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Topic of the Week –

When Christ is in Our Heart, We are Contented With Everything

“…These current catastrophes are so terrible for us, because they have come upon us because we are not firm in the Faith, and because we are not enduring them for the sake of Christ. For that reason, we have no hope of receiving crowns for them….”

Excerpted from St. John (Maximovitch) – Nothing Strikes Fear in the Person Whose Hope is in God

 

 

“…When Christ is in our heart, we are contented with everything: what has been discomfort to us becomes the greatest comfort, what was bitter to us becomes sweet, poverty becomes wealth, our hunger is satisfied, and our sorrow turns into joy!…”

Excerpted from My Life in Christ, pp153-154, Saint John of Kronstadt

“… I say this to you and I counsel you, even if the sky were to fall down, even if the earth would rise up, even if the whole world were destroyed, as it is due to do so, today, tomorrow, don’t be concerned with what God is going to do. Let them burn your body, let them fry it, let them take your possessions – don’t concern yourself. Give them away – they are not yours. You need your soul and Christ. Even if the whole world were to fall apart, no one can take these two things away from you against your will. Guard these two, and don’t lose them.”

Excerpted from St. Kosmos Aitolos | Orthodox Church Quotes

Adult/Family:

 

Where can I go from Thy Spirit, and where can I escape from Thy presence? 

If I go up into heaven, Thou art there; if I go down into hades, Thou art present there. 

If I take up my wings toward the dawn, and make mine abode in the uttermost parts of the sea, 

even there shall Thy hand guide me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” 

(Psalm 138: 7-10)

 

“These divinely inspired words of the Psalmist David should be particularly in our thoughts during these days, when the entire world is literally quaking, and from every direction comes news of all kinds of distress, shocks and calamities….It would seem that there is no place on the globe in recent times that remains a peaceful and calm haven from troubles in the world….These current catastrophes are so terrible for us, because they have come upon us because we are not firm in the Faith, and because we are not enduring them for the sake of Christ. For that reason, we have no hope of receiving crowns for them.

 

And what is even worse, and leaves us powerless in our efforts to counteract our misfortunes, is that we do not strengthen ourselves with the power of Christ. We put our hope, not in God, but in human powers and means. We forget the words of the Sacred Scriptures: “Put not your hope in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. Blessed is he whose hope is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God” Psalm 145: 3, 5). And again: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain” (Psalm 126: 1).

 

We keep trying to find a firm foundation apart from God. And so, we suffer what was foretold by the prophet: “This sin will become for you like the sudden collapse of the wall of a strong city under siege,” and which is then immediately vanquished (Isaiah 30:13). Woe to those who are leaning against those walls! Just as a collapsing wall crushes those who are leaning on it, in the same way, with the destruction of false hopes, all those who placed their trust in them will perish….It is entirely different with those who seek the help of God. “God is our refuge and strength, our helper in the troubles that grievously befall us. So we will not fear though the earth should rock and mountains be hurled into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 45: 2-3).

 

Nothing is fearful for the person whose hope is in God. He does not fear men who work evil. “The Lord is my light and my Savior: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the guard of my life; from whom shall I shrink?” (Psalm 26: 1)…. He knows that if it pleases God to protect his life, “A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand: but it will not come near you” (Psalm 90: 7).

Even death is not fearful for him, because, for the person whose life is Christ, death is gain (Philippians 1: 21). “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, ‘For Thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8: 35-39)….

Lord, teach me to do Thy will and hear me on the day that I call upon Thee!May Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have placed our hope in Thee.”

Excerpted from St. John (Maximovitch) – Nothing Strikes Fear in the Person Whose Hope is in God

 

 

 

 

Preschool/Elementary:

“Entering the cell of Elder Paisios, I asked him about the life of a Christian in the world. He answered very accurately: “Even if a Christian has no glory, honor, or money, he has Christ. Here,” he said, “are two apples: one strong, the other rotten. And imagine that there are two hungry people: one is a believer, the other is an unbeliever. The unbeliever eats a good apple, while the believer eats a rotten apple. But this second, believer, delights more than the one who eats a good apple, because Christ is with him.” “

Taken from Orthodox Gladness: Testimonies of Pilgrims

Have you ever eaten a rotten piece of fruit? Does it taste very good? Can you imagine yourself ever enjoying eating that? How is Christ able to make a believer ‘delight’ [have joy] in eating a rotten apple?

Middle/High School:

 

“…When Christ is in our heart, we are contented with everything: what has been discomfort to us becomes the greatest comfort, what was bitter to us becomes sweet, poverty becomes wealth, our hunger is satisfied, and our sorrow turns into joy!  

But when Christ is not in the heart, then the man is not contented with anything, he does not find happiness in anything: neither in health nor in comfort, nor in ranks and honours, nor in amusements, nor in rich palaces, nor in a luxuriously served table covered with all kinds of viands and drinks, nor in rich attire—in nothing.

 

Ah! how necessary for the man is Christ, the Life-giver and Saviour of our souls! How necessary it is for Christ’s sake—in order that He should dwell within us—for us to hunger and thirst, to sleep less, to dress more simply, and to bear everything with a quiet, peaceful, patient, meek spirit.

 

The wicked fowler of our souls—the Devil, seeks at every moment to ensnare our souls; trying how he can wound us by some sin, by some passion; how he can implant some sinful habit or passion more firmly within us, so as to make the salvation of our soul as difficult as possible, so as to produce in us a coldness towards God, towards holy things, towards the Church, towards eternity, and towards mankind….”

Excerpted from My Life in Christ, pp153-154, Saint John of Kronstadt 

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