Seeking God with Our Whole Life

“By those means whereby you have lost goods, by the same will you gain them back again. You owe God a penny, and He will not accept a pearl from you in its place. Having lost chastity, do not allow forni­cation to remain in its place and give alms because of it: God will not accept them, for in place of sanctification He requires sanctification. Although you wrong not the poor, do not allow an unjust possession to remain in its place. You fast from bread: do not leave iniquity in its place and struggle with some other thing. Greed is uprooted by mer­cy and privation. You have left the plant in its place, and do you struggle with something else?” St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 5 as collected and translated by Holy Transfiguration monastery

Let us let go of greed, avarice, jealousy, envy and all vice during this lenten fast as we seek to return to God. We are often convinced of our own virtue because of the one or two goods we perform. Let us seek to return to God with the whole of our lives and not just in a mechanical fulfillment of duty.