On Becoming a φιλότιμο Person

While revisiting some video lectures and links from our catholic friends at the St. Katharine Greek Orthodox Church, I spent a fruitful morning at prayer contemplating the greek word: 

φιλότιμο (philotimo) 

from their page Philotimo: Love of things honorable and the sources to which it links.  My understanding of the 'constellation of ideas' that the word entails is that it is the grateful response of the soul to God's Love blossoming into love for our fellow human beings and all God's creation.  This is not a passive feeling, but rather an exuberant outpouring of the whole being into personal sacrifice for the sake of others in response to Christ's self-sacrifice for our own salvation.

Here is an introduction to the word from the video they quote on their website:






From a marvelous article in Psychology Today by Dr. Jack Shafer:

...Elder Paisiou aptly defined philotimo as “that deep-seated awareness in the heart that motivates the good that a person does. A philotimos person is one who conceives and enacts eagerly those things good."  

...Become a philotimo person. Be aware that your behaviors are not only a reflection of yourself but a reflection of your family, your community, and your country. Take pride in what you do simply because you have taken the time and effort to do it. Help others simply because they need help. Do the right thing because you have a duty to do the right thing. Even though the lines between right and wrong are blurred, we know in our hearts what is the right thing to do...

True gratitude is an acknowledgement of a debt that can never be repaid.  As Catholic Christians, this is the attitude from which we should participate in the mass.  In fact, our very name for the sacrament, εὐχαριστία or Eucharist, literally means an offering of grateful thanksgiving to Almighty God. Never could we feeble human beings make any offering that could discharge our indebtedness save to join ourselves in gratitude and self-sacrifice through the graces of The Holy Spirit to the offering that Jesus Himself makes to The Father.

Emotions just are.  They are a juxtaposition of who we are with our response to where we are, i.e. to our environment.  An attitude of φιλότιμο is at the very center of our being, our bodies' response to our awareness of the Presence of Almighty God.

Faith is not just a belief that God exists and that He helps us. Faith is also a willingness to respond to the call of God and live as God has commanded us. We will cultivate an active faith in ourselves and ask that the Lord multiply faith in us every day. We will turn to Him with the prayer with which the father of the demon-possessed youth turned to Him: "I believe, Lord! Help my unbelief. " Amen. ~ homily March 18, 2018 by Hierarch Hillarion of Volokolmsk

How can my hands... my feet... my lips be still when swept up by such a wave of gratefullness?  How can I not be moved to prayer, to fasting in solidarity, to giving alms to relieve suffering of others when I have been granted even a glimpse of the love God pours out upon them?

"Peter, do you love Me?.....Feed my sheep."