January
10
St. Gregory of
Nyssa (330-395)
A greedy appetite for food is terminated by satiety and the
pleasure of drinking ends when our thirst is quenched. And so it is with the
other things... But the possession of virtue, once it is solidly achieved,
cannot be measured by time nor limited by satiety. Rather, to those who are its
disciples it always appears as something ever new and fresh. St. Gregory of Nyssa
St.
Gregory of Nyssa shared brotherly affection and love with St. Basil the Great
(Jan. 2), his own big brother. Along with St. Gregory, these three
bishops from what is modern-day Turkey, formed the great “Cappadocian Fathers”
of the Church, all fighting the Arian heresy that denied Christ’s full nature
as God and man, and all defending the doctrine of the Trinity.
St.
Gregory, echoing the admonition of St. Peter, also wrote much on man’s
God-given responsibility to perfect his own human nature (with the assistance
of God’s grace). Inspired by St. Paul’s words “forgetting what lies behind and
pressing to what lies ahead, I prize the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians
2:13-14), St. Gregory wrote that humans are called to engage in a process of epektasis, epektasis, of “constant progress” in godly virtue
leading us upward towards Christ.
Exercise:
Still
early in our march through the calendar of another temporal year, in what ways
are you seeking out constant progress in virtue and holiness, in body and soul,
in preparation for eternity? Will you commit to God that this is the year you
will develop the virtues of fitness within your soul? Will your knowledge of
fitness grow, and along with it your affection and love for all around you? What
about today? What thoughts and deeds might foster your own spiritual growth and
share its bounty with those around you? Let’s think about that—and act upon it!
(This excerpt is reprinted with permission from the daily devotional Tending the Temple by Kevin Vost, Peggy Bowes and Shane Kapler.)
