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Excerpts from Sermons: "How Can We Forsake Ourselves?"



By Fr. Alexander Pashkovsky

Holy Fathers used to say, "Silence is a gladsome light wandering the path of transformation." (Sermon after the All-Night Vigil on August 19, 2017)


By Fr. Andrew Malakhovsky 

The Lord tells us that we must walk circumspectly, for the days are evil. It appears to us that we have a long way to go. We think that we will have an opportunity to do something tomorrow, be patient tomorrow, pray more tomorrow but that "tomorrow" may never come, and the Lord will judge us as we are. This is why we ought to pay more attention to our lives and always do what God wants us to do. May the Lord help us to be spiritually rich and to treat everything that happens in our lives with patience and gratitude. (Sermon after the Divine Liturgy in the Boarding Home on August 18, 2017)


By Fr. Valery Zakharov

How can we follow Christ? How can we forsake ourselves? Replying to his disciples' question, "Who, then, can be saved?" the Lord declares, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Of course, we will hardly be able to get saved using only our own power. Nevertheless, God is powerful enough to correct us. He affirms that He came to save the sinners who are aware of the fact that they do not deserve his Kingdom. It is demonstrated with the example of a thief who indeed was the worst man; he had killed, robbed, and raped many people but he saw God just before his death and realised how bad he was. Seeing that he did not deserve the Kingdom, he simply asked Jesus, "Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom." He humbled down, acknowledged that he was a sinner, and became a saint all at once. Perhaps, we also realise sometimes that we are far from being worthy, that the gates are locked, that we cannot enter the Lord's Kingdom due to our sins, due to our spritual condition, and these are the very moments when we actually do have the chance to get there because we humble ourselves down and recognise who we are before God. It is easy to compare yourself to an alcoholic neighbour, to a debauchee, to an unbeliever but as soon as you juxtapose yourself with God, you will see how much He loves you. (Sermon after the Divine Liturgy on August 27, 2017)

You can teach your child to go to church regularly, to take communion and confess, and probably even fulfil the commandments and to abstain from something. How can you teach him love? How can you teach him the Sacrament that is the relationship with God? It is one's wholehearted participation in the Holy Eucharist, where Christ enters not only one's mouth but also goes all the way down to one's heart and rules there that really matters, not the formal ritual and religious obligations. Regardless of all our sinfulness, what is important is that we abide in that Kingdom and do our best to keep it in our hearts. How we manage to do it is a different question. Do we really try? Do we have the desire to follow Christ? If we do, the Lord will give us this opportunity. Our task is to thank God for his gifts. (Sermon after the Divine Liturgy in the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs on August 26, 2017)


By Fr. Sergius Nezhbort

The sorrows, afflictions, and hardships of our lives force us down to earth. Our spiritual short-sightedness makes us depressed. We must remember, though, that no matter how hard it is, the Lord is always near. [...]

We often have near-death experiences in the course of our lives. Yes, we say something during that time, we go somewhere and try doing something, but our souls are dying so it is hard to tell whether you are dead or alive. We must remember that the victory over death has already happened, and it must happen in our lives, too. (Sermon after the Divine Liturgy on August 28, 2017)


By Fr. George Glinski

Saint Mark the Apostle and Evangelist writes about the healings that the Lord was doing. He gave physical health back to people who had been suffering from various ailments. We all know that our plans, dreams, and intentions are prone to destruction if we lack physical health. However, the Gospel tells us about those healings because they foreshadow the final healing. The healing that every one of us gets from Christ is the restoration of the integrity of our being and renewal of normal relationships with God and our neighbours that the Risen Lord grants us. Each one of us should try to make this Lord's gift work in his own life. (Sermon after the Divine Liturgy on August 24, 2017)


By Fr. Artemius Tonoyan


May the Lord help everyone to understand that we all do something for God's sake so as to reach the condition which will make it a little bit easier for God to save us. (Sermon after the Divine Liturgy on September 11, 2017)


By Fr. Rodion Alkhovik


We see in some saints real-life examples of people who had fallen very low but the Lord still restored them, which means that He is capable of bringing us back to our feet, too, if we repent, go to church, and try to change our lives. (Sermon after the All-Night Vigil on September 9, 2017)

November 21, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent


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