Појединац, Породица и Друштво

In a conversation on Mount Athos, Father Mihailo of Karulja answers whether laypeople can be saved without becoming monks. He rejects the idea that people in the world occupy a lower spiritual position than monastics, calling that view a great sin that creates divisions in the Church. He compares the monastic and worldly paths to streets, avenues, and alleys that all serve the same basic needs and lead to God.

When God calls someone to monasticism, that person will become a monk; if everyone left cities for monasteries, monasticism itself would vanish. Asked if he ever regretted coming to the Holy Mountain, he answers certainly not, adding that no one survives there alone for a moment but only with God. When questioned whether he has seen God, he notes the question recalls Thomas who demanded to see before believing.

The greater miracle, he says, is that he, poor and wretched, lives as a monk in the desert. He points to the many young people arriving from America, Asia, and Europe, and to the educated who have come, as further miracles. To the question of what to do with such knowledge, he replies that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and that knowledge is useless if God does not dwell in the person.

The post recounts an episode from the life of the holy apostle John the Theologian on the island of Patmos. John stays with Myron, the father of a local ruler. A magician named Kinops has lived on the island for many years, consorting with unclean powers. The islanders regard him as a god because of the apparitions he produces.

Kinops sends one of the lords of evil demons to take John's soul. The demon enters Myron's house and stands where John is. John sees the demon and says: "In the name of Christ I command you not to move from this place until you tell me why you have come to me." Bound by John's word, the demon remains and explains: "The priests of Apollo came to Kinops and cursed him to go to the city and send death to you, and he sent me to take your soul."

John asks: "Has he ever sent you to take a human soul and bring it to him?" The demon answers: "All the devil's power is in him and he has a contract with our rulers, and we obey him and he obeys us." John then commands: "I, the apostle of Jesus Christ, command you, evil spirit, not to enter human houses and not to return to Kinops."

The post marks the feast of St. John the Theologian. At the Last Supper, the young John rested his head on the Savior's chest. In that moment, through the quiet and rhythmic beating of Christ's heart, his soul was filled with the fire of divine love, love that casts out every fear. Because of this, when all the others fled, when the night of Gethsemane brought darkness and fear, John did not retreat.

He followed his Teacher all the way to Golgotha. He stood beneath the Cross, looked upon Christ's wounds, and received the greatest testament, the Most Holy Theotokos as his own mother.

The post marks the feast of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, called the Apostle of Love. It recalls that at the Last Supper the young John leaned his head on the Savior's breast, and through the quiet beating of Christ's heart his soul was filled, as the author writes, with the fire of divine love, a love that casts out fear.

Because of this, when the other disciples fled in the darkness and fear of Gethsemane, John did not turn back. He followed his Teacher to Golgotha, stood beneath the Cross, looked upon His wounds, and received the greatest legacy: the Most Holy Theotokos as his Mother. Filled from the source of life, John in his Gospel does not deal with dry chronologies.

Like a spiritual eagle, he rises at once to the highest heavenly heights and cuts into eternity with the words: 'In the beginning was the Logos (the Word), and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.' The author quotes his reminder of the essence of everything: 'God is Love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him' (1 John 4:16).

When John was very old and too weak to hold long sermons, his last words to his disciples were simple and contained the whole Law and the Prophets: 'Little children, love one another!' The post closes with a prayer that St. John, the Son of Thunder, might intercede for a heart able to hear Christ, for love that does not fail, and for peace that surpasses every mind, and it wishes readers a blessed feast.