SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“We perform all our behaviors from mixed motives. Virtually all our “good” deeds have an admixture of altruism and self-centeredness. We are aware that we are likely to receive some benefit or acknowledgment from our good works. We can’t avoid a tinge of selfishness. But in praying our experiences we can become aware that the power going out from us to effect good for others is a power beyond us. The power to do good deeds is a power that originates well beyond us. We begin t

“When God created the heavens and the earth, and all the things that are in them, He gave them being, existence, goodness, and truth. There was not a single false thing that was created – only true. Indeed the Fathers write about three things that are somewhat interchangeable: Goodness, Beauty, Truth. This sense of the connection between the words we speak and the goodness, beauty and truth of the world find a connection in the simple injunction: “Do not lie.” We generally th

“…the existence of evil necessitates spiritual warfare…I would say that daily life is an immense spiritual warfare, the size of which we can easily underestimate, at our own risk.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Matthew 10:34, Albert S. Rossi, PhD) “The lesson of warfare from the mouth of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ …Our Lord is speaking of spiritual warfare. He demonstrated little interest in the problems that beset and obsess the nation of Israel, an attitude that turned

“Our Lord Jesus Christ entered into this world to endure its suffering. He did not simply remove it from us, He shared in it. And as a result, He transformed it. Now, when we approach suffering with faith, it can become a source of blessings. When we introspect through the prism of suffering, rooted in prayer, we learn its meaning for our own lives. In one instance, it points us toward repentance, and in another it presents us with an opportunity to trust God. It is in this w

“These benefits of prayer led the Fathers to teach monologia, or “singleness of thought.” The Jesus Prayer [Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on a sinner] is the best-known form of monologia. Regular use of the simple Jesus prayer reveals our scattered spiritual condition. But if we persist in the struggle to pray, we discover that “what is obtained by frequent and prolonged prayer is lasting”…What do we obtain from constant prayer? First of all, it leads to singlenes

“To undertake this reverse orientation and remain ever true to Christ, our hearts must be committed to Christ first and foremost. In the original Greek text of verse 5, the word aplóteti (“sincerity”) connotes “singleness, simplicity, being uncompounded, pure, or even sound.” The Lord requires this of us, for “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ma

“There are those of us who have a narrow and limited understanding of self-denial. We pick and choose at random what we will give up and what we will do in the name of Christianity. We proceed to label them "Our little crosses we must bear." "I'll give up movies and/or TV during lent." Thus we conclude with a list of trivialities that have no bearing on the "self-denial" Jesus speaks about in our Gospel lesson for today. Christ-like self-denial goes much deeper. It penetrates

“It is hard to get through life without accumulating life experiences that leave a mark on us. If we move through our lives and those life experiences remain unresolved, they can resurface later and make our transition into later life stages more painful and difficult…By embracing humility, insight, self-awareness, and no small amount of motivation, we can learn to navigate any life crisis.” (Melinda Johnson) “When we have old wounds, even from childhood, we are all the more

“To be truly wise requires close attention to what we say and do as the Lord Jesus taught during the years before He dispatched the Apostles: “be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Mt 10:16). Saint Paul emphasizes the same: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col 4:6). Of late, the world is showing its distaste for the life, joy and hope in the wisdom of Christ. Learning to speak “with grace, se

“[The Hebrew word] Emeth is ‘truth,’ but not merely in contrast to falsehood. It is commonly translated ‘fidelity’ or ‘faithfulness’ and has the sense of reliability and this quality of God is the rock: secure, strong, stable, a place to be anchored: ‘O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock of refuge!’ (2 Sam 22:2-3). This image appears regularly in biblical prayers and is, in fact, the most frequent image for God in the Psalms. When these two concepts [em