![\"\"](\"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/g235894.b-225x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHoly Church shows us that there was something in the martyrdom of the first Christians
\nwhich supplied them with that strength in which appeared an unearthly force, which is this same godly talent, the gift of God.
\nThis was a peace of soul which covered all suffering, covered all earthly sorrows, which was completely above everything.
\nHere is the state of spiritual strength which is presented to us today for our edification. We must follow the Lord. But how do
\nwe start on this way? Today\u2019s Gospel shows us the beginning, the first steps which a Christian must make in order to walk. If
\nyou remember, the Gospel said: \u201cAnd as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. If ye love them
\nwhich love you, what thank have ye?\u201d (Lk. 6:31-32). And further, \u201cIf ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank
\nhave ye? …But love ye your enemies, and do good [to those who hate you], and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your
\nreward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest\u201d (Lk. 6:34-35).<\/p>\n
\u201cLove ye your enemies.\u201d This is the first step which today\u2019s Gospel reading offers us, so that we may receive that strength
\nwhich the Apostle Paul also received in a vision of the third heaven, as did all the martyrs. If we will fulfil what the Holy
\nChurch gives us in the words of the Gospel, then let us only start to do so; let us step on this new way. And we will receive that
\nrevelation which will help us in those terrible moments when grief invades our soul, when sorrows surround us. The grief and
\nsorrows will go away. Yes, they will leave us, because in that moment these points of grace, this godly light of Christ, will be
\nrevealed to us and will give us strength to bear the burdens of our earthly life, so that we may be comforted in Eternal Life
\nwith Christ.<\/p>\n
– The One Thing Needful Blog<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
**We are pleased to include writings from modern American Monasteries from time to time as well as our traditional Elders**<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Holy Church shows us that there was something in the martyrdom of the first Christians which supplied them with that strength in which appeared an unearthly force, which is this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-modern-orthodox-elders","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8958,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8956\/revisions\/8958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}