice can be heard in the wilderness of our society, since although we now have everything and live with other people all around us, we’re still far removed from God and our neighbours. John was the first light announcing the coming of the day of the Lord and preceding the rising of the Sun of Righteousness. ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord”’. In the desert, this charismatic man, who proved to be ‘the greatest among ...

If you manage to say to yourself every day: ‘Today’s the last day of my life’, you’ll never wittingly sin against God.

On 6 January, our Church celebrates Theophany, one of the great feasts of the Lord. Jesus’ baptism is the event which formally confirmed the advent of the Messiah. Although the Lord Himself had no need of the remission of sins, He nevertheless came to John ‘to be baptized by him and to fulfil all righteousness’ (Matth. 3, 13-15). As regards Jesus, the Gospel stresses that, as soon as He entered the waters of the river ‘he at once arose from the water’ (Matth. 3, 16) or ‘arising at once from the water’ (Mark 1, 10), an obvious contrast with the other baptisms performed by John, which went on a long time because of the confession involved. The baptism of Jesus was ...