The Journey towards Love
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John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
A protestant lady told me of the overwhelming feeling of awe she gets when she contemplates the love of God for her. I try to do that often, and it blows my mind
The Priest last Sunday said in his homily that God knew how we'd turn out but he loved us so much he made us anyway. That made my wife and I laugh. Great is his love.
A protestant lady told me of the overwhelming feeling of awe she gets when she contemplates the love of God for her. I try to do that often, and it blows my mind
The Priest last Sunday said in his homily that God knew how we'd turn out but he loved us so much he made us anyway. That made my wife and I laugh. Great is his love.
TER
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"Not everyone who says, `Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
Brethren, one does not gain the Kingdom of God with the tongue, but with the heart. The heart is the treasury of those riches by which the kingdom is purchased; the heart and not the tongue! If the treasury is full with the riches of God, i.e., a strong faith, good hope, vivid love and good deeds, then the messenger of those riches, the tongue, is faithful and pleasant. If the treasury is void of all those riches, then its messenger [the tongue] is false and impudent. The kind of heart, the kind of words. The kind of heart, the kind of deeds. All, all depends on the heart.
Hypocrisy is helpless before men, and is even more helpless before God. "If then I am a father," says the Lord through the Prophet Malachi, "If then I am a father where is the honor due to me?" And If I am a master, where is the reverence due to me?" (Malachi 1:6). That is, I hear you call me father, but I do not see you honoring me with your heart. I hear you call me master, but I do not see fear of me in your hearts.
Our prayer: "Lord! Lord!" is beautiful and beneficial only when it emerges from a prayerful heart. The Lord Himself commanded that we pray unceasingly, but not only with the tongue to be heard by men, but rather enclosed in the cell of the heart so that the Lord could hear and see us.
Lord, majestic and wonderful, deliver us from hypocrisy and pour Your fear into our hearts so that our hearts could stand continually upright in prayer before You.
- St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Brethren, one does not gain the Kingdom of God with the tongue, but with the heart. The heart is the treasury of those riches by which the kingdom is purchased; the heart and not the tongue! If the treasury is full with the riches of God, i.e., a strong faith, good hope, vivid love and good deeds, then the messenger of those riches, the tongue, is faithful and pleasant. If the treasury is void of all those riches, then its messenger [the tongue] is false and impudent. The kind of heart, the kind of words. The kind of heart, the kind of deeds. All, all depends on the heart.
Hypocrisy is helpless before men, and is even more helpless before God. "If then I am a father," says the Lord through the Prophet Malachi, "If then I am a father where is the honor due to me?" And If I am a master, where is the reverence due to me?" (Malachi 1:6). That is, I hear you call me father, but I do not see you honoring me with your heart. I hear you call me master, but I do not see fear of me in your hearts.
Our prayer: "Lord! Lord!" is beautiful and beneficial only when it emerges from a prayerful heart. The Lord Himself commanded that we pray unceasingly, but not only with the tongue to be heard by men, but rather enclosed in the cell of the heart so that the Lord could hear and see us.
Lord, majestic and wonderful, deliver us from hypocrisy and pour Your fear into our hearts so that our hearts could stand continually upright in prayer before You.
- St. Nikolai Velimirovich
TER
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The world has many poor in spirit, but not in the right way;
and many who mourn, but over money matters and loss of children;
and many who are meek, but in the face of impure passions;
and many who hunger and thirst, but to rob another's goods and to profit unjustly.
And there are many who are merciful, but to the body and to its comforts;
and clean of heart, but out of vanity;
and peacemakers, but who subject the soul to the flesh;
and many who suffer persecution, but because they are disorderly;
many who are reproached, but for shameful sins.
Instead, only those are blessed who do and suffer these things for Christ and following his example. For what reason?
"Because theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and "they shall see God," and so forth. So that it is not because they do and suffer these things that they are blessed (since those just mentioned do the same), but because they do and suffer them for Christ and following his example.
- St. Maximus the Confessor
and many who mourn, but over money matters and loss of children;
and many who are meek, but in the face of impure passions;
and many who hunger and thirst, but to rob another's goods and to profit unjustly.
And there are many who are merciful, but to the body and to its comforts;
and clean of heart, but out of vanity;
and peacemakers, but who subject the soul to the flesh;
and many who suffer persecution, but because they are disorderly;
many who are reproached, but for shameful sins.
Instead, only those are blessed who do and suffer these things for Christ and following his example. For what reason?
"Because theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and "they shall see God," and so forth. So that it is not because they do and suffer these things that they are blessed (since those just mentioned do the same), but because they do and suffer them for Christ and following his example.
- St. Maximus the Confessor
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"… that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering" (Ephesians 4:1-2).
Be not proud, be not angry, be not faint-hearted; for these are unworthy of a Christian calling. This calling is so elevated and wonderful that it is difficult for a man to safeguard himself from pride; yet it is difficult to keep oneself above faint-heartedness when dangers and losses occur.
Against these three unhealthy states, the Apostle emphasizes three healthy states: against pride, lowliness; against anger, meekness; against faint-heartedness, longsuffering. It must be said that these three virtues - lowliness, meekness and longsuffering - do not express in full measure the loftiness of the Christian calling. But then, nothing in this world can fully express the height of the Christian calling. The preciousness and richness of this calling cannot be seen here on earth: it is like a closed chest that a man carries through this world, but only opens it and avails himself of its riches in the other world. Only someone who could raise himself to the highest heavens and see Christ the Lord in glory with the angels and the saints could assess the loftiness of the Christian calling; for there is the victorious assembly of all God's chosen ones from earth who were made worthy of this exceedingly high honor.
O Lord Jesus Christ our God, Thy name is the name most dear to us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Be not proud, be not angry, be not faint-hearted; for these are unworthy of a Christian calling. This calling is so elevated and wonderful that it is difficult for a man to safeguard himself from pride; yet it is difficult to keep oneself above faint-heartedness when dangers and losses occur.
Against these three unhealthy states, the Apostle emphasizes three healthy states: against pride, lowliness; against anger, meekness; against faint-heartedness, longsuffering. It must be said that these three virtues - lowliness, meekness and longsuffering - do not express in full measure the loftiness of the Christian calling. But then, nothing in this world can fully express the height of the Christian calling. The preciousness and richness of this calling cannot be seen here on earth: it is like a closed chest that a man carries through this world, but only opens it and avails himself of its riches in the other world. Only someone who could raise himself to the highest heavens and see Christ the Lord in glory with the angels and the saints could assess the loftiness of the Christian calling; for there is the victorious assembly of all God's chosen ones from earth who were made worthy of this exceedingly high honor.
O Lord Jesus Christ our God, Thy name is the name most dear to us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- St. Nikolai Velimirovich
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A young and inexperienced man in spiritual combat underlines his every good work by self-praise. But the experienced soldier in the midst of struggles with passions and demons minimizes his every deed and intensifies his prayer for God's help. Abba Matoes used to say: "The closer a man is to God, the more sinful he sees himself to be." He also was known to say: "When I was young, I thought perhaps that I was doing some good; and now when I am old, I see that I do not have any good deed." Did not our Lord say: "No one is good but One, that is God" (Matthew 19:17). Therefore, if only the one God is good and the source of all good, how can a good deed be done that is not from God? And, how can someone who does a good deed ascribe it to himself and not to God? If this is so, with what then can mortal man be praised? By nothing, except with God and the goodness of God!
- St. Nikolai Velimirovich
- St. Nikolai Velimirovich
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~hugs~
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"The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology. And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought… For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’ The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements.
... The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances the Church from the people. But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness, but it is not new, eh? Already the Apostle John, in his first Letter, spoke of this. Christians who lose the faith and prefer the ideologies. His attitude is: be rigid, moralistic, ethical, but without kindness. This can be the question, no? But why is it that a Christian can become like this? Just one thing: this Christian does not pray. And if there is no prayer, you always close the door."
The key that opens the door to the faith is prayer.... When a Christian does not pray, this happens. And his witness is an arrogant witness.... He who does not pray is arrogant, is proud, is sure of himself. He is not humble. He seeks his own advancement. Instead, when a Christian prays, he is not far from the faith; he speaks with Jesus."
- Pope Francis
... The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances the Church from the people. But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness, but it is not new, eh? Already the Apostle John, in his first Letter, spoke of this. Christians who lose the faith and prefer the ideologies. His attitude is: be rigid, moralistic, ethical, but without kindness. This can be the question, no? But why is it that a Christian can become like this? Just one thing: this Christian does not pray. And if there is no prayer, you always close the door."
The key that opens the door to the faith is prayer.... When a Christian does not pray, this happens. And his witness is an arrogant witness.... He who does not pray is arrogant, is proud, is sure of himself. He is not humble. He seeks his own advancement. Instead, when a Christian prays, he is not far from the faith; he speaks with Jesus."
- Pope Francis
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No where does Jesus command us to rule like autocrats forcing our views, morals and doctrines on anyone. If his kingdom were of this world, then he would have done so. In fact, he resisted this temptation in the wilderness when Satan showed him all the kingdoms of earth and offered them to him to rule and we must also resist it. Because His kingdom is not of this world He teaches the opposite way - the way of self-sacrifice even to the point of death. If we follow him, then we will not make demands on our neighbors. We do so out of fear and desire, the two surest signs that we have not yet understood the Gospel.
– Fr. Antony
– Fr. Antony
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We should give thanks to God, as it is said: ‘In everything give thanks’ (I Thess. 5:18). Closely linked to this phrase is another of St. Paul’s injunctions: ‘Pray without ceasing’ (I Thess. 5:17), that is, be mindful of God at all times, in all places, and in every circumstance. For no matter what you do, you should keep in mind the Creator of all things. When you see the light, do not forget Him who gave it to you; when you see the sky, the earth, the sea and all that is in them, marvel at these things and glorify their Creator; when you put on clothing, acknowledge whose gift it is and praise Him who in His providence has given you life. In short, if everything you do becomes for you an occasion for glorifying God, you will be praying unceasingly. And in this way your soul will always rejoice, as St. Paul commends (cf. I Thess. 5:16).
– St. Peter of Damaskos
– St. Peter of Damaskos
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If we want, Christian, to have our heart filled with divine love we must first empty them of the love of this world, its frivolous and sinful customs and then turn our hearts to the one God, our only good and happiness and eternal beatitude.
– St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
– St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
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God and the devil are found at opposite poles. No one can turn his face to God who has not first turned his back on sin. When a man turns his face to God, all of his paths lead to God. When a man turns his face away from God, all of his paths lead to perdition. When a man finally rejects God by word and in his heart, he is no longer fit to do anything that does not serve for his complete destruction, both of his soul and of his body.
– St. Nikolai Velimirovich
– St. Nikolai Velimirovich
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The good man thinks to himself in this wise: Every one who has strayed from the truth brings destruction on himself and is therefore to be pitied. But of course the man who has not learned the love of the Holy Spirit will not pray for his enemies. The man who has learned love from the Holy Spirit sorrows all his life over those who are not saved, and sheds abundant tears for the people, and the grace of God gives him strength to love his enemies.
- St Silouan
- St Silouan
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When people say that it is impossible to attain perfection, to be once and for all free from the passions, or to participate fully in the Holy Spirit, we should cite Holy Scripture against them, showing them that they are ignorant and speak falsely and dangerously. For the Lord said: "Become perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. 5:48), perfection denoting total purity; and: "I desire these men to be with Me wherever I am, so that they may see My glory." (John 17:24) He also said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." (Matt. 24:35) And St. Paul is saying the same as Christ when he writes: ". . . so that we may present every man perfect in Christ." (Col. 1:28) and: ". . . until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:13) Thus by aspiring to perfection two of the best things come about, provided we struggle diligently and unceasingly: we seek to attain this perfect measure and growth; and we are not conquered by vanity, but look upon ourselves as petty and mean because we have not yet reached our goal.
Those who deny the possibility of perfection inflict the greatest damage on the soul in three ways. First, they manifestly disbelieve the inspired Scriptures. Then, because they do not make the greatest and fullest goal of Christianity their own, and so do not aspire to attain it, they can have no longing and diligence, no hunger and thirst for righteousness; (cf. Matt. 5:6) on the contrary, content with outward show and behavior and with minor accomplishments of this kind, they abandon that blessed expectation together with the pursuit of perfection and of the total purification of the passions. Third, thinking they have reached the goal when they have acquired a few virtues, and not pressing on to the true goal, not only are they incapable of having any humility, poverty and contrition of heart but, justifying themselves on the grounds that they have already arrived, they make no efforts to progress and grow day by day.
People who think it is impossible to attain through the Spirit the "new creation" of the pure heart (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17) are rightly and explicitly likened by the apostle to those who, because of their unbelief, were found unworthy of entering the promised land and whose bodies on that account "were left lying in the desert." (Heb. 3:17)
- St. Symeon Metaphrastis
Those who deny the possibility of perfection inflict the greatest damage on the soul in three ways. First, they manifestly disbelieve the inspired Scriptures. Then, because they do not make the greatest and fullest goal of Christianity their own, and so do not aspire to attain it, they can have no longing and diligence, no hunger and thirst for righteousness; (cf. Matt. 5:6) on the contrary, content with outward show and behavior and with minor accomplishments of this kind, they abandon that blessed expectation together with the pursuit of perfection and of the total purification of the passions. Third, thinking they have reached the goal when they have acquired a few virtues, and not pressing on to the true goal, not only are they incapable of having any humility, poverty and contrition of heart but, justifying themselves on the grounds that they have already arrived, they make no efforts to progress and grow day by day.
People who think it is impossible to attain through the Spirit the "new creation" of the pure heart (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17) are rightly and explicitly likened by the apostle to those who, because of their unbelief, were found unworthy of entering the promised land and whose bodies on that account "were left lying in the desert." (Heb. 3:17)
- St. Symeon Metaphrastis
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Simplicity before others, guilelessness, mutual love, joy and humility of every kind, must be laid down as the foundation of the community. Otherwise, disparaging others or grumbling about them, we make our labor profitless. He who persists ceaselessly in prayer must not disparage the man incapable of doing this, nor must the man who devotes himself to serving the needs of the community complain about those who are dedicated to prayer. For if both the prayers and the service are offered in a spirit of simplicity and love for others, the superabundance of those dedicated to prayer will make up for the insufficiency of those who serve, and vice versa. In this way the equality that St. Paul commends is maintained (cf. 2 Cor. 8:14): he who has much does not have to excess and he who has little has no lack (cf. Exod. 16:18).
God's will is done on earth as in heaven when, in the way indicated, we do not disparage one another, and when not only are we without jealousy but we are united one to another in simplicity and in mutual love, peace and joy, and regard our brothers' progress as our own and his failure as our loss.
- St. Symeon Metaphrastis
God's will is done on earth as in heaven when, in the way indicated, we do not disparage one another, and when not only are we without jealousy but we are united one to another in simplicity and in mutual love, peace and joy, and regard our brothers' progress as our own and his failure as our loss.
- St. Symeon Metaphrastis
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OUR Lord warns us not to neglect one another's sins, not by searching out what to find fault with, but by looking out for what to amend. For He said that his eye is sharp to cast out a mote out of his brother's eye, who has not a beam in his own eye. Now what this means, I will briefly convey to you, Beloved. A mote in the eye is anger; a beam in the eye is hatred. When therefore one who has hatred finds fault with one who is angry, he wishes to take a mote out of his brother's eye, but is hindered by the beam which he carries in his own eye. A mote is the beginning of a beam. For a beam in the course of its growth, is first a mote. By watering the mote, you bring it to a beam; by nourishing anger with evil suspicions, you bring it on to hatred.
- St Augustine
- St Augustine
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