Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
As servants, you are doubtless aware that repentance is the key to the kingdom of God "Unless you all repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13: 3). It is also the movement of the heart towards the loving God, a remorseful turning back from the past, a looking forward to a share in the eternal glory. The Fathers have praised it profusely; St. John Saba said: ‘O Repentance, You have created virgins out of adulterers!’ However, man is sometimes confused and does not know whether he is on the right path to repentance or not. If he stumbles, he thinks he is not a son. If he goes through a period of dryness, he imagines that he has fallen back. ‘What exactly is expected of me?’; this is the question asked by those who are perplexed about this matter. What are the characteristics of an acceptable repentance? Our repentance has to be: Arrow-like Just as one flees from imminent danger, or a stifling atmosphere, or a burning fire, so must our repentance be. It is a quick and arrow-like escape from the land of sin and a quick and arrow-like running to the bosom of God. Just as launching a rocket with astounding speed is the only way it can get away from the force of gravity and conquer space, so is the launching of the soul towards the bosom of Christ, with speed, and without hesitation or bargaining, the only way to get rid of the attraction of sin and the flesh. The speed at which a rocket is launched is our repentance: "I will arise and go to my father ......... and he arose and came to his father’s house" (Luke 15: 18). "Follow me.... and he left all, rose, and followed Him " (Luke 5: 27, 28). As for those who look behind or hesitate to forsake the death of sin, their repentance will be difficult until they have a firm intention and are totally persuaded to forsake sin completely. Comprehensive Just as repentance has to be quick, "redeeming the time for the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16), so should it be comprehensive, embracing all the human being. I have to offer my thoughts and all the attitudes in my life to Christ, withholding nothing from Him. I must put before Him my habits so He sanctifies them and replaces them with better ones. I must offer Him my emotions also, giving up any that may hinder my spiritual growth and forsaking any evil tendency, envy, or jealousy.. Above all, I should give Him my senses and my ‘self’ on the altar of consecration where He completes its sacrifice, for it is the most deceitful of all and is capable of changing color like the chameleon, so that it appears holy, while in reality it is centered around itself and is hatefully egoistic. Pray saying: "O Lord Jesus Christ, here is my life which I lay before You as an open page, full of many tendencies, habits, emotions, and wrong attitudes. My heart cries, O Lord, here is my life which I now consecrate to You. Work in it, in all its corners; I will not withhold anything in it from You." Continuous Repentance in the Orthodox concept, is life accompanied by strong, spiritual, and serious emotions and an awakening of the conscious to sin. It is a way of life and a constant, profound, and continuous attitude. St Paul the apostle said: "My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin (this is the intention of the children of God and the goal of their daily struggle). And if anyone should sin, we have an advocate with the father" (this is evidence of the continuity of repentance and renewal by putting off the old and putting on the new) (1 John 2:1). Fruitful This is the last characteristic of acceptable repentance. Its fruitfulness is in a life of holiness, and in love and service to others. It is impossible to claim that our repentance is true if it is still barren and an outcome of selfishness and a prisoner of the ‘self’. The soul’s knowledge of Christ will drive it quickly forward towards other souls: "Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ:" (John. 4: 29). True repentance is fruitful and effective with others, and is able to attract souls to the fold in three ways:
Two main fundamentals in the life of repentance are:
Repentance is not a human device to worship an idol called ‘self’, but it is the continuous gift from a heart that has the humility of the poor to Christ who is able to save to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25). Hence, the concentration of people on themselves and on their weaknesses and constant morbid groaning at sin does not serve the cause of repentance as much as fleeing to Christ in love, to the Bible in fulfillment, and to the Church in incorporation. The negatives are superseded by the positives. *Adapted from The Characteristics of Acceptable Repentance - HG Bishop Moussa
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