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He was a Burning and Shining Lamp
For those under the Law, and dwelling in Judea, the Baptist was, as it were, a lamp, preceding Christ; and God so spoke before of him; ‘I have prepared a lamp for My Christ.’ And the Law also typified him in the lamp, which in the first tabernacle it commanded should be ever kept alight. But the Jews, after being for a short time pleased with him, flocking to his baptism, and admiring his mode of life, quickly made him sleep in death, doing their best to quench the ever-burning lamp. For this reason the Savior also spoke concerning him, ‘He was a burning and shining lamp, and ye were willing a little to rejoice for a season in his light.' "
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem
"'Joy and a settled state of soul show the holiness of Him who is present.' Thus Abraham beholding the Lord rejoiced (Jn. 8:56); so also John the Forerunner at the voice of Mary the God-bearer, leaped for gladness.(Luke 1:41) "
- -St. Athanasius the Great
But at the Proper Time...
"Our devotion may increase by deferment... It also sometimes happens that we seek things entirely related to salvation without our eager petitions and devoted actions, and yet we do not immediately obtain what we ask. The result of our petition is postponed to some future time, as when we daily ask the Father on bended knees, saying, ‘Thy kingdom come,’ and nevertheless we are not going to receive the Kingdom as soon as our prayer is finished, but at the proper time. It is a fact that this is often done with benevolent foresight by our Maker, so that the desires [inspired by] our devotion may increase by deferment. When they have advanced more and more by daily growth, at length they embrace perfectly the joys we are seeking.
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-The Venerable Bede
Chirst in Our Hearts
"'Zeal for Thy house hath consumed me.’ Do we ever think how great the Lord’s zeal and longing is for His house - that is, our heart? Surely it is a zeal a myriad times more intense, a love infinitely more ardent than that which He showed for the cleansing of the Judaic Temple. ‘Behold,’ He says, ‘I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him...'
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-Archimandrite Ioannikios Kotsonis
Pearls from Elder Paisios of the Holy Mt. (+1994)
"What is the meaning of this life? It is to be prepared for our homeland --- for Heaven, for Paradise. The most important thing is for man to grasp this most profound meaning of life, which is the salvation of the soul. When man believes in God and in the future life, then he understands the vanity of this present life; and he prepares his passport for the other life.
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"Someone who did not cultivate and strengthen his faith from a young age, but who has a good disposition, can cultivate his faith through prayer --- asking Christ to increase his faith. We can ask Christ to add to our faith and to increase its strength. What did the Apostles say to the Lord? Didn’t they say, ‘increase our faith?’ When you say, ‘increase,’ you are entrusting yourself to God. For if one does not entrust himself to God, what is God to increase in him? We ask God to increase our faith, not so that we can do miracles; but to love Him all the more.
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"Completely have trust in God; leave everything in His hands, and believe that His love will act for your own benefit. Then God will take care of everything, because there is nothing He cannot do. Everything is easy for Him. The difficult thing is for man to decide to humble himself and leave everything to God’s Providence and love.
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"Many people suffer because they fail to receive recognition through vain, worldly honor, or fail to become rich in pointless, mundane things. It doesn’t occur to them that in the other life — the real life — such stuff is not needed, nor can they take it with them. To that place, we can only take our works, which here and now acquire for us a passport for that great and eternal journey.
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"We must not seek to have Christ’s help readily; let’s not expect special dispensations, because then we will be untrained and unrehearsed in the spiritual life. Even in the army, those who are well trained in military tactics survive. When someone is constantly helped and assisted, in the end he is not helped. I am personally moved by the fact that Christ does not help us constantly."
A thought from Elder Ephraim (Arizona)
"Love is born of understanding. For if we do not comprehend and feel what God has given us and in particular to each one of us, and if we do not realize who we were because of our sins when God did this great deed of mercy--in short, if we do not come to know Him and ourselves-- we will not bind our souls to the fear of Him, and we will not rejoice in the beauty of His love.
The Apostle Paul said to the Christians in order to arouse in them greater love and thanksgiving to God: 'What fruit did you have then (in idolatry) in the things of which you are now ashamed.. .for the wages of sin is death.' (Rom.6:21 ,23)
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