SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“If you can’t defeat a passion, let it take over. If you may not, but really want to, then you may.” Such people tolerate no limits, living by the principle, “Take what is yours”, and therefore any “no” is perceived as a challenge. For them the slogan, “Live without limits,” becomes not just a choice, but an ideology legitimizing selfishness…In the long run, a life without limits does not become a search for happiness, but an escape from yourself—from your responsibility, the

“Before speaking of the sinfulness of consumerism, it is important to understand: consumption in itself is not evil. Consumption is a natural element of our human life. Man is a dependent and needy being; therefore it is natural for him to take and consume, especially in childhood. But as he matures, man increasingly begins to give to others—to create, to help, to care. A mature person is a responsible, creative personality who loves God and his neighbor and is guided by the

“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

“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

“…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

“Throw out of your head the idea that you can, through a comfortable life, become what you must be in Christ!...We think as humans, and God thinks differently—there is a deep meaning in His actions, aimed above all at the salvation of our souls. For example, we often think, “This is my place, I feel comfortable here, and it is here that I can attain salvation.” But the Lord sees everything differently and puts us in circumstances that seem very unpleasant to us, but it is thi

“Sonic seeds of teeming individualism…now chokes new growth on both side of Christian divide…The path of “each man for himself” or “by myself” is the road to destruction. It is much easier the roaring lion, who walks about seeking whom he may devour, to destroy us one by one than to confront a united flock. Only by bearing one another’s burdens can we become like Christ, who bore the burdens of the whole world—and thereby enter into that joy which God has prepared for those w

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). In Matthew’s Gospel, four times people approached Jesus with the petition, “Have mercy on me” or “mercy on us – they include two blind men, the Canaanite mother, and a father of a sick boy. Each time Jesus grants their requests for mercy…Mercy is standing in the shoes of the other and deciding what to do based on how the other feels. Compassion allows us to see things from their point of view. This is exac

“…the goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of love for God and others. The Lord Himself speaks of only two commandments, upon which hang all the Law and the Prophets. These are: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Matt. 22:37, 39). Christ didn’t say these are just two of ten or twenty other commandments, but rather: On these two commandments hang all the Law and

“It’s critical that we understand the uniqueness of the traditional Christian message about the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is why, when the gospel message was first preached, most people found it unbelievable—it was preposterous, like nothing they’d ever heard before. And even now, it is unbelievable to most people for exactly the same reason. That God could truly become man, that there could be a resurrection from the dead, and that said resurrection should begin