HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUIDE 

“But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father

 will send in my name, He shall teach you all things

 and bring all things to your remembrance, 

whatever I have said to you” (John 14:26)

     The Orthodox Church cannot be destroyed for it is in truth the Body of Christ, and it is headed by Jesus Christ, the Truth and Logos of God, and is guided by the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth. There will always be defenders of the truth guided by the Holy Spirit and there will be enemies from within and without, but the divine human Church will vanquish enemies and will last to the end of time. We pray at all times that the Holy Spirit will abide in us, cleanse our souls, and guide us into all truth, reminding us of all that Jesus has said and done.

     We pray to the Holy Spirit who abides in us or leaves us according to our faith, good works and patience. Without the Holy Spirit we are unable to do anything not even celebrate the Divine Liturgy or a Baptism. Christ said that He will bring all things to our remembrance so that all of us who are members of the Church will think and decide together and always be one with Christ in the Holy Spirit. The first prayer of our Church is to the Holy Spirit: “Heavenly King Comforter and Spirit of truth, who are everywhere present and fills all things; Treasury of blessings and bountiful Giver of life; Come and abide in us; cleanse us from every impurity and save our souls Good One.”                                                                

     The Protestants reject oral tradition which the Holy Spirit speaks through Synods, Saints, Martyrs and Holy Fathers, foolishly claiming that the Bible has everything that they need. Having broken away, not from the true church, but from the infernal Papacy they foolishly developed false Christian, showing no reverence toward the Holy Virgin Theotokos, the holy icons and all the Saints. 

     The formed their own idea of churches, then arrogantly went into Orthodox Christian countries, preaching their false ideas and robbed many of their true Orthodox Faith. They distort Christ’s teaching claiming that only Protestants hold firmly to the truth of Scripture, but Holy Scripture opposes the Protestants by proclaiming that we “Hold fast to the traditions you have received orally or written.” They reject all oral tradition claiming the Bible is all that is needed. They ignore their own Bibles and Christ’s words which  says much more than what is recorded in Holy Bible. They ignore the teaching of Jesus Christ whom they claim to worship. For example Christ says that it is the Holy Spirit who reminds of what He said verbally and is not recorded in the Bible.

EDUCATION

     Education is most important to people of the present world and many parents generously struggle to have their children acquire the best education possible in order to “be successful”, an important goal in this life. Many parents realize the importance of a higher education they want their children to do well in their careers during life. However if parents sincerely love their children they would first search into something more important that would be of immense benefit to first themselves and their children, not only until death but for ever and ever into all eternity.  In order to really “be successful” in this present life we must acquire as our most important educational project knowledge of and love for the living God and Creator of all.

     God is very far away or even non-existent and unimportant in the minds of many people, but as we cannot deny that the universe and mankind really exist, so we cannot deny that God really exists and that it is an absolute impossibility that there be no God, for if there were no God, neither would there be creatures like ourselves having knowledge and intellect, able to build houses and roads, highways and cities, buildings and airports, and He who made us endowed us with so much more! But because God is real, what He as our Creator has to said is vital to our well being and happiness. If we are scoffers and unbelievers this knowledge will be of no concern or benefit to us.  On the contrary we would do well to be seekers of what is good and permanently beneficial in this sinful and temporary world. Sin and rejection of God is a choice, which many select, but will necessarily end up in sorrow and wretchedness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Of course education is not evil in itself and of course it is proven to be useful. But education is not the road to happiness as there is something much more important than any education. For education can fill a man with knowledge but not with wisdom. Education can fill a man with knowledge but  cannot extend his life. It is better to have no education than to be ignorant or inimical toward God. God is so important to our happiness and benefit that knowledge of Him without any other knowledge would cause a person to be filled with divine love and wisdom. Having an education or no education are equally of no value without knowledge of God. For we cannot go to Him on judgment day and expect anything good when we have never known or honored Him, or denied His existence. The worst thing is to become an enemy of God insulting and mocking Him whom you do not even know or believe!

THAT WHICH UNITES US

THAT WHICH UNITES US

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 

one God and Father of all.” (Ephesians 4:5-6

      Baptized Orthodox Christians collectively constitute the whole Body of Christ – the Church!. One of the characteristics of the Body is that it is single, one and united. Just as there are not two Christs, and there cannot be any divisions among us for there are not two churches, and Christ is the Head of one Body. When we confess our faith, we say, “I believe in one God,”   “ in one Lord Jesus Christ,” “in one holy catholic and apostolic Church,” “in one baptism for the remission of sins.”  Before Jesus Christ came into the world when the idea of many gods was prevalent among most men. Christ revealed to us the one God in  three persons, Trinity in unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and He founded one Church to unite all men into unity with one God.

     Our existence as the Church which Christ founded, shows all men that we have one faith and one Lord, united together as one in the one holy Church. We understand and proclaim the one God, in three persons, one in nature, one in essence, Trinity in unity, Father Son and Holy Spirit. We glorify God the Logos, who is one of the Trinity, born of the Virgin as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Christ came into the world, to save the world by His sacrifice on the Cross. He died and rose from the dead in His glorious resurrection and we go through a death and resurrection in holy Baptism. Plunged into the water, we put to death sin and the devil and we die with Christ, and coming up out of the water we rise into His glorious resurrection.  

     Our old sinful nature has been destroyed in the waters of baptism from which we emerged as new men, and with Christ as our teacher and example we enter the arena to struggle as members of the Church to become glorious with our Head, and we will spread His glory to all the world. Our lives then change into being filled with gladness we rejoice when going to sleep and awakening and in both work and relaxation.  We rejoice in both fasts and feasts and we attend services as frequently as possible, struggling to live a godly life filled with faith, hope and happiness, living our lives as the Lord intended. 

LONGINUS THE CENTURION

LONGINUS THE CENTURION

The centurion exclaimed: “Truly this is the Son of God”

     Longinus was a centurion who served under Pontius Pilate. He was standing with his soldiers  as  they were gathered beneath the Cross of Christ; Longinus confessed before everyone seeing all that was happening and that he had taken part in it, he cried out: “Truly this is the Son God.” According to some accounts he was the soldier who pierced the side of Christ, and blood and water poured forth. He also witnessed the signs at the Crucifixion, the rending of the rocks, opening of sepulchers, the failure of the sun which caused darkness over all. Longinus became a strong believer and later was baptized by the apostles, then he preached Christ all around and later was martyred being put to death because of his faith in Christ and he is commemorated on October 16.

     A widowed woman who lived in Cappadocia was suffering from blindness and had a son, her only child, who gave her assistance leading her about, but he died leaving her in a serious situation.` The helpless woman fell asleep and there she met with Longinus in a dream who told her: “I am Longinus the centurion who had his head severed for the sake of Christ. My head was brought here and cast upon a dung heap outside the city.  Go, therefore, to that place and dig deep into the dung, and you shall find my head. Having found my head touch your eyes and you shall recover your sight. The woman got up and called for someone to help her and take her to the biggest dunghill and leave her there.  She continued to grieve for her recently deceased son whom she depended on. She began to dig with great hope of finding the head of Longinus.

     Having strong faith she enthusiastically dug and eventually felt his head with her fingers and though blind gazed at the head of Longinus in her hands.  She saw the head as her sight had returned. Filled with joy and with great thanks to God, she took the head and washed it then placed it in her home as being more valuable than anything else in the world.