An Irish Welcome

Céad Míle Fáilte friend and rover ...
Wherever you come from and whosoever you may be.
That's an Irish greeting and it means

you are welcome
a thousand times over.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The full force of love ...

He who loves God both believes truly and performs the works of faith reverently. But he who only believes and does not love, lacks even the faith he thinks he has; for he believes merely with a certain superficiality of intellect and is not energized by the full force of love's glory. The chief part of virtue, then, is faith energized by love.

From St. Gregory Palamas (The Philokalia Vol. 4; Faber and Faber pg. 308):
 
…the passion for popularity brings such injury upon those it masters that it shipwrecks faith itself. Our Lord confirms this when He says, “How can you have faith in Me when you receive honour from one another and do not seek for the honour that comes from the only God?” (cf. Jn. 5:44).

5 comments:

  1. My sister, I know the Saint means well, but it is quotes like this that drive me to despair. They are, all of them, about me.

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  2. Dear David, if I could only wack you on the head I am sure you know it all already but despair is NOT from God.

    These quotes give hope! They remind me that ALL of humanity co-suffers from the same issues and problems - even the Saints. Take it all with a grain of salt:

    To see the world in a grain of sand,
    And heaven in a wild flower,
    Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
    And eternity in an hour. ...

    It is God's Mercy that will save all of us, nothing more ... the rest are boundaries for God has put in place to see who will foresake it all for His love.

    Do not despair ... acknowledge your weaknesses and just leave the rest in God's hands ... it is ok that we are weak even the Saints were sinners and weak but they trusted in God to "cure them" ... He will design and provide your training course that will remove your problems and change you - with time! - for the better

    :)

    My friend, mercy and time are the keys and our own patience. My prayers are with you, your wife and your children.

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  3. You do read them very differently. I trust you, but without correction they call go badly for me.

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  4. David, dont ever trust me. Never trust in any human, only the Theotokos or the Saints and put all your trust in God and in your Spiritual Father! You will do well if you do not alarm yourself and clean your backyard slowly ... like the Tortoise and the hare, it was the tortoise who finished the race.

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  5. And I have a messy backyard...

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