SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Our yearning for renewal knows no limits. Even the seemingly mundane things can reflect, like in a drop of water, something truly great… An encounter with God always results in renewal. It has been this way for centuries, throughout the history of Christianity… What is spiritual renewal? It is when you are no longer weighed down by the burden of past traumas and mistakes, your present is filled with joy, and you anticipate the future without fear. We are happy people, becaus

“Sometimes the only and best way to enter into the cell of your soul is to disconnect from the outside world and simply immerse yourself in silence. It’s precisely in silence that we’re able to hear the voice of God. It may seem scary at first; the silence may frighten and irritate us, since we’re so accustomed to noise, music, conversations. But it’s only in silence that you can sense God and the peace of Christ. But the inner silence that we acquire through prayers and sobr

“…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

“But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear (Mt. 13:16). This is the blessedness of being able to receive revelation spiritually. Not everyone who listens hears, and not everyone who looks sees. The Lord calls the disciples “blessed” for becoming worthy to know the mysteries of the Heavenly Kingdom. To know in the Biblical context means not only to perceive some theoretical information, but also to experience and partake of what is Known, graciously

“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

“…the person who “lives in the Eucharist and through the Eucharist,” to recall Fr. Florovsky’s words, (when, of course, that Eucharist is properly celebrated) becomes accustomed to looking not only “upwards” but also “forwards.” In other words, he gets into the habit of placing himself, his works and history itself under the light and the judgment of the Kingdom, always and in everything seeking its ultimate meaning (“ Seek ye first the Kingdom of heaven and its righteousness

“…the Eucharist shows that all of life is potentially sacramental as a means of entrance into, and personal participation in, the eschatological reign. God intends every bit of creation for communion with Him, and calls human persons to manifest and encounter that communion in every dimension of their existence. A eucharistic view of life goes beyond the liturgy itself to the quest for full communion with the Trinity in holiness…There is simply no way around the basic truth t

“Why is it that in moments when sorrow seems unbearable to us, and we are balancing on the verge of despair, that we can’t feel that strengthening Right Hand of the Lord, which as we’ve heard many times preserves everything in His power. Maybe because we ourselves in these hard moments find ourselves doing something not exactly right? Maybe we ourselves don’t go to where this support is being obtained? We do not want to raise even a small spiritual labor, expecting that such

“Christ is the New Adam. He comes to repair the damage inflicted on life by Adam, to restore man to true life, and thus he also begins with fasting. ‘When he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he became hungry’ (Matthew 4:2). Hunger is that state in which we realize our dependence on something else – when we urgently and essentially need food – showing thus that we have no life in ourselves.” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann) “To understand fasting as simply abstaining from meat and d