THE GOSPEL LAW

The Beatitudes

     The Gospel Law is found in Matthew chapters 5 to 7, and begins with the Beatitudes.”

     “And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain, and when He was set; and He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. 

Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. 

Blessed are they which are persecuted for justice’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. 

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” 

     “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Ordinarily poverty is not considered a blessing and usually we seek to escape poverty by working or begging. But it is not poverty itself that is being blessed, but it is the realization of our poverty of spirit that is indeed blessed, for we must struggle to become rich in the spirit of God. Poverty of spirit makes us feel deprived and naked , and thus moves us to seek wisdom and knowledge in accordance with the divine proverb: “Blessed is the man that has found wisdom, and the mortal that has seen prudence.”   So those who are poor in sprit are blessed, not for their poverty, but for the realization of their poverty. Those who realize their poverty of spirit seek to acquire spirit so this is a beginning.

“Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” 

     Those who are poor in spirit mourn their condition, being conscious of their misery and wretchednes in having transgressed the law of God. Their mourning attracts God’s mercy for He is good and is the only Lover of man. Worldly mournfulness  does not attract God’s mercy, for worldly mourners seek not spirit but material things. But holy mournfulness attracts the grace of God.

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”  

     The opposite of unreasonable anger is meekness, for the meek, having experienced the mercy and kindness of God do not become angry, but are filled with gratitude. Meekness is a social virtue and the meek become innocent  lambs . They do not become  angry neither do they take the law into their own hands. We must all become  meek like Christ and inherit the earth over which God will reign forever.

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice for they shall be filled.” 

POPES AND MORE POPES

     Who is the Pope? Roman Catholics when asked, who is the head of their  church, will respond: the pope of Rome of course, perhaps surprised that you even asked for this is common knowledge. Recently during the event of the present pope’s tour and mission to the U. S., it was brought to my attention that some Orthodox priests had spoken of the pope quite favorably, as though he is one of us, even though he openly believes and declares that we are inferior and he is superior. Priests and bishops who speak well of him are setting fire to their own homes, for the pope’s existence is anti-Orthodox and the pope is an enemy of Orthodoxy and its bishops and priests. He does not seek to change but to dominate Orthodoxy, the true Church. Since they left the Church, their plans are to swallow up and destroy Orthodoxy by bringing it into the papal kingdom

     The papacy has no resemblance to the church which Christ built when He sent His Apostles to preach the Gospel to all the nations. He did not send Peter as chief over all  the other Apostles, for He established the apostles with equal authority, and sent them all, not just Peter, to go forth and proclaim the Gospel, baptizing believers in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The papacy claims that all bishops in the world, including the Orthodox,  are inferior to the pope. They claim is that he is the single bishop who directs the world following direct orders from God. Further they claim that he is the sole representative of God and that the pope and papacy are the only source of divine truth, divine doctrine and divine grace!

     The following facts describe who the pope of Rome really is and what he represents. He is not the vicar of Christ which is impossible. Impossible, because a vicar represents someone who is absent, and Christ is not absent for He promised to be “with us to the close of the age”.  The Roman church defines the pope and papacy with preposterous claims that are just clever lies which come from the father of lies. So why admire and exalt a man whose source of authority is falsehood?  Or what claim to fame can a liar possess?