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By celebrating the Holy Liturgy,
conducting prayers, holding conferences, printing tens of books, and by putting
on formal and popular festivals and feasts, the Lebanese Maronite Order on the
10th of November 1994 - together with its counterpart the Mariamite Order -
launched religious and civil celebrations marking the 300th Jubilee of its
foundation. On that very night, as he was praying in the cold, open air, near
Saint Sharbel’s hermitage, a young, married man had an experience, new to him,
of God’s love, fatherhood and care (the purpose for which Orders are formed).
That man was Raymond Nader, and here is his story:
…“I was praying, as was my custom of
many years, and this time in front of St. Sharbel’s hermitage in Annaya ... I
found myself in another world… everything had stopped: I could see neither the
candles (which I had lit), nor the trees, nor the ground anymore... I could hear
no sound at all… I could not feel my body. I started seeing - but not with my
eyes - things I had never seen in my life. I stopped hearing with my ears, but
started hearing things I had never heard before. And I started feeling in my
heart what I had never felt before, as if my heart was no longer made of flesh
and blood. I saw a strange and amazing light, unlike any light I had ever seen:
it was a sea of light that extended from one end of the universe to the other.
The sun would look like a small candle compared to that light... But it was not
a natural light; despite all its strength, it neither dazzled nor burned… A soft
and smooth light; gentle, yet strong and powerful at the same time. It had a
crystalline color, and an extremely clear and pure light. I felt as if I were a
tiny drop, swimming in a very great sea of wonderful crystal light… I felt very
safe, like a tiny baby swimming trustfully in the water of his mother’s womb… I
felt an indescribable joy and great amazement!
“I felt as if I were perhaps
standing, sitting or swimming, or something else that I do not know. I was
either present before a great being, or in the heart of a very powerful and
marvelous being: the perfection of power, of knowledge, and of compassion and
love....
“I felt as if I were in contact with
someone: in a strange way, as if I was in contact with all the creatures of the
universe - together and at the same time. It seemed the whole universe had
become one, and I was a drop of it - as if the universe melted in this light and
so did I... Then, in a strange way, I entered into a dialog with that light. He
would talk to me without words, without voice, without language, but in a way
clearer than any words, and more eloquent than any language. That light was
talking directly to my soul, and addressing my mind and my heart directly -
without passing through my ears or my eyes or any of my senses, of which I was
no more aware …
“I said to myself: ‘I must be dreaming.’ He answered me in
His way and in His language which is devoid of words, sounds or languages. He
made me understand - in a very clear way that can neither be misinterpreted,
misunderstood, or wrongly explained - that I was not dreaming, as if He were
telling me: ‘No, you are not dreaming.' Yet, I repeated to myself: ‘I am
certainly not conscious…’ In the same marvelous and clear way He explained to me
that I was at the pinnacle of consciousness, and that I had never in my life
reached a level of awareness of my existence and of my being as I had at that
moment. It was as if He were telling me: “You are now more conscious than you
have ever been in your life. You are at the most conscious moment of your life…”
“Then I started wondering: where am
I? What is this light? Who is this talking to me?’ At that moment I felt the
most awesome sensation a person can ever feel: a very great peace, an
indescribable joy, an intense and absolute happiness… a complete and wonderful
clarity… a pure and strong love that exceeds by millions of times the love that
exists in the hearts of all human beings together… a great and tremendous love,
yet unlike that of humans, a different one… a great divine love which only that
light can grant… As I was overwhelmed by that wonderful feeling, and completely
melted in it, I ‘heard’ Him telling me: “This is me,” as if I had known Him for
a very long time: since my birth, or even perhaps before I was born....
“I felt as if He knew me perfectly,
since I had been formed in my mother’s womb, and even before that... As if He
knew each and every atom of my body; and knew each and every cell of my brain;
and as if he knew the thoughts of my soul, and my feelings far better than I
did… I felt completely naked in front of Him and I felt that the light went
through my body from one side to the other… This light does not cast shadows; He
passes through everything… I felt that He entered every corner of my heart…
“I
said to myself, and thought, that I wanted that light to stay permanently, and
that I remain in Him always, and that if He wanted to go away, that He might
take me with Him. But He answered me in His way, as if He was saying to me: ‘I
am always here and everywhere; I do not go anywhere… I am always in time, and
out of it; in space and out of it… (Raymond Nader’s diary, pp. 69-73)”. So far,
this experience has been repeated 22 times; each time, Mr. Raymond Nader
receives a message. Here we are now publishing most of them. According to
Raymond, six messages are not yet published. Here are their contents
1-Christ is the Truth of
Love Incarnate
“Before the beginning, was love.
Everything came to be through love, and without love, nothing of what has
existed since the beginning, or is now, or will be forever, would have come to
be. In the very beginning was love; the basis of the universe - its law and
regulations - is love. When all ends, only love will remain; all that is outside
love will pass.
“God is love. God is truth. God is
the true love. The world of God is the world of love; it is the world of truth,
and there is no truth outside love. Man is not fulfilled except through love,
and he does not reach the truth except in the world of God. Man belongs to God;
he is the child of love, the child of God, and his real home is the world of
God.
“There is a way to God’s world, and
that way is Christ. Christ is the truth of love incarnate. He is the
proclamation of the truth of life, and He is the way to God’s world. Every man,
during his journey through this world to the other, is called to follow this
way. And, as in every journey in this world, a man must take along provisions
and weapons in his journey to the other world. The only provision for this
journey is love, and the only weapon is love. This love can only be encompassing
of all human beings, can expect nothing in return, can know no boundaries, and
be only unconditional. That is how God loves you, so love each other with the
same love, with God’s love.
“One cannot give this love from
oneself, but can get it from God, through Jesus Christ, to be filled with it, in
spirit. This is achieved through prayer. Only through prayer can love be
obtained from God the Father, the source of love, through God the Son, Jesus
Christ - love incarnate - and this love is the Spirit of God in man. Pray to
obtain this love, to love all human beings without recompense, without
boundaries, without conditions, as God loves, and then you will become
Children of God. Man came from the heart of God, and will return to God's
heart.” (St. Sharbel’s
Words)
2- And you
will achieve the Objective for which God Created You
“Why are people going downward,
whereas the road to God is upward”?!
“People are carrying many loads and burdens
that are causing their backs to bend; their foreheads are touching the ground,
and they are no longer able to stand upright and raise their heads to see the
face of their Lord. They are trying to free themselves and each other of these
burdens; they throw them on each other and make each other carry them, making
their loads heavier.
“Only Jesus Christ is able to free all human
beings of all their loads, burdens and weights, for a slave cannot set another
slave free. Man is born bound with ropes and chains, and shackled in bonds
within which he is reared and lives, and very many are those who die in them.”
“People are getting used to these bonds
which are becoming part of them, thus making it difficult to save them from
them. The glittering of their bonds is dazzling them so that they can no longer
see the face of the Lord, and the rattling of their chains is deafening them so
that they can no longer hear the voice of the Lord. They boast of the glitter of
their bonds, which hobble them, and delight in the tinkling of the chains which
bind them; shackles remain shackles no matter how they shine, and the chain that
binds you remains a chain of bondage even if it is of gold. Instead of polishing
your shackles, shatter them, and instead of composing music from the tinkling of
your chains, untie and break free of all of them.”
“The Lord is in pain seeing as
shackled slaves looking for happiness in places in which they will not find it,
the people for whom He became man to set free, and for whom he died and rose
from the dead to give life and eternal happiness.”
- Your happiness in this world is not
from this world. If you were from this world, you would stay in it.
- Your happiness is not in stones. Stones do
not give happiness: Why does man seek after gold? Is it to give value to
himself? Man is far dearer than gold, man is the child of God; his value is
intrinsic. Gold does not set man free of his shackles, but only makes them shine
more.
- Your happiness is not found in other
humans either, for they cannot offer happiness as they do not own it, and no one
can give something one does not own.
“Only Jesus Christ can give you true
happiness. People, however, have become arrogant, living amidst asphalt and
cement, their minds have become asphalt and their hearts cement. Their minds
produce only dark and gloomy thoughts, and their hearts are hardened, cruel and
devoid of love. People have become matter that moves without spirit, and some of
them are mobile rocks spreading the stench of sin. People have become arrogant
and they insist on finding happiness in sin. Sin only gives them anxiety,
sadness, misery and emptiness. People have become arrogant; they boast to
themselves, they boast to others and they boast to God. Are they not aware that
God can turn them back into dust at the speed of lightning?
But the love of our Lord is great.
Our Lord loves humans greatly because they are His children, and He has made of
them a light to the world.
“Every person
is a torch of light; our Lord created him to illumine the world. Every
person is a lamp made by our Lord to shine and give light.
Whoever gets a lamp, receives it to illuminate the darkness. The lamp was made
to illumine the darkness. But these lamps are preoccupied with their outer
frame: they are coloring their lampshades,
painting them, decorating them and embellishing them. These shades that our Lord
had made thin and transparent to protect the light, have become thick and hard,
and they are blocking the light, and so the world has become immersed in
darkness. These lamps that our Lord had made to carry the light, and illumine
the world, have become works of art that are decorated,
embellished and colored but unable to
give light. What is the use of a lamp that cannot light the dark? A lamp cannot
be seen in darkness unless it lights up. No matter how beautiful a lamp is, its
light is more beautiful than it. The world is drowning in darkness and this
while you are the light of the world. Your glass should regain its thinness and
transparency so that you may light up the
world, and achieve the objective for which God has created you.
“God made every creature to fulfill
the purpose of its existence.
Observe the creatures of this earth; each one is performing its duty with utmost
precision and integrity, and no creature is
miserable. The most miserable creature on the face of the earth is happier than
the sinner. At the day of reckoning, the sinner will not so much worry about
the harsh reckoning as much as he will feel ashamed before the greatness of
God’s love, that love which created the universe and gave life.
“Love is the only treasure that you amass in
this world, and which remains with you through to the next world.
“All your treasures, money, glories and
achievements that you think you have owned in this world and believe are yours,
will remain in this world; even your own bones are not yours. Only love will
go with you to the next world, and whoever gets to stand before the Lord devoid
of love will die of shame, and that will be the moment of his real death,
not when he departed from this world.
“Man dies if he does not turn into love, for
God is love, and only love is eternal. Let love reign over your hearts, and
humility guide your minds. Pray and repent. Pray to Jesus Christ and He will
hear you; open your hearts to Him, He will enter them and peace will come into
them. But pray with all your heart. Do not mumble words that come from your lips
while your hearts are with another lord. Our Lord knows what is in your hearts
and He wants your hearts.
“Do not tire yourselves looking for
the truth outside of Christ. There is no truth outside of Christ. Christ is the
truth, and when you know Christ you will know the truth and become free; and
Christ wants you free. Be not afraid, be strong and be sure and confident that
Christ has defeated the world!” (St. Sharbel’s words)
3-
Your Work in this World
“Christ is the way; remain firm in
Christ and follow the way, and do not let anything move you away from Him.
“Stop by every brother of yours even for a
very brief moment, point the way out to him, point the light out to him: should
he choose to walk by your side, then let him go before you, and should he ask
you to hold his hand, then hold both his hands; should he try to move you away
from the way, or push you back, then let go of him, for the road is long and the
work is plentiful: your work is to sow the earth with prayer and incense. Sow
the earth with love. Sow in the rock because crops will grow in every rock that
has a grain of earth. Crush the rock that needs crushing. Keep striking at the
rock and never weary, for if it does not break after the first and second
strikes, it will after a hundred strikes. Do not weary and fall behind because
if you do, someone else will crush the rock, plow and sow. One sows in season
and reaps in season.
“Strike at the rock and do not be afraid
because the arm is yours but neither the land is yours nor the sledgehammer is
yours. Do not nag, grumble, fidget and complain: the wheat spikes undergoing
threshing to separate hay from them do not grumble under the weight of the
thresher, and because of the harshness of the threshing floor, for they are
being prepared to become bread and nourishment. And the grapes do not fidget
while being pressed, squeezed and crushed on the rocks of the press, for they
become wine and joy. Without the cross there is neither bread nor wine. Whoever
wants to become bread and wine must carry the cross. Carry the cross and go
toward the light.
“In this world, man is moving from
the shore of darkness and
nonexistence to the shore of eternal light, and
he passes through the seas of this world in a ship, and the ships of this world
are many:
1-
Some ships
are very beautiful, very luxurious,
and also very comfortable, because their sails incline to the wind, and their
rudders sway with the waves. They face up neither to the winds nor to the waves.
They have neither direction, nor destination to reach. Most people rush to
embark upon these ships because they see nothing in this world except the
journey, and all they want is their trip to be pleasant and their travel to be
comfortable. But no journey in this sea lasts forever; the trip ends and the
passengers of these ships end up at the bottom
of the sea, near the shore from whence they had departed.
2-
Another type of ships has thin sails
and weak wood; these ships are wrecked as soon as they are on the high seas,
where waves rise high and storms gain strength, and the passengers of these
ships end up somewhere at the bottom of the deep sea.
3-
A
third type includes ships that have strong wood, solid sails,
and that look nice and inviting. But its captain is an impostor who takes the
passengers from one shore of death to another. And so the passengers of these
ships end up on some death shore from whence
the return is impossible.
4-
And there is the Lord’s ship which
has strong wood and solid sails, and whose captain is full of wisdom, courage
and love. This ship sails across the deep seas, faces up strong storms and
winds, and plows the high waves in the open sea: The journey in this ship is
rough,
but its arrival is sure.
“Hang on to
the Lord’s ship; do not be afraid of the storms and high waves. Do not let the
luxurious and comfortable ships lure you into boarding them because they do not
arrive. Be concerned more with than about the journey. Do not let the depths of
the sea fascinate you and draw you to dive into them. The sea of this world is
for you to sail upon rather than to dive into. And you cannot be at the same
time on board the ship, and deep in the sea
water, or in two ships at the same time.
“Hang on to
the Lord’s ship and help your brothers hang on with you: At every port you
reach, invite people to join you in your journey so you may share the arrival
with them; tell them about your ship and Captain and about the shore of light.
But, rest assured that it is not what you
say that will make people embark on the Lord’s ship, but rather it is your love
for each other and your love for the Captain and your trust and your belief in
Him, and the joy on
your faces.
“Rest assured also that the journey on
this ship will only end on the shore of light in order
to continue with the light, because man is a cosmic creature whose limits are
the light and not an earthly creature whose limits are earth and water. Man is
dust and light: Whoever lives in the dust returns to the dust and dies in the
dust, and whoever lives in light, returns to light and lives in light. Do not
let earth confine you, because the boundaries of your homeland in this
world are the end of the sea and the beginning of heaven. Do not let earth
enslave you; be free; freedom can only be in freedom from sin: If you are free
from sin, then you are free and nobody can enslave you. But if you are a slave
to sin, then you are a slave even if you hold the king’s scepter in your hand.
“Keep the grace of love and the mark of
humility. Be true witnesses of Jesus Christ. Confront evil with love, but do not
use love as an excuse to avoid confronting evil; a farmer does not use rubble as
an excuse to stop plowing. And do not be afraid, evil will destroy itself.
“Fully commit yourselves to the Church and all her teachings, and unwearily
persevere in prayer. Honor our mother the Virgin Mary, and arm yourselves with
the Rosary, because the name of the Virgin Mary drives away darkness and crushes
evil. Be monks in the heart of this world, even if without the habit. Sow the
earth with prayer and incense. Be saints and sanctify the earth. The road of
sanctity is long, but be sure that when the thoughts of God are in your minds
and the love of God is in your hearts, then the strength of God will be in your
arms and you will arrive. Rest assured also that whenever you are praying, I
will be praying with you so that you may be sanctified and the name of the Lord
be glorified.
(St. Sharbel’s words)
4- Your Weakness is there for you to
overcome
“Every padlock has a key. And every door
has a lock that can be opened only by its key. Death has closed Heaven’s door
and sin has locked it. The Cross is the key that undoes the padlock of sin,
trips the lock of death and opens Heaven’s door. The Cross is the key to
Heaven’s door; there is no other key.
“Heaven’s door is where Heaven and earth
meet, at the summit of Golgotha. This door is clear, tangible and visible, and
every man with eyes can see it. Some think that it has no lock and opens to
whoever pushes it. But when you approach the door, you will realize that it has
a lock and it can only be opened with its proper key.
The true key cannot be recognized unless
you put it into the padlock. There is only one true key: the Cross of Christ. Do
not weary yourselves searching for keys aside from this Cross that open the door
of Heaven, and do not in vain make another key. Many are the people who waste
their lives in designing their own keys; they cast and strike keys reflecting
their own designs, believing that these keys will open the door for them. And
many are the people who mock the Cross of Christ. But at Heaven’s door, the
truth will be revealed and all other keys will fail.
“All the journey of your life is a trip
toward this door; at the end of this trip, you either have the key and you will
open, or you will stand there holding keys on which you have wasted your life,
and which now have failed and disappointed you. Take up the Cross of Christ, and
you will hold the key of Heaven‘s door.
“Take up the Cross of Christ with joy,
determination, and courage, do not heed the mockers, do not stop and cry with
the wailing, and do not lament when you fall along with the lamenting. Neither
weeping and lamenting make the history of salvation, nor does beating on the
chest and wailing open Heaven’s door. The history of salvation is made through
tears of true repentance. One tear of repentance opens the door of Heaven. The
tear of repentance will roll down only on the cheek of the courageous faithful.
“Take up the Cross of Christ and walk in
His footsteps, then the Blessed Virgin will be by your as she was by His side.
And every time you are
wounded, say: with the wounds of Christ! And every time you suffer pain, say:
with Your passion, O Jesus!.
And every time you are persecuted, contemned and insulted, say: for Your
glory, O Lord!
“Your Weakness is there for you to overcome and not to use
as an excuse.
When you take up the Cross of Christ, neither
pain will bend you, nor will fatigue crush you, and you will walk with firmness,
patience and silence. When you arrive at the door, the joy of your crossing over
its threshold will exceed by far your pain and the exhaustion of your trip, and
the happiness of your arrival will exceed by far the suffering of your journey.
“Your way to Golgotha is very long in
this point of the world, and the Cross of Christ in the East is upon your
shoulders; you have many enemies because they are the enemies of the Cross. Do
not make them your enemies. Speak to them always in the language of the Cross,
even though they are your enemies because of it. The coming months and years
will be very difficult, hard, bitter, and as heavy as the Cross. Endure them
with deep prayer from faith, with patience from hope, and with love from the
Cross. Violence will fill the earth, the planet will be wounded by the knives of
ignorance and hatred; all the peoples around you will stagger under the pain,
fear will be over the whole Earth like a wind, and sadness in the hearts of all
people. Ignorant and hate-filled people will control the destiny of their
peoples and lead them to misery and death through blind hatred which they will
call justice, and through dark ignorance which they will call faith. Hatred and
ignorance will prevail throughout the world. But you, remain firm in faith and
love.
“The face of the earth will be changed;
you, retain the face of Christ. Borders, communities and human systems will be
wiped out and written anew,
and peoples will falter under fire and steel.
Let your love be without boundaries, your
community be the Church and your rule the Gospel. Be the
anchor that guides the ships straying in the raging seas, and let your hearts be
harbors of peace for those lost, homeless, and seeking help. Through your
prayers you will invoke mercy, and shower love on
earth. Pray that hardened hearts will be softened,
dark minds will open, and calamities and horrors will be reduced. Do not be
afraid, in the end the light of Christ will rise, the sign of the Cross will
shine, and the Church will radiate light. Remain firm in your faith in Christ
and be not afraid, and trust in the God of the
resurrection and life; His glory is ever coming.” (St.
Sharbel’s words)
5-
Axis of the Universe
“The whole universe revolves around the
mystery of the Cross. Every man thinks that the universe revolves around him and
that he is the axis of the universe. The Cross is the axis of the
universe, and whoever wants to be on the axis of the universe, will
have to be with the crucified on the Cross. He who does not live the
mystery of the Cross cannot comprehend the mystery of the universe:
“Everyone has a form and entity in time
and place, like a piece of ice, and people, in order to preserve their entity,
are afraid to draw near fire so they will not melt: What is the use of ice if it
keeps its form and entity? If it does not melt and become water it will neither
permeate the earth nor water the trees or quench the thirst of people? Do not be
afraid to draw near the fire that melts you because it will turn you into
life-giving water to irrigate the earth. Let your love be like a fluid
permeating all places; do not keep it frozen and give it a form and design it
because then it will not pass anywhere.
“The salt that does not dissolve will not
make salty. Spoiled salt muddies the water that it is supposed to salt, and
spoils the food. And good salt that dissolves, disappears in water and does not
show in food any form, color or entity, but provides the taste. You are the salt
of the earth; if you make your life your own property, it will then be very
cheap. The more you give your life, the more its value will increase, and when
it reaches its full value it becomes the property of all. The loaf of bread is
the same, be it on the table of the rich or that of the poor. A tasty loaf does
not ask who is going to eat it when it comes out of the oven; a loaf is meant to
be eaten; a good person is a good loaf. The history of mankind is empty without
the Cross, because it is a passing history, while the Cross is steady,
unchangeable. And your own history will be empty without the Cross, because you
are passing and only the crucified gives you life and confirms you in eternal
life. It is the Cross that will sanctify you in time.
“The beginning of creation, the present
time and the end of the world are all occurring, for God, at the present moment.
Sanctify through love the present moment of your life; thus you will come to
realize the mystery of eternal life in the presence of God. A man is immortal
through love with God. Sanctify time, sanctify your life, sanctify every moment
of your life. Do not get distracted by the ticking of the clock: you cannot stop
the ticking of the clock, but you can be ready when the clock strikes.
Whoever removes God from
his life, mind and heart, will be crushed by time and will
drown in death; this does not mean that
God no longer exists, but rather that he exists no more.
As light reveals the existent to the
eyes, Christ too reveals existence to the mind and the heart.
“Without light the human eye is blind to
the existent, and without Christ man is blind to existence. God created matter
and set order, He also created the mind and instilled the spirit and gave life;
just as through logic and analysis, the mind comprehends order and understands
matter, so too through faith, prayer and true worship, the spirit realizes the
love of God and the mystery of the universe, and gives life.
“Some flowers are picked in spring for
decoration, other flowers grow old and are left till autumn for seed, while
other flowers let their leaves be scattered by the wind to deliver their scent
far into the distance and fill the earth with their fragrance. God has wisdom in
every movement; pray to understand God’s wisdom and live His will, and not to
change His will. You Father’s will is always your good.
“Keep wearing the fragrance of oak and
thyme, and do not take on the colors of this world and be filled with its odors.
The touches of God’s fingers upon you are more important than anything the world
would dress you up and decorate you. Walk firmly on the road of sanctity, and
let Christ live in you. Then you will live in the heart of the mystery of the
universe, in the source of light” (St. Sharbel’s words)
6-
Your Journey in this World is the trip of your Sanctity
“All people were given ears to hear, but
those who do hear are few. And of those who hear, those who understand are few,
and very few from among those who hear and understand are living what they heard
and understood. Those who are heading towards the Kingdom are few and the door
is narrow.
“Listen, understand and be witnesses.
Listen to the voice of the Lord, understand the truth, and witness to the truth
that you have perceived and live in it. Be silent so you may hear, and listen to
the voice of the Lord. But be careful not to hear the resounding of the echo of
your thoughts and listen to yourself: transcend your own thoughts, and let the
word of God purify them, erasing what it erases and writing what it needs to
write again.
“Man is a part of the whole; the part
must listen to the whole. Just as the drop of water is to the river: a drop of
water cannot be a river, even if it contained from everything that’s in the
river, but the river is all drops of water on the same course. A drop of water
in the river is a river, but the drop of water that is outside the river's
stream, is drop of water. Listen to the course of the universe, for you are part
of it. The whole universe is on a pilgrimage journey towards the heart of the
Father, like the journey of the rivers towards the sea. Do not accept being out
of this journey. The drop of water outside of the river can never reach the sea.
“Listen, understand the truth and let it
permeate your spirit. Break all outer layers and break up all accumulations in
which the world has wrapped you and which have covered you and blocked off God’s
face from you. Humble yourself and relinquish the thoughts that blocked off
God’s voice from you, even if some of them have formed you and made you. Listen
with humility and let your heart be soft and your mind free. Listening without
humility and repentance is like an echo lost in the valleys: no matter how
strong the echo is, the mountain remains a mountain, the valley a valley, and
the rock a rock. Listen with humility, understand the truth deeply, and bear
witness with courage.
“Listen so you may understand and know,
and live in accordance with the truth that you have known: it is not enough for
you to know the way to arrive, you must walk it.
God will shed light for you on the pages,
but it is you who must read; God will light your way, but it is you who must do
the walking. Whoever goes up goes up using his feet, and whoever goes down goes
down using his feet.
Wherever you arrive, it is your own feet
that got you there. Be always in a state of listening and permanent examination
of conscience. Redo your calculations every day, change your life and renew it.
If you listen with humility you will hear and understand the truth and the truth
will set you free. Free yourself from the ropes that bind you: your own
thoughts, your personal beliefs and your passions tie you up like the ropes that
tie the boat to the shore. A boat on the shore in a port is held by its ropes
which provide it safety but prevent it from sailing. Let the word of God untie
your ropes and cut that which needs to be cut, rope after rope, even if you
suffer. Do not live inside your own passions and thoughts even if they give you
rest and security. Security is illusion without the peace of Christ, and rest
is a deception if it is not in the heart of God. Do not fear to free
yourselves from the shore and to depart from the port. Let God set you free, His
word guide you and the Spirit fill your sails. Then you will reach the shore of
light. A boat is meant to sail across the sea and not to remain in the port. In
order for a boat to sail and reach to the far deep seas, it must untie all its
ropes, and if even one rope keeps it tied, then the boat will remain in the
port.
Keep only the ropes that tie your sails
and guide you, along with the ropes of love and partnership that bind you to
your brother in humanity. Your journey in this world is the trip of your
holiness. Holiness is a state of constant transformation from matter into light.
“Pray to listen, pray to understand, and
pray to live your faith, apply and bear witness. Pray to be transformed into
light. Listen with prayer, understand the truth with prayer, live and bear
witness with prayer. Let all your life be prayer and service: if you pray
without serving, then you turn the Cross of Christ into a piece of wood in your
life, and if you serve without praying, then you will be serving yourself only.
Pray in your bedroom. Pray with your family. And pray in your Church community.
Pray in your bedroom in intimacy with the Lord; then you will preserve your soul
and open your mind to the mystery of God. Pray with your family; then you will
protect your family and place it in the heart of the Holy Trinity. Pray with the
Church community: then you will protect your church and bring the kingdom
closer. Your personal prayer alone with the Lord will put you in the heart of
God, your prayer in the bosom of the family will place you in the bosom of the
Trinity, and your community prayer in the heart of the church confirms you in
the body of Christ. Pray. A person who prays lives the mystery of existence,
while
the person who does not pray barely exists.
“Become experienced with silence; the
kind of silence that is attentive, alive, and far from the silence of
nothingness. Become experienced with silence, forge yourself in love, mature in
sanctity. Listen to hear, humble yourself to understand, believe and have
courage to bear witness, and love so you may be sanctified. (St. Sharbel’s words)
7-
Christ is the Foundation of God’s Building
“When the lamp dims into pitch-darkness,
it is filled with oil. Now the lamp is dimming, its light is fading and darkness
is pitch-black. Fill your lamp with oil before it goes out and darkness engulfs
you.
Attend to the oil of the lamp by whose
light you remain awake. Attend to the oil of the lamp that lights up your
nights. The lamp that watches over you, watch over it. Your lamp is dimming and
the light of your home has become darker. You are absorbed, looking in front of
you, ignoring the light that lights up your darkness.
“Light up your darkness with your lamp as
it is night; do not sleep in darkness awaiting the light of day to shine. When
the light of day shines, another work starts and you will be asked about the
night's work. If the light of your lamp dims due to lack of oil, fill it up with
oil, do not stay up under your brother’s light and leave your lamp to go out;
you will be asked about your lamp under the light of which you should stay up,
and that went out. Let the light shine in every lamp until the day shines. A
lamp is filled with oil; it is neither filled with intentions and wishes nor
with water for humiliation; take care of your lamp’s light before your work and
your production.
“Reexamine
your priorities. Your ladder is upside down. The
small rung is at the bottom and the big rung is at the top.
“See how the wise builder’s building
rises: the biggest stone at the bottom and the smallest stone at the top. Many
people nowadays are building their walls in reverse: they no longer know the
large from the small, the first from the last, and the important from the most
important. And the wall whose smallest stone is at the bottom, and whose biggest
stone is at the top, will crumble and the building will collapse. Many are the
walls that are collapsing, and the bonds that are breaking due to the ignorance
of the workers and the pride of the builders.
“You, raise your building with wisdom:
build on the foundation of Christ, the essential stone for all your building
that supports all your bonds. Place your large stones at the foundation and the
smaller ones at the top. And if in one of the walls of your building you see a
big stone in the high course and a small stone in the foundation, then take down
all of your wall and build it anew: no matter how big and high your building is,
you had better rebuild it from the beginning than to let it tumble down,
collapse and fall down on your head, or on the heads of your brothers or your
children.
“Rest assured that if Christ is not the
foundation or every building, it will collapse and fall down. Do not be dazzled
by the tall building based on man, for it will collapse no matter how high it
rises, and time will erase it. If you have already built your building and have
discovered of late that it is not built on Christ, then take it down and build
it again. A course built on Christ is better than a high tower that tumbles down
under the wind. Christ is the foundation of the Lord’s building, you
are its living stones and the Holy Spirit is the keystone. Christ bears up
the whole building, and the Spirit gathers together all the stones of the vault
and supports the walls. The Spirit is the spirit of love. Love is the keystone.
If you remove the Spirit, you remove the keystone: the vault breaks up, the
stones come apart and the whole building collapses. The Holy Spirit, the spirit
of love, the keystone that keeps the covenant. Every stone in the building has
its place; every stone in a course is supported by stones from beneath,
supported on its side by stones which it also supports. Above it are stones that
it supports. very
stone is cut to fill its place. The stone missing from a building leaves an
empty space in its place, but leaves place for rain, air, dust and wind as well.
The stone missing from a place lets in the elements. Do not leave a space
between one stone and another, or else the building will end up weak. And also
do not leave sand between one stone and another, for the rain will intensify and
snow will accumulate causing the sand to slip and the building to fall apart. It
is the power of the Spirit that holds the stones of the building together and
not the sand which glues them together.
“Remain firm in the building of the Lord.
Persevere in building up the Kingdom, and be living stones in the Lord’s temple:
the stone that is not in the Lord’s temple remains a stone in a pile of other
stones; it has volume but no shape, or place or role, just a stone thrown in a
pile of stones.
“Surrender yourself into the hands of
Lord, the wise builder, let Him smooth
and carve you, let Him remove excess from you and
complete in you what you lack, let the Lord give you the shape, the size and
place. Whether you were a large stone or a small stone, you have your place to
which size you were carved.
“Let the Lord build you and then you will take your place in the course. Do not
put yourself in the place that attracts you: if you take a place bigger than
your place, you will remain protruding and you will disjoint the whole wall, and
if you take a place smaller than the place prepared for you, there will be an
empty space around you. Fill your place, support what is above you, support
those around you, and lean on the one carrying you. Christ bears all and the
Spirit brings you together and leads you.” (St.
Sharbel’s words)
8-
Sanctity is Your Goal
“Sanctity is your goal, and perfection
in love is your
ultimate end. Do not stop at the means of
sanctification, worshiping them. Do not make the means an end, nor the end a
means. Do not turn the means into an end, nor the end into a means. Do not make
the means of sanctification your goal and end, and do not let sanctity be your
means to other ends. Prayer is there to sanctify you; do not sanctify prayer.
Fasting is there to strengthen you; do not deify fasting. Mortification is there
to purify you, do not worship mortification. Your hymns are there to glorify
God; do not glorify your hymns. Do not replace Christ with talking about him,
for then you would be worshiping your words, and do not replace the truth with
expressions that express it, for then these expressions of yours will become
“the truth”. A word is never more important than the idea it expresses, and the
idea is never more important than the truth it is thinking. A safe is never more
important than the treasure it holds, and a chalice is never more important than
the wine. The tabernacle is never more important than the bread, and the
monstrance is never more important than the host.
“Christianity is neither a religion nor a
temple, it is not a book or a place of worship; Christianity is the person of
Jesus Christ Himself. The mirror that reflects light is not the light.
Distinguish between the light and the mirrors that reflect it. Do not focus your
attention on the mirror, but keep your heart in the light. Do not escape from
your selves to go to God, and do not go to God so you may escape from your
selves. God wants you to present your selves to Him as they are so that He might
elevate and sanctify them. Do not let the world push you toward God, rather let
God pull you toward Him. Do not blacken through your writings the white pages
that your holy fathers had written. The truth is always the same. In order for
you to speak about God, you must be in the heart of God; you cannot speak about
God if you are outside of Him. And the Word was
made
flesh is not a sound flying through the air. Carve
in your mind every word you want to say, sculpt it in your spirit, and smooth it
in your heart, bring it down from your mouth just as you set a stone in its
proper place in the course. And do without the word that does not build. Do not
speak except when your words are deeper and more eloquent than your silence.
“Do not let your words about what is
beyond the seas distract you from sailing. Go towards the essence, and
distinguish between the essential and the superficial in your life, and between
the fundamental and the marginal, between the core and the shell. In this world,
you do not fill a basket with water, or a pitcher with grapes, or a jar with
figs: just as you use the things of this earth for your service, learn how to
use the things of heaven with wisdom from God for your salvation, and for the
glory of God.
“Every land has its own soil and climate,
it has its proper tools which you use to plough and plant it, and it has its
plants which blossom there and yield fruit. You can neither crush rocks with a
garden fork, nor plough the earth with a sledgehammer, nor chop wood with a
pick-axe. And neither do cedar and oak grow in the sand of the coast, nor do
bananas and oranges grow in the rocks of the mountains. With the tools in your
hand do your work, and where the Lord has planted you, blossom and bring forth
fruits. If you do not take roots you cannot tower.
“Accommodate your mind to existence, do
not seek to accommodate existence to your mind; existence precedes you and will
remain after you. The Spirit alone suffices you and brings you into harmony with
God. You will understand the depth of the mystery of existence through the light
of the eternal Spirit that is in you. Do not seek to comprehend the truth
through your senses, for then you will be limited by the limits of these senses.
Know that your senses exist so that you
may love through them, and not so that you may love them. When you love your
sight, you start worshiping the creatures you see and forget the Creator Who is
beyond the limits of your eyes. And when you love your hearing you start loving
the melodies and sounds of the world, and forget to hear the voice of God in the
silence that does not reach your ears. And when you love your nose, you start to
give yourself over to the perfumes of the world and forget the flowers of the
prairies (the source of
perfume) that God has formed for man with His love.
And when you love your taste, you become enslaved to food and drink and forget
nourishment. And when you love your [sense of] touch you become enslaved to the
outer and forget the inner. Transcend your senses and do not drown in them;
reach through them to the truth as the ray of light reaches through crystal.
“If you harden your senses they will
thicken, and the rays will bounce back from them like a mirror, and they will
reflect to you images of the world. Do not sink into your senses, for then their
joy will start deceiving you; True joy is not the joy of the senses, true joy is
the one that transcends your senses, and goes past them to the heart of the
light where you would drown in the heart of God, see His light and melt in His
love. Go beyond your senses and go past them, go beyond yourself and then you
will touch the edge of the light. Whenever you want to look to the outside,
close your eyes and look to the inside, then start seeing the outside more
clearly. And whenever you want to hear, cover your ears and listen to the inner
voice; then you will start hearing better. Guide your senses in order to
glorify God, and do not let your senses lead you to glorify His creatures.
“Love to the point of self-sacrifice:
love is the only ink with which love is written,
and everything else is ink on paper. In Christ, every man is a word in the mouth
of God so that all humanity becomes a song of love. And glory be always to
God.” (St. Sharbel’s words)
9- Your Future is the First
Day in the Next World
“Observe the birds of the sky how they
carefully build their nests, gently lay their eggs, tenderly watch over their
nestlings until they grow feathers and fly, and safeguard the trees of the Lord.
You are building your nests, laying your eggs and hatching your young in trees
the roots of which are struck by decay, mites are eating into their trunks and
gypsy moths are feeding on its branches. If the tree falls, your nests will
scatter, your chicks will disperse, and you will be left only with bare branches
to lay your wings on. You are toiling and overworking to build strong and warm
nests where your young will grow, grow feathers and fly, and nest - they too.
“Look after the tree just as you look
after the nests. And just as you were entrusted with your nests, so are you
entrusted with your trees. Look after the roots, look after the trunk, look
after the branches and look after the leaves, and a few straws and a few grains
of soil will be enough for you to build your nests; the branches of the tree
will protect you and its leaves will shade you. Do not sink into your nests and
raise their edges high so they give you security; work with the trust of the
Lord, and the Lord will give you security.
“As you race
to ensure your future and that of your children, always remember that your
future is not the last of your days in this world, but it is the first day in
the next world. You ensure your children’s future
when you ensure heaven for them. Your children are for you to give them
life, and there is no life except in Christ. Give Christ to your children, but
if Christ is not in you, it is difficult for you to give Him to your children.
“If you do not sanctify yourselves, how
would you sanctify your children?! If Christ were not in you, how would you
give Him to your children?! If you do not give them Christ, everything else
you offer them is useless and ephemeral, vanishes and will cease to exist with
them. It is not with tall buildings and the guarantees of this world that you
give your children security and a future. Give them your sanctity and prayers,
and you will ensure their safety in this world and their future in the next
world. You are seeking your success and your children’s success in life, while
success in life is to stand before God without shame.
“Go down to the roots, look after them
and be disinterested.Working on the roots is hidden, does not show
and requires effort and self-denial. People see the tree, they neither see the
roots nor see your work, but God Who is in heaven, sees and blesses. Look after
the roots, guard the trunk, preserve the branches, take care of the leaves, and
maintain the tree; God will keep your works. Look after the tree - which is
enfolding, shading and housing you - from its roots to the tips of its branches,
even if this is at the expense of the size of your nests.
“The same time passes for the goodand the bad, and if the gooddo not fill up time with good, then the bad
will fill it with evil, and time will be empty. Every moment of your life is a
basket placed before you so you would fill it from your harvest, your reaping
and your crops; it stays before you for an instant, then it disappears and
passes behind you and you can never bring it back. If you stop and look back and
observe your empty buckets, only the tears of your repentance by the mercy of
God, from the grace of God, fill them up, and the grace of God is sufficient for
you. And every second is a drop of eternity if you fill it up with God. Do not
let the world seize the baskets of your life, then your baskets will remain
empty, and you will pile up behind you sheaves of hay that time will burn and
nothing of them will be left.
“Do not enter into a dialogue with the
Devil; end your conversation with him before its first word, and keep your
dialogue always with God. Tamp your roof after each round of rain and before it
leaks, for if you slacken, heavy downpours, floods, and snow will come, and
water will leak to the beams, and then the ceiling will collapse on your head
and your family’s.
“No matter how tempting the temptation
is, it does not justify sin.
“Fill your life from the love of God and
sanctify the time you are in, then your harvest will be worthwhile and your
provisions lasting. Only the master of time can fill the time. Only the lord of
harvest and crops can fill your baskets. Offer your baskets to Him, and your
crops will abound.” (St
Sharbel’s words)
10-
Do Good Untiringly
“The journey of the universe is the
construction site of the kingdom of God. It looks like the construction site of
a great temple, whose stones are from the rocks of this world’s quarries, and
people are the workers by the power of God and they are the builders according
to His will. They extract stones from the rocks of the quarries in this world,
they build them one by one, and one course after another, God gives them life
and they become living stones in the temple building.
“A large number of people build their own
temples with stones that they extract from rocks and they claim they own them,
they build them one by one, and one course after another, but they cannot give
them life and they remain dead, because only God gives life. These passing
people leave the stones, the rocks and the quarries and depart from this world,
and their small temples built from dead stones wear away and vanish with time.
Ephemeral, they do not persist, and neither do their temples. Only the temple of
the Lord is eternal and permanent because it is alive. Build the eternal temple
of the Lord and be living stones in it, do not build your temporary little
temples from dead stones that time will wipe out. Work with perseverance, joy,
solidarity, and love, work with patience, humility and obedience to the Lord of
the Temple. Because you are working with His power, build according to His will.
“Do good untiringly. Do not seek after
rest- rest is a great danger for you. If you see a worker not doing his
work, do not criticize or judge or curse him, [but rather] take your pick-axe or
your sickle and continue your work; your work will cause him to work. The
building is yours and his, the harvest is yours and his, and all of it is for
the Lord of the temple and the God of the harvest. Look at your brother in the
same way you look at yourself. You have in yourself from everything you see in
your brother, because every man is you with a few differences. And instead of
talking about your brother, go talk to him or keep loving silence. Do not ever
condemn and do not judge based upon what your eyes see. Do not judge the water
you see in the pot, for you cannot know with your eyes whether it’s sweet or
salty, fresh or stale, and wine casks look alike on the outside, even if the
wine inside them differs. Look with your eyes at the outside and look with your
heart to the inside. The heart does not condemn.
“Do not claim to have absolute knowledge
and build temples the size of your knowledge, for they will collapse on your
heads and kill you. Knowledge needs love in order to become discernment. No
matter how much you know, if you don’t love you will not understand even if you
know much. Love is greater than intelligence. The logic of love is more exalted
than the logic of intelligence. Knowledge devoid of love is devoid of the spirit
and destructive to man. Earth is a holy planet, where the feet of the God of the
universe trod, which the lights of the Spirit lit and upon which the heart of
God is.
“Human beings, through their knowledge
void of love, have made the Earth ill: their food has become their poison and
their drink their thirst, their medicine their illness. Their air is choking
them, their rest is fatigue
and their peace, anxiety; their joy issadness and their happinesssuffering; their truth isillusion, and their illusion, truth; and their
light has become darkness.
“Man has acquired more knowledge and less
wisdom. Theories in peoples' minds have become like fog on the mountain and in
the valleys, it does not allow them to see anything as it is: their theories are
veiling their sight. Their buildings are rising, their morals are declining.
Their possessions are increasing, their values are decreasing. Their words are
increasing and their prayer, decreasing. Their interests are deep, their
relationships are shallow. Their window displays are full, their inside is
empty. Their roads are broadening, while their vision is becoming narrower.
Their roads are numerous, but don’t lead them to one another. Their means of
communication are many, but not bringing them to each other. Their beds are big,
strong and comfortable, and their families are small, disunited and worn out.
They know how to hurry but they don’t know how to wait. They hurry to acquire
their livelihood, but forget to ensure their living and their lives. They rush
quickly to the outside and neglect the inside.
“Prisoners, boasting of the luxury of
their prisons; lost, bragging of the distances they have crossed; dead, priding
themselves on the splendor of their graves; they are dying of hunger while
sitting on bread bowls, poor while sitting on treasures they themselves buried.
Why do you go down under the table to eat the fallen crumbs, while the table is
all laid for you? People are sowing the earth with thorns which now are soft and
tickling their feet, but when they grow and harden, they will tear and wound the
feet of the coming generations.
“You chop wood, stack, burn, kindle,
throw yourselves into the fire you set, and you wonder why you get burned?!
Humanity is lost, man is ill, and the world is burning.
“God is love, He is the goal and guide
for lost humanity; Christ is the medicine for the sick man, and the water of the
Baptism in fire is what puts out the blaze of the world. Build every knowledge
on Christ; every knowledge that is built outside the foundation of Christ will
destroy you. Knowledge without spirit is ignorance. The more the building built
on man rises, the more it will crush the human being.
“Man
will keep living in grief and worry, and will not be content or quench his
thirst until he is united with himself in the heart of God.
Reach out to each other, look at each other,
listen to each other, greet each other, console each other with words of love
and encouragement, get out of yourselves [and go] to one another, and
embrace one another in the love of
Christ. Work in the field of the Lord untiringly and without wearying, let the
sounds of your pick-axes fill the valleys and overcome the noise
of the world, and let the sounds of your sickles remind people of the harvest
season. Let your prayers to the Lord cleave the deaf rocks, and cause the dumb
springs to gush out. Rocks do hear prayer and springs do speak, and they all
pray and give glory to God.” (St
Sharbel’s words)
“You are walking on the paths of your
life carrying many loads, burdens and concerns, carrying jars and jars, some of
which are needed and others that are useless, and you have distributed your
treasures amongst your jars, mixing your treasures with your trifles,
and you no longer know where your treasure is or in which jar. Some jars fall
and break and treasures are lost, and you do not see or know because of the
noise of your jars. And some people waste their treasures on the paths of their
lives and arrive laden with pottery.
“Every jar that you carry which does not
contain your treasure will be filled with distraction and excess weight that
will hinder your journey and tire you out.
“Lay down the jars of drudgery to which
the world subjects you, even if you have carried them [for] a long journey,
exhausted yourselves for them, suffered for them, and perhaps have gotten used
to them. Know where your treasure is and put your whole heart in it. Put your
whole treasure in one jar and carry it well. Thus you will safeguard your
treasure and arrive full.
"Carry one jar: the jar of Christ, and He
will pile it up with love and carry it with you. No matter how full it gets it
will still hold. And no matter how heavy it gets, it will remain light. And all
the remaining jars are all clay, and even if they were empty, they are heavy and
bend your back. Choose for yourself your ways in this world, do not let the
paths of the world choose you, and do not carry the jars of this world, which
burden you to distract you and tire you out.
“The more you increase your jars, the
more you distance yourself from your neighbor. Every jar requires space, and the
more your jars increase, the more space increases around you, and you start
moving away from your brother to keep the jars from bumping against each other
and break. The jars become more important than your brother. In order for you to
safeguard your jars, you lose your brother and neighbor. Know that your treasure
is very precious, but you carry it in pottery.
And every brother of yours has a very
precious treasure, which he also carries in an earthenware jar.
“You make your jar with your hands and
fold yourself inside it, you sit inside the jar and say that the world is clay;
whoever sits inside a jar will see the whole world as clay. Get out of your jar
and see the world as it is and not as you have fashioned it inside your jar.
“Let every one fill his jar from the
treasure of Christ, because He alone is the true treasure. In order for you
to understand your
brother, do not go toward him with an intellectual system created by your mind,
but rather go toward him with love from
the Spirit of the Creator which He has placed in your heart.
“Be full grains of wheat on the threshing
floor of the Lord, when the winnower works on you and throws you up in the air
in order to purify you, you would be heavy and would fall on the threshing floor
to be gathered into the barns of life, do not be light, empty grains like hay
straws, carried away by the wind which will disperse them outside the threshing
floor and scatter them. Rest assured that nothing will fill you up and give you
weight except Christ.
“Fill yourselves up with Christ and you
will remain on the threshing floor and come be gathered up. And as long as you
are on the threshing floor, the winnowing fork will keep winnowing you, and hay
and chaff will fly away. On the threshing floor every grain of wheat remains
alone even if it was gathered, measure and bagged with the other grains, its
sisters.
“The millstone, water and fire turn the
grains of wheat into one grind and one loaf. From the field to the loaf the
journey is long: pray for the sickle that reaps you, for the thresher that
threshes you, for the threshing floor that gathers you, for the winnowing fork
that refines you, for the millstone that grinds you, for the water that kneads
you, and for the fire that bakes you.
“The way of
sanctity is from the field to the loaf, from the earth to the light, from the
manger to the Cross and resurrection: walk it in the
joy of the Resurrection.” (St
Sharbel’s words)
12-
Sanctity is not Chance, Sanctity is a Choice
“People seek for miracles so they may
believe and see, and for messages so they may hear and know, and for a road so
they may walk and reach salvation and happiness. The miracle is the Eucharist,
the sign is the Cross, the message is the Gospel and salvation is through the
Church.
1-
The most important, greatest and
holiest sign is the sign of the Cross. The Cross is the sign of God’s love for
you; let it also be the sign of your love for God. The sign of the Cross is a
sign of love not a sign of challenge. And the light of this sign will shine
throughout the whole world.
2-
The salvation of humanity is through
the Church, the Church is the one who is carrying on the project
of salvation which Christ had begun two thousand years ago and which will not
end before the end of the world. All the waves of evil will break on the rock of
the Church. Commit yourselves fully to the Church and all her teachings, and do
not select from among them.
3-
The most important and greatest
message is the message of the Gospel, which bears the
teaching of Christ, and not one jot of His words shall pass away before the
world passes away. Whoever does not know the Gospel remains ignorant and living
in darkness, even if he had all the knowledge of the world. And whoever does not
live the Gospel, is not living; do not misinterpret to justify. The truth of the
Gospel remains always as it is.
4-
The most important and
greatest miracle is the Holy Eucharist, the body of Christ, the Paschal Lamb who
takes away the sins of the world, the living God risen from the dead.
“In vain you would search for signs more
important than the sign of the cross. Do not ask for messages that you believe
are more important than the message of the Gospel. Do not search for your
salvation outside the Church of Christ. Do not be distracted, running after
miracles that dazzle your eyes, greater than the miracle of the Holy Eucharist.
Keep away from deceptive magic because it will lead you to emptiness.
“Avoid the sign that does not direct you
to the sign of the Cross. Ignore the message that does not stem from the Gospel.
Reject the miracle that does not lead you to the Eucharist. And through the
Church you can discern them all.
“Through the Cross, the Church, the
Gospel and the Eucharist, you will be sanctified. God created you so you might
be sanctified and not so that you might die.
“Sanctity is not
chance, sanctity is a
choice. Do not wait for it to descend on you from
without; you must live and attain it from the inside. The Kingdom of God is in
your heart.
“Sanctity is grace and will; the
grace is from God and the
will is from you.
You are a potential saint; strive to be an actual saint.” (St.
Sharbel’s words)
13-
Love is a Light that Shine
“Love is not attachment, because love is
freedom and attachment is bondage. God is freedom.
“Love is not a human emotion, love is a
divine power of creation and a heavenly power of resurrection.
“Love is not an instinct stemming from
the physical senses, it is a power of life flowing from the spirit.
“Love is not a dead habit that binds and
attaches us, it is a power of perpetual renewal and it renews us and sets us
free.
“Love is not a feeling directed in a
specific direction, love is a light that shines in all directions.
“God is not a feeling, God is not a
sentiment, God is not a habit, and God is not an affection, God is not an idea.
“God is truth, God is life, God is the creator and giver of life.
“Love does not ask for a price or
compensation for giving itself. “Love always goes to the end.
“Love that springs from a human being has
for its purpose a return to the human being from which it stems. When a man
loves from his self, he loves for his self, whatever be the type of his love or
its strength. Love that originates from God, and which a man gets from Him, has
the other for its purpose.
“If your love is from God, then it is for
your brother, and if your love is from you then it is for you.
“The man whose love comes from his self,
loves his self in others, and thinks that he loves them.
“Never confuse love and desire, love and
sentiment, love and habit, or love and attachment” (St.
Sharbel’s words)
14-
Confess your Sins and you will Kill the Evil that’s in you
“When Christ ascended, the devil fell.
Those people clinging to him are going with him, and whoever is standing in his
way is subject to falling. Do not hold on to him and do not stand in his way.
“His entire concern is to falsify the
image of God in your mind and heart, and falsify your own image in your sight.
He wants you to know God incorrectly and see yourself wrongly. He falsifies,
distorts and deludes: he tries to magnify you when you should diminish, and
diminish you when you should be honored. He tries to stop you when you should
walk, and make you walk when you should stop, to make you speak when you should
be silent, and to silence you when you should speak. He tries to persuade you to
hurry when you should slow down, and to walk slowly when you should hasten. In
every case, he wants to mislead you. The devil is the biggest deceiver, the
greatest forger, a vicious crook; the Lord and teacher described him as liar and
the father of lies.
“The devil never comes in his real image,
never does he come under an ugly image; he knows what humans like and are
attracted to: he tells you about things you like to hear, shows you things you
like to see, gives you things you like to touch, and feeds you things you like
to taste.
“When crooks forge gold, they forge it
with something that resembles it: yellow and shining. And so too in order for
the devil to fake the image of God – who is Love in your life - he uses the
things that people call love and mixes them up with God, who is Love. The
feelings arising from instinct, passion, the bonds of affection, and the
enslaving habits, are all used by the devil to confuse man about the truth of
God, the life-giving love.
“The devil’s sole concern is to impede
those walking up toward the Lord. On your way toward the Lord, the devil wants:
5-
Either to push you off the road:
he will create a goal for you that would attract you and toward which you would
head, so that you might go astray and be lost.
6-
Or he will cause you to fall
so you would stop: he will set you a trap in which you would fall.
7-
Or he will push you back: he will
weary you and discourage you so you would retreat and
go back. The important thing to him is that you do not make it.
“Everything that gathers and unites
around good is from God, and everything that divides and scatters is from the
devil. The devil prevails over people through the things of this world; the more
man rids himself of them the more he is shielded against the evil one, and the
more he clings to them, the more he would be under the influence of evil. The
Devil is the master of this world. The more you are submerged in the world, the
more you come under his power, and the more you detach yourself from the world,
the more you free yourself from him. Do not forget that you are not of this
world! Do not immerse yourselves in it! Sail through it, rise above it, and
raise it to the Lord by the power of Christ elevated on the Cross.
“In the beginning the Devil makes a man
laugh, in order to make him cry in the end. And he always takes a man to hell
while he is laughing, but there, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The man who is now laughing with the Devil will surely weep in the end.
“God might make you weep in the
beginning, but with God you will always laugh in the end. God always makes you
weep in order to discipline you, while the devil comes to make you laugh and
lead away you from Him, and when God makes you laugh, and the devil comes to
make you weep, do not let him fool you.
“The devil hates the image of God, he
hates the man who is taking on the image of God, and wants to distort this image
that is in him. The only way Satan can deform the image of God in a person is
for him to stop the work of God’s Spirit in him. Then, the only image that
remains in this person is the image of the animal. The devil’s desire is to give
to the human being the image of an animal.
“The first and essential weapon against
the devil is truthfulness;
Every word of truth you say is an arrow you shoot into the heart of the evil
one. And every honest confession of sin is a spear with which you pierce his
heart.
“And the next essential weapon is
humility. Sincerity and humility mean confession. Confess your sins and you
will kill the evil in you.
“The Devil’s only concern is to distract
you from God. Beware! He tries to distract you from God even in the matters of
God: he distracts you from the meaning of the word that you are praying with the
word itself, and he distracts you from praising the Lord, with the melody of the
hymn with which you are praising Him. He distracts you from God with the prayer
that you are praying to Him.
“Remember well that you cannot stand in
the face of the Devil if you cannot kneel before God. The Devil does not come
through the windows and apertures that you keep watch over and close well. The
devil comes through the door that you open.” (St.
Sharbel’s words)
15-
Motion and Life
“There is a big difference between motion
and life. A person can be in motion without having life in him. And he can also
have life in him but not movement. Man is motion and life. The universe with
its many galaxies, stars and creatures is full of movement but not all of them
have life. Life is only in God the creator. God is life.
“Every movement in the universe is doomed
to die, but life is eternal. Every motion has an end no matter how great it is,
but life has no end. Life is eternal because life is God, and God is eternal.
Motion will pass away but life will not. Man has in him motion and life; motion
is limited by space and time, but life is neither limited by time nor by space.
Human movement is doomed to die and has an end no matter how long it lasts, but
the life that is in him is eternal.
“Christ has come to give us life, and to
sanctify the movement that is in us. Christ gives eternal life because He is the
Son of God and life is from God. Without Christ, our
motion is doomed to an inevitable
death. And with Christ we have eternal life. And
there is no option in between: either death, or life.
“Sanctify the motion that is in you
through life from Jesus Christ. Do not seek immortality in this world, in the
time of this universe, by extending your motion in time forever, because even
time is destined to die and has an end. Immortality is only in eternal life in
Jesus Christ, and there is no immortal and eternal life in time because all of
time is not eternal.” (St.
Sharbel’s words)
16- Every
Family is a Holy Family
“The human family on earth is the image
of the Holy Family in heaven. The family passes on the plan of God from one
generation to another. It transmits the love and word of God through the
generations. The collapse of the family means the collapse of God’s plan in
humanity. It means the breakup of the message of salvation and sanctity to
humanity. Every family is a holy family because it is the image of God the
Trinity. The corruption of the family means a corruption of the image of
God. The family carries the torch of light and passes it from one generation to
another so the world may remain lit by the light of the Lord.
“The family is the rope that binds
humanity together through time, binds generations through history, so that
humanity may grow and increase. And if this rope which binds humanity together
were broken, and humanity gets separated from its history, it would be no more
than lost generations which have neither history nor identity. The family is
what gives people their human identity and impresses the image of God in them.
The family is what preserves the memory of humanity; humanity without family is
a humanity without memory. A person without memory keeps turning in place, and a
humanity without memory will stop in history and die.
“The family is the basis of the Lord’s
plan. And all forces of evil are focusing all their evil on destroying the
family because they know that by destroying the family, the foundations of the
plan of God will be shaken. The war of the Evil One against the Lord is his war
against the family, and the war of the Evil One against the family is the core
of his war against the Lord. Because the family is the image of God, from the
beginning of the creation of this universe, The Evil one is focusing on
destroying the family, the foundation of God’s plan.
“The family is the place where a man
communicates with God and with his brothers in humanity. Without the family,
this communication is broken and nothing can ever make up for it, and if man
attempts to reconnect the broken contact using his human means, it will become
fragile, weak and twisted, and humanity will become ill and warped - moving
towards a slow death.
“Guard your families and keep them from the schemes of the evil one through the
presence of God in them. Protect and keep them through prayer and dialog,
through mutual understanding and forgiveness, through honesty and faithfulness,
and most importantly, through listening. Listen to one another with your ears,
eyes, hearts, mouths and the palms of your hands, and keep the roaring of the
noise of the world away from your homes because it’s like raging storms and
violent waves: once it enters the home, it will sweep away everything and
disperse everyone.
Preserve the warmth of the family, because the warmth of the whole world cannot
make up for it.
” (St.
Sharbel’s words)
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