Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long,

and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father;

so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”

Let us realize that Jesus speaks to His apostles for the last time, on the evening before He is arrested and sentenced to death. So these are deep truths which He hands on to the apostles in an intimate conversation. First He gives an answer to Thomas who does not understand Jesus’ words about heaven. Jesus is going away, that He may prepare a place for the apostles and all the faithful. Thomas says: “We do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” And Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” And then He adds: “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” The Apostle Philip responds to it by asking Jesus: “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus says to him: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?”

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

Those who experienced renewal in the Holy Spirit consciously opened their hearts to the Holy Spirit. It is true about them: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?” (1Cor 6:19) If He is in us, then it is true: “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” (1Cor 12:4) So the Holy Spirit is the Author and Source of all gifts, and if He is in your heart, in Him you have all His gifts. But the question is which gifts He wants to be manifested right through you. God ordained that gifts should be developed within the communion of the Church, and at the right time. There are some people who, being renewed in the Holy Spirit, started to serve with several gifts at once – the gift of interpretation, the gift of healing… But that’s rare.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus says about Himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus said to the Jews: “Before Abraham was, I AM.” (Jn 8:58) They took up stones to throw at Him, for the name of God is “HE WHO IS”. Jesus says that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the Truth. The devil is a liar and the father of lies. Jesus said to those who believed in Him: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn 8:32) He does not speak about an abstract truth but about Divine Truth in the flesh, i.e. about Himself. Jesus also says that He is the Life. The contrary of life is death, both temporal and eternal. Jesus gives us eternal life, and He Himself is Eternal Life. He says: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (Jn 11:25) Jesus says that He is the Way. He says to all who have received Him: “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.” The apostles left everything and followed Him. Jesus is the spiritual way which unites us to Him and leads to unity with the Father: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) He is true God.

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

On Sunday, 6 July 2014, we will mark the first anniversary of the renewal of baptism in the Dnieper River in Kiev.

We vividly recall the canonization of John Milic of Kromeriz, Czech preacher of repentance and prophet, by Patriarch Elijah of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate during a solemn liturgy in front of the Church of St. Sophia in Kiev on the eve of the feast of nativity of St. John the Baptist. After the Divine Liturgy, we, the believers of the Ukrainian orthodox Greek Catholic Church (UO GCC), together with our bishops and Patriarch Elijah marched in procession with banners and placards, singing religious songs, from the Church of St. Sophia to the sculpture of St. Olga, St. Andrew and Slavonic apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius. From there we went to the statue of St. Vladimir, where all of us – on behalf of ourselves and of the whole nation – renounced the devil and demonic forces. Then we confessed the faith and went down to the Dnieper.

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

In My Father’s house are many mansions;

if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you.

Chapter 14 captures deep truths concerning the mystery of the inner unity with Christ and the Heavenly Father. This mystery is also related to the Holy Spirit. Jesus uttered these truths on the evening before His death. He spoke about the faith in Him and about love which is made manifest in the keeping of His commandments. We are going to repeat the first two verses of chapter 14 for a period of two weeks.

In verse one, Jesus says: “Let not your heart be troubled…” These words also refer to you personally. Every day we face situations in which our heart is troubled; we feel tension and fear, see how evil and lies destroy the truth and good… It is a matter concerning our health, responsibility, financial problems, family problems, the war in the Eastern Ukraine…

Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit – what happened and what did she do?

The Word became flesh and Mary became the Mother of God. Mary immediately went to visit her relative Elizabeth. When she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth, something great happened: the Holy Spirit descended on Elizabeth. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and her baby likewise benefited greatly from that special visit. Zechariah also was filled with the Holy Spirit, which became manifest on the day of his son’s birth. Zechariah spoke a prophecy about his child (Lk 1:68-79). Mary remained in the house of Zechariah about three months. But she was not alone there. Jesus Christ, true God, dwelt in her. She had become the living ark, the living tabernacle. She was filled with the light of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly, the time had not yet come for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on the New-Testament Church – the Body of Christ – but all in the house of Zechariah already had the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit through Mary. Let us notice that here the Holy Spirit manifested Himself as the Spirit of prophecy (cf. 1Cor 12:10-11). Elizabeth prophesied, saying: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” No one had told Elizabeth that Mary was pregnant. Moreover, she was pregnant for less than a week, and pregnancy is not recognized so early. However, Elizabeth did recognize it, not by her reason but the Holy Spirit revealed it to her. Elizabeth called Mary blessed because Mary believed that what the Lord had said to her would be fulfilled. But Mary had not yet told Elizabeth about it, she just greeted her. Elizabeth prophesied, Zechariah prophesied, and what about the child, John the Baptist? His spiritual benefit from the visit was obviously the greatest one. He became the greatest prophet. Jesus said about him some time later: “Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.” (Mt 11:11)

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,

you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For I have given you an example,

that you should do as I have done to you.

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”

Chapters 13-17 of the Gospel of John record the words and acts of Jesus on the last evening of His earthly life. Jesus washed the apostles’ feet. Peter opposed resolutely but accepted it in the end. After washing their feet, Jesus said to the apostles: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.” And then He says to them: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example…”