Patterns

“…the “pattern” in the whole of Scripture is revealed in the primary pattern of Christ’s Pascha (death and resurrection). His Pascha reveals not just God’s purpose, but our purpose, and the purpose of all things. This is, perhaps, an interesting way to “read” the Scriptures. We are a deeply text-based society (whether the text is in a book or on screen). We tend to overlook (or ignore) the fact that Christ never wrote a book or a letter. He gave us something else.” (Father Stephen Freeman) 

“…the Kingdom of God is “hidden” within our own lives. We frequently make the mistake of see ourselves only in an outward sense – ignoring the mystery of our lives. When St. John says that “it does not yet appear what we shall be” (1 Jn. 3:2) he is directing our attention beyond or beneath the obvious. The pattern of sacraments (outward things whose inner reality is the Kingdom of God) is also the pattern of our own lives…some people in our culture choose to try to destroy whatever is sacred, instead of “coming to the light” and repenting, “because their deeds were evil” (John 3: 19). In this they follow the pattern seen in the choices of Adam, Eve, and their son, Cain, rather than that to which Christ calls us.” (Father Stephen Freeman, Dr. Mary S. Ford)

“When St. Paul says of himself, “I am crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20), he is not referring just to the difficult circumstances of his life. He is describing a pattern which is revealed in each of us. We (each of us) have a cruciform telos, it is written in our spiritual DNA. St. John describes Christ as the Logos of God, noting that all things “were made through Him.” To even postulate that there is a Logos is to assert that there is a pattern to all things of which He is the telos. There is a meaning in all things that is Christ-shaped. The practice of natural contemplation (theoria physike) that is recommended in the Fathers, is the continual search for the pattern of Christ in all things.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“Contrary to popular opinion, holiness is not a reward for people who have never sinned, even as health is not a reward for people who have never been sick. The common image of the ideal religious person as a self-righteous legalist who condemns others has nothing at all to do with a spiritually healthy understanding of sainthood. As St. John wrote in his epistle, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn. 1:8-9) True saints are people like King David (who had committed murder and adultery), Peter (the head disciple who had denied His Lord three times), and Mary of Egypt (who had lived a horribly depraved life as a sex addict). They all found healing through repentance as they pursued the difficult struggle to reorient the desires of their hearts toward God and to live accordingly. Likewise, Paul, formerly a harsh persecutor of Christians who referred to himself as the chief of sinners, wrote that the Lord showed him mercy “as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life” (1 Tim. 1:16).” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)

“It is a truth universal but rarely acknowledged that human beings are born into a state of pilgrimage. We are, by nature, seekers. This broken world isn’t the one we were born for, and we’re looking for the native ground of our inmost hope all the days of our busy, ambitious lives. That’s not usually the first way we describe ourselves or measure the outlines of a good life, but it’s the reality thrumming beneath every pattern of human existence on this earth.” (Sarah Clarkson)

#FatherStephenFreeman #DrMarySFord #FrPhilipLeMasters #SarahClarkson