SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“If we are honest and confess our personal shortcomings, we have the opportunity to repent. We have the opportunity to increase our gratitude toward God. God will be receptive to our expressions of gratitude if we are sincere. Do we take time to thank God each time following recovery from an illness or surgery? Do we show gratitude to God continually for talents and gifts received during the course of life? Are we always thankful for prayers answered? Are we at peace deep wit

“Every day of your life is a battle and the field of battle is the human heart and mind. This is where the battle takes place on a daily basis. Whether you pay attention or ignore it, whether you apply yourself or you are negligent, you are already at war.” (Fr. James Guirguis) “Choosing a side means not only standing with the army to which you pledge your allegiance but also actively participating in that side’s combat. Civilians in human war may try to stay out of harm’s wa

“The sacred space of God’s presence, once restricted to the Holy of Holies by a thick veil in the temple, can now become a reality for the entire world. At Pentecost, the Shekinah glory previously limited to the sacred space of the temple, and enjoyed by only one nation, descended on the disciples, empowering them to take God’s presence to all peoples. Pentecost is the promise that the entire world will come to have the Edenic quality of the temple.” (Robin Phillips) “The val

“For a believer, “a good life,” is nothing other than the life of Christ. “Christ within us the hope of glory,” St. Paul calls it. That life is revealed to us in the gospels and its pattern has not changed. All of the virtues are nothing less than the character of Christ being shown forth in our lives. They are formed and shaped within us by the work of the Holy Spirit, but not without our own co-suffering with Christ.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “…it is the whole incarnate lif

“Righteousness here does not mean sinlessness; rather, it means wholeness—when a person’s heart is united with God, the true Source. The word of the righteous is not always elegant. It may be simple, even severe. Yet it always possesses a certain vertical quality—it lifts us above the noise and vanity of life. The fruit of such speech is peace. After speaking with such a person, you do not feel “overloaded” with information; you feel revived. Anxiety leaves your soul, and the

“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

“…we are content to say that God has no place in our lives. We think we want to be left alone to figure it out for ourselves. We have all seen how well this is working out!...Devotion to God’s will is the peaceful and restful haven in all temptations and sorrows, while reliance on one’s own powers is destructive.” (Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, D. Min, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov) “The spiritual disease of the last times is the weakening of our will and determination. It

“Understood accurately, asceticism is about Beauty; it’s about attempting to be the sort of artists who won’t betray what they have seen of the beautiful. For example, we don’t fast in order to be good, but rather so that our devotion, our eros for Christ’s Beauty, will be absolute. Moral effort only matters when it expands that ascetic effort into the arena of Goodness. Moral struggle has to be an amplification of asceticism, never a substitute. It has to be the working out

“… ‘The night is far spent, the day is at hand’ (Rom 13:12). Night is the time of darkness, when most crimes are committed. Night is also the sinful state of the soul that does not want to know God and does not strive for salvation. Predators hunt at night, and the enemy of mankind works in darkness, “like a lion roaring after its prey, seeking whom he might destroy.” I am the light of the world, says the Lord. He chases away the darkness of night, and grants people the Light

“Love flares up from understanding that the Lord doesn’t turn away from the impurity and sinfulness of man, doesn’t withdraw from our guilt, criminality, and ungodliness: He never pushes anyone away, but on the contrary, always allows approach, draws near, listens, even caresses, shows mercy, and finally, forgives everyone!” (St. Seraphim Chichagov) “Love is service. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave us a great example of this when He washed the feet of the Apostles at the M