“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,

unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do

I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Peace of God

The opposite of peace is restlessness. It torments the soul so that it is in a state of constant fear or nervousness. The cause of mental torment may be that you believe a lie and make a big mistake in your life which you must pay dearly for. Then you feel anger or even hatred towards yourself and your neighbours, and you even throw the blame on God! You may be tormented by intrusive thoughts which incite you to crime. You don’t want them to trouble you and you don’t realize that the source of these pressures is a lie, the spirit of lies.

You can have wealth, career, and yet feel restless in your soul! So there are more sources of restlessness: fear of future, remorse for doing evil, sin…

Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Jesus says: “…My peace I give to you; not as the world gives…”

Part 1

Before beginning this prayer, confess your sins before God and before yourself:

I am an egoist. When someone admonishes me for whatever error, I take offence. I avoid sound self-criticism. I criticize and condemn others; however, what I condemn I do myself. Whenever I do something good, it just increases my feeling of superiority. I see the speck in my neighbour’s eye, but I cannot see the log in my own eye. I am lazy to seek the truth and to endure suffering for its sake. I am a coward who betrayed the truth and my own conscience many times and, moreover, I set a bad example to many. I take offence, revenge, I am not willing to forgive others. I neglected parental duties in the upbringing of my children.

I do not read the Bible and the lives of saints, and I am not familiar with them. I do not bear in mind the ultimate reality, which is death, God’s judgment and eternity! God spoke to me through many events, and I am still deaf and blind – I have faced mortal danger several times at work, on the road. I poke into much useless information, but I do not seek to understand the meaning of life and eternity at all. Like a number in a herd I let myself be manipulated by the mass media which deform rather than form man. I admit neither the poisoned root nor fruit of rock music behind which is the spirit of cynicism, drugs, sexual licentiousness and satanic voodoo.

I do not want to go outside the herd, and so I am not willing to fight for truth and moral values. I am interested in all kinds of philosophies or psychologies, but I do not seek the true psychology and philosophy of the Gospel which is vital in life.

But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,

He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

“He will bring to your remembrance…” We can know the whole Scripture by heart, we can have a large amount of information like a computer, but that’s not essential. We need the right information at the right time, and this information may be much useful or it can even save life. We need to project it on the screen of our mind. This reviving in the spiritual sphere is the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said His words to the apostles but these words concern us too. His words are eternally true and binding both for the apostles and for us. These words are for life, eternal life. The Gospel of Christ is no human philosophy or human wisdom. The words of Jesus are the Spirit and life. They are simple and call for action. It is not enough to hear them and lead religious discussions. That’s too little. We need to actualize Jesus’ commandments. In conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks the parable of two men who built a house. One man built a house on the sand and the other on the rock. The man who built his house on the sand heard the words but did not do them. The man who built his house on the rock heard the words and did them.

But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will

teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

To love God means to lose my soul for His sake. There is no other way. By losing my soul and its spiritual powers, which are infected by original sin, I will keep it for eternal life.

Today the devil uses a system of lies and various promises to make people love their souls in a wrong way and ultimately give themselves wholly to him and perish forever. He promises money, career, pleasures, but this all is a deceit. There is salvation in no one else but Christ (cf. Acts 4:12). He loves me, He died for me on the cross. He lost His life for me and I am to lose my soul for Him – to give myself wholly to Him to save my soul.

Utter the holy name “Jehoshua” quietly and realize the presence of God – the whole Trinity – in you. Lengthen the vowel “a” by breath and realize that at this moment you consciously love God and lose your soul for His sake.

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,

and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Jesus said these words the night before His death. These and other words, which He said before His death, are contained in chapters 13-17 of John’s Gospel. Jesus speaks about love which is necessarily connected with the keeping of His commandments. Jesus repeats: “He who loves Me will be loved by My Father.” (v.21) There are commandments given by God in the Decalogue and commandments and various obligations related to the rites of purification, especially burnt offerings of bulls and lambs and the sprinkling of blood. It is contained in the Second to Fifth Books of Moses. This just prefigured the redemptive death of Christ on the cross. In Christ, this all was accomplished. The record of debt was cancelled (cf. Col 2:14). Jesus the Son of God acts as the Law-giver on His own authority. He repeats several times: “But I say to you…” Jesus does not abolish the Decalogue; on the contrary, He points out its essence. He points to the root of sin, lusts, pride, hatred, revenge. Citation of Christ’s commandments: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Mt 5:21-26)

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;

and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

What is it – Christ’s commandments? What the Ten Commandments are, it is clear. They are God’s laws formulated in ten clear commandments of God. And what are Christ’s commandments? Is it the same or is it something different? Nobody speaks about them, nobody emphasizes them. Nobody has taught us about them. Christ’s commandments are partly expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, then in the words of Jesus the night before His death, and in other places of the Scripture too. His commandments touch the heart. They are related to the inner life of man. For example, the sixth commandment says: “You shall not commit adultery!” But Christ’s commandment says – if you look at someone lustfully, you have already committed adultery in your heart. Or the fifth commandment: “You shall not kill!” But Christ’s commandment says – if you hate your brother in your heart, you commit a sin and call down a just punishment.

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

and I will love him and manifest Myself to him

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Jesus highlights this truth in verse 23 too. True love for Him is connected not only with the receiving of the Word but there is also one condition: the keeping of His commandments. In fact, it means the following of Christ, which involves the loss of our soul for His sake: “Whoever loses his soul for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35) If a disciple keeps Christ’s commandments, he will be loved by the Father and by Jesus, and Jesus will manifest Himself to him (see v.21). “We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (v.23) We thus become a living tabernacle like the Blessed Virgin. So the knowledge of Christ cannot be acquired through theological, philosophical or psychological studies but only through love – agape – which becomes manifest not in phrases but in the following of Christ, i.e. in the keeping of Christ’s commandments.

“On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

We are in Christ, and He in us.

Jesus said: “On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (Jn 14:20)

I realize the truths:

1)     Jesus is God, and He is in the Father

2)     We are in Christ crucified

3)     The risen Christ is in us

“On that day you will know that I am in My Father,

and you in Me, and I in you.”

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.

For the period of the next two weeks, enter into God’s presence, into the column of light, and stand by Christ’s cross beside the Blessed Virgin. There accept the last will of Christ. Repeat the words: “Jesus said to the disciple and now says to me and to the inhabitants of the (Lvov) region: ‘Behold, your mother.” Then pray with your spirit and mind for about a minute, and say in the end: “I receive Your mother on both my and their behalf.” Pray again for the particular regions of Ukraine, standing in the column of light, and make an act of faith – i.e. accept Christ’s testament – on your behalf and on behalf of the inhabitants of the particular region.