Sermon: Dreams  & Visions in Prison
Sermon Series: Echoes  of Jesus in the Life of Joseph
First Reading: Luke 6:1-11
Second Reading: Genesis 40:1-23
Preacher: Pastor: Vito Aiuto

"It is very difficult,  I rediscover many times each day, for us to come to terms with the stark limitations on the kinds of control it is possible to maintain over our lives and ourselves. Yet we continue to insist, both consciously and unconsciously, that we have more control than we do over our feelings, our relationships, our fates. Freud’s phrase for such fantasies, introduced nearly ninety years ago, was “omnipotence

of thought,” and we are just as committed to omnipotence today as were Freud’s contemporaries. A conviction of being in control is central to our sense of safety; yet the imposition of illusory control chokes the richness out of life. Omnipotence degrades authentic experience into shallow manipulation. The more endangered we feel, the more control we seek; the more illusory are the controls we strive to maintain, the more vitality seeps out of our lives."

-STEPHEN MITCHELL

 

"It is impossible to draw near to God without sorrows, without which human righteousness cannot remain unchanged... If you desire virtue, than give yourself to every affliction, for afflictions produce humility.

If someone abides in virtue without afflictions, the door of pride is opened to him."

-ST. ISAAC THE SYRIAN