Calling from Christ

“What does it mean to be “called”? It is striking that the same Greek word and its derivatives are used throughout the passage. The Greek words are derived from the root, which means “to summon”…Accordingly, to be called is more than to be invited. It is to be singled out and summoned for a mission. Recall that when the Lord Jesus called his disciples He had the divine authority to choose his associates. It was not their prerogative to volunteer. It was not their mission that they were to serve…The Lord calls us, His disciples, to Himself…[do] not imagine that the Lord’s call is restricted to the clergy, or to missionaries and laypeople with specific “religious” assignments or positions. Having united ourselves to Christ at baptism, we are united to the Lord’s basic purpose. Christ requires each of us to accept this call.” (Fr. Basil, Dynamis 9/16/2020)

“…our society assumes that our goal in life should be to fulfill our dreams, whatever they may be…we have a higher calling than our career in this world…our calling to be disciples in the Kingdom is paramount. But our standing in this world is incidental. Wherever we find ourselves in the social order, we can be content, and we can use our position in this world, whether a high or low estate, to serve the Lord and advance the Gospel.” (Fr. Basil)

“Everything belongs to God. And what belongs to us? What can we do? We can respond to God’s call; we can do what we can. Basically, we can say that every era, every time, every hour has its own needs. And every man either responds or doesn’t to the challenges of the times and circumstances. For example, St. John the Merciful lived at a time when there was a need for alms. What did he do? He responded to the call of his time and gave away his possessions; he became a philanthropist. St. Athanasius the Great lived at a time when true Christian teaching was threatened by various heresies. He gave himself to this need and to “rightly dividing the word of truth,” for which he endured persecutions, harassment, and suffered exile. But he stood firm in the struggle, preserved the faith of the Church, and handed it over to us in an undistorted form.” (Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)

“All the apostles, including Sts. Peter and Paul, learned through their difficult journeys that responding faithfully to God’s calling in their lives was not a matter of self-glorification. Instead, theirs were paths of humility in which their sins were made clear for them and others to see. They both made the ultimate witness as martyrs, becoming last in this world to the point of shedding their own blood for Christ. They pursued paths that had nothing to do with self-exaltation.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)

“The Lord knows the soul of every man and guides him to the service where he’ll manifest the God-given qualities of his soul and bear more fruit. And God prunes every vine that bears fruit, so that it may bear more fruit (cf. Jn. 15:2).” (Schema-Archimandrite Iliy Nozdrin)

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Ten words. These ten words completely turned the lives of these men upside down and in so doing, turned the world as we knew it upside down. If I say “Peter and Andrew” everyone knows who I am referring to. If I say “James and John” once again everyone will be fully aware. These men were nobodies but through their obedience to the invitation of Christ, they became glorified in Christ. Each of us is like these men going about our daily lives busy with whatever we are doing. Yet, the moment that the Lord Jesus Christ enters into our lives, something has got to give. Something has got to change. Jesus Christ has entered into your life and invited you to enter into His life. With God, it is always an invitation and never something forced. God is love and this love cannot compel using force. God desires the human heart to desire and seek and pursue after her love. This is how we enter into a relationship with the living God.” (Fr. James Guirguis)

“In order to have the wherewithal to hear, discern, and obey His calling, we must open our hearts to Christ mindfully through daily prayer, regular fasting, generosity to our neighbors, and repentance. Through frequent Confession and reception of Communion, will find healing and nourishment for greater strength in fulfilling our vocation. And we must not set up our own self-imposed standards for what our calling will be. If something needs to be done in the parish and we are able to do it, that is likely our calling. If there is a need to serve Christ in our neighbors in the larger community that we can meet, that may well be our calling. If our parents, spouses, children, and others for whom we have unique responsibilities need our care, that is certainly our calling.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)

“Our response to Christ depends on our understanding that the Lord calls on all of us within the Church (much as He sends the Twelve forth here [Mark 6:7-13]) to proclaim “that people should repent” (vs. 12). Even inexperienced disciples – as the twelve are at this point in time in their relationship to Christ – should not imagine that the Lord’s call is restricted to the clergy, or to missionaries and laypeople with specific “religious” assignments or positions. Having united ourselves to Christ at baptism, we are united to the Lord’s basic purpose. Christ requires each of us to accept this call.” (Dynamis 9/13/2023)

“Jesus commanded Matthew (Levi) in today’s reading by saying “Follow Me” (Mark 2:14). Likewise, He calls all of us. Perhaps we have not had as dramatic a personal encounter with Jesus as Matthew did, but certainly we have heard Him call to us—perhaps through reading Scripture, perhaps through a friend’s voice, perhaps by a still, small voice speaking in our heart…we each have a call and do not come fully alive until we follow it. Further, while there are likely to be similar patterns in our call throughout our lives, call manifests itself in different ways in different seasons of our lives.” (Archpriest Steven John Belonick, Rev. Christopher H. Martin)

“God is a Person; He is who He is, does what He deems necessary, and does not try to appear good, kind, or loving, to please anyone, or to “save” anyone. And as a Person, He wants to enter into a relationship with another person—His creation, who is absolutely unique and invaluable in His eyes. Who else but the Creator knows His creation? Therefore, one can only build a relationship with Him by showing one’s true self.” (Julia Balayants)

#FrJamesGuirguis #FrPhilipLeMasters #Dynamis #ArchpriestStevenJohnBelonick #RevChristopherHMartin #JuliaBalayants #FrBasil #Dynamis #MetropolitanAthanasiosofLimassol #FrPhilipLeMasters #SchemaArchimandriteIliyNozdrin