SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The enemy of mankind tries in every way to trouble our consciousness and our lives, ultimately to suffocate our souls with pride and malice. We, as Christians, must understand this and wage spiritual warfare, armed with sobriety, prayer, fasting, humility, meekness, and love for Christ.” (Priest Tarasiy Borozenets) “We have to learn, figuratively speaking, to rise above the clouds. When a plane rises above the clouds, it enters a field of sunlight, where everything is so bea

“…we are content to say that God has no place in our lives. We think we want to be left alone to figure it out for ourselves. We have all seen how well this is working out!...Devotion to God’s will is the peaceful and restful haven in all temptations and sorrows, while reliance on one’s own powers is destructive.” (Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, D. Min, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov) “The spiritual disease of the last times is the weakening of our will and determination. It

“Christ himself did not preach “faith alone,” but a rather more complex picture of salvation that also involved repentance and self-denial…The foremost question we must resolve is one of desire (Mark 8:34-35)…we declare that our foremost desire is to follow Him [Christ]. But let us ask ourselves if this truly our heart’s desire. Our criteria for determining whether or not this is so can be found in the three conditions that the Lord stipulates in these verses: self-denial, ta

“If we are honest and confess our personal shortcomings, we have the opportunity to repent. We have the opportunity to increase our gratitude toward God. God will be receptive to our expressions of gratitude if we are sincere. Do we take time to thank God each time following recovery from an illness or surgery? Do we show gratitude to God continually for talents and gifts received during the course of life? Are we always thankful for prayers answered? Are we at peace deep wit

“…the Lord calls people to Himself in many different ways. Even a path of protest, mistakes, and wandering, if it is sincere, can lead to Christ…the Church does not reject anyone who sincerely seeks salvation. There is no sin or spiritual blindness that the Lord cannot lead a person out of, if they truly want to come to Him. But it is also a warning: a “comfortable God” is not God, “freedom without obedience” is not freedom, and “love without the cross” is not love. Only thos

“The character of Christ, who is the Image according to which we are created, is such that human beings are more fully revealed to be what they are as they draw near to Him (or as He himself draws near to us)… The true self, in addition to being the gift of God—His image within us—is also a dynamic movement toward God, whose fulfillment and beauty are “being revealed.” We can describe this process as eschatological. Who I am has not yet been revealed (1 John 3: 2), but is “hi

“When we are emotionally, physically, and spiritually attacked and exhausted, we are distracted from doing God’s work and our energy is literally being sapped away like a tree that has been “attacked and continually sends nourishment to its wounded parts. Rest assured; we all have places that have been wounded. A memory. An experience. A grief that we are still carrying for a loved one. A dream unpursued and a prayer that we believe to be unanswered. And these weaknesses, the

“This serpent has many tongues and teeth, often very subtle and inconspicuous. Every kind of care for the flesh, self-gratification—these are the tongues of this poisonous snake. But the most important of them is self-love, when a man thinks and cares too much about himself, about his own comfort.” (St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky) “Thinking of ourselves first leads us to believe the lies Satan whispers. He tells us that happiness comes from things, property, and sensual activities a

“Why are we so afraid? Why are we so afraid to show our real selves to the world? Afraid to take a stand? Afraid to defend others? Fear. Fear. Fear. The answer is fairly simple. Because of the risk involved. Whenever we draw a line in the sand, we risk losing those who are uncomfortable with the line. We risk being judged…criticized. Misunderstood…most importantly, we risk not being accepted. It is an ancient and primal need of humankind to be accepted.” (Jackie Morfesis) “Am

“Our Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples that He had to leave them in order to send them the Holy Spirit. Ten days after His ascension to the heavens, The Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, we are told “like tongues of fire.” All of the sudden, they were clothed with the Holy Spirit. They each became individually, temples of the Holy Spirit and they became more. I’m going to tell you something that might sound strange or controversial. They became Christs. Don’t misun