SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

Ideas

“In the contemporary world, secularism, neo-paganism, along with eastern spiritualities, abound in the market-place of ideas, confusing many so that they neither hear nor heed the voice of the Lord…In the case of our beliefs in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God, we can let the deceivers steal them from us. They can plant contrary ideas in our minds that confuse us or replace our spiritual understanding with other notions. Or we can lose our faith in the doctrine of

Quotes of the Day for March 5, 2021 – Thoughts on dealing well with the world of ideas

Quotes of the Day for March 5, 2021 – Thoughts on dealing well with the world of ideas

“In the contemporary world, secularism, neo-paganism, along with eastern spiritualities, abound in the market-place of ideas, confusing many so that they neither hear nor heed the voice of the Lord…In the case of our beliefs in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Son of God, we can let the deceivers steal them from us. They can plant contrary ideas in our minds that confuse us or replace our spiritual understanding with other notions. Or we can lose our faith in the doctrine of

Thoughts and Feelings

“This thinking mind that “whirls about” is constantly concerned with thoughts, concepts, and images, and we obviously need this dimension of mind to meet the demands of the day, to think, to reflect on and enjoy life. But the thinking mind has a professional hazard. If it is not engaged in its primary task of reason, given half a chance it fizzes and boils with obsessive thoughts and feelings…Our normal response to an afflictive thought-feeling is to pounce on it with a comme

Worldliness

“At various times, drinking, card-playing, dancing, and even movies were viewed as “worldly.” If you stayed away from these things, you thought that you were not “of the world.” But that is superficial thinking. What is “worldly” is whatever accepts the perceptions, presuppositions, and prescriptions of the world. It is a mindset that is tied to this earth and the pleasures, pastimes, and pursuits that the world offers. Teaching that proposes that we can understand ourselv

Love (Tangible)

“When Saint John introduces the reality of love (1 John 3) – God’s love for all men, our love for God, our love for others, our love for our brethren in Christ – he also presents us with a challenge. We must make sure that our love is objective, measurable, and tangibly present in every aspect of our life…How do we make certain that God’s love extends to us, operates in us, and gives us eternal life? Our treatment of others become the test of this assertion: “But whoever has

Peace

“The peace of God is a beautiful thing; it is there for each of us if we desire it. Assuredly, just as we miss the sound of a gentle wind blowing through the trees during a busy day, so we miss and take for granted the peace of God that is all around us. It is as close to us as a breeze brushing across our face. It is as close to us as the present moment, yet we often look for it in the past and future.” (Fr. Joshua Makoul) “Foremost among these fruits is the restorative peac

Desire

“Desire is transformed into lust when we exclude God from the picture. Without God, the natural powers of our soul become corrupt…the problem with desire is not something inherent in the order of creation. Rather, the difficulty arises from our enslavement to the things of this world and to our physical being (1 Jn 2:15-16). God made the world, forming our very flesh and our eyes, yet sin turns even our natural desires into lust.” (Dynamis 2/26/2021) “…the word for “passion”

Obedience

“Often in the Scriptures the word know means not just being aware of something but having personal experience of it. Jesus did not know sin, not because He was unaware of what it is but because He never committed it himself. For although He is like us in every other way, He never sinned. Given this meaning of the word know, it is clear that anyone who says that He knows God must also keep his commandments, for the two things go together.” (Didymus the Blind) “We can be said t

Abstraction

“…Christian life encompasses: a set of beliefs and practices gleaned from experience and a profound way of life, not a system based on regimented acts coldly governed by abstract beliefs and rules propped up with mere emotionalism..” (V. Rev. Chrysostomos) “The great flaw in anti-sacramental thinking is its abstracted notion of “spiritual.” It is presumed that for something to be “spiritual,” it must have nothing to do with the material world. That “talking to Jesus” only con

Faith as Relationship

“In theory, our modern culture believes that relationships with other people are merely psychological phenomena – they are all in our head. There is occasional research to try and establish some notion of extra-psychological relationship (such as ESP), but even that is largely an extension of psychology. But there is an entire realm of human experience that such a belief ignores. And it is an experience that lies at the very heart of classical Christianity. This experience is

Process

“…“what does it mean to process something?” To process something means to have gained understanding and acceptance about any particular experience, event, or change. It means to have gained a sense of mastery over an experience. It means what happened is now understood, assimilated into our lives, and we have found peace and closure. It may also mean having to get out any emotion associated with the event such as grief or temporary anger. There might be tears or there might b

Self-Denial

“Something has to give between the contemporary obsession with the self that has generated an endless market for books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, seminars, programs, therapies, “self-help” gurus and the like; and the ever-demanding teaching of Our Lord: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself….” [Mark 8:34]. This is not a Buddhist-like call to “self-transcendence” in search of enlightenment. It is Christ’s way of teaching us that to defensively, fearfully, or even idola

Fire (Divine and Spiritual Fire)

“God is fire. God is love. God is a self-propagating emotional power, a fire that shares itself. Centuries after Moses beheld the flames of the burning bush, this same fire merged with the tongues of flame at Pentecost, and with the fire that burned within the hearts of the disciples at Emmaus. In saying that God is a fire of love we are certainly stating a truth that plays havoc with many of our ideas, in fact almost all our ideas. (Fr. Lev Gillet) “There is no accident in G

Walking with God (Integrated Life)

“If we find that we too are limping along in our walk with the Lord, then we might ask ourselves whether unknowingly or not, we have become double-minded. If we feel stuck in our growth in faith and unproductive in our spiritual life, then we should exam ourselves. We should ask ourselves whether we have set up a rival to the Lord in our concerns, motives, and interests. If our worship in the House of God loses its sense of devotion, then perhaps we have become devoted to som

Passions

“To sin is to miss the mark, to fail to realize one's vocation and destiny. Sin brings disorder and fragmentation. It diminishes life and causes the most pure and most noble parts of our nature to end up as passions, i.e., faculties and impulses that have become distorted, spoiled, violated and finally alien to the true self…we have responsibilities to one another and, of course, to God. When we sin, or relationship to God and to others distorted. Sin is ultimately alienation

Fear

“…fear can lead to aggression: “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” (Robert J. Wicks) “The temptation to dispense a rough “justice” against some individual or group flares up whenever we lose our focus on our common humanity and succumb to fear…Fear of men, with their finite power and unproven opinions, always rises from the wellspring of atheism. Those who fear men do not see the hand o

Troubles and Trials

“… when we deal with suffering it can be difficult to understand and convey why things are happening. St. Paul writes of suffering (and remember, he suffered a lot), “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18). This can be difficult to remember or to find consolation from when we are in the midst of trials.” (Melissa Tsongranis) “It is, of course, one thing to say that our

Faith and Choice

“As we tend to center our world (and ourselves) in the question of our choices, we are constantly tempted to justify those we feel were wrong. By the same token, we bring an anxiety about the choices that are yet to come. The power of goodness is not within our choice. We do not create the good – it is given to us. The impossible reality that surrounds our choices is seen when we examine the limits of our existence. We cannot see the consequences of our actions (beyond the mo

Faith and Action

“God’s being and actions are one. This is essentially the teaching of the Church on the topic of the Divine Energies… Another simple term for “energies” is “actions” or “doings.” The root of the Greek word simply means “doing.” Indeed, it is most often translated as “deed” or “work.” “Workings” would be another accurate way of rendering “energies.” Understanding this points us towards the heart of the Church’s proclamation. Who God is, and what God does, are not two separate

Meekness

“We tend to think of meekness as a personality trait. When we hear the word meek, we usually think of someone softly spoken, easily pushed around, someone who never raises his voice, maybe even someone who is weak. But meekness is not the same as weakness, nor is it a particular kind of personality; it is a virtue...” (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou) “It [meekness] is an inner grace of the soul that accepts the will of God without complaint or resistance. Yet, those wh

1

2 3 4 5

Categories

Archive

Search By Tags

No tags yet.