Blog Template Theology of the Body: Diadochus of Photike on Loving God...

Friday, January 19, 2007

Diadochus of Photike on Loving God...

From the Office of Readings today:

"Whoever is in love with himself is unable to love God. The man who loves God is the one who abandons his self-love for the sake of the immeasurable blessings of divine love. Such a man never seeks his own glory but only the glory of God. If a person loves himself he seeks his own glory, but the man who loves God loves the glory of his Creator.

Anyone alive to the love of God can be recognised from the way he constantly strives to glorify him by fulfilling all his commandments and by delighting in his own submission. It is fitting that God should receive glory, because of his great majesty; but it is fitting for us as human beings to submit ourselves to God and thereby become his friends. Then we too will rejoice in his glory as Saint John the Baptist did, and we shall never stop repeating: His fame must increase, but mine must diminish."

If you're not familiar with the Office of Readings, it is a wonderful way to get into the Church Fathers in bite-sized pieces. The daily readings are posted on Universalis.