CALLED TO HOLINESS – 20161023

This article, Called to Holiness, was one of my initial actions to promote the Vibrant Parish Program which is being promoted by our Church. It has been an article which has taken on many different ideas. I only hope that my readers have found some value in it. A phrase from the Old Testament, quoted by our Lord Himself, is the foundation for these thoughts. That phrase is, “I say, ‘You are gods’”. This phrase has deeply marked the spiritual imagination of the Eastern Church. In our Church’s understanding of Christianity, our spirituality is not merely an adherence to certain dogmas, nor merely an exterior imitation of Christ through moral effort, but direct union with our living God which is achieved through personal, voluntary transformation of self. “Deification” or “Divinization” (Theosis) is the most distinctive, spiritual heritage of our Eastern Church. The biggest question is: Do we understand the meaning of the calling that is expressed through this spiritual idea of “deification”? As human beings, we each have this one, unique call, to achieve Theosis. I wonder whether my readers believe that this is their calling? It is not an idea that is understood in Western Christianity. Do you understand it?

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