SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

Hope

“The soul that desires to please God needs first of all patience and hope, because one of the tricks of the devil is, in time of trouble, to make us despondent and divert us from hope and trust in God. God never allows those who trust in Him to be overwhelmed by temptations so as to reach utter exhaustion; for says the Apostle, God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation, He will also dispose the issue of it, and enable you

Pleasing God

“The fundamental problem is the notion of “works.” It’s the belief that pleasing God is a matter of human effort. The harder one toils, the more one exerts oneself, the greater the chance that God will look with favor on him or her. But what God our Creator wants from us is far greater than works. It is our faith and love. These are matters of a relationship, and a relationship is a state of being…To live “to God” mean that we dedicate our whole being to the Lord, not just ce

Redemption

“Redemption has a technical meaning relative to the freeing of slaves. Here, the bondage is to sins; the act of releasing is forgiveness; the price of redemption is blood—the human life of Christ given over to death for the sake of new life. This beginning of life in Christ is not merely legal, nor instantaneous, but living and dynamic.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Ephesians 1:7-8) “Forgiveness of sins follows redemption, for there would be no forgiveness of sin for anyone before

Kenosis (Self-Emptying)

“Christianity is based on the willingness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to live with us and die for us. This is unique to the Christian faith—no other faith teaches that God would do this amazing thing for His creatures, out of completely self-emptying love for them…The exaltation of Jesus as a man depended entirely on His self-emptying humility. True greatness, divine greatness, is the ability to be the least and to the least with the absolute certitude that it is externa

Compassion

“Empathy and compassion are necessary preconditions for human community…Compassion means suffering with.” (Vigen Guroian, Orthodox Study Bible, Matthew 9:36) “ ‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’ (Matthew 9:35-38). Compassion is

Personality

“The spiritual value of prayer has to do with the fact that it is the dominant force in the shaping of our personality. Through the discipline of prayer we build noble character and we are constantly reminded of God and hence faith is reinforced and our soul receives wholeness by being brought closer to the Creator.” (Rev. Fr. Theodore E. Ziton) “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become - because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the diff

Home

“Life in the home is in the Lord; the family is a little Church…Let each of you make your home a church." (Orthodox Study Bible, Colossians 3:18-4, St. John Chrysostom) “You could argue that the Church has four parts to it – the narthex, the nave, the alter, and the home. The liturgy in that sense never ends, as many teach, and that what we do from when we leave Church on Sunday to when we come back is still our life of worship and prayer in Christ. The condition of this time

Transformation

“Because God created all things through Christ, He will transform and reunite all things—material as well as spiritual—to Himself through Christ.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17) “The reality that we see is “transient,” it “passes away.” There is, however, a Reality (the unseen) that is eternal. It is this that cannot be shaken. There is a relationship between the two. When we think of the Incarnation of Christ, we see not the change of the material world (Chris

Unreal/Unreality

“How often do we anticipate some really bad things: crosses that may happen in our lives? It is the real 'crosses' in our lives that we have to carry. Unfortunately the human propensity to think irrationally…and have distorted cognitions…make carrying our crosses that much more difficult than it would be in reality. Irrationality and distorted cognitions serve as psychological barriers to our sanctification. Errors in thinking lead humans to create scenarios that may never be

Mercy, Judgement and Justice

“The Lord Himself said: “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father also is merciful” [Luke 6: 36]. He did not say: “Fast as your heavenly Father fasts,” neither did He say: “Give away your possessions as your heavenly Father is without possessions”; but he did say: “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful.” This is because this virtue—above all—emulates God and is a characteristic of Him…God’s judgment is based in mercy…” (Orthodox Study Bible, Romans 9:22-24, Abba Do

Distractedness

“When we think about cell phones, we think about how connected we are, nowadays, to a wide community through the internet. We might think that our age poses a unique challenge for the Christian soul. We are connected with all kinds of news, events, and other people’s passing thoughts, in an instant, and constantly, in a way that human beings never experienced before. However, the problem of the distracted mind was quite well known to the Fathers and saints of our church, sinc

Trust

““Trust in the LORD. The verb “trust” is complemented by the verb “lean.” Trusting in God is a conscious dependence on God, much like leaning on a tree for support…God never abandons a soul that puts its trust in Him, even though it is overpowered by temptations, for He is aware of all weaknesses.” (Foundation Study Bible, Proverbs 3:5-6, St. Nilus of Sora) “…every serious Christian soon recognizes: our faith must be planted and then carefully nurtured, for our trust in God m

Life and Death

“When a seed dies, it produces fruit. Life comes by death. This principle is not only true in nature, but it is also true spiritually.” (Foundation Study Bible, John 12:24) “Every year we have autumn and winter when things begin to die and then die, and spring and summer when things begin to come back to life and then come back to life fully. What we see in physical nature is part of spiritual nature too. Often something about our lives and ourselves must begin to die and the

Perfect Love

“Perfect love, we know, casteth out fear. But so do several other things—ignorance, alcohol, passion, presumption, and stupidity. It is very desirable that we should all advance to that perfection of love in which we shall fear no longer; but it is very undesirable, until we have reached that stage, that we should allow any inferior agent to cast out our fear.” (C.S. Lewis) “We will give anything to live eternally, and we all long after perfect love, love that never changes b

Groanings

“The Spirit of God is present to help, for He is our foremost helper. He calls us to prayer. The trouble, however, is “we do not know what we should pray for as we ought” (Romans 8:26). We are weakened as a result of sin. We do not grasp the goals of prayer, so we fail to approach it properly. However, the Spirit “makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (vs. 26). God the Father searches our hearts and knows the mind of the Spirit with whom He is One.

Excuses

"When we blame our circumstances or the life we happen to be experiencing, we are blaming God. When we look to excuse ourselves by shifting our responsibility onto others, we are denying the truth of our freedom." (Father Spyridon Baily) “How easy it is to excuse our sins by blaming someone else or circumstances. But God knows the truth, and he holds each of us responsible for what we do." (Life Application Study Bible, Genesis 3:11-13) “No one can plead the weakness of the f

Existentialism

"Fear is a life-giving, God-given gift, essential for survival. It is an evolved capacity in the human being, so science tells us. But like other God-given gifts and drives, which I inherently have as a human being, fear becomes harmful to me when it is divorced from God; when it is not “of God” and takes on a life of its own. Inherent, human fear in a life not God-focused is crippling, existential anxiety in the face of the many uncertainties and ambivalences that are part-a

Openness

"Today let me stop and wonder at what God is showing me in my life, rather than fight to attain control of the situations and people He sends me today. Because “salvation” or “recovery” is a something, and indeed a Someone, I receive. It is not a Someone I “figure out” or control. Let me be open to meeting Christ today, in openness to His light-giving will. In wonder at, and surrender to, His incomprehensible grace." (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin) “Faith is not found in rules…but in r

Trauma

“Trauma is a word for the damage we suffer in extreme circumstances…This experience is as old as mankind itself. Trauma sometimes leaves people emotionally and even physically crippled. Among ancient peoples, the trauma of life was met with liturgy – rituals, both public and private that sought to restore them to their right minds, to appease the wrath of the gods or the spirits of their enemies. The collective psyche of a whole people was set right through various actions an

Spiritual Perception/Warfare/Experiences

“The life of a believer is not one of ease but a constant spiritual battle.” (Foundation Study Bible, 2 Corinthians 10:4) “…there is a battle in each of us between the flesh and the spirit. There is, however, a third “player” at work in each of us and that is the mind. The human being is composed of body (flesh), spirit and mind. So, one has to decide what will lead in life—will it be the body leading with the mind and spirit following? Will it be the mind leading, or will it

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