“My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me.”

Behold, here is love! Behold, here is instruction! Behold, here is humility! Behold, here is an example! As there is in good bread all that is needed for our body, so in every word of the Lord Jesus Christ there is all that is needed for our soul. The divine unity of the nature of the Father and the Son is expressed in the love of the Father for the Son, and the Son for the Father. He who loves, obeys. If you want to know how great your love for God is, measure your obedience to the will of God and you will know immediately. A lack of obedience is a sure sign of the lack of love. He who loves, fulfills the will of his beloved. The Son of God loves His Father so much that He regarded fulfilling the Father's will as the sweetest food. What is the will of the Father? The salvation of mankind. Our Lord, the Son of God, felt the insatiable hunger to fulfill the Father's will. When He saved someone, He felt as if nourished with the sweetest food. Do you see how exalted Christ's spirituality is? His disciples brought Him food from the city and urged Him: Master, eat! At that moment He was too occupied with His main work, the saving of human souls. There was the Samaritan woman, ready to embrace the teaching of salvation; there was the entire city of Sychar, already drawn to the Kingdom of God; and there was the great field ready for the harvest of salvation. For Christ this was food sweeter than all physical food and worldly sweetness. The body is a vehicle in which man, the king, rides. When the king performs his royal duty-ransoming his heirs from bondage-the vehicle must be put aside and not interfere in the work of the king. The king is so focused on saving his beloved heirs, that this mission is his food, drink, reward, sole satisfaction and dignity. O my brethren, if you could know how much Christ the Lord hungers, even today, for our salvation! If we did, then we would give Him the food that He likes most! Who is a greater guest, closer relative, or more sincere friend than He? When we host far lesser guests, more distant relatives and less sincere friends, we give them the food that we know they like. Then, why do we not host our Lord with the only food that is pleasing to Him? Let us embrace the salvation that He offers us-that, for Him, is the most pleasant food. He turns His head away from all other food. O Lord Jesus, insatiable Lover of our salvation, have mercy on us and save us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

-from The Prologue, St Nikolai (Velimirovich)

“Give me a word!”

“Fr. Sophrony said many times that the conditions of the modern world are such that hesychastic life, as he himself had known it in the desert, is no longer possible. But the only thing which is left to us now is the Liturgy. If we celebrate the Liturgy with reverence and attention, we find as much grace and even more than can be found in the hesychastic life. For this reason, if we keep the Liturgy properly, there is hope for a renewal, maybe even for a renaissance of the whole world. This general crisis that we face nowadays -and it may intensify - will force many people to look for a spiritual solution and may lead them back to the Church. And if this is already happening with a small number of people, God is able to generalize it. He was very optimistic - 'As long as we keep the Liturgy,' he used to say.”

-Fr Zacharias Zacharou