Month: August 2022

May one be punished for his or her past sins?

– Father Sergiy, you visited Japan, which is why I would like to ask you the following question. The Olympic Games are taking place in Tokyo now. Just before the beginning of them, two leading specialists were fired due to the errors of their youth. The director of the opening ceremony was fired because he joked about the Holocaust 23 years ago. And the composer, who worked on the music for the opening ceremony quit because, according to his own words, he bullied challenged children in his school years. The providers declared that such deeds of the leading specialists will be considered as a mockery of the Paralympic Games.  Do the Japanese have that much righteousness and inner purity? I guess in our country such deeds are impossible. 

– Having visited Japan only for ten days, I cannot judge the whole nation. It would have been thoughtless and not wise.  As far as the punishment for long time sins is concerned… it seems to me the whole world has gone mad in its hypocrisy nowadays.   On the one hand, some people punish the others for past sins, but on the other hand, the same people stimulate and even fight for immorality.   This is just madness! The world lives in the time of hypocrisy. I have accidently come across some information about an American film director who was convicted for many years for having some relations with women long ago.  Meanwhile, the same people who judge him popularize not just relations with women, but all kinds of existing sexual deviations. This is why I think the world has gone mad in its hypocrisy. 

Archpriest Sergiy Baranov

– I am from Ukraine. I am a cook and work in shifts. After standing 16 hours on my feet, I read the rule lying because I am too weak to stand. May I pray in this way?  

– Yes, you may. Callistus, Patriarch of Constantinople, when he was a cook at the St. Athanasios Lavra on Athos, did not have an opportunity for secluding himself and reading the rule.    Nevertheless, while preparing the meals, he recited the Jesus prayer incessantly and became a great saint. His ascetic works are a part of the Orthodox spiritual collection the “Philokalia.” Pronounce the Jesus prayer all the time and try to direct it into your heart.  

Archpriest Sergiy Baranov

– Why do we stand during church services?

– Some saint said, “Son, give me your heart, but not your legs.” Indeed, the Lord needs our hearts, but not our legs. What does it mean that He needs our hearts?  All talks about love without a sacrifice are idle and sometimes even blasphemy. “I love you so much,” says a man, “but I will not stop smoking even for your sake.” Some people cannot do the simplest thing and say they love someone. You prove your words are sincere when you give your heart, when you make a sacrifice. Then your words are true. So, in these words, “Son, give me your heart, but not your legs” we can see the relation between the heart and the legs. Of course, there are extreme cases when people are really sick and they need to sit. This is a different story than when people are lazy and not even ready to make a small sacrifice for Christ’s sake.   

Why do we stand during church services? We make a sacrifice for God. We compel ourselves. That is how we prove our love is supported by our deeds. All Orthodox asceticism is built on this basis: we always sacrifice for the sake of our Beloved One. The contemporary liberals say, “God does not need your earthly bowings and all that stuff. You just need to love everyone and that’s it.” No, you will not be able to love everyone without going through asceticism, which will force your ego out of you. Otherwise, your ego will not let you love anyone. It will always prevail. True love starts when egotism is defeated. In order to defeat egotism, one needs to practice asceticism – for a long time, throughout one’s whole life. Be ruthless and strict with yourself. It is trivial to speak about love without asceticism. 

 

Archpriest Sergiy Baranov