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The renewal of the nation begins with the renewal of the Church
+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (Jn 14:15)
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.
The message by Patriarch Elijah on the feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God
(celebrated in Ukraine on Oct. 14)
In relation to this feast, Jesus says in the Gospel: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (Lk 11:28) The first thing is to hear the word of God and the second thing is to keep it. How many obstacles there are in us and around us which prevent us from hearing the word of God, thinking about it and keeping it so that it may become incarnate in us. This word should become incarnate in us just like in the Blessed Virgin – in her the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And how did it happen? She was prepared. She lived by faith, wholly devoted to God. When the angel came to her, she said: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.” These were not mere words, this was her life. And what did it involve? In that situation she risked her life. Any woman in Israel who was pregnant without being married was stoned to death. However, Mary knew Isaiah’s prophecy: “The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.” She asked: “How can this be?” The angel said to her: “The Holy Spirit will do it.”
The primary task – Christian education
+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
The Word of Life – Jn 14:21 (12/10/14 – 26/10/2014)
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
Reflection on Jn 14:21
“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.
The essential thing is silence of heart and true humility
+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Salvation is in Jesus Christ alone
+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Victory over sin
If you judge yourself – that means, you admit your sin truly before God here in time, you can taste forgiveness in this light. God’s Word says: “If we judge ourselves, God is so good and just to forgive us our sins.”
People can overcome sin neither by means of psychology, nor by modern theologies, nor by oriental meditations… The victory depends on our deep communion with Christ. The essential thing is to be in Christ Jesus, our Lord, by faith. It means that in the particular present moment I am in Him not only passively but at that moment I love Him with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength.
To love Him means to offer Him my spiritual powers – heart = emotions, soul = powers of the soul, i.e. memory and reason, as well as my members. To love Him with all my strength means to give Him my will.
Jesus is the Firstborn Son of God, and we are second-born
+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Be transformed by the renewal of your mind
What to do in order to discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Apostle writes: Rom 12:1-2 I beseech you, brethren, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
How to transform our minds in order to accept God’s Word, to have experience of God, to trust in Him and to live by faith? Our soul has reason, will and heart – i.e. feelings. And if there is disharmony between them, evil and sinful feelings begin to manipulate us, enslave us and our will and reason must be conformed to them. And that’s our ruin! We become slaves of sin – fornicators, drug addicts, careerists… Or we live in hatred, envy, open our hearts to the spirit of evil which is behind them, and reason doesn’t work any more.
“Pope” Francis urges people to receive the “mark of the beast”
Ukraine, 30 September 2014
In May this year, “Pope” Francis uttered a statement that shocked the whole world! Bergoglio approved and blessed the “mark of the beast”, calling RFID-chips God’s blessing for mankind.
Francis said: “We have examined the Scriptures thoroughly, and I can conclusively say that there’s nothing to indicate that RFID Chips are Satanic in anyway. If anything, these devices are a blessing from God himself, bestowed upon humanity to solve many of the world’s ills.” (http://praisedc.com/1710415/pope-francis-gives-support-to-rfid-chip-implantation-shocking-video)
The statement by this so-called “Pope” is a betrayal of God, the height of blasphemy and lies. It is an obvious sin against the Holy Spirit!
Bergoglio is a false prophet with the spirit of the world. 20 years ago, Orthodox monks of Mount Athos pronounced a clear word of prophecy in God’s Spirit when they warned insistently against chipping.
