10/19/2020 5:41:43 AM
Our only good is God!
“”
Saint Theodore the Studite (759-826)
monk at Constantinople
Catechesis 16 (The Great Catecheses, rev.)
Our only good is God!
Perhaps someone will say: "In so many years I will bring this or that to an end"? So, you who talk like this without even knowing how you will spend the day today, doesn't it occur to you that you are not listening to the words: "Fool, fool, this night your soul will be demanded of you, and the things you have gathered for the perdition of your soul, to whom will they belong?" (cf. Lk 12:20; Acts 8:20). So imitate the indissoluble union of the apostles with the lord of all and our God. For this reason hasten toward your salvation as though you were under the eyes of the Lord! Let us love to suffer a few afflictions so that we may rejoice eternally! Even though it is painful let us accept the passing dream of the present life so as to be glad in the endless day of the kingdom of heaven! See, God calls you; see, he holds out his hand to you; see how the Holy Spirit works with you, that with his right hand the Lord Jesus Christ, he upholds you. Let us not be afraid! The devil has been overcome, we have won the victory over him, Christ is risen, death no longer holds dominion (cf. Rm 6:9), the forces of Beliar are broken. You are sons, precious and delicate; you draw your great prize of the sweetness of virtue; you are more pure than gold (Lm 4:2; Rev 21:18, 21); you shine with an even brighter glitter than diamonds; you are like young brides, desired by God, sons of heaven, well worthy of admiration! Your one good, your sole country, the only life worthy of your birth is God, the Lord of all, author of creation. Yet a little time and we shall have conquered, yet a little time and death will will be at the door. Be saved, all of you, take heart in the Lord!