In life we pass through stages. The heart, thoughts, feelings and spirit all pass through them. Each stage has its impact and effect. It has a duration of time beyond which it does not go.
Happy is the one who looks continually with hope for the next stage.
Happy is the one whom difficulties do not send to the other extreme. For a difficulty is only a stage in life and the solution of that difficulty is yet another stage.
Live with faith that there will be a solution and rejoice as you look forward to what cannot be seen.
The world itself is only a stage in life that will arrive at another stage, that of eternity.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Experiences in Life
Category: FAITH
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Fr. Bishoy was away from the monastery for a short time, and upon his return he was told a monk had passed away. In the world, even though a person who has died is enjoying the sights and splendor of Paradise, people on earth tend to ignore that and simply bemoan their death. For monastics, however, death is not treated in the usual manner; they regard it as simply leaving the monastery and returning home to Paradise. Hence, upon hearing that his friend had died, Fr. Bishoy simply said, “Oh what a shame, I wish I could have said goodbye before he left.” But that was it: no tears, no big deal.
Orthodox Afterlife
John Habib -
…and he changed them all. By what means? By means of the earnest. How was he sufficient for these things?
By the grace of the Spirit. Unskilled, ill-clothed, ill-shod he was upheld by Him Who also has given the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore he says, “And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16). “But our sufficiency is of God, who has made us sufficient as ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter but of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:5-6).
—Saint John Chrysostom, On the Vanity of Riches
HOMILY Two
After Eutropios, having been found outside the church, was taken captive -
God is not an author of confusion
Another principle is that God is not an author of confusion. That is to say, God will not send you a certain message through the Scriptures, a different message in your heart, a third message through your father of confession, a forth message through your parents, a fifth message through your friends, and so on. God is not an author of confusion. So, if it is the will of God, God will change the heart of everyone, almost to be in consensus, to declare that this is the will of God, except if some people are clearly against His will; and this will be outside our calculation. But anybody who is willing wholeheartedly to know the will of God, all will be in agreement: whether you read in the Scripture, or the voice in your heart, or the counseling you are receiving from your spiritual father, or you hear from your parents; everything will be in harmony together.
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Know the Will of God
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we need to be persistent in seeking the will of God. When we are persistence and seeking His will and seeking His guidance, He told us, “Ask, and you will receive.” Also, the Lord said to us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. This means that if you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, if you live righteously, God will reveal to you in a way or another His will in everything else. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. And here is the rule, one rule that is very important: if you are faithful and honest in keeping the general will of God— to do good, sanctification, abstain from sexual immorality, giving thanks in everything—if you are faithful in this area, then God will reveal to you His will in other areas. But if you are not faithful but are careless about fulfilling the will of God in this general area, why would God reveal to you His will in other areas. So, the more you are faithful, the more the will of God will be revealed to you regarding the specific questions.
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Know the Will of God
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Hope is a trust in God, that the Lord will take me out of this problem and will give me the grace of endurance, or He will defend me even after many years. After the cross, there is resurrection, and after darkness, there is light. Have hope in the Lord even if all doors are closed shut. As we have previously mentioned concerning the events of 1981, with the mind it was hopeless, but the Lord is our hope: “The hope of those who have no hope and the help of those who have no helper”‘!? For if you have no help, the Lord is your helper. If you are thinking, “How will these issues be resolved? The person who is causing trouble, how will he change?” Our Lord is the hope: “The hope of those who have no hope and the help of those who have no helper.”
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Endure Injustice
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When we become unduly distressed at falling ill, we should recognize that our soul is still the slave of bodily desires and so longs for physical health, not wishing to lose the good things of this life and even finding it a great hardship not to be able to enjoy them because of illness. If, however, the soul accepts thankfully the pains of illness, it is clear that it is not far from the realm of dispassion; as a result it even waits joyfully for death as the entry into a life that is more true.
SO GOOD QUOTES 