SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Indeed, Peter and John place no faith in their own abilities [Acts 3:1-8]. They trust wholly in Christ’s authority. They give what they know: the compassion of Jesus. They trust in Him that everyone should be healed and brought to the knowledge of the living God. They expect Christ, their Risen Lord, to act. Full of faith, they take the lame man by the hand and lift him up (Acts 3:7). To all who come attentively to the Church, the Lord extends His hand for our healing.” (Dyn

“Virtue may be defined as the conscious union of human weakness with divine strength’...To explain, Maximus says that if we rely on our own capability as if our natural powers are our strength, we confuse our human works with virtue. On the other hand, if  we “do not make an effort” to receive divine help and “transcend human weakness” with the power of God, we will fall short of virtue.” (St. Maximus the Confessor, Fr. Basil) “God who alone judges the great events of history

“Often in the Scriptures the word know means not just being aware of something but having personal experience of it. Jesus did not know sin, not because He was unaware of what it is but because He never committed it himself. For although He is like us in every other way, He never sinned. Given this meaning of the word know, it is clear that anyone who says that He knows God must also keep his commandments, for the two things go together.” (Didymus the Blind) “We can be said t

“James [James 3:13-18] is also leery about us counseling others, for what is offered as wisdom can be based on pride and other sinful passions. Self-centered faith will manifest itself in self-centered works, in this case “helping” others.” (Orthodox Study Bible, James 3:13-18) “The mind is the great defense system we need to process all the information we receive. However, in so doing, the mind is self-centered, judgmental, and fearful of attack. It expects and assumes the w

“Let us carefully how Levi’s [Matthew’s] life changes when he follows our Lord. First, Levi “left all” (vs. 28). We should not assume, from this statement, that he suddenly abandons everything…Levi did not leave at once but began withdrawing, bit by bit, from his former life. First he left his occupation, then his home, and finally even his native land…We too have answered the call of Christ, the Wisdom of God. We began dropping our former values to follow Wisdom more fully.

“ ‘Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them’ (Matthew 11:2-6)…Belief in God and Church attendance are highest among the poor and lowest among the wealthy. Apparently, Jesus is still preaching to the poor.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “In taking upon Himself our shared human nature, Christ con

“In the Lord Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (Lk 6:17-49), He commands all who come to Him (vs. 47) to love their enemies, do good to those who hate them (vs. 27), bless those who curse them, and pray for those who abuse them (vs. 28). Next, He even more stringently requires the disciple to endure physical assaults against person and property (vs. 29), give and lend freely (vs. 30), be merciful to all (vs. 36), refrain from judging or condemning, and forgive others (vs. 37). His e

“The indwelling of the Holy Spirit…is God’s ultimate gift to every true Christian. The Holy Spirit is an inestimable divine endowment which we must strive to retain, submitting all that we are and all that we have to Christ as King and God…However, such an unqualified surrender runs against the grain of American values, which emphasize personal independence and “doing one’s own thing.” It runs contrary to our ego’s deep desire for self-actualization and self-expression…We oft

“The ideas that constitute “modernity” center around life as management. Modernity assumes that life can be managed, and that human beings are well-suited for the job. It’s greatest successes have come in the careful application of technology towards various problems with a resulting rise in wealth. The well-being that comes with that wealth is limited to the things that money can buy. Non-tangibles remain as elusive as ever. Modernity prefers problems that can be solved. As

“All of us have known moments during which close kin or wonderful friends have suffered a grievous loss. Our instinct is to go to them, to comfort them during this time of pain. Many times, however, we hold back that love and comfort that we want to offer, because we are afraid that we can't express our feelings in the appropriate way. Unsure of finding the right words, we stay away…Many years ago Dr. Karl Menninger, the noted physician and psychological researcher, was seeki