SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“…repentance was not meant to be a listing of violations against God’s various laws, but rather was meant to be a deeper assessment of how we each have failed to incarnate God’s Kingdom in our lives and in this world. Repentance is to focus on the ways we have not lived according to the values of the Gospel and the Kingdom of Heaven or failed to make the Kingdom present in our lives and in the lives of those around us. This is the true change of heart and mind that repentance

“The Greek word for “mystery” is derived from the sense of stopping the mouth or being silenced. The term implies that a mystery is a secret that is being kept until the proper time. Even then, it can only be disclosed by revelation and known by those whom the Spirit enlightens…The mind of the Almighty is inscrutable. His judgments and “ways are past finding out” (Romans 11:33). But in Christ and by the Holy Spirit, God has divulged the secrets of His heart. He has revealed,

“ ‘Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.’ (Mat

“There is a generalized sense in our culture…that with the eclipse of the transcendent, something may have been lost…Divested of the transcendent, this world is invested with ultimacy and meaning in ways that couldn’t have been imagined before.” (James K.A. Smith) “It seems thousands of years removed from us, but it was not so very long ago that life was marked out by religious feasts. Although everyone went to church, not everyone, of course, knew the exact contents of each

“…most of our sins are not sins of violence, but sins of affection gone wrong. After all, who is it that we sin against the most? Our families and our friends, the ones we are the closest to. While we may never take up a weapon to hurt someone in a physical way, we all use our mouths and our minds as weapons to inflict emotional harm on others. In some way, we all betray friends, confidences, and courtesies and in so doing, we all betray Christ.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianaki

“To be meek means to be gentle and kind, to be empty of all selfishness and earthly ambition. It means, in a word, never to return evil for evil, but always in everything to overcome evil by good (cf. Rom 12.14–21). Meekness means to distrust and reject every thought and action of external coercion and violence, which in any case can never produce fruitful, genuine and lasting results. Meekness is to have the firm and calm conviction that the good is more powerful than evil,

“Desires are blameless passions that need to be kept under control. But a slothful man refuses to control his desires. He chooses not to do anything about his spiritual laziness; therefore, his desires control him.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 21:24) “When the soul does not direct itself toward higher things, it lets itself run loose uncared for in lower desires. While not directed with the vigor of lofty aims, it suffers the hunger pangs of lust, and, while neglecting to

“Sloth may seem like a trivial fault compared with sins against the Ten Commandments or impure thoughts and atrocious deeds. But the Philokalia names laziness along with forgetfulness and ignorance as a root of the passions. According to this handbook of ascetic practices, laziness so darkens the intellect, the “eye of the soul,” that it no longer can see or follow the ways of God.” (Fr. Basil) “The word “passions” in Greek has the same root word as the Greek word for “passiv

“Disregard occurs whenever we fail to consider God’s view of how we are living – including our inaction…Chronic disregard sears the conscience and prevents us from knowing fear of the Lord. We can become completely sealed off from awareness of God’s presence and never notice the failure deep within us (Jeremiah 6:15). Most of the evils in this life come about when we turn away…When we lose the fear of God, we silence the heart, stifle the saving voice of shame, and shut off h

“… Christ has brought salvation to the world, not by merely giving us a religious code of conduct, but by making us participants in His divine life by grace. By becoming fully human even as He remains fully divine, He has restored and fulfilled the basic human vocation to become like God in holiness…If we are truly united with Him in faith, then His boundless love must become characteristic of our lives. Among other things, that means gaining the spiritual health to show our