SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The gift of speech is the greatest gift and corresponds to man’s need for expressing feelings, for exchanging thoughts, impressions, and conversations. But nothing can do more harm to one’s neighbor and nothing can so easily destroy as verbosity, which the enemy uses cunningly and especially successfully to catch people in his nets.” (St. Seraphim Chichagov) “We live in a remarkable and frightening time—the age of an information flood. Every day, through the screens of our s

“Today… we often take theology out of the theanthropic mystery of the Church in which it was sung by the Fathers. We transfer it to the field of mere academic discussions, where each person, remaining an individual, an isolated authority, states his opinion and goes his way. The resultant “theology,” however, is not the very theology of the Church…The divine Spirt breathes in the organism of human speech. Thus it becomes possible for man to utter words of God, to speak of God

“Christianity is not a religion of external demands and taboos; it is the worship of God “in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4.23). Our faith must first of all renew the inner person. Then, the inner peace that results from this correction and purification will inevitably manifest itself externally, healing and shaping the outer world aright. Strictly speaking, the external world can only undergo changes for the good, when acting in it are people who have themselves been renewed inter

“Self-deception can be defined as a false belief concerning oneself. It is a repercussion from the wound of rejection. When we think we are right for long enough, but are actually wrong, no one can tell us differently. Because of this, self-deception is a trap. It is extremely difficult for one to extricate himself from deception of any kind, especially when it is being directed from within.” (Frank Hammond) “We ought, however, to be aware that to live in self-deception is sp

“Whatever circumstances I am in, I can serve God. We may think that serving God means successfully accomplishing great and miraculous things. But St Paul saw himself serving God even when he languished in a prison cell. Even through the many disasters he endured (2 Corinthians 11:23-28), he believed he was there to do God’s will. The spiritual life is not always about success as the world measures it. Sometimes it is about remaining faithful no matter what.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“The Greek word koinonia means “community” in its deepest and most mysterious sense. God Himself, existing in the Trinity, is koinonia in His very nature. We can only truly understand ourselves when we lay claim to the image of God. We must recognize that, like God, the truth of who we are centers in our community. Our very nature demands that we fully embrace our relationships with others…Why were we created? God created humans for loving relationships. If God is love, then

“Today we continue to celebrate the most fundamental and joyful proclamation of our faith: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! He is our Pascha, our Passover, from death to life, for Hades and the grave could not contain the God-Man Who shares with us His victory over corruption and decay in all their forms. In a world enslaved to the fear of the grave, He has illumined even the dark night of the tomb with

“ “If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1–4). All that Christ has accomplished, He accomplished with us. It strikes me as important that, in the original Greek, the word we translate a

“Jesus wept. These two words show that God arranged the salvation of people not coldly and indifferently, not because He had to, was forced to, but because He desired this fervently. Christ's tears reveal the Lord's inner world: He loves His creation, He grieves that death deforms people, separates them from one another, brings anguish and melancholy into the world, and deprives people of happiness…Jesus's tears show that God does not fit into the framework of human deductive

“Spiritual warfare is what we fight against daily; but let us remember that in fighting the darkness and the adverse powers, we must not open the portals in our armor to become agents of the darkness itself. How is this possible? This is possible when we foment hatred and anger in our hearts. When we judge our brothers and sisters because we see them as the enemy, as someone to overcome and defeat. Christ already defeated death with death. The thief comes but to steal, and to