Famous Quotes By Mar Melchizedek



Just like Jesus,

- the church is here to heal you, not to contest your disposition.

- the church is here to reconcile you to God, not to condemn you.

- the church is here embrace you, not to exclude anyone.

- the church is here to love you, not to judge you.

- the church is here to show you compassion, not rejection.


- the church is here to show you liberation and redemption, not guilt and grief.


- the church is here to manifest Jesus, not the Pharisees.

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Slander and defamation are a cancer that cannot be treated like a virus, but with he antidote of truth.


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We hold good ecumenical contacts and friendly relations with all Christians. By virtue of our common baptism, we all belong to Christ's Church. Divisions are man-made because of our sinful, selfish nature culminating into political and ideological aims. Whoever, therefore, opposes or even humiliates another Christian and his earthly affiliation, especially to exalt himself, violates the Holy Gospel and commits a grave sin. Thus, I cannot take the opinions of fanatics and propagandists on the subject of "canonical" seriously.


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It is dreadful how much we argue and about what we argue, while we ourselves, our fellow humans and our environment need healing. We get lost in denominational elitism, historical quarrels, self-righteous Bible interpretations and man-made rules - all what should embarrass us. Meanwhile, God’s children are still hurting, hungry and waiting for a word of comfort and encouragement.


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Do not envy the violent and do not choose any of their ways; for the perverse are an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence (Prov. 3:31-32).

Religious fanaticism, which most people detest and to which they often respond with aversion against anything religious or spiritual, is however nothing new; for the devil with his demon-possessed helpers does everything to make modern society unsettling and aversive towards God. A criminal band like "ISIS”, for example, is nothing more than a tool of satan, getting into the minds of people under the disguise of religion, by possessing them to do evil and destruction. The world with its secular political orientation has no credible answer, but we know who the real culprit is.


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Stable spiritual and religious practice are the only human endeavors that have consistently provided models to give meaning and purpose to our lives. Our holy Orthodox faith and practice teaches ordinary people how to live and think in new dimensions, unifying spirit and matter.


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The matter is that we must give up our categorical thinking and approach issues and problems with an inclusive mindset. Organizations, movements and causes that promote the value of life are intrinsically and morally good, as God has created life and is the only arbiter to end it.

Hence, we should not demean slogans like All Lives Matter by creating aggressive semantics to foist one-sided agendas on the innocent. I believe, once we have overcome to think in black and white categories and come to a more wholistic approach of our contemporary issues, we as a society have a better chance of solving our problems at their roots.