“You have not come to know God through your righteousness, but God has come to know you through His kindness.  You have not embraced Christ through your virtue, but Christ has embraced you through His Advent (Incarnation).”- St Basil the Great

Reflection: 

St Basil reminds us that our relationship with God is not achieved solely by our efforts; God is constantly reaching out to us, loving us, we must respond to His love.  

It is humbling to be reminded that we do not ‘make’ God ours through our actions, but rather, God’s unconditional and constant love for us allows our actions to achieve a relationship with Him.  

God became human, suffered, experienced what we experience, died, and rose us up with Him through His Resurrection.  He gives us the opportunity to rise up with Him unto eternal Joy.  

With Christ as our example of what it means to embrace our humanity as it is intended to be, we strive to imitate Him toward our neighbor.  Let us be the one to give Christ-like love unconditionally, offering the opportunity for our neighbor to respond to that openness.   

Resources:

1) St Basil the Great, On Christian Doctrine and Practice, pg 113.