SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

Love (Without Love)

“Jesus urges us to “give to the poor” (Mt 19:21) and to lay down our lives for others (Jn 15:13). But even such a selfless act done without love profits us nothing.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:3) “We should constantly seek opportunities to minister to others physically and spiritually…our charitable acts must flow from a sense of authentic Christian philanthropy, because without love, almsgiving is like “a flower lacking beauty and fragrance.” The loves typified

Thoughts (Battling Them)

“It is impossible to stop our mind, which is ever-moving, from having thoughts, although it is within our power to feed it either with spiritual meditation or with worldly concerns.” (St. Moses the Ethiopian) “Without such quietude, which the Fathers call hesychia, we do not even realize how dominated we are by our thoughts. With it, we at last are given eyes to see how they flood through us and out of us with such abandon…Who sits in solitude and is quiet hath escaped from t

Healing Presence

“When we are a healing presence to others, we are, in some sense, a healing presence to Christ Himself, who resides in others. Better said, Christ is the healing presence in us who moves through us to heal others...every person is called to be a healing presence—that is, to love others…Many of us shrink from becoming a healing presence to others because of the initial cost. We don’t experience the full joy because we get stuck in the suffering. Joy emerges by living through t

Orientation (To Work and Tasks)

“Christians see the same facts as the non-Christian, in other words, but because of this worldview we see them differently; we see them in a larger, indeed in a far richer, context. The typical non-Christian looks at arithmetic, for example, and says, “Two plus two make four. I’ve no idea why—it just seems to work. Whatever.” The Christian who sees the same numbers through the lens of the biblical worldview can say, “Two plus two make four, and this is a glorious example of t

Money

“Many years before the Lord took flesh and dwelt among us, the Prophet David perceived the grave danger in wealth, warning, “If riches flow in, set not your hearts thereon” (Ps 61:10). Wherever our heart is fixed – whatever matter delights it, whatever goal is foremost in its yearning – becomes the compass guiding our whole life. As the Lord Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21). Why, then, does Christ focus on riches in particular? He

Holy Spirit (Stirring up and Rekindling)

“The gift of God is the grace of the Holy Spirit...This grace fills up what is lacking...But it is not automatic. We must stir up and rekindle it.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Timothy 1:6) “Neither the learned nor the illiterate of whatever race or rank come to God led by human reason; but everyone who is converted to God is first stirred by God’s grace.” (Prosper of Acquitaine) “It is needful for thee to be willing and eager to rekindle God’s gift of grace. Even as fire require

Secularism

“The Church calls the Lord her Bridegroom, and she knows herself as His bride (Mk 2:19-20; Jn 3:29; Eph 5:21-32; Rev 21:2). We who are united to Christ have profound reasons for rejoicing in this mystical union, for we belong to the heavenly Bridegroom and are “no longer two, but one flesh.” Contemporary society, by contrast, is a culture of divorce – not simply because the majority of people accept marital divorce, but because of the deep spiritual divorce penetrating the so

Atheism

“Some people call themselves atheists, but they do not know that in their hearts they long after God. For when someone yearns for justice, love and truth, he is really yearning after God. All people long for love that never changes and justice that is always the same. All living things long for God. The only difference is that some oppose Him and others don’t, some yearn after Him consciously while others are not aware that their yearning is really after God.” (Elder Thaddeus

Face

“Prosopon, the Greek word for person, actually means “face.” It is deeply significant that no one, without a mirror, can see his or her own face—my face may only be seen by another. Without relationship, then, our own faces are hidden, even to ourselves, like flowers in the dark…We find our most true face, our own personhood—our own prosopon—revealed.” (Douglas Cramer) “With the face, and its implications for personhood, much more can be said. I cannot see the face of another

Name

“Names are inseparable from identity, belonging, and place. Parents throughout the world hope that the names they give their children will describe their babies’ personalities and roots. Their desire is for the name to shape that child’s character and identity and, in the end, destiny. The hope is that a child will blossom into her name, into her calling.” (Marlena Graves) The names we use for ourselves, for others, and for God shape our thought and influence our understandin

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