Becoming a Community of Disciples

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Becoming a Community of Disciples

act otherwise, remembering that precept of the Lord: What they say, do; but what they do, do not (Matt 23:3). 62 Not to wish to be called holy before one is so; but first to be holy, so as to be truly called so. 63 To daily fulfill in one’s actions the precepts of God; 64 to love chastity; 65 to hate no one; 66 not to have jealousy, 67 not to act out of envy, 68 not to love contention, 69 to flee from conceit. 70 To reverence the seniors 71 and to love the juniors. 72 In the love of Christ to pray for enemies; 73 to make peace with opponents before the setting of the sun. 74 And never to despair of the mercy of God. 75 Behold, these are the instruments of the spiritual art. 76 If we employ them night and day without ceasing and on the Day of Judgement return them, then these will be the wages by which the Lord will recompense us, as he promised: 77 What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, the Lord has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9). 78 For the workshop in which we diligently use all these instruments is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community. Repeated Sin (RBas §22) Q: What shall they do who have repented of some sin but fall into the same sin again? R: 1 He who has offended once and incurs this same sin again is seen to indicate this about himself: first that he is not purified of what is prior to the sin, from which, as from a kind of noxious root there sprout the same ills as before. 2 It is as if someone cuts off the branches of a tree