Fr. Teofil Paraian of Sambata Monastery talks about how God smiles to us and what it means to live in the joy of our Orthodox faith. Fr. Teofil was blind from birth but became a shining star of the Romanian Church.
Subtitles: English
Video source: © TRINITAS TV
Fr. Teofil:
“God smiles on us. Why does God smile on us?
He smiles on us because He loves us...
Because He loves us He cannot but smiling on us…
He loves us and He smiles on us…
Our God is God of mercy and compassion…
Why shouldn’t we emphasize this aspect more?
Our believers often think of God like a terrorist, expecting to be punished, expecting His anger, His wrath…
But it is not true…
God is our Father, our Father cannot hurt us… Our Father comes towards us, He covers us…
[Father of the Prodigal Son]… His fatherly heart urged him to run towards his returning son.
So this is how we should think of our Heavenly Father. And then our whole spiritual life will change. Our spiritual life is an outpouring of thoughts, of thankfulness… And if God smiles on us then we also should smile on Him.
That means that when we stand before God we should have a smile on our lips.
And why should we smile on God? Do you know why?
Because God smiles on us and because God honors us by talking to us.
He speaks to us through the Gospel. As if we were in that place where our Lord Jesus Christ preached.
Each one of us can become the God’s smile for the people around us.
And this is how we all should be, people who bring joy around us and make everyone happy.”
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