~By Metropolitan Saba (Isper)

In the story of the man blind from his birth (John 9:1-38), we see a profound gesture.

Following the Jewish religious concept, which directly linked physical illness to sin, the disciples asked the Master: “Teacher, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus replied: “Neither this man sinned, nor did his parents,” rejecting in his answer a direct relationship between physical illness and sin. Illness is not a punishment for a sin, and not every illness is linked to a specific personal sin. Illness, like other problems in our fallen world, is a result of man’s fall from paradise. Sin prevails over humans after the fall of the first two ancestors. In the world of sin, all evils emerge, including diseases, epidemics, and infirmities.

There is a significant difference between considering illness as a direct result of a specific sin, and the way we deal with it. People can approach their illness in a spiritual and faithful manner, which can bear spiritual fruit, leading to their growth and salvation. Alternatively, they can approach it with complaints, blasphemy, and depression, thereby making it a spiritual illness as well. Believers accept their illness with humility and joy, placing their life in God’s hands and using it to grow in patience, endurance, meekness, and liberation from worldly matters that hindered their sought-after freedom.

Christ’s answer to the disciples sufficed with one brief phrase, according to the gospel: “Neither this man sinned, nor did his parents.” The Teacher rejects linking blindness with the sins of the blind man and his parents. In order to elevate the mentality of the disciples (for previously, it had not benefitted the blind man), He continues His answer with the next phrase, and says that this man was born blind so that “the works of God might be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day.”

God’s power appeared through this blind man’s miraculous healing at the hands of Christ. But Christ’s answer contained a broader meaning. In some translations, we hear Jesus using the collective phrase, “We must work.” We, Christ’s disciples, must continue to work according to His guidance and through Him, so that God’s power remains visible and “at work” in our world.

What would we gain if we knew of a spiritual reason behind the blindness of this man, or any other patient? At best, we would only speculate or gossip, while the sufferer remains in his suffering. Christ elevated the mentality from the level of mere knowledge – again, which was not helping the patient – to a higher level that did help him. It is as if He is saying to the disciples, and through them to every Christian: It is better for you to alleviate the suffering of the sufferer and the ill from his illness, and not to question him. This is how God’s power appears and works in you. The Lord’s answer is a shift from intellectual theorizing to an actual and practical outpouring of God’s grace and mercy.

As long as He is with us, we are in the daylight, and we have a duty to pursue “the works of Him Who sent Me,” that is, the works of true life.

God’s works appear in Christians who faithfully bear this responsibility for making God’s power tangible in this world. They are responsible for demonstrating God’s mercy and everlasting love for humanity. That is why He commanded His disciples – and everyone who believes in Him is His disciple – when He told them: “Preach the gospel to all nations,” and, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and, “Heal the sick.” The first sign that revealed that His kingdom is at hand is the healing of the sick in every sense of the word – physical, psychological and spiritual – from their despair, depression, sadness, isolation and despondency.

As long as He is with us, we are in the daytime, and there is no darkness at all. He wants our hearts to be perfected in His love, our hands to offer His gifts, our tongues to carry His words of comfort and hope, and our feet to transport His works of love to every place. He wants us to be true disciples who, through Him and Him alone, make the world perpetually bright, despite the gloom and darkness in it.
A theologian of the previous century said: “The problem isn’t that there are few saints, but that not all Christians are saints.”
Christ ended His answer to the disciples, before giving sight to the blind man, with the following sentence: “I am the light of the world, as long as I am in the world.” If Christians truly believe that they are members of the body of Christ, then Christ is always present and active in them and through them, and subsequently always
present in the world. Because of them, the world glorifies God, and God glorifies the world. How awesome is our responsibility! How vigilant we must be, so that we become pure vessels that preserve God’s work in the world! Only then, will our spiritual insight be awakened and alert, and His light will illuminate our tortured world, awaiting His complete dominion over it on the last day.

O Lord, we know that You have placed Your treasure in our earthen vessels, which quickly become perishable, and we realize that with Your transcendent love for humanity, You want us to be transcendent vessels for You (2 Cor. 4:7), deriving their durability from Your grace, and reflecting Your light wherever they are found. Do not look at our fragility, O Lord, but rather grant us confidence and strength to work in the world and return it to You. We do not deserve Your blessings, O our good God, nor your infinite goodness. Rather, do not turn Your face away from Your creation, for You taught us that You are greater than us in ways we cannot imagine. Fill us with Your presence, so Your light may shine upon our world and remain in the daylight as long as You are in it. Amen.
Originally published May 25, 2015.

By Metropolitan Saba (Isper)

In man, in every human being, there is an inner longing towards that which is perfect, but often, he is not aware of what that is. Man longs for fulfillment. He has an insatiable desire to get rich from everything. He wants to grow and increase in everything he loves, or in everything he believes is useful or necessary to him. He is never satisfied with anything in this world. You see him always striving, with all his energy and ability, for what is more plentiful and more abundant, but his desire is never quenched or satisfied. He considers the quest to be his salvation, the source of the joy and reassurance for which he longs.

He considers money to be his savior, so he strives, collects, and accumulates, never reaching the point of satisfaction with what he has obtained, but rather his greed increases. He aspires to high positions, searching for proof of existence and self-realization there. This may begin as a service to others and end up being self-serving. He is captivated by the love of power; power is tempting, whether it is in the realm of the family, administration, or church. The love of power infiltrates the most sacred places and situations. A person sees it as self-protection and satisfaction of ego without limits. He sees the desires of life as the meaning of his existence. He kisses her passionately, until she possesses him and enslaves him. He moves through it from one stage to another, until he discovers that he has spent his life chasing dreams that gave him no comfort.

Man fears death. This is his biggest problem. He is familiar with life, but he fears death because he does not know what it is. What man does not know is his enemy. He runs away from it, avoids it, circumvents it, does not want to confront it, or even remember that it is coming. For him, he no longer sees anything other than the present life as the way to search for the truth, or to absorb what he imagines is the truth. The idea of immortality has accompanied man in all times and civilizations, and still does. Despite his discovery that this earthly life is unfulfilling for him, he does not want to replace it with what he does not know.

How can this limited and mortal man have this longing for the limitless and the immortal? How can he dream of immortality when he does not see an immortal being around him, when even modern scientific theories claim the very universe is not eternal? Why does it hurt him when someone else gets what he wants, making him envious, hateful, and desperate, possessed by an inferiority complex? Why does he want fullness in everything, when there is nothing in front of him and around him except deficiency, defect, and corruption?

He longs for a better life, thinking it is about this thing or something else, but he soon discovers that he was wrong, and disappointment strikes him. Disappointment is characteristic of the modern man. He begins his youth with great enthusiasm, high ideals, and an amazing energy for change, only to discover after a number of years that he was too dreamy, and reality is full of disappointments. Even if he has reached sublimity in human thought, he still hopes he will do what is within his power. Most people will settle for small victories while losing hope of the possibility of changing the world.
Christianity interprets all of this as a yearning for the divine image within us to return to its origin. Human beings are created in God’s image (which we need to constantly to purify from our attachments to sinful passions). Human beings are also called to grow in His image until they reach the fullness that satisfies the soul. They are inherently drawn to their unlimited, infinite, and eternal Creator. In this pursuit, humans would find the sea insufficient, even if they were to drink it all. As long as they haven’t discovered within themselves the original image of their Creator, unblemished by sin and corruption that befell it through their fall from their original paradise, they will keep seeking this origin in every other thing, field or path.

Pascha is here again. It is a season dear to all of us, bringing us face-to-face with the reality of the salvation that Christ gave us through his voluntary death and glorious resurrection. Today, we renew our hope in the value of life. Today, we straighten our path toward true life. Today we understand that eternal life is our goal; and that our earthly life, with all its joys and sorrows, becomes true life when we live it as eternal life here and now.

In the light of the Resurrection, we examine our faith, our behavior, and our condition. Are these leading us to experience eternal life now in the active, living and revitalizing presence of God? Christ did not endure His passion to give us only a happy life which passes after a few decades. He fulfilled His divine plan to make this earthly life a gateway to eternal life. In us, the children of the Resurrection, the world begins its passage to eternity.

The pains, injustice, and desecration of people’s lives and dignity throughout history, and still today, should rather draw us to search for the real meaning of life. This world will vanish sooner or later. Therefore, we should not be short-sighted for earthly things while forgetting the authentic life ahead of us. The believer does not fear death, but sin. This means he does not fear the loss of earthly life, but the loss of life with God. By the power of the Resurrection, we confront death, armed with the invincible hope that eternal life will prevail over it.

The Resurrection of Christ means that despair has no place among us. No matter how much adversity and darkness, the light of the Resurrection remains our invincible guide. Christ did not endure great suffering in vain before He died and arose. His Resurrection happened after passing through brutal Golgotha. The sufferings of this age, no matter how severe, are nothing compared to the joy of the age to come, as the Apostle Paul teaches us.

We believe that we witness our own resurrection before the general resurrection, but only if we become completely purified from our passions. We do not tire of rising after every fall until we reach the great goal. Our conviction is that there is no salvation for this world except through our risen Lord. The more disappointments we have, the more we cling to this goal, and in Christ’s Resurrection we have inexhaustible hope and power.

Let us arm ourselves with the Resurrection, the cornerstone of our faith, and with it let us drive out despair, fight against fear, and renew our striving to manifest eternal life now. Let us espouse faith with works, and words with deeds. Let us bring the splendour of our liturgical services to our society. We must never stop trying to live our Christian faith, and all other things shall be added to you (cf. Matt. 6:33).

On this greatest feast day, we should rebuild our love that had been shattered by fear, and look not only to ourselves but to others in need of the true breath of life. Let us remember that human beings are made for infinite love. In Christ, God is near us, and so are others. Please strive to recognize that you are one family, that you are responsible for each other because you are brethren of the one Father. We should intensify our prayers and abstain from sin while asking for God’s mercy. If we are truly children of the Resurrection, let us be witnesses to the culture of eternal life – for which we hope and strive – for all peoples, especially the suffering.

Today, we must proclaim and manifest the great joy of the Resurrection. We must make it shine through the beauty of our lives and our holy, prophetic witness in speaking the truth with love. We must proclaim the joy of the Resurrection and let it shine every day, as we strive with others to spread peace, justice, and joy in every suffering and oppressed land. We must proclaim the joy of the Resurrection, and let it shine through our persistent resistance to sin and death, within us and around us.

Let us reflect together and ask on this feast: How can we be witnesses of the Resurrection in our own life and in the suffering world?

On Pascha, let us bring to the risen Lord our intentions and hopes. Then, let us employ our abilities to help others rise from their various sufferings.

We celebrate this holy feast in the hope of the resurrection of mankind from all manners of death.
Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!

The joyful Lent is here again. Let us approach it with joy and eagerness. This season nourishes us spiritually, purifying us to rise to the level of life worthy of human beings created in the image and likeness of God.

In our Christian circles, Lent is often approached as a mere religious obligation or abstinence from certain foods and drinks for a period of time. In reality, it is an intensive and liberating spiritual exercise when believers lay aside their worldly concerns and replace them with a yearning for the heavenly realms and living according to their faith.

The idea of liberating ourselves from the ties that bind and enslave us to earthly things, which prevent us from realizing our full humanity and purpose of our existence, is crucial to our understanding of Lent. If we focus on minimizing the quantity and quality of food, it is precisely because this helps free us from a fundamental passion that grips human nature, namely gluttony. As St. John Climacus said: “I wonder if anyone has gotten free of this master before settling in the grave” (The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 14:1).

Overcoming gluttony must lead us to freedom from other things that are not essential to our lives. This cannot be achieved if we are satisfied to limit fasting to food. Those who fast according to the rules of the Church experience how much lighter their bodies become as they approach Pascha. This lightness leads believers to more personal and communal prayer, to spreading the spirit of asceticism to many aspects of their daily lives, and to maximizing opportunities to perform acts of love in a variety of forms and ways, according to the ability of each believer.

A very important liturgical book that Orthodox believers cannot do without during Lent is the Triodion. It is the book for the period from the four weeks leading up to Lent, through all the weeks of Lent and Holy Week, until Holy Pascha. The prayers and hymns in this essential book are organized by the daily services of Orthros, Vespers, and the Sixth Hour. Reading it daily helps us fast properly according to Orthodox spirituality.

Some may make the mistake of limiting fasting to food, and some may make the mistake of limiting fasting to nice and civilized behaviors. Both attitudes are incomplete, and each dimension forgets the other. Most dangerously, these incomplete and misunderstood practices ignore the spirit and purpose of fasting.

The eschatological dimension of the Christian faith is essential, and to forget or neglect it amputates the Christian faith from its purpose and goal. What is the meaning of salvation if our lives are limited to these short years we are given on earth? What is salvation if we do not hope for resurrection and life in the age to come, and therefore do not work and strive for it?
In Lent, we experience, both physically and practically, our longing for the life to come. Fasting keeps our vigilance alive lest we forget that we are created for eternity and life in the presence of God, where we move “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18), as the Apostle Paul teaches us. Fasting is a yearning and desire for a life beyond the mortal, physical life. It is an experience of death before it happens, and therefore an exercise to defeat fear of it. We should not be surprised when we read or hear about believers who have been called “fasters” because of the many fasts that have shaped their entire lives. These are saints whose longing for God and life with Him led them to abandon everything else and to be satisfied with God alone, neglecting all earthly things and turning to the heavenly ones.

Love is also one of the authentic dimensions of fasting as practiced by Christians since the beginning of Christianity. When someone was in distress, they would call for a fast on a specific day and bring the cost savings of that day’s meals to the distressed person at church on Sunday morning. This is why the prayers and hymns of the Triodion often urge charity.
We also need to fast from so many things in these distracting times, such as television, social media, and entertainment, instead devoting the time we spend on them to more spiritual readings, prayer, and acts of love. This is how we experience Lent in its spirit and not just in its rules.

If in our Lent we experience true freedom, we experience the saying that “God alone is enough.” If we experience true freedom, then we have entered into His spirituality, beauty and joy.

~By Metropolitan Saba (Isper)

The humble person is objective and aware of his duties and rights; he knows the extent of his impact on society and realizes his position and role within it. He does not monopolize his talents and abilities but is happy to share them with others, even if their talents end up exceeding his. He rejoices in other people’s success and is thrilled by their growth and maturity. He knows neither jealousy nor envy, is thankful for everything, and flourishes on other’s progress.

As for the arrogant person, he only views things through the lens of his own ego. He is immersed in boastfulness about himself and considers no one else but himself. He is condescending towards others and wants to seize everything for himself. Jealousy kills his soul, envy exhausts him, and he is constantly troubled by those who are more distinguished than him. He is demanding, has a bad temper, and is never satisfied, no matter how much success he might achieve.

The humble person realizes how enormous the universe is. Therefore, he is always receptive to other people and ideas. Great scholars tend to be humble because their vast knowledge makes them aware that what they do not know about the universe is much more than what they know. They constantly pursue more knowledge with a sincere zeal, whereas the less learned might be arrogant, haughty, and conceited about what they know. The latter are condescending toward those who are less knowledgeable than them, yet at the same time, they are intimidated by those who are more knowledgeable than them and avoid interacting with them.

The humble person is inhabited by love and views every person as a repository of love. He does not exalt himself, because love does not know exaltation. He deals naturally and spontaneously with others, since he does not know how to lie, falsify facts, or wear masks. More precisely, he has no need to act in such a manner because he does not feel insufficient and compelled to cover up or mask his inadequacy with fake or false interactions. Thus, he is a human being with no inferiority complex. In other words, his self-confidence is within normal limits: he does not overstate his self-confidence, as this leads to arrogance and haughtiness, and he does not understate it, as this leads to cowardice and naivety.

The humble one is a balanced human being. He does not view himself based on how other people view him and, thus, does not have to act inappropriately in order to please others.

Humility is associated with self-knowledge, which is “a person’s awareness of his ability and a restless reminiscence of his slightest shortcomings” (as St. John of the Ladder says).

What has been said so far is a description that befits humanity in general. For Christians, pursuit of humility surpasses this description, because we strive to imitate our Lord, who says, “Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

Humility might appear to be a downward descent, yet for believers it is an ascent to the highest and a closeness to the Lord and to Creation in general. Humility is deemed to be the third to the last step for those who seek perfection. In Orthodox spirituality, humility comes right before dispassion (apatheia) and love, which are the summit of the ladder of virtues.
The humble person anguishes at pridefulness and pities the arrogant, because he realizes that pride tears apart human nature while humility unites it. The haughty person seeks self-satisfaction through arrogance and cruelty towards others. He thinks that his existence depends on humiliating others, while the humble person understands that loving others is the basis of his and their existence.

The humble person knows that any judgment about others is distorted if it is tinged with pride, because it is not based on a pure and valid contemplation of reality. Conversely, humility leads to careful insight, devoid of passion, and therefore, to sound judgment.

While the arrogant person twists his view of life’s affairs to suit his selfish interests, the humble person’s approach is realistic, baptized with love. Therefore, the latter re-establishes the true understanding of the affairs of life. The arrogant person is negative, accompanied by pessimistic darkness, hopeless and helpless. Meanwhile, the humble person is positive to the end, capable of accepting a changing reality, and accompanied by optimism and ongoing progress.

Our spiritual literature has not in vain said that trees devoid of fruit are erect and rise to the heights, while trees full of fruit are always bent. As a matter of fact, the more fruit they carry, the lower they are bent.

In Latin, the word humility means “fertile ground.” The humble one is like low-lying land that receives water and absorbs it, enhancing its fertility and increasing its fruits.

Humility leads to exaltation, while vanity leads to humiliation. For the Bible says that God “brought down the haughty and exalted the humble” (Luke 1:51). Exaltation is beautiful and good, but humiliation is repellent and distasteful.

The rooster is only aware of its own pen and is content, believing itself to be the mightiest and strongest. This is what an arrogant person is like—trapped in himself, believing that he is the center of the universe. The eagle, however, flies high and sees the earth and everything on it. It notices its tininess compared to other creatures, mocking the rooster and realizing the extent of the latter’s ignorance. Eagles are like humble people: they realize their status and role in the world (as Saint Silouan the Athonite says).

The humble person is soft-spoken and does not offend or hurt, unlike the arrogant person. “Treasure does not generate what it lacks.”

One might say, “I’m not arrogant.” This does not necessarily mean this person is humble. Not being arrogant is different from being humble. Here is what the great teacher John of the Ladder says: “Arrogance is different from not being arrogant, and both are different from humility. The arrogant one judges others all day long, and the non-arrogant one does not judge anyone but does not judge himself either. As for the humble person, he judges himself all the time, without being at fault.”
Pride accompanies individualism, which is why it seems to be a general feature in our current era. The more isolated the person is, the more scared he becomes and tries to protect himself with walls of pride. Pride is a sign of fear, avoidance of confronting oneself and one’s flaws. It is an inherent lack of love, if not hatred. As for humility, it is the experience of intimacy and a joyful life that is open to others. The humble person does not share in the sins of others but overflows with mercy for those who are in sorrow. Nothing hurts the humble person more than pride.

Our spiritual fathers said that humility is the wall and the roof of the house that protects its children, meaning the virtues, from falling. It is indeed the manifestation of all virtues.

The arrogant person derives his existence from his own self, talents, knowledge, money, and the like, while the humble person is certain that his entire existence is derived from God. The humble one always sees himself as standing in God’s presence. He constantly seeks to be fulfilled by God and does not waste his time with narcissistic actions that make him lose his best self.

A very beautiful girl came to Metropolitan Anthony Bloom for confession. She told him that she admired her beauty to the point of vanity and arrogance. He replied: Well, at least this is true. I advise you to stand in front of the mirror three times a day, look at yourself, and say, Thank you, Lord, for creating me beautiful, but my only contribution to this beauty you have given me is to distort it with my haughty gaze.

Pride arises from self-conceit, while humility comes from referring every good deed to God. The humble person attributes everything he has to God, not to himself. Thus, he thanks God, admires Him, and grows in love of Him.

The humble person, in short, is the one who realizes that he needs God’s mercy, and his constant prayer becomes, like the tax collector, “O God, be merciful to me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13).