St. Theophan: Thoughts: May 29/ June 11

For anyone who's actually reading these: sorry for the lull, they have been rather difficult to translate of late.

(Rom. 7:1-13; Matt. 9:36-10:8) Sending the holy Apostles to preach the Lord commanded them to proclaim to all that the "Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," that is, the Kingdom has come - enter into it. What follows for us to preach? We need to shout to all: sons of the Kingdom! don't flee from the Kingdom into bondage and captivity - because they are running. Freedom of mind captivates one: "We don't want," they say,"the bonds of faith and the oppression of authority even if it's divine; everyone themselves guessed and decided." Well, they decided. They constructed a fable, in which there is more childishness than in Greek mythology and they praise themselves for this... Others are carried away by the wide road of the passions: "We don't want," they say, "to know the absolute commandments, nor the demands of the conscience, they are all distraction: we need simple feeling." They all went after these things. So what happened? They put on the stupidity of the beasts. Is it not from this that came about the collapse of morality and the theory of the descent of man from beast? Here is where they are going! And everyone flees from the Lord, everyone runs away...
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