Spiritual Capital
- Michael Haldas
- Nov 27, 2020
- 2 min read
“Jesus’ Parable of the Ten Minas stands at the heart of today’s Gospel passage. The parable points ahead to the time of our Lord’s return when each disciple will be assessed. Hence, our Lord urges us to invest the “spiritual capital” He has entrusted to us, for He will look for growth as evidence of what we have gained from the love, grace, and power we receive through the Holy Spirit.” (Dynamis 11/27/2020)
“Do you understand, what acquiring money means? Acquiring the Spirit of God is exactly the same. You know very well enough what it means to acquire in a worldly sense, your Godliness. The aim of ordinary worldly people is to acquire or make money; and for the nobility, it is in addition to receive honors, distinctions and other rewards for their services to the government. The acquisition of God’s Spirit is also capital, but grace-giving and eternal, and it is obtained in very similar ways, almost the same ways as monetary, social and temporal capital.” (St. Seraphim of Sarov)
"If we are to make spiritual progress, we must not, and cannot, constantly give in to whatever we want, whenever we want it…spiritual progress comes from a dedication and focus on our sacramental life with often include moderating ourselves…Asceticism is an unpleasant idea in our present culture, which measures happiness and progress with the increase of capital and consumption." (Archimandrite Sergius, Sacramental Living Ministries, Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon)
“To the person without faith, they mean nothing. But to the person with faith, they make perfect sense. Faith tells us that God alone can supply the things on which we depend. He gives some people more than they need — not so that they can enjoy great luxury, but to make them stewards of His bounty on behalf of orphans, the sick and the crippled. If they are bad stewards, keeping this bounty to themselves, they will become poor in spirit, and their hearts will fill with miser. If they are good stewards, they will become rich in spirit — their hearts filling with joy.” (St. John Chrysostom)
“One way we may participate in ministry is by giving material help to those with spiritual gifts. The donor becomes a coworker in spiritual things (see Mt 10:41).” (Orthodox Study Bible, 3 John 1:8)
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