SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“It is certainly necessary, in pastoral care, to consider the concrete political, economic, and social environments in which the faithful live. In so doing, the aim is, however, not to enable them to conform to the modern way of life, but to help them succeed, in their particular circumstances, in continuing to lead a Christian way of life, which is accomplished often not in conformity and accommodation, but in a form of spiritual resistance. This has been a clear principle f

“We may abandon God, but He never abandons us. Our actions may cause us to leave His loving embrace, but His love endures…nothing can separate us from God. He is with us, in our health. He is with us in our pain. He is with us in our healing. Yet, regardless of where we are at any given moment, He is still with us.” (Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, D. Min, Jackie Morfesis) “The presence of the Holy Spirit, then, brings us into the presence of Christ “through faith” (Eph

“Today… we often take theology out of the theanthropic mystery of the Church in which it was sung by the Fathers. We transfer it to the field of mere academic discussions, where each person, remaining an individual, an isolated authority, states his opinion and goes his way. The resultant “theology,” however, is not the very theology of the Church…The divine Spirt breathes in the organism of human speech. Thus it becomes possible for man to utter words of God, to speak of God

“To establish a solid and fruitful relationship with God and build himself up spiritually, a Christian must be attentive to himself. He needs a permanent attitude of vigilance (nepsis) to avoid evil thoughts (including diverting thoughts) and must remain attentive to God in undistracted prayer so as to develop a solid and fruitful relationship with God, which also builds him up spiritually by uniting him with the One God.” (Jean-Claude Larchet) “The fruits of sincere prayer a

“The waves of change in our society threaten to make our sea legs wobble as we are buffeted from all sides with moral chaos, antisocial...

“Every human being who comes into this world is unique, and all are given the opportunity to know God.” (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica) “We...

“The loss of this participation and the subsequent diminution and corruption of their being is what it means for an angelic being to...

“The virtue of humility is best captured by our willingness to receive with thanksgiving those things (of whatever size) that come our...

“The person needs solitude as much as, if not more than, relationships to develop and blossom. This is borne out by the experience of...

“St. Peter — always the most zealous of the disciples — then made an extremely bold reply: “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on...