“… Christ has brought salvation to the world, not by merely giving us a religious code of conduct, but by making us participants in His divine life by grace. By becoming fully human even as He remains fully divine, He has restored and fulfilled the basic human vocation to become like God in holiness…If we are truly united with Him in faith, then His boundless love must become characteristic of our lives. Among other things, that means gaining the spiritual health to show our neighbors the same mercy we have received from the Savior. Doing that even for those we love most in life is difficult because our self-centeredness makes it hard to give anyone the same consideration we want for ourselves. The challenge of conveying Christ’s love to people we do not like or members of groups we are inclined to hate or fear for some reason may seem impossibly hard.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“The French writer, J. P. Sartre, in an infamous quotation defined for himself the concept of hell: “Hell is other people.” In contradiction to that sad statement, the apostle Paul is appealing to us to comprehend and to imitate the loving humility of the Son of God who being One of the Holy Trinity “thought it no robbery” to leave the Godhead and become one of what He had created, coming to earth and living the life of a human being. We must return to this profound mystery time and time again, placing our own values into perspective. We who are forever asking good things from Christ are being asked a favor from Him. He wants us to convert our minds from always begging blessings for ourselves and work at forgetting our own endless needs. Abandon selfish interests and incarnate ourselves at least in our desires into all others with whom we are sharing a moment of time in a portion of space. Become agents of Christ’s love and mercy. Take ownership of the needs and life situations of all those whom He loves as much as He loves you and me.” (Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky)
“Not all of us are called to work for "humanity," yet each one of us has received the gift and the grace of Christ's love. We know that all men ultimately need this personal love-- the recognition in them of their unique soul in which the beauty of the whole creation is reflected in a unique way. We also know that men are in prison and are sick and thirsty and hungry because that personal love has been denied them. And, finally, we know that however narrow and limited the framework of our personal existence, each one of us has been made responsible for a tiny part of the Kingdom of God, made responsible by that very gift of Christ's love. Thus, on whether or not we have accepted this responsibility, on whether we have loved or refused to love, shall we be judged. For "inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me...” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann)
“Love one another as I have loved you. If we do not have Christ’s love in our hearts; if we put ourselves first and not last; if we wish to be served rather than to serve, we betray the very meaning of the Lord’s Supper.” (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)
“Everything in life—our work, dreams, relationships, triumphs and trials—are all given to us so that we might become alive to the beauty and mystery of Christ’s love.” (Jonathan Jackson)