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Church Fathers V3 - Fr George Grube - Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox ...

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PRAYER BEFORE STUDY:<br />

Prayer of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow<br />

My Lord, I do not know what I ought to ask of You.<br />

You, and You alone know my needs.<br />

You love me more than I am able to love You.<br />

0 Father, grant unto me, Your servant, all which I cannot ask.<br />

For a cross I dare not ask, nor for consolation:<br />

1 dare only to stand in Your presence.<br />

My heart is open to You.<br />

You see my simple needs of which I myself am unaware.<br />

Behold and lift me up!<br />

In Your presence I stand, awed and silenced by Your will and Your judgments,<br />

into which my mind cannot penetrate.<br />

To You I offer myself as a sacrifice.<br />

No other desire is mine but to fulfill Your Holy Will.<br />

Teach me how to pray.<br />

Do Yourself pray within me.<br />

Amen.<br />

SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES:<br />

> Job 20:15<br />

> St. Matthew 16:26<br />

> St. Matthew 13:22<br />

> St. Mark 10:23<br />

> 1 Timothy 6:17-19<br />

> James 5:1-6<br />

> Psalms 37:16, 49:6-9<br />

REFLECTION:<br />

, 52:7, 62:10<br />

> St. Matthew 23:1-36<br />

> Proverbs 11:4, 11:28, 22:1, 22:4, 23:5<br />

> 1 Peter 4:3-4<br />

> Galatians 6:6-10<br />

> St. John 12:25<br />

In our present society everyone from governments, social organizations and<br />

even the <strong>Church</strong>, is concerned with the quantity and quality of the things men<br />

and women possess. Organizations seem to compete with each other in<br />

offering monies outside their accepted purview of responsibility, i.e. loans and<br />

grants of every kind, payments for sundry programs, research, subsidies, etc.<br />

and they are given to as many people as is humanly possible. Even when<br />

money is tight, massive payments in kind are made at every level of society and<br />

government. A Midwestern governor recently stated, while slashing payments by<br />

the state to thousands of programs, that “The cash cow is dead.” He added that<br />

government could no longer afford to fund all segments of society and their<br />

needs, simply to feel good, respond to demands of every group, or “buy” votes.<br />

Why? Simply because the abundant life, or massive amounts of money, are<br />

equated with the “good life”. Today we place little value on spiritual poverty.<br />

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