Works of Love Bear Fruit

“On the path to communion with God, it is humanity’s vocation not merely to accept – but rather to bless, elevate, and transfigure – this world, so that its intrinsic goodness may be revealed even amidst its fallenness. This is the special purpose of human life, the high priestly calling of creatures endowed with rational freedom and conscience. We know, of course, that this work of transfiguration will never be complete in this life, and can reach its fulfillment only in the Kingdom of God; still, however, our works of love bear fruit in this life, and they are required of all who would enter the life of the age to come. The Church knows that such efforts are never in vain, moreover, because the Holy Spirit is also at work in all the labors of the faithful, bringing all things to their fruition in due season.”

“For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church” by David Bentley Hart & John Chryssavgis, page 5