Desire
“Desire is transformed into lust when we exclude God from the picture. Without God, the natural powers of our soul become corrupt. Abba...
Faith and Action
“Saint Paul states that we practice the faith of the apostles when we “have carefully followed my doctrine [and] manner of life” (2...
Hostility
“Too many people today insist on preserving whatever “dividing wall of hostility” they can use to promote their vain desires for power,...
Participation
“…our modern culture believes that relationships with other people are merely psychological phenomena – they are all in our head. There...
Knowing
“True knowledge changes us. “If only I had known,” can also mean, “If only I had been a different person.” Knowledge, in this biblical...
Blame
“St. John Chrysostom writes an encomium of Abraham, pointing out that nothing in his life prepared him for such faithfulness to God. For,...
Promises
“According to Bishop Kallistos Ware, “Faith is not the supposition that something might be true, but the assurance that someone is...
Existence/Non-Existence
“In times of adversity, we can find solace in the words of St. Isaac the Syrian. He wrote, “In love did He bring the world into...
Alignment
“There is only one God, so that God is the God of every human being no matter what they believe or do. There is only one mediator between...
Purity
“…the Lord taught that the purity that the Jewish Law sought to preserve does not come from outside ourselves. It comes from the inside,...