Fanaticism incompatible with Christianity

Fanaticism has nothing to do with Christ.  Be a true Christian.  The you won’t leap to conclusions about anybody, but your love will ‘cover all things.’ Even to a person of another religion you will always act as a Christian.  That is to say, you will show respect for him in a gracious manner irrespective of his religion…There must be respect for the freedom of the other person.  Just as Christ stands at the door and knocks and does not force an entry, but waits for the soul to accept Him freely on its own, so we should stand in the same way in relation to every soul. 

In tribute to St. John Chrysostom

The Heavenly Glory of St. John Chrysostom

By St. John Moschos

The same Athanasios also told us this concerning the same Bishop Adelphios, which he heard from Amma Joanna, his sister:

 

When John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, was exiled to the Caucasus, he stayed at our house; from which we drew much boldness and love towards God. My brother, Adelphios, said that when the blessed John died in exile, it was an unbearable pain to him that such a man, the ecumenical teacher of Christendom who made glad the Church of God with his words, should have fallen asleep away from his [episcopal] seat. He said further: "I prayed to God with many tears to show me his present state of existence and whether he was ranked among the patriarchs. I prayed like that for a long time and then, one day, I fell into a trance and saw a very fine-looking man. Taking me by the right hand, he led me into a bright and glorious place where he showed me the proclaimers of piety and the doctors of the Church. For my part, I looked around for him whom I so greatly desired to see, the great John, my beloved. He showed me them all and spoke the name of each one of them; then he took my hand again, and led me out. I followed, lamenting that I had not seen the saintly John among the fathers. As we were coming out, he who stood at the door said to me: ‘Nobody who comes here goes forth sorrowing.’ Then I said to him: ‘This grief is upon me because I have not seen my most dear John, Bishop of Constantinople, among the doctors.’ Again he spoke to me: ‘Do you mean John [the prince] of repentance? A man in the flesh cannot see him, for he stands in the presence of the Lord’s throne.’"   From The Spiritual Meadow, 128.

 

From the November 13, 2012 posting on John Sanidopoulos' blog, Mystagogy

On Christian "zealotry"

We should be zealots.  A zealot is a person who loves Christ with all his soul and who serves his fellow men in Christ's name.  Love for God and for our neighbor; they go together and cannot be divorced.  Passion, yearning and tears along with contrition, not for a purpose, but all as an overflowing of the heart! 

In order to benefit others...

Let our love be only in Christ.  In order to benefit others you must live in the love of God, otherwise you are unable to do good to your fellow man.  You mustn't pressurize the other person.   His time will come as long as you pray for him.  With silence, tolerance and above all by prayer, we benefit others in a mystical way.  The grace of God clears the horizon of his mind and assures him of His love.  Here is the fine point.  As soon as he accepts that God is love, then abundant light such as he has never seen will come upon him.  Thus, he will find salvation.

Insisting on good in others

It is a kind of self-projection of our own when we insist on other people becoming good.  In reality, we wish to become good, but because we are unable to, we demand it of others and insist on this.  And whereas all things are corrected through prayer, we often are distressed or become outraged and pass judgment on others. 

On those we consider as 'lost'

Souls that have known pain and suffering and that are tormented by their passions win most especially the love and grace of God. It is souls such as these that become saints and very often we pass judgment on them.  Remember what Saint Paul says, Where sin abounded, grace flowed even more abundantly.  When you remember this, you will feel that these people are more worthy than you and me.  We see them as weak, but when they open themselves to God they become all love and all divine eros.  Whereas previously they had acquired different habits, they now give all the power of their soul to Christ and are set on fire by Christ’s love.  That is how God’s miracle works in such souls, which we regard as ‘lost.’

We shouldn’t be discouraged, nor should we rush to conclusions, nor judge on the basis of superficial and external things.  If, for example, you see a woman immodestly dressed, don’t have regard only for her outward appearance, but look more deeply into her soul.  She may be a very good soul with an existential restlessness, which she expresses through her shocking appearance.  She has a dynamism within her, the power of self-projection; she wishes to attract the eyes of others.  But through lack of awareness she has distorted things.  Think what would happen if she were to come to know Christ.  She would do everything to attract the grace of God.  She would become a saint. 

The secret to changing the ungodly

When we see that the people around us have no love for God we are distressed.  But with our distress we achieve nothing at all.  Nor do we achieve anything by trying to persuade them to change their ways.  That’s not right, either.  There is a secret, however, and if we understand it, we will be able to help.  The secret is our prayer and our devotion to God so that His grace may act.  We, with our love, with our fervent desire for the love of God, will attract grace so that it washes over those around us and awakens them to divine love.  Or rather God will send His love and will rouse them all.  What we are unable to do, His grace will achieve.  With our prayers, we will make all worthy of God’s love.