Christianity is not a religion based on keeping laws, or even doing good things, admirable though these may be. Rather, it is based on relationship – our relationship with God and our relationship with those around us. And in this Gospel we see how these two elements are intimately connected.
Hieromonk Herman (Majkrzak)
Rating: 5,5|Votes: 2
The Lord came to save and to restore, to transfigure and illumine; but inevitably this involves death and judgment and destruction. He Himself submitted to death at the hands of false judges, so that death might become the path to incorruptible life. The resurrection, both of man and of the entire created cosmos, will only occur after death. The “new heaven and the new earth” will be consummated only after “the former things have passed away.” History had a beginning, and it will have an end. And that end is destruction, and that destruction will give way to boundless, unimaginable glory and beauty.
Deacon Aaron Taylor
Rating: 6|Votes: 2
St. Nazarius was first and foremost a solitary ascetic and afterwards a father of monks. When he re-established Valaam, he took care to reintroduce all three modes of monastic life: coenobitism, the skete life, and anchoretism. According to his Life, “He began the building of the Great Skete in the woods beyond the Monastery enclosure as well as other sketes, and encouraged anchorites—making himself the first example of eremitic life.” As a “monk’s monk,” St. Nazarius was different from many of the famous elders of subsequent decades.
Fr. Philip LeMasters
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
As we prepare for our Lenten journey, we should remember that fasting is not simply a change in diet, but a tool that can help us fight passions that keep us from serving Christ in our neighbors. When done in secret and with humility, fasting weakens the self-centeredness that keeps us from sharing God’s love with others.