Prayer

POINTS TO PONDER : PRAYER

  • “This is what we are supposed to be doing, you know, in our life of prayer – having a personal encounter with Jesus Christ risen from the dead”. See Homily : 8 May, 2005, Thomas Sunday, Complete Confidence in His Love.

  • “We have baptisms by fire : this is the Orthodox way. We learn best by doing. We jump in and do it. How do we learn to swim ? We jump in the water and we just start swimming. How do we pray ? We just begin. We open our mouth and our heart, and we start. That is always how we go about it.” See Homily : 10 December, 2006, Ceaseless Thanksgiving.

  • “When people are unkind to us, it is important for us to be patient, to give thanks to God, to pray “Lord have mercy” for the people that are treating us badly. Part of this is simply waiting. Through our prayers, sometimes people who treat us badly ultimately find themselves turning about, as the Apostle Paul himself was turned about in mid-track". See Homily : 23 October, 2005, Giving and Forgiving.

  • “If someone misuses the gift of love towards me, and betrays my love and my openness and my sincerity – that is that person’s responsibility to answer before Christ. It is that person’s responsibility, period. My responsibility is to make sure that my heart stays clean and pure towards that person. I, in Christ, have to be able to pray for that person, as Archimandrite Sophrony and Saint Silouan say. I have to say at least “Lord have mercy” repeatedly for that person. In doing this, I am offering that person to Christ in the hope that that person may yet see the error, turn about, and repent”. [See previous homily of 23 October, 2005.]

  • “The Lord uses our prayers as He wills. I have seen how the Lord truly does use our prayers for the living, and for the departed. He touches people who need our support even if we do not know that. People are praying (in general and in specific). The Lord hears our prayers. He meets our needs. He touches us. He looks after us all, the living and the departed together. He cares for us. He wants us to be united with Him in His love because He created us because of love. He wants us to live in Him eternally in love, in life, in joy, in everlasting bliss.” See Homily : 1 March, 2008, Soul Saturday, Keeping our Priorities straight.

  • “Let us ask the Lord to give us anew the Grace, and the outpouring of His love today, so that we will be able to take courage, and apply this basic, little prayer that He has given us : “Kyrie eleison ; Lord, have mercy ; Doamne milueste ; Seigneur, sois miséricordieux”. In saying this simple prayer, let us let the Lord heal our hearts, and keep our hearts always healed, whole, and in clear, unblocked, loving communion with Him”. See Homily : 9 March, 2008, Forgiveness Sunday, The Foundation of Forgiveness.

  • “This is how we all must be towards each other. We must be loving fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. We must be revealing Christ to each other. We must be referring each other to Christ. In prayer, we must be bringing each other into the presence of Christ, lifting each other up before the Face of Christ, always, and in everything looking only to Christ”. See Homily : 24 August, 2008, Prayer and Fasting.

  • “We are always praying for those persons who are difficult. How do we pray ? As Archimandrite Sophrony taught (and I believe that he is right), following his spiritual father, Saint Silouan, we simply say “Lord, have mercy”. We ask the Lord in His love to be present to the other person. The more that I say “Lord, have mercy” for the other person, the more my own heart is straightened out towards the other person. I cannot make the other person change, but the Lord’s love can change my heart. This is what is important : how I am towards the person who is so difficult for me because of pain inflicted or feelings hurt by so-and-so or whatever. It is I who am responsible for me. I am responsible for how I react”. See Homily : 16 January, 2010, Learning how to forgive.