Wednesday, October 30(17), 2024
Philip. 1:12-20;  Lk.5:33-39

The Lord said that it is a wrong time for fasting while the bridegroom is with the children of the bridechamber [Lk.5:34].  By that He proclaimed the law that everything, even in the matters of virtue and struggle, has its appropriate time and place.  This law is so inevitable, that a wrong time or a wrong place could make a good work lose its goodness, partially or even completely.  The Lord has ordained that everything in the outside universe has its proper measure, weight and number; He also demands that in our inside moral space “all things are done decently and in order” [1Cor. 14:40].

Inside decency is made up by a combination or harmony of virtues, so that none of them sticks out without a compelling reason, but all stay in tune with one another, as voices in a choir.   Outside decency, meanwhile, appoints the right time, right place and other coincidences to every action.  When these factors work together as they should, this is like a handsome person dressed in splendid garments.

When virtue is decent both inside and out, everyone loves it.  And what makes it this way is Christian common sense, or, more properly, discernment, as the Holy Fathers call this gift.  Discernment is gained through experience in genuine Christian life, through sober contemplation over the Lives of the Saints in the light of the Divine Scripture.

Read more about the author