SACRAMENTAL LIVING

On the holiest day of winter, when the sky was cold and gray; Sir Gawain mounted Gringolet, and rode out on Christmas Day. With a shield that bore a cross, and a sword unadorned; he left the merriment, to fulfill the quest he’d sworn. The King and brother knights, he felt all misperceived; the meaning of the message, and for this his heart was grieved. They did not perceive the truth, from the visit of the stranger; thinking a holy object, could save them from heart’s danger.

“We observe how the Lord often focuses attention on our disdain for one another. We encounter this common attitude in ourselves every day. Even when it does not lead to murder, the Lord teaches that such disdain puts us “in danger of hell fire” (Mt 5:22). Whenever there is antipathy, disdain, or anger in our hearts, reconciliation with God is our foremost need, followed by reconciliation with our brother (vss. 23-26).” (Dynamis 6/10/2020) “Hell is where no one has anything in

“…we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears (2 Corinthians 7:5). In this passage St. Paul captures what many experience and feel today. Society seems riddled with conflict and constantly watching and reading about these conflicts is breading anxiety and fear in many of us. Yet we should understand that times like these are opportunities to go deep, really search our own hearts, to get honest with ourselves, and grow in faith and love. Christ Hi

“The ideas that constitute “modernity” center around life as management. Modernity assumes that life can be managed, and that human beings are well-suited for the job. It’s greatest successes have come in the careful application of technology towards various problems with a resulting rise in wealth. The well-being that comes with that wealth is limited to the things that money can buy. Non-tangibles remain as elusive as ever. Modernity prefers problems that can be solved. As

“Yet here [striving to do God’s will] is precisely where the conflict is great. What gives our inner conflicts their power over us? We have many desires that create endless turmoil inside us, even as many things pressing upon us from the outside confuse us. How easy it is to speak of doing the will of the Lord, but how difficult in practice to live a life that is truly natural and sinless!...We take up a radical way of living when we follow Christ – one natural to our spirit,

“ ‘Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart’ (2 Corinthians 4:1).  In the face of numerous onslaughts, challenges to his apostleship, and his responsibility “for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28), Paul still writes, we do not lose heart (see 2 Corinthians 4:16). For he is preoccupied with the glories of the ministry of Christ and the mercy by which it is given to him.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 4:1) “When a heav

“This passage holds great hope for the Christian ministry. “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16) — the one who places trust through Christ in God (2 Corinthians 3:4). The minister gives his all in study and service, but ultimately human power is not sufficient for ministry or for salvation: we must depend utterly on God.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 3:4-6) “All of us become involved in the daily difficulties and pressures of life. We become overw

“All of us have known moments during which close kin or wonderful friends have suffered a grievous loss. Our instinct is to go to them, to comfort them during this time of pain. Many times, however, we hold back that love and comfort that we want to offer, because we are afraid that we can't express our feelings in the appropriate way. Unsure of finding the right words, we stay away…Many years ago Dr. Karl Menninger, the noted physician and psychological researcher, was seeki

“The God revealed in the Bible has endowed creation with overflowing beauty. This God is not characterized by utility but by abundant love. God desires his creatures—especially those who in Christ are adopted as his children—also to be creative and generative.” (Makoto Fujimura) “…love is overcome by more abundant love. One repents not because one is virtuous, but because human nature can change, because what is impossible for man is possible for God. The motive for repentanc

“The godly suffer, in part, so that having experienced God's comfort they in turn can comfort others. Thus, Paul shows the fallacy in his opponents' idea that Christians should never suffer and should be concerned only with their own salvation.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 1:6) “If as the sufferings of Christ abound so also comfort abounds through Christ, let us welcome the great encouragement of Christ’s sufferings and let them abound in us, if we indeed yearn for t