Among the closest 12 disciples The Saviour chose two who would commit terrible betrayals: Judas the one who sold Him and Peter who denied Him thrice publicly. Didn`t He know whom He chose? Didn`t He see in their heart and didn`t He notice their weakness? Yes of course. We even see that He warns everyone of the two that they would commit that gesture of betrayal.
Then why did he tolerate them near Him and even gave them the mission to preach the Gospel and gave them the power to make miracles (according to Luke 10, 1-20)?
Evidently, the answer can be only one: because of love. Because of that love Christ pours over His disciples to heal their vulnerable hearts, predisposed to such deeds under the influence of the devil. He knew that only by keeping them close to Him the chances that they would wake and turn their hearts to God would increase (to clarify themselves)
He hoped that for Peter ‒ and he repented ‒ he hoped that too for Judas the Iscariot who chose to hang himself (he chose, he was not destined for that; about Judas it was predicted, foreseen that he would sell Christ – as it was foretold about Peter that he would deny Him – but there is nowhere said what he would do after that betrayal; he could repent too)
The fact that Judas and Peter betrayed doesn`t mean that what Christ the Lord taught them is less true and it doesn`t diminish at all the value of His teaching!
Neither can that be an excuse for our faithlessness. ON the contrary, it can strengthen our conviction that God respects our freedom indeed and loves us despite our weaknesses if He has the power to keep near Himself even those about whom He knows beforehand that they would betray Him. A God Who loves us so much, Who has so much trust in us but Who values absolutely our freedom can`t be but a desirable God, the Only One worthy to worship!
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The real non discrimination means to love the man regardless of his moral or social state. Proclaiming with the power of the law the factthatthere is no abnormality or sickness in the deviant behaviours you expand the basis of non discrimination to the valuing of any man, therefore on a positive thing, on the negation of any reason of discrimination between the deeds of the men.
This kind of thinking doesn`t help the non discriminated on the contrary it causes them despair. It is the despair the cancer patient would feel if instead of being provided to him a suitable medical care, he would be deluded with the thought that it is absolutely normal what he feels, that it is nothing else than a way of living. No ideology can replace a remedy and solve the crisis the mankind faces today
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Let us ask God with tears of repentance all those which are useful for our lives ! As it is the case now with the prayers made when the earth is deprived of water and we ask God to pour over gentle rains and dew bringing fruit on earth
Some judge these prayers of the priests and belivers as a reflex of a medieval mentality, mentality opposing the enlightened mentality of nowadays which proposes systems of irrigation and the digging of deeper wells. In fact there is no opposition between actions of this kind and the prayers of the Church. Do the long prayers impede us to dig deep wells and remake the irrigation systems from agriculture? Everyone is called to make his duty and work out of love according to his gift for the communal good. There are also prayers for health but a priest will never urge for keeping a service of the Holy Unction for a man with a broken leg, he will send him to the orthopedist. The prayer accompanies it doesn`t replace the medical treatment.
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If we want to be higher in the eyes of God it is necessary to lower ourselves in our own eyes
Any attempt to raise ourselves up fails into the abyss of vain glory, like Icarus – who put his trust in the feathery wings glued with wax which was melted when approaching the sun.
But if we humble ourselves even if we are not raised by God or glorified by people we can`t fall anywhere. Saint Makarios the Great explains for us: The humble man never falls. Being already lower than the others, where else could he fall?It is clear, isn`t it?
Priest Constantin Sturzu
Source: http://doxologia.ro
