Pray for me, my brother, so that the Lord may grant me repentance before I
depart on the great journey from this world—for we were not created for this
earth, but for heaven. There, God has prepared a place for His children who
are obedient to Him in everything He tells them. On the contrary, for all who
are deaf to His divine commandments, He has prepared a place of eternal
imprisonment—may God keep us from going there.
Now God cries out through the Holy Scriptures, the preachers, the spiritual
fathers: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 1 Unfortunately,
though, those who think they are smart and strong turn a deaf ear to Him with
various excuses. But the all-good God, wanting to distribute His riches to
man, calls “all the feeble, the weak, the things that are not.” 2 “Go out quickly
into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the
maimed and the lame and the blind, that my house may be filled,” 3 says God
through the Holy Gospel. By calling the useless, His compassion is glorified
more, and man is led to gratitude, for what leper counted worthy of purification
would not render thanks to his benefactor? What person condemned to an
eternal imprisonment would not be grateful to his Savior? Unfortunately, my
brother, I do not thank God, because forgetfulness—the offspring of
pride—has made me lose my head.
—-
1 Mt. 3:2
2 cf. 1 Cor. 1:27,28
3 Lk. 14:21,23
subm. no. 22
paragraphs: 9, 8, 4, 7, 10+3, 5, 12, 11, 13 from pages 56-63
'+' means the paragraphs were merged together into one
From the book
Councels from the Holy mountain
Selected from the letters and homilies of Elder Efraim of Arizona
Selection of passages from the book by Silviu Podariu
