Our Venerable Father Hypatius, Bishop of Gangra (312-37)
Great Fast Day 37. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
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Proverbs 21:3-21
The ultimate goal of the Christian life is theosis. This theosis is the partaking of the divine nature in constant communion with God. Everything that we are tasked with in our Christian life is meant to direct us to this end.
Often in the Book of Proverbs, we see verses that contrast the ways of the righteous and the ways of the wicked. The ways of the righteous help us toward the glory of heaven while the ways of the wicked lead to the condemnation of hell.
Ultimately, the decision is ours. God has created us with a free will to choose which way we want to follow. Our true freedom as humans created in the image and likeness of God does not rest on the ability to choose whichever; true freedom is the ability to repeatedly choose the good no matter what the circumstances so much so that the thought of choosing something other than the good is no longer a legitimate option.
When we choose the good, we follow the path of the righteous.