Elder Sofian: Becoming Human
It is necessary for these seals [of the ego] to be shattered, to be opened, so that you can communicate with others and open yourself through love to see the pain in the other’s eyes.
Excerpts from Fr. Sofian’s Written Notes:
A true Christian must live exactly like an exile, like a stranger on earth. His heart must be where his treasure is, that is, in God, in Heaven.
Suffering is not a brutal trial, useless and without sense, but it is an appeal to redemptive love; because by helping someone who suffers, you save yourself in the first place. This teaches us the parable of the Good Samaritan: each person is another I. To stoop down to the one suffering - this is mercy. Man is, usually, egotistical and harsh; he encloses himself within himself, like in a shell which shuts and isolates him. It is necessary for these seals to be shattered, to be opened, so that you can communicate with others and open yourself through love to see the pain in the other’s eyes. Mercy on the one suffering is one of the major dimensions of love, and the first step of Christian love.
God did not create suffering; God did not create it! It came through sin - that is why it is so difficult to bear - but Christ took it upon Himself and sanctified it, making it a direct means of redemption. Jesus Christ, the perfect image of the invisible God, came to redeem and recreate us according to His image. A reference to Christ is always the definitive measure of all our values. Our pain united to His encloses within us a hidden source and secret seed of joy forever. “Love the Cross, because Christ loved it too.”
There comes a day when the body finishes its work and becomes a corpse. The body then becomes a grain of wheat, and the earth is no longer a tomb, but an immense field which preserves the “seeds” from which bodies will “sprout” in the field of eternity; like the graft of a grapevine planted in the earth which gives fruit in due time; like the grain of wheat which falls into the earth, putrefies, and multiplies.
God is everywhere, but we live as if He did not exist. We do not know what to do with this Presence. God is not an abstract person beyond the world, but an actual, real Person. God, through Jesus Christ, is among us. Following the incarnation of the Savior, He communicates directly; He is not an idea made up by someone, but He is real - He Who traversed all of Judea! He is not a God-idea; so many people saw Him, He worked within a physical, geographical setting in time and space! Through His birth, the Kingdom of God drew near to us, that is, the Kingdom of God’s love. The Kingdom of God begins with our change for the better, and we feel it when we intensely live the true Christian life, fulfilling the will of God. And the will of God is to care for your brother when he is suffering.
In small Orthodox churches, the faithful regard one another with familiarity, surrounding the priest with much familiarity when he exits the altar, at the celebration of holy services, Holy Sacraments, or blessings. And God is among them, with all of His goodness and mercy.
God works in the world, descending to earth in order to lead it to a higher step of goodness, in order to sanctify it. He does not remain far from and indifferent to the world.
God holds a dialogue with man through creation, because man is the center of creation. And nature serves man when man serves God.
The human being has the mission of humanizing the world, becoming more fully human himself. Sanctifying himself, that is, becoming more Human, he sanctifies the entire world.
The human being, when he establishes himself in God, humanizes and reconciles everything around him; but when he falls away from God, he makes an enemy out of everything around him.
The reality of today’s world?
Dogma is foreign to the Christian.
He is indifferent to moral commandments.
The purpose of the Gospel and the Church are not clearly explained to him. Who must make up for these shortcomings? The priest! Through his teaching and to the same degree his own life’s example; “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.”
Man’s duty is to fight against illnesses and to restore to the body the integrity it had received from God; for in this way the body can serve the soul and it can serve God, doing good. Hence, man collaborates with God the Creator, Who breathes life into bodies and makes them live. Thus, the Church prays for health and appoints the Sacrament of Holy Unction. Fasting, however, does not harm health, but repairs and conserves it. For example, when we respect a fast recommended by doctors as a diet, we are healed. There are more sick people in the world because of a lack of fasting. Doctors themselves place more value on fasting than on medicines. Fasting does not weaken or shorten life. On the contrary! Hermits ate fasting foods - berries and water - and they were healthy, lucid, and they worked much and lived long. Fasting was the first commandment given by God to the first humans; it is not something specific to hermits. Fasting with six kinds of dishes is not fasting. Traversing land and sea to collect fruits and berries and expensive fish and oysters that are more expensive and tasty than meat is not fasting.
A fast is needed that is physical and spiritual at the same time. A physical fast means restraint from any abuse; a regime for the body, a regime which gives rest to the organs and renews them; yet a spiritual fast is self restraint, restraint from all passionate desires and urges within us.
In order to control ourselves, we need the help of God Whom we call in prayer.
We must be attentive to ourselves because we die, we die, we die! So we must also call to mind the Kingdom of Heaven.
We need God’s help more than the beggar needs our help! The Last Judgement will not be rebated for anyone. Mercy does not mean to give a dollar in order to escape the misery in front of you, but to first take in the sentiment. Nothing makes us resemble God so much as mercy. When a poor person extends his hand out to you, he extends the keys of heaven. Sown seeds do or do not bear fruit, but almsgiving always bears fruit. There are people who are debilitated physically, psychologically, and spiritually. The latter especially need to be helped!