SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“If we are to remain faithful to Christ without being drawn back into sin, we face an unending battle of self-denial. Who can help us win this struggle but Christ? He says, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (Jn 6:38). The Lord Jesus does not ask anything of us that He did not also do as a man. He knows the battle, and thus in Him we have an invincible champion…When we love God above all else, His commandments become weapons

“At times we humans playfully indulge in deep questions or dawdle in idle speculation. Some of us devote weeks and months to profound soul-searching, reading and discussing the great issues. However, it is suffering which forces us to meditate on issues of ultimate meaning. Pain thrusts questions into our consciousness concerning the purpose of life, the nature of God, and our relationship with Him. Often, pain does this when we, like Job, are distressed at heart and “weary a

" 'In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all of own possessions' (Luke 10:33). The application of the saying is this: Discipleship requires that God be in first place. The reference to renunciation of all his own possessions refers to all earthly attachments that have first place.” (NET Bible, Luke 10:33) “We must understand that as long as we are still attached to anything earthly, as long as we lean on anything within or without

“At our birth, we set out on two journeys in life: the biological, here on earth, and the one which leads to heaven. We start off on these two parallel courses which we follow whether we want to or not…The first journey has a specific end at some moment in time which we don’t know, but God alone, our Maker, does. The second is everlasting and leads to eternity. From childhood we’re provided for the first path by our parents and teachers, in order that we may tread it as painl

“The deep calling of our lives is to find the fulfillment of our potential as those created in the divine image to become like Him in holiness. The God-Man has fulfilled this vocation and made it possible for all to share personally in His restoration and fulfillment of the human person. That is why our calling is nothing short of becoming ‘perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect’ (Matt. 5:48)…Holiness transcends the values of tolerance, social justice, and brotherh

“There is a generalized sense in our culture…that with the eclipse of the transcendent, something may have been lost…Divested of the transcendent, this world is invested with ultimacy and meaning in ways that couldn’t have been imagined before.” (James K.A. Smith) “It seems thousands of years removed from us, but it was not so very long ago that life was marked out by religious feasts. Although everyone went to church, not everyone, of course, knew the exact contents of each

“Deep down we all yearn for the true life in Christ, whether we are rich and poor, men or women, slaves or masters (1 Tim 6:19). For this reason, Christ Jesus enlightened His apostles to understand both the spiritual pitfalls and the potentials for good inherent in material wealth.” (Dynamis 12/23/2021) “Wealth can be a terrible burden or temptation to many. Wealth, as the aphorism says, is a good servant but bad master. Unfortunately, many submit themselves and their goals t

“Often when we find ourselves facing external and internal difficulties, our automatic response is to try to do something to lessen the intensity of our discomfort and make ourselves feel better. One way we try to lessen our pain is by suppressing it through activities like substance abuse, anger, comfort eating, distractions, or trying to control others. But an alternative to trying to lessen our discomfort is working to increase our ability to bear with it. To do that, howe

“By holding on so tightly to our sense of self, we choked God, strangling him, and put him to death. ‘But,’ you might ask, ‘can God die?’ He can die to us. He can be dead to each and everyone of us. ‘But can He rise again?’ Yes, when you change your mind, when you repent. When you do this, God comes to life within you, He rises up within you, and then you celebrate the Resurrection of Christ: you are baptized again, born again, and you give him the right to take away your pas

“…sin indicates spiritual illness…God never departs from us. It is we who depart from Him. It is we who become spiritually ill through sin. It is we who need to be cured and restored.” (Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou) “And so it was with Adam: ‘I’m over here, hiding, because I was afraid to see you, because I’ve sinned. I’m afraid that you wouldn’t accept my excuses; that you’d say it was all my fault. I was afraid that you would no longer acknowledge me as your child.’ T