SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Time is both the most familiar and the most mysterious gift that we receive at birth. We cannot see it, hold it in our hands, stop it, or turn it back. Yet it is time that measures our lives: through childhood and old age, waiting and meeting, work and rest, prayer and distraction, hope and memory. Every one of us has money, health, energy, knowledge, and… time. Yet this strange resource is the only one that cannot be stored up for later, saved for a rainy day, borrowed from

“One of the clear differences between St. John Chrysostom (and the Eastern Christian tradition) and St. Augustine (and the Western Christian tradition) is that Chrysostom does not see death as a punishment for evil as Augustine did. St. John notes death is part of nature – animals and plants die and they haven’t sinned. So death was in nature before humans sinned. Death is spread throughout the human population, not just because Adam sinned (the idea of original sin is an Aug

“How can I learn God’s will? That is, how can I penetrate into the mind of God, into what God is thinking? This is horrible! It is impermissible to even phrase the question like this! The question should be: How can I fulfill God’s will? How can I keep from being an opponent of God’s will in my life or in one or another move?...you should act according to that mind, but sincerely; and according to that conscience, but sincerely. Act sincerely—this will be your fulfillment of

“QUESTION: What is the most important thing in one’s spiritual life? ANSWER: To guard the peace in our hearts. Do not let this peace be disturbed at any cost. Peace should reign in our hearts—peace and silence.” (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica) “Worldly wisdom says to “follow your heart”, while biblical wisdom says to “guard your heart.” Be very aware of what images, thoughts, or emotions you allow to enter into your heart. Govern the heart because it is swayed by emotions, thou

“In our everyday speech, the words “to listen” and “to hear” are often used as synonyms. But in a spiritual sense, there is a vast difference between them—one that brings either salvation or condemnation. Listening is a process. You can stand in church, listening to the reading of the Epistle or the Gospel, and even understand the meaning of the words with your mind—yet remain deaf in your heart. External listening without inner acceptance is like looking in a mirror, walking

“….though wealth isn’t inherently evil, we must vigilantly guard against the temptation it brings.” (Dylan Pahman) “There is a tension in the Gospels between being a follower of Christ and being wealthy. Some have wondered whether in fact rich people can be saved or if their pursuing mammon already makes them at odds with Christ and the Gospel…wealth is a blessing from God and can be used for godly purposes. It is up to the prosperous to realize this and to use their possessi

“The gospels give us our meaning and our identity and every other identity that we have comes second to our identity as Christians. When we begin to compromise our identity in Christ, when we begin to compromise the way that we live and we begin to live a life of rebellion against the teaching of Christ and His Church then we find that our foundation cracks and before long we find ourselves on the outside looking in, completely unable to understand the Christian faith. We bec

“The intersection of earth and heaven was evident in the sacramental nature of early Christianity, with the central role of practices such as Baptism and the Eucharist. In these rites, the physical stuff of creation is imbued with heavenly significance, becoming theophanies or manifestations of the divine…When we begin Christian life in baptism, we are plunged into water, returning to the watery chaos that symbolizes non-being. This indicates that the way the cosmos itself wa

“Have you ever interrogated your yearning? I know you have it; we all bear unmet desire. Not just for love or safety, success or approval, though all those earthy, human things gesture to the larger things we’re missing. We desire something we can’t quite name, a deeper satisfaction than we have ever found in any one thing or person in this world.” (Sarah Clarkson) “A spiritual question is whether we are to seek the peace of God, or if we should be seeking the God of peace. W

“We certainly want to believe in the goodness around us and also in the goodness of humanity. And in many cases, this is true, and we see and experience evidence of this daily. Yet, we must not lose our awareness of what moves upon this earth in addition to the light-the darkness. And the darkness of which I speak does not only come at night when the sun goes down. The darkness of which I speak happens in broad daylight. We are at a time when there is no shame in committing a