Κατηγορία

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Nobody Came! (Mihalis Mihalakopoulos)

Κατηγορίες: In English

As all the parables are, that of the great banquet, as it’s known (the Gospel reading for the 11th Sunday of Luke) is of enduring value and, mutatis mutandis, expresses principles, weaknesses and the nature of people in every era. Let’s try, then, to bring this parable of the great banquet into our own age so that we can perhaps understand better the depth of the meanings and teachings contained in it. ‘A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests’…The Evangelist doesn’t tell us if the man was a king, lord or simply rich, as is usually the case in such instances. It would be reasonable to assume, therefore, that the master of the feast was an ordinary householder, ...

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Why did Christianity Triumph? (4) (Theodoros Ziakas)

Κατηγορίες: In English

Gnosticism and Christianity The Late Roman era was clearly steeped in Gnosticism, then: a) the world is a prison b) all things human are mere vanity c) life is a dream and a nightmare d) the authentic (what is not a dream) is to be found, ‘elsewhere’, in the ‘inner world’ e) disdain for the body, but salvation for the soul. The Gnostic spirit is not, of course, a phenomenon confined to the Late Roman era. It exists in every age. If it is not an object of interest, that is because it is of a marginal nature. The issue is to see why it was the dominant spiritual position at the time we are examining. It is, for a start, an oversimplified suggestion of an interpretation to ...

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The Achievement of Faith (11th Sunday of Luke- of the Forefathers) [3] (Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi)

Κατηγορίες: In English

All the temptations, whenever they overcome us, do, indeed, injure us and are obstacles on our path. Their sole aim is to erode love. Satan concocts situations and events which, in essence, don’t really exist but which befuddle the minds of those who are either weary, weak, or suffering a temporary withdrawal of Grace. The devil attempts to convince people to believe the misapprehensions and they start to accuse, to become crafty, to undermine, to censure, to suspect others. In this way, the bond of love which brings us to perfection is weakened. The fact that we’re believers is no accident, particularly for us monks. The action of the blessed Divinity intervened personally. Look at what our Jesus says: ‘No-one can ...

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