SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The deep calling of our lives is to find the fulfillment of our potential as those created in the divine image to become like Him in holiness. The God-Man has fulfilled this vocation and made it possible for all to share personally in His restoration and fulfillment of the human person. That is why our calling is nothing short of becoming ‘perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect’ (Matt. 5:48)…Holiness transcends the values of tolerance, social justice, and brotherh

“Deep down we all yearn for the true life in Christ, whether we are rich and poor, men or women, slaves or masters (1 Tim 6:19). For this reason, Christ Jesus enlightened His apostles to understand both the spiritual pitfalls and the potentials for good inherent in material wealth.” (Dynamis 12/23/2021) “Wealth can be a terrible burden or temptation to many. Wealth, as the aphorism says, is a good servant but bad master. Unfortunately, many submit themselves and their goals t

“…God calls us in unanticipated ways to cooperate with His gracious purposes for bringing salvation to the world… God uses our cooperation to accomplish His gracious purposes in the world. That was certainly the case in the Old Testament: Abraham, Moses, David, and countless others responded to God’s initiative, and He worked through them, despite their many failings. And through the free response of a teenaged Palestinian Jewish girl came the Messiah in Whom the ancient prom

“We should strive to make ourselves aware of God’s presence at every moment of our lives. Whether we are in church or at home, whether we are playing, vacationing, working, exercising, resting, shopping, surfing the internet, or in any other activity, we need to cultivate in our hearts and minds awareness that we are always in God’s presence.  Creating that awareness of God’s presence helps keep God close to our hearts rather than thinking of God as some distant or remote dei

“…most of our sins are not sins of violence, but sins of affection gone wrong. After all, who is it that we sin against the most? Our families and our friends, the ones we are the closest to. While we may never take up a weapon to hurt someone in a physical way, we all use our mouths and our minds as weapons to inflict emotional harm on others. In some way, we all betray friends, confidences, and courtesies and in so doing, we all betray Christ.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianaki

“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

“…it is possible to strive for peace and gratitude even when everything is going wrong. They have helped me see that peace and gratitude are not things you either have or do not have; rather, these are virtues we can struggle toward regardless of what is happening in our lives…the struggle we face is not to be grateful for extraordinary things; rather, the struggle is to be grateful for the ordinary things in life that we so often take for granted.” (Robin Phillips) “Christ h

“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

“…Christ is our ultimate example of self-sacrifice and unconditional love through His crucifixion and resurrection. The fact of life is that nothing comes easily. Society is always trying to find the quickest, easiest way to make money, get a beautiful body, and cater to our own personal needs. Our culture teaches us that it's best to focus on what we want rather than do for others. But people quickly realize that all blessings come through sacrifice and hard work. The path t

“God’s goodness is greater than our goodness. His wisdom is wiser than our wisdom. His knowledge of what we need for sustaining our body and healing our soul is more discerning than ours. Therefore, in the spirit of the petition of the Lord’s prayer, “Thy will be done,” we leave the concerns and desires of our prayers to the mercy of God. Our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask (Matthew 6:8). Accordingly, it is a great comfort to cast our burdens on the Lord and