Friday's Fast: Focusing on the Cross
Someone may say: "If I do all these things, I’ll have no possessions. What if a large number of people are in want, suffer cold, have been taken captive, or should die? If anyone thinks this way, he will deprive himself of his property in a single day! Shall I throw away the estate acquired by my own labor or by that of my ancestors? Must then I myself live by the pity of others?"
The answer: Why do you fear to turn a frail and perishable asset into one that is everlasting? Why do you fear to entrust your treasures to God as their preserver? For in that case you will not need to fear thief and robber — nor rust, nor tyrant. He who is rich towards God can never be poor. If you esteem justice so highly, lay aside the burdens that oppress you and follow justice. Free yourself from bondage and chains, so that you can run to God without any hindrance.
-Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (ca. 240 – ca. 320)
Lactantius was an early Christian author who became an advisor to the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I, tutoring the emperor's son and guiding the empire's religious policy as it developed.
Friday's Fast features homilies, lectures, interviews, and biographies on topics such as prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and repentance. For in the cross of Christ crucified lies both the power of God and the wisdom of God for those being saved (I Corinthians 1:24).
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