SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“A strange illness has appeared in our days – the passion for distractions. Never before was there such a desire for distractions; people have forgotten how to lead a serious life for the good of others; they have no spiritual life and are bored. They exchange the profound content of a spiritual life for distractions! What madness! It is here that pastors must deploy their strength: they must re-introduce into life its lost meaning and give back to the people the knowledge of

“…Chrysostom says that God’s choosing “comes not of any pains, nor of any good works of ours, but of love; and yet not of love alone, but of our virtue also”…As we think of ourselves, the baptized, as God’s “chosen,” we must steer carefully between many hazards: Among these hazards are the predeterminism of “predestination” in the “doctrine of election” and the Western Pelagian view that salvation is the reward for “good works.” Again, we must make our way between the temptat

“Critical for every servant of God, given our unavoidable struggle against the passions, is prayerful watchfulness…God endows each person with many gifts. However, instead of being grateful to God for these gifts, he is often not watchful. He claims them as his own, inwardly boasting. Then the cunning devil, the thief that he is, goes and steals the gifts—infects them with his poison, rendering them useless” (Dynamis 10/4/2019, St. Paisios the Athonite) “Without watchfulness

“If you are a scholar, a student in any educational establishment, or an official in some ministry, an officer in any of the branches of the military service, or a technologist, a painter, a sculptor, a manufacturer, a mechanic - remember that the first science for each one of you is to be a true Christian, to believe sincerely in the Holy Trinity, to converse daily with God in prayer, to take part in the Divine service, to observe the rules and regulations of the Church, and

“Our churches are beautifully adorned and furnished so as to awaken us to God’s presence among us…However, the experience of “God with us” goes far beyond aesthetics. It is first and foremost a matter of the heart and will, of one’s spirit…God’s people are those who awaken to His presence, repent, and live as He wills. Such a change must occur deep within our hearts in answer to the Lord…” (OCPM 9/25/2016) “The next time some trouble interrupts our lives, might we give it a d