Posted on 09/17/2010 10:38:54 PM PDT by markomalley
“When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will not satisfy us unless we aim for something greater still. It might make us famous, but it will not make us happy. Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple – true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.
Not only does God love us with a depth and an intensity that we can scarcely begin to comprehend, but he invites us to respond to that love. You all know what it is like when you meet someone interesting and attractive, and you want to be that person’s friend. You always hope they will find you interesting and attractive, and want to be your friend. God wants your friendship. And once you enter into friendship with God, everything in your life begins to change. As you come to know him better, you find you want to reflect something of his infinite goodness in your own life. You are attracted to the practice of virtue. You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they really are, destructive and dangerous tendencies that cause deep suffering and do great damage, and you want to avoid falling into that trap yourselves. You begin to feel compassion for people in difficulties and you are eager to do something to help them. You want to come to the aid of the poor and the hungry, you want to comfort the sorrowful, you want to be kind and generous. And once these things begin to matter to you, you are well on the way to becoming saints.”
This passage synthesizes 500 years of patristic teaching on how to and why we lead our lives, no matter whether we are lay people, clergy or monastics. America and all of the West needs to hear this!
One cannot seek God in order to become a saint. Becoming a saint should not be a desire or ambition. But it sure sounds that way. I am willing to bet it was the last thing on the minds of every true saint, and they would be the first, in their humility, to turn down such a lofty honor.
One does not start his journey motivated by a desire or a goal to become a saint; one becomes a saint unintentionally. Otherwise the journey is for all the wrong reasons, imo.
Maybe some saints ca tell me why not.
“One does not start his journey motivated by a desire or a goal to become a saint; one becomes a saint unintentionally. Otherwise the journey is for all the wrong reasons, imo.”
Kosta mou, The Church teaches us that our created purpose is theosis. Is it wrong to strive to fulfill one’s created purpose?
“The Son of God has become Son of Man in order to make us...sons of God, raising our race by grace to what He is Himself by nature, granting us birth from above through the grace of the Holy Spirit and leading us straightway to the kingdom of heaven, or rather, granting us this kingdom within us (Luke 17:21), in order that we should not merely be fed by the hope of entering it, but entering into full possession thereof should cry: our ‘life is hid with Christ in God.’ (Col. 3:3).” +Symeon the New Theologian
“...in the visible form of our nature the immortal God described the likeness of His invisible Being, and thus we apprehend eternity. Through prayer we enter into Divine life; and God praying in us is uncreated life permeating us.” Archmandrite Sophrony
Yes, I truly desire to become a saint, and all Christians should do likewise. It is a Godly human ambition.
A Christian desires to get to Heaven. "Becoming a saint" is simply another way of expressing the desire of "getting to Heaven."
Did Moses, did St. Paul, did any of the disciples? Did Theotokos? It seems to me it was not their choice or ambition.
Sounds like a career decision to me. A professional saint.
One would think believers would say "Thy will be done" and accept what God chooses?
As it is, it sounds like someone saying "let's see, I can be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a saint...so many choices!"
“Did Moses, did St. Paul, did any of the disciples?”
+Gregory Palamas says that Moses did.
“Moses and David, and whoever else became vessels of divine energy by laying aside the properties of their fallen nature, were inspired by the power of God... They became living ions of Christ, being the same as He is, by grace rather than by assimilation...” Topics of Natural and Theological Science no. 76 (from the Philokalia)
He also speaks of +Paul. +John Chrysostomos said of +Paul:
“The dispensation of our God and Saviour concerning man is a recall from the fall, and a return from the alienation caused by disobedience to close communion with God. This is the reason for the sojourn of Christ in the flesh, the pattern of life described in the Gospels, the sufferings, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection; so that the man who is being saved through imitation of Christ receives the old adoption. For perfection of life the imitation of Christ is necessary, not only in the example of gentleness, lowliness, and long suffering set us in His life, but also of His actual death. So Paul, the imitator of Christ, says, `being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.’[Pilippians 3:11]. How then are we made in the likeness of His death? In that we were buried with Him by baptism.” On the Holy Spirit
The desire to become a saint is not the desire to be elevated to the honors of the altar but the desire to become holy, to be united with God, to follow the words spoken by God to Moses: “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (Lv. 19:2); which were quoted by St. Peter when he said: “As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, ‘Be holy because I am holy’.” (1 Pt 2:15,16); to obey our Lord’s command: “So be perfect, just as you heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48).
What is truly sad is that certain Orthodox are joining in with these sour grapes.
Are there not saints in heaven we mortals know nothing about?
If so, “achieving” sainthood here in this life would seem to be superfluous ie. the very conscious act of achieving a goal negates the rapturous goodness that comes from the unwitting fulfillment of the Word of Christ.
I disagree, first because I don't think +Gregory is saying that. Second, I don't think Moses or Paul or Theotokos grew up planning to become "professional saints," Kolo mou. They were called to holiness and submitted in due time, realizing that it was God who appoints "apostle, prophets, teaches..." and siants in the Church, and set them apart from all eternity, and not their ego or pride.
This is what the Holy Father means when he invites other to become saints; it has nothing to do with becoming a "professional saint", whatever that is. Saint = one who is holy ("sanctus"). It is not an office in the Church or any special recognition. Indeed, most saints are known only by God. Which is why we have the Feast of All Saints.
First it's 1 Peter 1:16, and it's in second aorist (meaningless tense in English and therefore cannot be accurately translated into English, except that it is usually a past tense, whihc is nonsense).
Second Leviticus is an imperative (shall), a commandment something every Jew is ordered to perform, and is menaningful only within confines of Judaism.
Third Matthews 5:48 is in future tense (become perfect...theosis).
Fourth, the decision who will be what in Church is God's and not ours (at least according to the Christian Bible):
So, the desire should be to serve God whatever God has decided for us, rather than let pride and ambition and glory get the better of us.
Waaaa.
“Are there not saints in heaven we mortals know nothing about?”
The Orthodox Church does not teach that about “heaven”. You know that, eleni mou!
“If so, “achieving” sainthood here in this life would seem to be superfluous ie. the very conscious act of achieving a goal negates the rapturous goodness that comes from the unwitting fulfillment of the Word of Christ.”
Really? What about +Gerasimos (of +Gerasimos and the Lion fame) or +Mary of Eygypt?
Arguing that theosis is somehow thrust upon us unwitting isn’t Orthodox Christian theology.
Neither we nor the Pope can't invite anyone to holiness. Only God can do that. It would have been a lot more "patristic" of him to say to be prepared to answer the call, whatever it may be, and to submit in perfect obedience to God's will. Let God decide who will be a saint. A little humility can go a long way.
Disagreeing with +BXVI for an Orthodox Christian doesn’t even approach demonstrating an anti-Roman Catholic mindset. We disagree, quite vocally, with hierarchs, and each other, all the time. It just means we disagree, nothing more, Doc. If there is ever to be a reunion, you folks will have to get used to our peculiarities and read no more into them than are really there.
Look at the footnotes on this page-—there is a discussion about those “unknown saints” -
http://www.eastern-orthodoxy.com/intercession.htm
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