SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness or unforgiveness of your sins, then, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation. You can see for yourself how serious it is…Our Lord Jesus gives us the teaching regarding forgiveness. He tells us that forgiveness is an integral part of the kingdom of heaven, and the

“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel…that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed (Luk 2:34-35). But the righteous are revealed as well. The steadfast love of the Mother of God never wavered before the Cross. Her faithfulness is revealed. The kindness of Joseph of Arimathea is forever marked by an empty tomb. The tears of a harlot reveal the nature of love, even hidden beneath the deeds of her life. In the judgment of God, all things a

“…for the Fathers, water is not merely water: It is chaos and destruction, the power of floods and tsunamis, and the abode of monsters; and it is also life and regeneration, rebirth in Christ, and even the Holy Spirit, who pours forth like a fountain from the Father…The noetic life that inherits the Kingdom (that which is birthed in us at Baptism) both hears the wind and sees where it comes from. It enters the gates of hell and walks in paradise. It mines the treasures buried

“The challenge today is not so much that people don’t believe in God; it’s that they don’t believe in a personal God. There is more of a sense that God is “something up there” as opposed to “someone who is here…Without ceasing to be “up there”, God is now also “down here” among us, saving His world from the inside out.” (Sacramental Living Ministries, Fr. Lawrence Farley) “Sky is a thirteenth-century borrowing from Old Norse, referring to the clouds or the region where the cl

“Many of us long for the past because we believe, correctly, that the past uniquely offered something that satisfied a core human need—namely, the need for hope for something better and everlasting beyond this life, which communities steeped in religious tradition, in which faith formed the center of one’s life and permeated every aspect of it, were able to inspire. In short, this past provided the means by which man’s spiritual thirst could be quenched. The tragedy of the pr

“As love, God chooses to abase Himself in fully experiencing the weakness and vulnerability of an infant so that in this supreme act of humility, He can break down the barrier between the creature and creator. His embrace as a helpless, dependent child of His mother very specifically clarifies the type of intimate reconciliation and healing He desires with His creatures. He takes the initiative; He makes himself vulnerable, in every sense of the word. He who holds the univers

“The second category, hope, occurs when life becomes more troublesome. When things are more difficult and confusing, we may feel an uncertainty about where God is in the mix. We hope the Gospel is true though circumstances may cause us to doubt a little and feel uncertain about what God is doing or if God is really there. We experience the ambiguities of life which cause ambivalence in our hearts and minds. Perhaps we imagine the world should be better than it is if God is th

“The wounds come. None of us escapes the hurt and pain of human relationships. No parents are perfect. No siblings are ideal. Classmates and even best friends engage in shaming and bullying. Teachers, in their own brokenness, unwittingly give unintended lessons to a child. Over time, the conflict, the darkness and the hardening set in. We lose our capacity for awe and wonder and with it a clear view of the world. Our access to God seems blocked by the opacity of our own wound

“Life is a gift from God, given to us so that we might learn to love God and neighbor…life is a gift given by God and not a right that can be demanded by the recipient. It is a gift and will always be a gift until the day it returns to the Giver. It follows that all the features of one’s life, including physical and mental health, are also gifts. These are not rights to be expected by any man, even were he to receive them all in full measure; and, were he to be deprived of an

“God is not an idea, something that we think about, that we discuss or read about, but a Person with Whom we come into living and personal communion. It is something we live, and somebody from Whom we receive experience. Then we see what a great, unspeakable and inexpressible joy it is to have Christ within us.” (Archimandrite George) “Christ did not come to bring us a philosophy from God. He did not provide us with mere proverbs or good advice. He came to reveal God the Fath