Gospel (and Love)
“Each time we read or hear the holy gospels we are encountering God. The gospels stand in a place of preeminence in the life of the Church. We believe in the Bible and revere it as the inspired word of God. But we put the gospels even higher than the rest of the Bible. As you see the gospel book sits alone, wrapped in gold (gold plating) on the Holy Altar table. Why? Because the gospels reveal God to us clearly and completely. The gospels are the eyewitness accounts of the life and the teachings of the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ. They are the most precious treasure, the most important texts ever written in the history of the world. We take the things written in them, the things of Christ and His Church seriously.” (Fr. James Guirguis)
“It is easy to believe in Christ as a Wonderworker, Healer, Teacher, Prophet, King and Victor Who is Transformed and Resurrected. Our "Euclidean" logic, as Fyodor Dostoevsky called it, understands the language of power and success. But to believe in Christ Who is Crucified, humiliated, and weak is contrary to human ideas. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness (1 Cor. 1:22-23). This is the greatest paradox of the Gospel and the most important miracle in everybody's life: to recognize God in His lowliness, to love Him in His abasement, and to confess Him in His suffering and death. All the miracles performed by the Lord in His earthly life were leading to one thing--so that, having seen His power, we could one day see His love stretched out on the Cross. After all, Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9)…Jesus has a special love for those of us who are broken, poor, or on the margins. When we are invited to intimately love those whom Jesus especially loves, it is a taste of the gladness of the Gospel.” (Priest Tarasiy Borozenets, Rev. Christopher H. Martin)
“I also think that if it is true that love is the prerequisite for understanding the Word of God, that maybe a very good indication as to why at the Annunciation the Word was able to enter into the Virgin Mary – she is a person of love which God recognized in her and so knew her to be capable of bearing the Word, God’s love, in the incarnation. She could only be Theotokos because she had the prerequisite love to receive God’s Word.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“Love is the foundation of the entire law of the Gospel: in the first place love for God, in the second, love for our neighbor. Contained in these two commandments is the entire Gospel; thus, they are referred to as the ‘Short Gospel’….Love is necessary for us to hear the Gospel. The call in church, “Wisdom! Let us attend. Let us listen to the Gospel”, is a call to us to summon love in ourselves so that our ears can be open to receive the Word from the God who is love. Love opens us to experience God’s revelation.” (Archbishop Averky Taushe, Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“All of the teachings of the Gospels are directed toward understanding of that very exalted, higher, meaning of life, love toward God and service to the Kingdom of love among men. Everyone is called to serve God and to help others, our brethren here on earth, in God’s truth…Truly love prevails, for Christ is risen! Sadly, however, not everyone accepts His gospel of life. Too many prefer to yield to inevitable sickness rather than face Love unbounded in the form of the self-sacrificing and all-powerful God. We choose “managed care” over His unmanageable love.” (Archbishop John Shahovskoy, Dynamis 7/12/2020)
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