SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Sons of the world see distraction as innocent, but the Holy Fathers see it as the beginning of all evil. One of the greatest ascetics of old, St. Poemen the Great, teaches that the beginning of evil is distraction.” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Archbishop Averky Taushev) “Quiet, for me, seemed an impossible quality to cultivate without a sense of time as ample. I wanted our lives to be, not crammed with endless activity or entertainment or things, but ordered, roomy, so that

“…when you have fear and uncertainty and you want to calculate, define, and control everything, then you’re not living in reality. You become a neurotic and cowardly person. Remember the Parable of the Talents. The man who hid his talent, who hid his charisma, hid from life—he was afraid to live. What do we do? We fear living. We’re afraid to be. We’re afraid of everything. And so, we don’t live, we don’t exist. This fear of not losing anything will not give you a peaceful li

“In a culture where materialism is not seen as unusual, it’s fascinating how immaterial the spiritual life is for many…When one’s material needs consume all one’s attention, nothing more will be sought after; the demands of physical life can totally colonize the mind.” (Father Stephen Freeman, Matthew the Poor) “This is important to bear in mind as we go through a world that boasts of its objectivity and commitment to what’s “really there.” To the average modern person, objec

“It is very interesting that…it is only when God “empties himself” for the life of the world, that He actually takes on being. Before...

“We often attempt to manage God, defining Him by our own logic, creating Him to suit ourselves. In response to such attempts, God...

“What were God’s first words, having become man, in His peaching? ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ There are no hopeless...

“Ultimately, none of us are defined by our past, but rather we are defined by what we become in Christ. This is why we can declare...

“…there are people who have everything but at the same time say they have nothing. They have a house, but they want two, three, four,...

“There are moments in life when our customary peace is temporarily set aside by unanticipated events. None of us are immune to these...

“… the acquisition of wisdom is always conditional, for God makes wisdom available only when two major “ifs” apply to us: “if [we] call...