SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The Cross is the singular demonstration of the breadth and depth of God’s love for us. And it becomes the model for all who would take up their cross daily and follow the Lord (Luke 9:23). By walking in the light of the Cross, we will reach our destination of eternal life in the Holy Trinity. We will lose our life in the radical love of one another so that we might find it. And in the self-sacrifice of love, we will be obedient to the new commandment that the Lord gave us du

“Saint Paul,…says that he would rather address five comprehensible words to the Church, for the benefit of others than thousands of words in a language no-one understands.” (St. Gregory of Nyssa) “If you…don’t learn to speak to people in the world around you…You may attract a few converts who are looking for some esoteric brand of Christianity, but eventually you’ll [your church will] disappear… meaning needs to be made clear and comprehensible… if the Son of God came as “the

“The very metaphor of war ought to make us pause. The phrase “culture wars” is an oxymoron: culture is about nourishment and cultivation, whereas war inevitably involves destruction and the abandonment of the creative impulse.” (Gregory Wolfe) “It is pretty hard not to notice the divisive political polarity in America these days. All sides hold to their own news sources, have different fears and concerns, are not willing to compromise or cooperate on anything, claim different

“…he [Saint Seraphim of Sarov] raises the question of how pious activities may affect our life in Christ. Although in Baptism we professed Christ, we may forget Whose we are and slip into supposing that “the Christian life consisted merely in doing good works.” No! There is a purpose for pious activities: to acquire thereby “the grace of God’s Spirit.” All activities in life based merely on doing good, without assuring that they bring the grace of the Spirit of God, are scorn

“There are two ways in which the prayer of a righteous man is effective. The first is when the person praying does so by offering to God his works done according to His commands. Then the prayer is not just a matter of words, blurted out meaninglessly with the empty echo of the tongue, but powerful and living and inspired with the spirit of the commandments. For the true basis of prayer and supplication is the fulfillment of the commandments by virtue. This makes the prayer o

“There is a big difference between having compulsions and being a slave to them. We share in Christ’s victory over sin through our union with Him by our choice and the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit within us gives us the awareness of our sin and the power to choose not to sin. The Holy Spirit within us also gives us the power to sincerely repent when we do sin and therefore maintain our union with Christ. Without this awareness and the assistance of the Comforter,

“Paul often saw himself as a great sinner. He never described himself as a sinner, however, without at the same time referring to the grace of God, which forgave his sins, accepted him, and enabled him to be useful in God's kingdom…Paul in other words exemplified the attitude of believers, who without minimizing [their] sins, refuse to be constantly hypnotized by them.” (Anthony A. Hoekema) “What does my experience tell me when I am the prisoner of sin? I am tormented sometim

“The Lord is present everywhere, and nothing happens without His will or His permission, either in this life or in eternity. When we accept this idea, everything is made easier.” (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica) “…the Spirit of God is and remains free: free from any ritual act or formula, free from any manipulation by sinful human beings, free to come and go as He will, like the wind (John 3:8; it is significant that in Greek there is a single word, pneuma, for both wind and spi

“We are to preach and teach the message of divine judgment, then, not as an expression of God’s vindictive wrath, but as an expression of His saving love. Too often we pass judgment rather than proclaim it. Then the word of judgment degenerates into a word of condemnation. And more often than not, that condemnation expresses our own feelings, attitudes, anger and righteous indignation, rather than the true “wrath of God.” By preaching judgment upon another, rather than to ano

“It is that divine initiative, that self-offering by God Himself, which elicits from us faith manifested as repentance and good deeds. The work of atonement—achieving redemption and reconciliation between ourselves and God—is wholly God’s: it is not our offering to the Father, but His gracious offering to us. In His boundless mercy and love, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor 5:19).” (Fr. John Breck) “Reconciling people, not dividing them, is the goa