“Remember God. Say your prayers. Go to Church. Forgive your brother. Keep the commandments.”
This seems to be the consensus.
I left on my trip to the monastery with one goal in mind: to find out how to live a life pleasing to God. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I am some kind of god-forsaken abomination or something like that but I do want to be more than average. I want to have the Lord look at me and say "Well done."
I've been struggling to figure out how to do this though. I've read so many biographies and theologies and theories and whatnot trying to figure it out. Then we went to the monastery and, as I said, my plan was to figure it out.
Fr Thomas Hopko is the presiding priest at Holy Transfiguration Monastery. His homily on the Sunday of our visit was on the calling of the believer. He said that all Christians have a calling, not just ordained priests or monastics ((who are not ordained, by the way, but are considered laymen)). The way to discover our calling isn't to wait for major signs from God. God, Fr Thomas said, will tell me what He has in mind for me. But He wants me to fulfill my original calling to become a saint first.
How do I become a saint?
Remember God. Say my prayers. Go to church. Forgive my brother. Obey the commandments.
Then I will know what He wants of me. His good, acceptable and perfect will for me.
And after that?
Remember God. Say my prayers. Go to church. Forgive my brother. Obey the commandments.
It's really that simple.
But it's the hardest part of the whole deal, you know?
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