SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“As has been frequently noted in the spiritual realm – if you only read those parts of the Scripture which you like or agree with then you are not listening to God but only to yourself. To correct, improve or sharpen our thinking, we have to allow ourselves to be challenged by God…In the Gospel we find that the apostles’ perfection also grew; it did not appear overnight. It all started with something small, with “hearing” about Christ and an inspiration that carried them away

“[a …] true sanctuary, even before the life to come, is a heart free from distractive thoughts and energized by the Spirit, for all is done and said there spiritually. If we do not attain such a state in this life, we may because of our other virtues be a stone fit for building into the temple of God; but we will not ourselves be a temple or a celebrant of the Spirit.” (St. Gregory of Sinai) “The heart is quiet rather than noisy, intuitive rather than deductive, lives entirel

“Our faith is called Christianity because Christ is at its center. We look to Him, we strive towards Him, and we become like Him…Christ proclaimed the God Whose love we do not need to earn, because God is Love…Christ proclaimed God and showed us in Himself a true man, called to be the image and likeness of God. St. Gregory Palamas says that “God assumes human nature to show to what extent it is free from sin and so pure that it was possible to unite it with Himself in hyposta

“The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews contains these powerful words: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever’ (Heb. 13:8). God’s love has not gone anywhere from us—it is we who have grown spiritually poor; but grace in the world is no less today than it was in the days of the apostles. We often look for the root of our problems in external things, forgetting that a ship does not sink because of the water around it, but because of the water that gets

“Within the Tradition, and the Scriptures, the knowledge of God (and thus of the self), comes as revelation. It is hidden and must be made known. That which hides God is within us, not outside of us. It is the “pure in heart” who see God. This does not necessarily imply a sinlessness or perfection. Rather, it is a stillness that can see what truly is without turning away.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “We “hear” God in our hearts. We know God through our hearts. We can’t hear pro

“Each time we read or hear the holy gospels we are encountering God. The gospels stand in a place of preeminence in the life of the Church. We believe in the Bible and revere it as the inspired word of God. But we put the gospels even higher than the rest of the Bible. As you see the gospel book sits alone, wrapped in gold (gold plating) on the Holy Altar table. Why? Because the gospels reveal God to us clearly and completely. The gospels are the eyewitness accounts of the li

“It is common for us to conceive of God as giving us grace (help) so that we can do this thing or that and become this thing or that. And the emphasis becomes our own doing, with God reduced to an auxiliary position. It is a path of anxiety, failure, and despair. The Pharisees were champions of this approach and excelled in exercising themselves in everything they thought of as good. At the same time, they became angry that tax-collectors and harlots were freely given even mo

“One of the parishioners of my church is a man…I knew him for several years. He would come to confession about once a year, right before Lent, and his confession went something like this: “Father, I repent, I am a sinner, but I don’t have any major sins—I live like everyone else.” I tried to talk to him, asking if he read the Gospel or prayed at home. He would shrug and reply, “No time, father—work, family, this and that. But I try to be a good person.” And I could see he was

“There is a well-known phrase: “The bread that you ate this morning was made by God all night long.” In reality it took much longer, and this bread had passed through many hands and ended up on your table through the labor of many—God has provided this for you to have breakfast. This is not just a piece of bread and butter—this is a message of His love and care. On this porous rectangle is written: “I love you and take care of you.” Gratitude accepts everything as a gift; all

“….The physician Luke wrote it in order that the reader might find health for his soul. Note also that he says, “all that Jesus began to do and teach,” first “do” and then “teach,” because Jesus, establishing the pattern of a good teacher, taught nothing except those things which He did.” (St. Bede) “Teachers in the Church, whether pastors, Sunday school teachers or youth leaders, must teach by example, not simply by rote or by command. Teachers in the Church themselves must