Saint Quadratus, Apostle of the Seventy preached the Word of God at Athens and at Magnesia (eastern peninsula of Thessaly), and was Bishop of Athens. His biographer called him “a morning star” among the clouds of paganism. He converted many pagans to the true faith in Christ the Savior, and his preaching aroused the hatred of the pagans. Once, an angry mob fell upon the saint to pelt him with stones. Preserved by God, Saint Quadratus remained alive, and they threw him into prison, where he died of starvation. His holy body was buried in Magnesia.
In the year 126, Saint Quadratus wrote an Apologia in defence of Christianity. Presented to the emperor Hadrian (117-138), the Apologia affected the persecution of Christians, since the emperor issued a decree saying that no one should be convicted without just cause. This Apologia was known to the historian Eusebius in the fourth century. At the present time, only part of this Apologia survives, quoted by Eusebius: “The deeds of our Savior were always witnessed, because they were true. His healings and raising people from the dead were visible not only when they were healed and raised, but always. They lived not only during the existence of the Savior upon the earth, but they also remained alive long after His departure. Some, indeed, have survived to our own time.”
Saint Quadratus is also commemorated on January 4.
“.... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12: 1-2)
When our lives are filled with pain and suffering, we must look to the future to our eternal life to find hope and joy that can soothe our weary souls. Our hope and happiness must be based on looking to God and our inheritance that we will receive in this age and the age to come, which is the life of God, the eternal life. This is what Jesus did, and He was able to endure the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. We, too, must realize that the suffering we endure in this life cannot compare with the joy laid up for us in Jesus. To count all suffering as joyful, we must be able to trust God. Even if you cannot see your circumstances changing, God is working behind the scenes, and the most important thing is that he is changing you in the midst of it all to be able to receive eternal life.
St. Basil the Great on Helping the Needy
“I know many who fast, pray, sigh, and demonstrate every manner of piety, so long as it costs them nothing, yet would not part with a penny to help those in distress.”
Before I answer this question, I should answer the question; who is a Christian? A Christian is the man in whom Christ dwelt, illuminated him from within with His light, and dwelt in him by His Holy Spirit. Hence the answer to the question of why I choose to be a Christian is so that Christ may dwell in me with His peace and joy. And to have His overcoming power over evil thoughts and deeds and be free from the bondage of sin. To have His eternal life and be changed to His likeness and image “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29).
In the Gospel, Christ used the language, expressions, and sayings that people circulated in His time and His Jewish community, such as the phrase “hell of fire.” But when we read the Gospel, we do not find that the fire He’s talking about means the incandescent fire used in the barbecue, as the ancient people told us and inherited this idea. Jesus took this rolling expression to describe the state of human misery of those outside the glory of His eternal life, as fire. He never said that God, the Heavenly Father, would throw people into this fire, as human barbecue, because they are sinners and must be punished. On the contrary, in the Gospel of Mathew, chapter nine, verses ten till thirteen, we read that many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw that, they asked why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard that, He said to them, He desires mercy not sacrifice and that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Unfortunately, Christian preachers have also been influenced by this inherited idea. In the New Testament, we read in the Gospels that God loved the world and gave us His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in Him would not perish, but that he would have eternal life, i.e., His life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” ( John 3:16).
Christians must read the Gospel well and learn from it, not from the legacies we inherited. We read In the Gospel of Mathew, chapter five, Christ Himself says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old , ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”(Mathew 5:43-45). We see this model of change He has brought to all the old commandments and ancient legacies with all its violence and hostility, which was appropriate for the times of darkness, but does not correspond to the new covenant of grace and the light of the Gospel of love proclaimed to us by God through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
In the old, people considered natural disasters were acts of revenge and punishment from God to human beings. One of the legacies we inherited to tarnish God’s image is the flood incident in Noah’s days. They told us that God had decided to destroy all creatures on earth as He considered them sinners. While the truth is that God, because of His love, told Noah about the coming of a natural disaster, the flood, and advised him to make an arch and call on all people to enter to be saved. But they did not hear Noah’s warning and considered him an idiot. God is a God of salvation and protection, not destructive to humanity and avenged from it as the ancient people portrayed Him. We must understand the natural disasters in their natural contexts, such as river floods and severe sea storms that have occurred in history and continue to occur! Thus, we understand that what happened to Noah, his family, and his animals was the inspiration of God's love for him for salvation, without attributing to God the violent and vengeful images depicted by the ancients. We, the Christians, must read the Old Testament with the eyes of enlightenment of the New Testament and not vice versa.
The Gospel declares that God loves man and seeks to save him from death, destruction, and desolation caused by the devil. He revealed Himself and His true light in Christ Jesus, Who was and still proclaims and endues the love of the Heavenly Father to those who respond to Him, and grants healing from diseases, internal peace, and liberty from the misery of this life to happiness and joy that extends forever.
As the New Testament tells us in St. John's First Epistle, chapter five, verse eleven, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
In this series of lectures, we will address the distortions of the historical knowledge of the ancients, which painted a bloody picture of human history and a terrible relationship with an absent God! Until love was proclaimed when Christ faced death on the cross and annihilated him with His resurrection. And I will try to give you a practical and living experience, to discover the truth of the Gospel without the distortions of the ancient people, and to experience God's practical and realistic love in our lives, which He continues to offer and grant us through Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit. He still calls on everyone, saying, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mathew 11:28).
You are welcome to join us on this journey to discover the mystery of eternal life and the Heavenly Father’s love for all the world.
My Lord & Savior Jesus,
I know that you are the hope for the hopeless so I'm running to you with both hands stretched out and grabbing on to you. Fill me up with your hope and peace. God, you know those things in my heart that I barely dare to hope for, today I give them to you, I trust them to you, cause I know you are able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask, imagine or request in my dreams. Father God, show me the greatness of your goodness in my life. May you bless me rest for the heart, power for virtue, wisdom for life, and patience in suffering. May you bless me with your joyful hope and one day with the inexpressible joys of life eternal. Amen.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another”
God has loved us so much that he has bestowed His love on us and called us His children(The Children of God i.e. His beloved).
Now we are the children of God and has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
BUT
We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Every one of us must have this hope
THE ONE WHO HAS THIS HOPE IN HIM
MUST DO WHAT?
PURIFIES HIMSELF just as He (i.e., JESUS) is pure.
IMPORTANT THING WE MUST KNOW
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness because sin is lawlessness.
THAT IS WHY (JESUS) WAS MANIFESTED
JESUS WAS MANIFESTED in order to
1- TAKE AWAY OUR SINS,
&
2- IN HIM (JESUS) THERE IS NO SIN
&
3- WHOEVER ABIDES IN HIM (JESUS) DOES NOT SIN however abides in Him.
We the children of God, must not be deceived.
BECAUSE
1- He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as JESUS is righteous
&
2- He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
AND THAT IS WHY
The Son of God came to our world (was manifested)
IN ORDER THAT
He DESTROYS the works of the DEVIL.
WE MUST KNOW THAT
WHOEVER has been born of God “DOES NOT SIN”,
HOW CAN THAT BE?
BECAUSE JESUS’ SEED REMAINS IN HIM, AND SO HE CANNOT SIN
WHY
BECAUSE HE WHO ACCEPTS JESUS HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD
BY THIS WAY WE CAN SEE WHO ARE
The CHILDREN OF GOD & the CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL “both are manifested”
What are the manifestations of the children of the devil?
1- Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God,
2- Nor is he who does not LOVE his brother.
FOR this is the message that we heard from the beginning
THAT WE SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER
