SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Once, the monk John the Short told the desert father Poeman that he had asked the Lord to take away his passions. John said that the Lord answered his prayer, and he was at peace: the warfare between flesh and spirit in his heart was over. Poeman replied, “Go and ask the Lord to stir up in you a new battle against the passions. Fighting against temptation is good for the soul.” When the passions attacked John once more, he did not pray for the end of the fight against them.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”…Daily is a misleading translation of the Greek epiousios, which is literally “above the essence” or “super substantial”….In the Lord’s Prayer we are not merely asking for physical health, but for [daily] spiritual nourishment.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Matthew 6:11) “Give us bread today for the coming day,” or “Give us today the bread we need for today.” The term ἐπιούσιος (epiousios) does not occur outside of early Christian literature…so it

“Faith is a gift of God. It is the strong conviction of belief, the certainty of the truth…But over time such confidence of belief can become mixed with uncertainty.” (Fr. Basil) “We tend not only to worry, but to presume.  We are masters of our fate!  We will decide what we will do in the future…A good way of living would acknowledge the uncertainty of all our plans…with a tentativeness born from humility.  We should say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and shall do this o

“In our spiritual life, only seldom do we experience immediate consequences for our actions. Very, very, seldom do I pray and see an immediate physical result. Occasionally, I pray and experience an immediate inner consequence: a sense of peace or calm, or a thought that comforts or encourages me. Most often, however, prayer begins as an obedience, something I make myself do. Then, sometimes, as I pray, I slowly experience some inner consolation or comfort. But just as often,

“Do you wish to love more? Forgive more deeply! All healing flows from forgiveness. The love of God is demonstrated to the extreme in Jesus, the sinless One, taking our sins upon Himself and giving His life for us The one who loves deeply is the one who knows the significance of that love and becomes a vessel of forgiveness to others. What is love if it is not the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (see Romans 5:5)? Love is the gift of God.” (Neal Lozano) “

“There is a propensity in our modern world to break things down – to analyze. We have gained a certain mastery over many things by analyzing the various components of their structure and manipulating what we find. It has become the default position for modern thought. This power of analysis, however, is weakened by its very success. Frequently the truth of something lies not in the summary of its parts but in the wonder of the whole…The fullness of the faith is not revealed i

“…our own sometimes shaky self-esteem, neediness, and failure to believe that we are really unique in the eyes of God often prevent us from loving and nurturing the presence of God in ourselves. This, in turn, makes it difficult to reach out to others.” (Robert J. Wicks) “Knowledge of Christ, constantly supported and nurtured by the grace of God, grows quietly but steadily and becomes a unique and precious characteristic of an authentic Christian. As he/she grows and matures,

“In child development, there is something called Object Permanency. It is the child’s ability to grasp that even though they cannot see an object (such as a parent), they still exist. Until this ability is mastered, if the child cannot see their parent, then they don’t exist and the child goes into distress. However, this milestone is achieved as they grow and they become secure in the fact that even though they cannot see a parent, they still exist and are there for them. In

“Christ's Ascension is His enthronement in the fullness of divine authority and glory. Icons of the Ascension represent Christ in such a way that one cannot tell whether He is going to heaven or coming again to earth. This captures the profound truth that we are already living under His reign while awaiting His return. Thus, the icon shows Christ being taken up (Acts 1:9-11), coming again in like manner (v. 11), and yet continually present (Mt 28:20). Believers are not to sta

“Salvation, then, is more than forgiveness of sins, more than a mental acceptance of Christ and His teachings. For in salvation we are given union with God through Christ, a right and full relationship with the Holy Trinity, and the restoration of our full humanity. All these things are accomplished through the Incarnation, the union of God and man in the Person of Jesus Christ. Salvation, then, is founded on a substantial union of the believer with Christ in His full humanit