Joys Greater than This LIfe?

How can there be joys that are greater than those we get from this life?  It is often hard to remember in our daily struggles that this life is temporary and we are destined for eternal life with God.  Too often we find our minds locking us in on the activities of this world to the exclusion of God's kingdom.  This is the spiritual battle we are engaged in, to always remember to lift our eyes and hearts to that which is beyond all we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch.


Saint Isaac the Syrian says the following:

The joy that is in God is stronger than this present life.  And he who finds this joy, not only will he not pay attention to the passions, but he will not even give a thought to his own life, not will he have awareness of anything else, if his experience of this joy is true.  Love is sweeter than life.  And the concord with God from which love is born is sweeter than honey and the honey comb.  It does not seem grievous to Love to undergo a bitter death for the sake of he beloved... And to the heart which has received this joy every sweetness of this world seems superfluous.  for there is nothing which can be likened to sweetness of the knowledge of God."

Source: Wounded by Love, p 101 - Homily 38. Cf. The Ascetical Homilies of St Isaac the Syrian, Holy Transfiguration MOnastery, 1984, p 297.

What Rivals the Love for Christ?

Once you have the love of Christ in your heart what else is there to long for?  All the things of this world only leave us wanting more and often burden us with worries and upkeep.  But having Christ in our heart is all fulfilling and yields only joy.  As Elder Porphyrios says, "No other joy, no other beauty, nothing else can rival Him."


Once you have this love for Christ what can surpass it?  What is greater?  How can it be even greater than our love for our parents or our children?  But it is.  It is a love that never falters.  It is unwavering, unconditional and unlimited.  No other kind of love is as great as this.


Elder Porphyrios says,

Fleshly love has a point of satiety.  therefore jealousy and disgruntlement may set in...Love in Christ knows no alteration.  Worldly love remains for a time, and is gradually extinguished, whereas divine love continually grows and deepens.

This love for Christ has no point of satisfaction.  Elder Porphyrios says,

You cannot have enough of Him, the more you believe that you don't love Him and the more you desire to love Him.  At the same time, however, your soul is flooded by His presence and your joy in the Lord is inalienable. 

Source: Wounded By Love, p 100 

How Christ Transforms

The love of God transforms everything; it sanctifies, amends and changes the nature of everything. Elder Porphyrios

What was it like when you first found Christ in your heart?  How did it transform you?  For me, my life was totally changed.  The Church became the center of my life and I found that I was mired in sin but now continually growing in my relationship with God.  This Pascha celebration affirmed this for me.  It was truly the most spiritually alive Divine Liturgy of my life.  Glory be to God for all He provides for us.


Here are some thoughts from Elder Porphyrios:

When  you find Christ, you are satisfied, you desire nothing else, you find peace.  You become a different person. You live everywhere, wherever Christ is.  You live in the stars, in infinity, in heaven with the angels, with the saints, on earth with people, with plants, with animals, with everyone and everything.  when there is love for Christ, loneliness disappears.  You are peaceable, joyous, full.  Neither melancholy, nor illness, nor pressure, nor anxiety, nor depression nor hell.

Source: Wounded By Love, pp 99 - 100 

Did St. Thomas Really Doubt?

"Although from the very early morning on the day of the resurrection the good news of the resurrection was carried throughout creation, and even though angels from heaven (Mark 16:6) and holy myrrhbearers on earth (Luke 24:9) and even the guards at the Sanhedrin (Matthew 28:11) had already told of the miracle, the apostles were still in a state of fear and doubt, hiding behind doors and locks “for the fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). The disciples’ doubt is not surprising, for they were witness to the greatest miracle in the history of creation: humans killed God, and then He rose from the dead and saved the dying human race from the claws of hell. The disciples of Christ, after their teacher’s arrest, forgot all of His prophesies concerning the things about to take place. They did not believe the miraculous story of the holy myrrhbearers (Mark 16:11, Luke 24:11), and even while talking to the Risen One face to face, they hesitated to trust their own hearts (Luke 24:25) which were burning and trembling in the presence of God (Luke 24:32). This marvelous unbelief (Luke 24:41), human weakness, incapable of encompassing the magnitude of the miracle that took place, is reflected in the famous words of the Apostle Thomas: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” (John 20:25)

People often refer to Thomas as “doubting,” not really considering the depth and the height of the “doubt” of this holy apostle. But let us look more carefully at this man. Was his doubt the same as that of the Judeans who yelled about the Savior Whom they crucified, “Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.” (Matthew 27:42); or was it similar to that which we hear from our contemporaries: “If there is God, let Him show Himself to all, and we will believe in Him and live happily ever after”?

We know about his faithfulness and sacrificial love for his Teacher. After following the Savior for three years, Thomas understood very well the danger Christ faced from the scribes and the Pharisees. The other disciples also understood it very well; that is why when the Savior decided to go to Jerusalem, the apostles tried to talk Him out of it, warning Him of the danger (John 11:8). But it was St. Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (John 11:16). One does not often hear such words from a doubter! After the Ascension of the Savior, the Apostle Thomas, according to the Church Tradition, went to preach the Gospel in one of the furthest and most difficult to reach places of the ancient world—India, where he was tortured and killed for Christ.

But on that day, a week after the Resurrection, when the Savior came to His disciples and Thomas was with them, the holy apostle needed only a push, only a step, in order for this disciple who so selflessly loved his Teacher to realize to Whom he had devoted his life. “My Lord and my God!” exclaimed Thomas, who only a minute earlier had been understandably doubting the accounts of his brethren. “My Lord and my God!” exclaimed Thomas from the bottom of his loving heart. To such a person as Thomas God comes. This is the kind of person that He allows to touch Himself! "

By Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov

Love for All

There is one thing, O Christ, that I want, one thing I desire, one thing I ask for, and that is to be with You.  Elder Porphyrios

If your aim is to be one with Christ, what are you to do?  First, be alive with faith.  It is essential to have a craving to be one with God.  According to His teaching, you must show love towards all your friends, enemies, as well as all your neighbors. You must strive endlessly to live a life where you are continually trying to live as Christ lived.  Knowing this is most difficult, the Church provides the help you need through its Liturgical cycle of services, its sacraments and teachings about prayer and fasting.  This love is expressed through your commitment to His Church, your obedience to its teachings, which is then expressed in your love for others.  There is a process of purification that is necessary to be able to do this.  For most of us we must first come to terms with our sinfulness and not live in denial of it. 


Elder Porphyrios says,

One thing is our aim –– love for Christ, for the Church, for our neighbor.  Love, worship of, and craving for God, the union with Christ and towards one's neighbor, towards everyone, including enemies. The Christian feels for everyone, he wants all to be saved, all to taste the Kingdom of God. That is Christianity: through love for our brother to arrive at love for God. to the extent that we are worthy, divine grace comes through our brother.  When we love our brother we love the Church and therefore Christ.  And we too are within the Church.  therefore when we love the Church we love ourselves.

To see the Church as Christ and to place my trust in Her was the most significant and most difficult thing I ever did in my life. I had to learn to face my own sinfulness and become obedient to the Orthodox Way of Life as set forth by the Church. Once I did this, then other worldly love was continually nurtured and my failings exposed. This step demands a leap of faith along with a spiritual father to be one's guide. Its not easy, but be assured that the Orthodox Church has all the means to help us in this process that can best be described as a surrender.

Quotes from Wounded By Love, p 97 




Orthodox way of LIfe - Ten Point Program for Orthodox Life

Are You In Love?

What is it like when you are in love?  Nothing disturbs you.  You only think about your lover and all else blurs into the background.  This is true also with when we fall in love with Christ.


Elder Porphyrios says,

If you are in love, you can live amid the hustle and bustle of the city center and not be aware you are in the city center...  Imagine the person you love is Christ Christ is in your mind, Christ is in your heart, Christ is in your whole being, Christ is everywhere.

This is our challenge. To love Christ is is to lift us above all our earthly concerns,  to experience continual joy no matter how difficult a situation we face, no matter what turmoil is taking place around us.  This is the way life was meant to be lived.


Elder Porphyrios says,

Whoever loves Christ and other people truly lives life.  Life without Christ is death; it is hell, not life. Life is Christ. Love is the life of Christ. Either you will be in life or in death.  It's up to you to decide.

Isn't this the only answer to all the anxiety of our present world situation? When  I live with Christ as my true lover, there is no room for anxiety.  But when others take His position then I find myself filled with anxiety. Oh, how I yearn for the wisdom to live in this world with this other worldly love.
Lord have Mercy!

Quotes from Wounded By Love, p 97

Christ is Paradise

"Divine Grace is constantly knocking at the door of our soul and waiting for us to open so that it can enter our thirsty heart and fill it."  Elder Porphyrios

The whole point of our annual cycle of Lent, Holy Week and then Pascha celebration is to open our hearts so that they can be filled with Divine Grace.  This is our purpose on earth.  We must continually seek to be united with Christ–-to enter into His light. Elder Porphyrios says that Christ is Paradise and we are to enter it here and now.

Christ is Paradise my children. What is Paradise? It is Christ. Paradise begins here and now. It is exactly the same: those who experience Christ here on earth, experience Paradise. That's the way it is, just as I tell you. This is right, it's true, believe me! Our task is to attempt to find a way to enter into the light of Christ.

We must push ourselves to learn how to enter into His light each and every day.  The way taught by our Church fathers involves great effort. This includes fasting an prayer. We fast regularly on Wednesday and Friday and pray daily according to a specific rule of prayer. We worship and participate regularly in the sacraments, especially Holy Confession and Holy Communion. As Saint Paul continually reminds us, we are engaged in spiritual warfare and we must prepare ourselves for this contest no less than an athlete preparing for the Olympics.  God's grace is given freely, but we must be prepared and open to receive it, and then be able to act on it.


Elder Porphyrios says,

The essence of the matter is for us to be with Christ; for our soul to wake up and love Christ and become holy.

Quotes from Wounded by Love, p 96,97