Embrace/Embracing

“It is easy to fall into despair when the deepest desires of our hearts go unfulfilled. When that happens, we suffer but also have an opportunity to learn to entrust ourselves to God in a way that is not focused simply on getting what we want. In our pain and disappointment, we may learn to find joy as we receive unanticipated blessings that enable us to fulfill our distinctive vocations. It is by embracing the struggle to take up our crosses in humble obedience in such circumstances that we become “a new creation” as those transformed personally by the gracious divine energies of our Lord.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters) 

“There is an Athonite saying: “A monk heals his family for seven generations.” When I first heard this, my thought was, “In which direction?” The answer, I think, is every direction. We are always healing the family tree as we embrace the path of salvation, monk or layman. Our lives are just that connected. When the Virgin Mary sings her hymn of praise to God, she says, “All generations will call me blessed.” This expresses far more than the sentiment that she will be famous (how shallow). It has echoes of God’s word to Abraham, “In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). It is in the Offspring of Mary that the word to Abraham is fulfilled. In the Scriptures, God is pleased to be named the “God of Abraham.” That His name is tied to that of a human being brings no offense. Indeed, paradise itself is called the “bosom of Abraham.” It is right and proper that Christians should see the same treatment in the Virgin, the one in whom all these things are fulfilled. “All generations” is a term that includes everyone – not just those who would come after her. For the salvation of the human race, in all places and at all times, is found only in Jesus, the Offspring of Mary. She is “Theotokos,” the “Birthgiver of God.” Mary is exalted in the bosom of Abraham.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“We cannot really be in the Church if we do not forgive. Being in Church without forgiveness is like having faith in Christ without His great mercy. And faith in God without mercy denies His very Resurrection. For this very reason, if we believe Christ is Risen, we must forgive all by His Holy Resurrection, we must forgive all and be reconciled with all, because Christ is Risen. And so, we embrace one another in our hearts, those near us and those afar off, we embrace them with the love of Christ. We no longer have enemies, only brothers and sisters with whom we share the joy of our Risen Lord.” (Bishop Alexei) 

“Yet only when we ourselves are willing to embrace sacrificial love for God and for others, to live ascetically, to see our sins, to repent, and therefore to be unafraid of coming to the Light and living in accordance with His life-giving precepts, can we “behold” at least a little of this beauty of the Lord—that He truly is the good God Who loves mankind and does everything for our benefit. And only when we listen to those who know this beauty best will our inquiry into His temple of words, the Holy Scriptures, fulfill our needs and bear the abundant, life-giving fruit that the Bible has always been intended to bear.” (Dr. Mary S. Ford)

“And should it then still surprise us to realize that the vision that will judge us at the end of time is the vision that created us at the beginning of time: the self-emptying love of the Son of God for the entire world? To embrace and express such love is the end for which we were created, and therefore our judgment can be nothing other than the revelation of whether we have fulfilled that purpose. Our willingness to embrace the appearing of the Lamb slain “from before the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8) is what tells us whether we have fulfilled the goal that originally drew us into being.” (Timothy G. Patitsas)

#FrPhilipLeMasters #FatherStephenFreeman #BishopAlexei #DrMarySFord #TimothyGPatitsas