“God granted one hundred years while the ark was being made to that generation, and still they did not repent. God summoned beasts that they had never seen and still they showed no remorse. He established a state of peace between the predatory animals and those who are preyed upon, and still they had no awe. God delayed yet seven more days for them, even after Noah and every creature had entered the ark, leaving the gate of the ark open to them. This is a wondrous thing that no lion remembered its jungle and no species of beast or bird visited its customary haunt! Although those of that generation saw all that went on outside and inside the ark, they were still not persuaded to renounce their evil deeds.” (St. Ephrem the Syrian)
“Repentance is a gift from God; it’s something that God grants. We can only pay attention, strive to repent, and confess when we fail. What if there are deeper wounds that God is working on in your heart and mind that must be healed first, before the sins that you perceive can be healed? Let God do what only God can do. Trust in God. Hope in Him. Pay attention to your thoughts. Strive to reject thoughts leading to sin. When you fail, confess it and ask God for mercy. Continue to trust in God…you are growing in God. That you notice and hate your sin is evidence of the Grace of the Holy Spirit in your life.” (Fr. Michael Gillis)
“The Gospel is the Good News of salvation. So even though Great Lent has a theme of repentance, this is not because God’s wish and nature is to destroy sinners. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Repentance is not our despairing of salvation, but our response to God’s love, to Christ’s seeking us. We are doing only what the Prodigal Son did – coming to our senses realizing the goodness and love of our Creator for us, despite our sinfulness. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Repentance is our allowing Christ to lift us up out of the pit of despair in order to experience His love for us.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“Mere moralizing can never lead naturally to an offer for repentance. The "pricking" and convicting impact of the Holy Spirit produce repentance when man's sinfulness and helplessness are exposed to the forgiving love and grace of Christ.” (Father Eusebius Stephanou)
“…it is Puritanism which seeks to blot out the morally flawed, but in Christianity, “God embraces the flawed individual and sacrifices his only-begotten Son for this broken world, instead of eradicating it and recreating it anew.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh, Sergei Brun)
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