Tag: righteousness
Have you turned a deaf ear?
We ought to have the humility to admit we do not know all about ourselves, that we are not experts at running our own lives. We ought to stop taking our conscious plans and decisions with such infinite seriousness. It may well be that we are not the martyrs or the mystics or the apostles… Read More ›
The soul that loves God
The soul that really loves God and Christ, though it may do ten thousand righteousnesses, esteems itself as having wrought nothing, by reason of its insatiable aspiration after God. Though it should exhaust the body with fastings, with watchings, its attitude towards the virtues is as if it had not yet even begun to labour for them. Souls that… Read More ›
Penance comes before grace
Just as John [the Baptist] came before Jesus, so penance comes before grace, before that grace of reconciliation which receives us into the kiss of peace after we have made satisfaction. For in this way of penance righteousness and peace kiss each other and run with eager and lighthearted step to meet him. The righteousness,… Read More ›
The Mark of Christianity
This is the mark of Christianity–however much a man toils, and however many righteousnesses he performs, to feel that he has done nothing, and in fasting to say, “This is not fasting,” and in praying, “This is not prayer,” and in perseverance at prayer, “I have shown no perseverance; I am only just beginning to… Read More ›
Offer a Sacrifice of Righteousness
What is the meaning of “Offer a sacrifice of righteousness” [P 4:5]? Seek after righteousness, bring an offering of righteousness. This — not the sacrifice of sheep and calves but the practice of righteousness — is the greatest gift one can bring to God; this is an acceptable sacrifice, an offering that is pleasing. Behold… Read More ›
Our Nature is not the Cause of Evil
Our nature is not the cause of evil; instead, evil is caused by a free will that is voluntarily inclined toward evil. By the same token, our nature is not the cause of righteousness, as if it were incapable of unrighteousness, but the word that we receive [cf. Mark 4:20] makes us righteous. Origen Commentary… Read More ›
Path of Descent
The second temptation of Jesus: Satan takes him up to the pinnacle of the Temple, symbolizing the religious world, and tells him to play righteousness games with God. “Throw yourself off and he’ll catch you” (Matthew 4:6). It’s the only time when the devil quotes Scripture. The second temptation is the need to be right… Read More ›