{"id":7309,"date":"2021-10-10T11:45:49","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T01:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/?p=7309"},"modified":"2021-10-22T10:54:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T00:54:45","slug":"learning-to-be-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/learning-to-be-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to be Content"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Learning to be Content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

adapted from a sermon by Fr Michael Fanous<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

John 6:5-14<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we read the story of the feeding of the 5000 with five loaves and two fish, we see an abundance of blessing and fulfilment. They left filled and satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we get this same fulfilment in a spiritual sense?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can strive to be content. The kind of contentment that St Paul speaks about;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.<\/em><\/p>Philippians 4:11<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

St Paul says that he has learned. <\/em>This is to say that\nbeing content is not something that comes naturally, or something is subject to\nwhat he has. He learned to be content by putting away selfishness and desires\nof the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.<\/em><\/p>Philippians 4:12-13<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

St Paul can do all things only through Christ who gives him\nstrength. This state of being content is vital and we see the end result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.<\/em><\/p>Psalm 23:1<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I shall not want the love of another, for I am content with the love of my spouse. I shall not want the mansion that my friend has, for I am content with the house I live in. I shall not want the beautiful cars that I see, for mine is sufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see that through being content, we can find happiness.\nEven with nothing, no matter the situation, we are content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next level up after remaining content is an obedience to\nour Lord, giving thanks for all things. Our Lord Jesus Christ was obedient to\nHis Father, and He was glorified. He was obedient and also gave thanks. He was\nhappy to endure the crucifixion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the angel Gabriel came to St Mary, she said, \u201cBehold\nthe maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word\u201d<\/em> (Luke\n1:28). She was obedient and thankful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Lord told Abraham to leave his people and his\ncountry and go to a far country, Abraham was obedient and thankful. This is how\nhe became the Patriarch of all patriarchs. Obedience with thanks is very important.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr Tadros Malaty once told us a story about obedience and thankfulness. A holy man was going to see our Lord. On his way, he saw a poor man and told him, \u201cWould you like me to say anything to Jesus Christ for you?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


He replied, \u201cYes! Please ask Him why He left the world to live in luxuries while I remain in misery?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man continues along his way and comes across a rich man and asks him the same; \u201cWould you like me to say anything to Jesus Christ for you?\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He replied, \u201cYes! Tell Him, Your grace is more than sufficient for me. You have given me more than enough. Too much even. Please, what can I do with my riches?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his way back, he came past the rich man again who asked him what the Lord had said. The man replied, \u201cChrist cannot stop giving you because of your thankfulness.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went along his way and came past the poor man and said to him, \u201cBecause you are not thankful, even the little that you have will be taken away from you. The wind came and blew away the tent that he lived in.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story tells us that the Lord will pour on us and give\nus complete fulfillment if we are thankful. If we are obedient with\nthankfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through prayers, reading the Bible, attending liturgies, praises and reading spiritual books, we remain close to God. When we practice these things, we grow closer to God and gain fulfilment. When David the King fell, he was able to come back, and his sin was lifted from him, for David was a man of prayer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.\u2019 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, \u2018Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?\u2019 And the King will answer and say to them, \u2018Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.\u2019<\/em><\/p>Matthew 25:37-40<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The one that takes their love for God and applies this to service will ask these questions. When were they ever able to help the Lord? Only by helping the least of these. Once we serve, we get served, for we receive fulfillment from the Lord. We become content in the Lord. Completely happy and fulfilled, not seeking a thing. The devil cannot tempt me for I have everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learning to be Content adapted from a sermon by Fr Michael Fanous John 6:5-14 When we read the story of the feeding of the 5000 with five loaves and two fish, we see an abundance of blessing and fulfilment. They left filled and satisfied. How do we get this same fulfilment in a spiritual sense? … Continue reading “Learning to be Content”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7309"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7321,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7309\/revisions\/7321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}