The answer to the appeal of the disciples given by our Lord – The Lord’s Prayer, indeed the model for all our praying. Yet, next to the Lord’s Prayer, there is a further way of praying that is particularly commended within the Orthodox Church to all who seek living, inner prayer; and that is the Jesus Prayer. This is a short invocation, frequently repeated, most commonly in the form “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
The beginning of Christian life is a new beginning of God’s creative work. And just as Jesus came up out of the water, receiving the Holy Spirit and hearing the voice of the Father, so for the newly baptized Christian the voice of God says, ‘You are my son/daughter’, as that individual begins his or her new life in association with Jesus.
Christians are received into full membership of the Church by having water poured or sprinkled over them (or, in some traditions, being fully immersed); Christians read the Bible; Christians gather to share bread and wine in memory of the death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth; and Christians pray. Though there is a huge and bewildering variety in Christian thinking and practice about all kinds of things, these four basic activities have remained constant and indispensable for majority of those who call themselves Christians.
Prayer is God – it is not something that I initiate but something in which I share; it is not primarily something that I do, but something that God is doing in me: St. Paul’s phrase, ‘not I, but Christ in me’ (Galatians 2:20). The path of inner prayer is exactly indicated in St. John the Baptist’s words about the Messiah: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). It is in this sense that to pray is to be silent. ‘You yourself must be silent; let the prayer speak’ – more precisely, let God speak. True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
Theophany therefore marks the revelation of the Trinitarian nature of God when Jesus was baptized. Because those who witnessed heard the Father’s voice from Heaven, saw the Spirit descending upon Jesus, and could see Jesus in the flesh, whom God confirmed to be His Son with His voice. Let us understand and learn about the Trinity from the Icon of Epiphany.
Christ is illumined, let us shine forth with Him. Christ is baptized, let us descend with Him that we may also ascend with Him. Jesus is baptized; but we must attentively consider not only this but somehow other points… He is the all pure; and He is baptized by John; and the time is the beginning of His miracles. What are we to learn and to be taught by this? For more, please click on the below link
While Christians are not required to undergo circumcision for religious purposes, we are called to be circumcised of heart, continually living out our life of repentance which we are reminded of at every Church service.
As we come back to our daily routine from the festivities of the Nativity season that had embraced every Christian household, the Indian Orthodox Church coats herself in much sorrow for the innocent male babies slain by King Herod’s cruelty.
This is our God Who has come to reside among us! See His unsurpassed love for us. The great wall that divided man from God through sin and disobedience has been destroyed by the babe Jesus in the womb. As we go around giving gifts to our loved and fear ones and also seeking ways to give gifts to the less privileged children of the world and as we engage ourselves preparing wonderful food for all those who come knocking at our doors, let us ask this question of ourselves: What do we offer Christ this day for coming to reside among us?
CHRIST IS BORN, GLORIFY HIM! Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth, be you exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the earth; and that I may join in one word, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him Who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of our sins, with joy because of our hope. Christ of a Virgin; O you Matrons live as Virgins, that you may be Mothers of Christ. Who does not worship Him That is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him That is the Last?
