SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

What’s So Good about the Good News? - Understanding, Proclaiming, and Living the Gospel of Christ in

What’s So Good about the Good News? - Understanding, Proclaiming, and Living the Gospel of Christ in

Michael delivers a lecture at St. Nicholas and Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Roseland, New Jersey about how we understand the Gospel of Christ as good news and a way of life versus a religion and how to live and witness it. Sharing stories he explained that: 1) you cannot experience the Church apart from Christ as the Church is all about Christ; and 2) Orthodoxy is the experience of giving language and expression to what we already know is true. He also commu

Hiding

"Too often we recall that Adam and Eve were cast out of Paradise for disobedience and sin. In one sense this is true, but there is a subtle layer of meaning that we may miss. When God called out to Adam his response was to hide himself in the trees. The story would have been different if instead he had run to God crying out what he had done and asking for forgiveness. In his hiding Adam demonstrates a lack of faith in God’s love. His own sin had coloured even the perception o

Sacramental Understanding and Living

“The sacramental world of classical Christianity...presumes that the world as we see it is an expression of a greater reality that is unseen. It presumes that everything is a continuing gift and a means of communion with the good God who created it. The meaning and purpose of things is found in that which is not seen, apart from which we can only reach false conclusions. The essential message of Christ, “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” is a proclamation of the primacy of this

Lent

“The Lenten fast, which will soon be upon us, is not our individual business, but rather the labor of the whole Body of Christ…Repentance is our supreme work during the Great Fast, enabling us to “praise the name of the Lord [our] God for what He has so wondrously done unto [us]” (vs. 26). Let us rend our hearts and turn to the compassionate Lord!” (Dynamis 2/21/2015, 2/14/2018) “When people think of the word “Lent,” the word “fasting” is one of the first things that comes to

Renounce

“The more a person truly desires the fullness of a life in Christ, the easier it becomes to renounce those things that are contrary to Godliness.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Jude 1:16) “If we begin to love God with all our heart, then this grace transmits to us in an incomprehensible way the wealth of its benefits. Whoever wishes to retain this experience of grace should strive with great joy to renounce from the soul the benefits of the present age in order to acquire the hidde

Heart (Condition of)

“The most portentous fact about any person is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like...” (A.W. Tozer) “The nous is the deep part of our spiritual being, where we know and meet God...the dividing line between those who are truly righteous and on the path to life and those who are nowhere near that path lies within each human heart…God’s principle work is always within the human heart” (Dynamis 7/18/2015, Father Barnaba

Self-Interest

“There is no doubt that people will act in their own self-interest. It is inherent in sin.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “Power and self-interest may appear successful in the short run, but they do not ultimately “work” in a world created by a good and just God. Therefore cruel, selfish power is not only sinful, but stupid. It brings about loneliness, emptiness, and destruction. Faithfulness, integrity, unselfish service, and love are not only right but wise, because they fit the

Abide

“The whole idea of abiding in Christ while He abides in us is...spiritual or even mystical. Abide is best understood as “remain with.” God doesn’t come and go in our lives. He carries on a permanent relationship with us because He is always there for us and in us. We sense His presence primarily through the work of the Holy Spirit, whose role it is to stand beside us and comfort us. It happens in our hearts and minds and is largely invisible. Yet, it is also what most accurat

Desperation

“Sometimes man is subjected to a very long period of this abandonment, when the sky is seemingly shut for him and the soul becomes completely unreceptive to any spiritual sensation....At this time the enemy usually confuses a Christian with thoughts of grief and desperation, making him think that those gratifying feelings and the experiences that occurred before will never return, and life will become increasingly worse and worse. But this is a lie. If the person survives thi

Humbling Ourselves

"This is the spirit of our age: the reliance on our own sense of right as an arbiter of all things. It is the refusal to humble ourselves before revealed truth." (Father Spyridon Baily) “The sad reality of our churches and lives, marriages and friendships, is that we are fallen, broken, and passionate. We justify ourselves in arrogant conceit, and refuse to forgive or to see our own faults. So our communities shatter, marriages break up, and friendships end. Ultimately, this

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