Transition from Death to Life
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“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
How do we hear the word of the God-Man Christ today, and when do we pass from death to life?
We hear the word of Christ in two ways – from the outside and from the inside. From the outside, through obedience to our spiritual father – by which we put our mind in a healing process. From the inside, when we direct the energy of our mind toward our heart – which is the source of our word, and when we follow there the words of the prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Why do we hear the word of God even then? Because: no one can call Jesus Lord except with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
These two ways of hearing the word of God should be synchronised; no one can think that he is praying properly and at the same time not to be in obedience to his spiritual father; and conversely, he cannot be in obedience towards his spiritual father if he does not at the same time direct the energy of his mind towards his heart – that is a great delusion.
This hesychastic way of prayer is true prayer; everything else is just an attempt at prayer. And it is very similar to the meeting between the Father and the prodigal son. Their desires coincided: The Father longed for his son to return to him, and the prodigal son remembered that – in his Father’s house even the servants have plenty of food, and decided to return to his Father. Thus our mind – returns to its home, which is our heart, i.e. directs its energy to its essence – in the heart, and from within God’s grace, much more, makes its way to the “opening of the heart”, and along the way cleanses sin and transfigures our passions – which are nested inside there.
And while the prodigal son was still far away, the Father ran toward him and embraced him. Yes, mind-and-heart prayer is a gift of God; the energy of our mind could never have penetratedto its essence in the heart if the grace of God had not penetrated from within. The difference between the Uncreated and the created is insurmountable, therefore: Father, I am not worthy to be called Your son, but receive me as one of Your hirelings.
You see, children, I am speaking to you, not about the vestibule, but about the spiritual life itself, from the first stage of spiritual development – the purification of the heart from passions. At the second stage – the enlightenment of the mind, the personally adopted uncreated light of the mind itself shows us the way, i.e. through it we hear the voice of God. The transition from death to life begins already at the first stage, but is completed at the second stage – with the enlightenment of the mind, which arises from the gift of mind-and-heart prayer. And for all this we need only a little faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Christ is Risen!
Metropolitan of Strumica, Mr. Nahum
22 / 04 / 2026
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Divine Liturgy in the church of “Saint John the Baptist” near Strumica.
