We See Now What Our Lord Prophesied to Us

[truefiction1]

Something is very wrong with us indeed. See Matthew 24:12

MSN

 

[HTacianas]

Something is very wrong with us indeed. See Matthew 24:12

MSN

It helps if you turn that around. "Even though lawlessness abounds, do not let your love grow cold".

 

[ArmyMatt]

Something is very wrong with us indeed. See Matthew 24:12

MSN

yep, Lord have mercy

 

[ArmyMatt]

It helps if you turn that around. "Even though lawlessness abounds, do not let your love grow cold".

amen!

 

[truefiction1]

It helps if you turn that around. "Even though lawlessness abounds, do not let your love grow cold".

Yes, and we could wonder: If our love has grown cold would we even be aware of how cold the love of so many around us is? Would we even pause to wonder about such things, or to notice?

 

[gzt]

I knew things were going to take a turn when I saw that Livvy rizzed up Baby Gronk.

 

[Dorothea]

Something is very wrong with us indeed. See Matthew 24:12

MSN

Horrible but very true. We are swimming in this and are not immune to it. The only way I find peace is through Christ. I'm alive because of Him and am able to live life because of Him. I try and focus on Him, but in the murky waters we are in, it's a struggle at times, but a must to keep clinging to Him. Thanks for sharing this info. It's a good reminder.

 

[truefiction1]

Horrible but very true. We are swimming in this and are not immune to it. The only way I find peace is through Christ. I'm alive because of Him and am able to live life because of Him. I try and focus on Him, but in the murky waters we are in, it's a struggle at times, but a must to keep clinging to Him. Thanks for sharing this info. It's a good reminder.

Thank you. By Grace I'm clinging to Him, because it keeps me attentively seeking Him in prayer. May He always have mercy on us and keep us, by His grace, because it is better to be without a home, or without any possessions, than to be unloving and unforgiving, even better to be killed than to be without His Divine Love abiding in us and working through us. And we know what times we are in, so that we know that there's no time left for anything else but to fear, serve, and Love Him, and to love others, even our enemies who hate us, as we love ourselves. Lord have mercy on us all.

 

[Dorothea]

Thank you. By Grace I'm clinging to Him, because it keeps me attentively seeking Him in prayer. May He always have mercy on us and keep us, by His grace, because it is better to be without a home, or without any possessions, than to be unloving and unforgiving, even better to be killed than to be without His Divine Love abiding in us and working through us. And we know what times we are in, so that we know that there's no time left for anything else but to fear, serve, and Love Him, and to love others, even our enemies who hate us, as we love ourselves. Lord have mercy on us all.

Amen!

 

[godisagardener]

Thanks for posting this article. It's a good read and quite insightful. I don't do social media (other than CF, if it's considered social media) so some of it's outside my sphere of information. And I try not to dwell on the news and instead look to Christ and Christian reading. Our society is going very swiftly downhill; it's scary to think of where we might be in just a few more years.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Our society is going very swiftly downhill; it's scary to think of where we might be in just a few more years.

agreed

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Our society is going very swiftly downhill; it's scary to think of where we might be in just a few more years.

The fact that the apostles and Christians of the 1st-3rd centuries did not try to influence society is important. They said: "God judges outsiders." They completely focused their efforts on correcting themselves and the members of their church communities. By correcting themselves and their church communities, they gradually influenced the whole society.

Now I see people (who call themselves Christians) protesting, trying to influence politics, but they have no compassion for suffering, no mercy. Therefore, Christian communities are constantly losing their members.

 

[Thekla]

I‘m sorry if this sounds contrary, but there has been so much of this kind of attitude for the 40 years of my adult life, this example just seems ordinary. The way it‘s been expressed was different, but the disposition is consistent. The horrors we have failed to even notice are yet another category of diffidence, a smoothed cape of indifference cast over a hellish landscape of despair.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

I‘m sorry if this sounds contrary, but there has been so much of this kind of attitude for the 40 years of my adult life, this example just seems ordinary. The way it‘s been expressed was different, but the disposition is consistent. The horrors we have failed to even notice are yet another category of diffidence, a smoothed cape of indifference cast over a hellish landscape of despair.

They say that depression is more common in developed countries because people are more educated and they have time to think about the meaning of life. There are 2 options: 1) when a person does not find the true meaning of life (salvation in Christ); 2) when he finds, but does not know how to achieve it. As Archimandrite Joachim Parr said: only the person who was there himself can lead you to the Kingdom of Heaven (which is within you). The one who read about it in books cannot, unless by chance. And how many of us have such Christians who have managed to acquire the Kingdom of Heaven. Of those known in recent decades: Rev. Paisios the Holy Mountaineer (Athos) and Rev. Ephraim of Arizona. There may be more unknowns, but they are too few and extremely difficult to find.

The Lord says in the Gospel: "Narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

 

[Thekla]

They say that depression is more common in developed countries because people are more educated and they have time to think about the meaning of life. There are 2 options: 1) when a person does not find the true meaning of life (salvation in Christ); 2) when he finds, but does not know how to achieve it. As Archimandrite Joachim Parr said: only the person who was there himself can lead you to the Kingdom of Heaven (which is within you). The one who read about it in books cannot, unless by chance. And how many of us have such Christians who have managed to acquire the Kingdom of Heaven. Of those known in recent decades: Rev. Paisios the Holy Mountaineer (Athos) and Rev. Ephraim of Arizona. There may be more unknowns, but they are too few and extremely difficult to find.

The Lord says in the Gospel: "Narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

I’m not sure my comment has anything to do with depression or education; instead, that there is much that goes unnoticed, and the above example is not unique to this era, just a more obvious form. In the US, we slot things like homelessness, mental illness and other challenges under political categories - it can allow us to avoid the pain of others. Drug use becomes personal choice instead of self medication, numbing a tragedy that runs too deep for self care - issues where we could help to bear one another’s burden. Prostitution is said to be about a loose woman instead of a victim of CSA, trafficking or inadequate income. We question the woman, not the men who want something for themselves instead of buying her some groceries. Our parish priest years ago said during his homily, when we see someone in bad straits “ It’s not there but for the grace of God go I, but there go I”. Then he finished, ’or there goes Christ.”

 

[truefiction1]

I‘m sorry if this sounds contrary, but there has been so much of this kind of attitude for the 40 years of my adult life, this example just seems ordinary. The way it‘s been expressed was different, but the disposition is consistent. The horrors we have failed to even notice are yet another category of diffidence, a smoothed cape of indifference cast over a hellish landscape of despair.

For 40 years of our adult lives, we've been living in the "days immediately preceding the reign of Anti-Christ", according to the witness of many saints whose prophetic gifts are well known. If this unprecedented degree of lovelessness that some Christians can detect seems ordinary to us, then we might remember how ordinary the "days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37-39) seemed, until it started to rain and didn't stop raining. Those other horrors you've reminded us of, and they are certainly many and grievous, haven't gone unnoticed by us. But, when a room full of new hires; young male comrades with whom I'm bound to work with because of our shared occupation, triumphantly share their disdain for those people who perished in the tragedy, and express, mutually, how glad they are that this happened to them, then I can hardly help but notice the alarm bells ringing in my spiritual ears, dull as my own spiritual senses might be. I'm also sorry if this sounds contrary.

 

[Thekla]

For 40 years of our adult lives, we've been living in the "days immediately preceding the reign of Anti-Christ", according to the witness of many saints whose prophetic gifts are well known. If this unprecedented degree of lovelessness that some Christians can detect seems ordinary to us, then we might remember how ordinary the "days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37-39) seemed, until it started to rain and didn't stop raining. Those other horrors you've reminded us of, and they are certainly many and grievous, haven't gone unnoticed by us. But, when a room full of new hires; young male comrades with whom I'm bound to work with because of our shared occupation, triumphantly share their disdain for those people who perished in the tragedy, and express, mutually, how glad they are that this happened to them, then I can hardly help but notice the alarm bells ringing in my spiritual ears, dull as my own spiritual senses might be. I'm also

notice the alarm bells ringing in my spiritual ears, dull as my own spiritual senses might be. I'm also sorry if this sounds contrary.

It doesn’t sound contrary actually. The target has changed (in my youth it was communists, Catholics, African Americans, then Latinos, then and now women although the form has changed), but I don’t consider a change in target to be a change. I do think it’s important for our love to not grow cold - both for God and if for God then our brothers, regardless of whom they target.

What happened is a horrifying but avoidable tragedy - and indeed compassion is due. Avoidable because the developers were warned of the weakness in their design. The same problem has in earlier times led to avoidable deaths (exploding Pintos, for example).

 

[ValeriyK2022]

There is nothing in the world more precious than a human soul. And those priests who believe in this and constantly remember this have a reward from God. They become rich in God.

Archimandrite Joachim Parr told such an instructive story. One day he saw a poor homeless man rummaging in the monastery dump. He asked him not to litter, but instead invited him to eat at the monastery. He had a terrible smell of a long-unwashed person. He was fed, then washed and dressed in clean clothes. After that, Archimandrite Joachim Parr asked him to tell about his life. It turned out that he was a Japanese engineer who came to the US and failed. He first became unemployed, then homeless, and then looked for food in garbage cans. Joachim Parr offered him to stay at the monastery. Quite quickly, he believed in the Orthodox faith and was baptized. A few years later, he became a hieromonk. Some time later, he became a missionary, went to Japan and opened an Orthodox parish there. And now he is quite a successful priest.

I think that there will be characters who will make a mockery out of this story.

But Jesus Christ said not to give what is holy to dogs and not to throw beads before swine, because they will trample it all with their feet and may tear you to pieces. Unfortunately, there are such characters among Orthodox people. Do they believe in the Orthodox way? So what? And demons believe and fear. Do they know church services and the Bible? And the devil quoted the 90th Psalm to Jesus Christ when Jesus was fasting in the desert.

 

[Thekla]

There is nothing in the world more precious than a human soul. And those priests who believe in this and constantly remember this have a reward from God. They become rich in God.

Archimandrite Joachim Parr told such an instructive story. One day he saw a poor homeless man rummaging in the monastery dump. He asked him not to litter, but instead invited him to eat at the monastery. He had a terrible smell of a long-unwashed person. He was fed, then washed and dressed in clean clothes. After that, Archimandrite Joachim Parr asked him to tell about his life. It turned out that he was a Japanese engineer who came to the US and failed. He first became unemployed, then homeless, and then looked for food in garbage cans. Joachim Parr offered him to stay at the monastery. Quite quickly, he believed in the Orthodox faith and was baptized. A few years later, he became a hieromonk. Some time later, he became a missionary, went to Japan and opened an Orthodox parish there. And now he is quite a successful priest.

I think that there will be characters who will make a mockery out of this story.

But Jesus Christ said not to give what is holy to dogs and not to throw beads before swine, because they will trample it all with their feet and may tear you to pieces. Unfortunately, there are such characters among Orthodox people. Do they believe in the Orthodox way? So what? And demons believe and fear. Do they know church services and the Bible? And the devil quoted the 90th Psalm to Jesus Christ when Jesus was fasting in the desert.

indeed - and to the central point it is our potentially loveless response, as we know something of the love of God, that we can address. His love is transforming; our loving response to others (whether or not we like or approve of them) may eventually help open the door to their love of God.
Some of the most difficult people I’ve known have also been those who have been deeply wounded by others or circumstances. The love of God is what is needed for healing, as it is God who humanizes humans.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

His love is transforming; our loving response to others (whether or not we like or approve of them) may eventually help open the door to their love of God.

Most importantly, it can open the door to our love for God. It is said in the Gospel that whoever loves God keeps His commandments.

His commandments are not only the 10 commandments of the Law of God (first given through Moses) and the 9 commandments of bliss. His commandments are the whole Gospel. In particular, his commandments are both a story about a good Samaritan and a reminder of the Last Judgment, where they will be asked whether they gave drink to the thirsty, fed the hungry, warmed the frozen, or visited them in prison and in a hospital or in an orphanage or nursing home. Did they give what was necessary to the one who asked, and did they not then demand it back. Have you forgiven 70 times 7 ? Did they serve their other people? And many others. This is love as action.

The feeling of love is the result of loving as actions that have become a habit.

Of course, there should be prudence in everything, so as not to expose yourself to danger.