God Wants Us to LOVE

[Matthew]

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the True Orthodox Churches,

Our Lord Jesus Christ, commands us to Love; to love one another as the Father loves the Son. We are weak and fail, but we are able by the Power of God and by the great help of His holy Body and Blood, to achieve this lofty goal, a goal that is, in fact, a commandment. What a great comfort it is, that this commandment is a commandment. "This is My commandment: that ye love one another as I have loved you." Why is this a joyful and astounding commandment? Because what He commands He most certainly has enabled us to do, and how happy it must be to Love as He loves! Let us embark on this great fast before us with but one ultimate goal in mind: That by means of all these things before us, which is to be crowned by the most joyful celebration of His Resurrection, we might LOVE each other as HE has loved US. What an astounding and unfathomable love it is, too!

Of your goodness, pray for me, his humble and sinful servant, and in prayer for you before our Saviour,

Symeon

[joasia]

Dear Symeon,

Love is the highest of virtues, but the greatest love is to love our enemies (those who do wrong to us) because then we are putting our pride in check. We are going beyond our ego. But, to reach this height of love, we need to take baby steps...mercy. If we practice mercy, on a daily basis, we slowly develop to a state of actual real love that is self-sustaining; meaning built on a solid spiritual foundation that cannot be destroyed because Christ is working with us. But, we can only understand mercy through repentance because, as you say, we are weak and fail on many occasions. So, repentance brings an awareness of mercy which with time warms the heart towards perfect love.

I still have a lot to work on.

You are in my prayers. Pray for me.

In Christ,
Joanna

[Maria]

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner,
so that I may see Thee in others and live in Thy Holy Presence eternally.