Humility and Failure/Weakness

“For all of us who feel the burden of having failed Christ at some point in our lives, we have the example of the Apostle Peter, who failed Christ, yet was forgiven by Him and restored to his glorious position in the ranks of the saints. So today we honor as the glorious leaders of Apostles, Peter and Paul, two men who each at one time in their lives failed or opposed Christ. The saints are not the infallible, sinless or perfect, rather, they are the faithful who have been forgiven by Christ. We can be in their ranks.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“The Apostles Fast concludes with the celebration of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, who are shining examples of what it means to find healing for our souls such that we become radiant with the divine glory. The stories of their personal transformations should inspire us, for both had sinned greatly, with Peter denying the Lord three times and Paul having fiercely persecuted Christians. Nonetheless, they became foundational pillars of the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. They truly were healed. We might refuse to see how they are examples for us due to a misplaced sense of humility. It may seem presumptuous to put ourselves anywhere near the place of those who first heard the Savior’s call: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The point is not that we are somehow to repeat the unique roles of any of the apostles, but that we must learn from their examples how to become fully receptive to the healing mercy of the Lord. ” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)

“…humility is “the mind’s recognition of one’s weakness and impotence.” In other words, it means knowing yourself. This is also humility, that is, it means accepting yourself. This is a big problem today. People come and torment themselves: “Why do I think such bad things? Why do I have this or that thought? Why do I have such feelings for others? If I think this way, it means I’m dead! I can no longer be saved; I’m good for nothing!... We modern people suffer a lot because we don’t want to accept ourselves as we are. So we don’t accept ourselves, but at the same time, we constantly ask ourselves: “Why, why, why?” And this endless why (“Why do I think this way? Why do I do this?”) is a sign of egotism and our lack of humility. As a result, we fall into a vicious cycle of spiritual illnesses and psychological torments. In the end, we torment ourselves and others, but we don’t get the fruit, because we don’t want to understand that we’re weak people.” (St. John Climacus, Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)

“The resolve to live according to the Gospel is humility. But we have forgotten the ascetical understanding of humility. So, I have resolved to live according to the Gospel, I accept Christianity, Christ; I see that this is really the Truth, that the Gospel is the path of life and I have accepted it. And if I have accepted it then how must I live? I should not deceive, not judge, not be wrathful, not envy… But what is going on with me? I know that I want to live that way, but I see how I stumble. I thought now that I’ve decided upon it I’m a saint...it’s not so simple. I sit down to table already satiated, but I overeat anyway. I drink a shot, or two; but no, I have to have twenty-two…What is humility? It is this knowledge that I am spiritually incapable of becoming the ideal that I myself have chosen—not to envy, judge, or hate…This then is what humility is: the awareness and knowledge of my own damaged state, my sinfulness, my inability to become what I should be. And I am convinced of this only once I’ve made the decision to live that way.” (Professor Alexei Osipov)

“The Lord does not forbid us to desire to become His favorites, for He wants us to desire advancement in the spiritual life. But He does not want us to grasp for honors and privileges, but rather to reach the heights by humility.” (Saint Theophylact of Ochrid)

#FrTedBobosh #FrPhilipLeMasters #StJohnClimacus #MetropolitanAthanasiosofLimassol #ProfessorAlexeiOsipov #SaintTheophylactofOchrid