Friday's Fast: Focusing on the Cross
The righteous path leads from matter, to the spirit, to life. Whoever fixes his attention on the radiance and grace of this beauty, will take something from It and will be marked by It, as though by a dye, when he exposes his own face to its colored rays. In this way the face of Moses, who participated in this Beauty, was glorified during his communion with God.
Anger, desire, timidity and envy all confuse the soul's intuition. In the same way that a dull eye does not perceive visible objects, it is also impossible to attain a knowledge of truth with a troubled heart. Therefore, we should withdraw from worldly affairs and not introduce superfluous thoughts into our souls.
-St. Basil
Friday's Fast features homilies, lectures, interviews, and biographies on topics such as prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and repentance. For in the cross of Christ crucified lies both the power of God and the wisdom of God for those being saved (I Corinthians 1:24).
The last sentence hit me. The retreating into peace when petitioning God so we can really hear. Hard, but so true.
ReplyDeleteSo hard, especially when in the midst of it all. I thought it interesting that timidity was in the middle of the short list!
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