SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Sloth may seem like a trivial fault compared with sins against the Ten Commandments or impure thoughts and atrocious deeds. But the Philokalia names laziness along with forgetfulness and ignorance as a root of the passions. According to this handbook of ascetic practices, laziness so darkens the intellect, the “eye of the soul,” that it no longer can see or follow the ways of God.” (Fr. Basil) “The word “passions” in Greek has the same root word as the Greek word for “passiv

“Beware of the spirit of despondency, for it gives birth to every evil. A thousand temptations come from it: agitation, rage, blame, complaint against one's fate, profligate thoughts, constant change of place. The soul then avoids people, believing them to be the cause of its trouble, and does not understand that the cause of the illness is within itself.” (St. Seraphim of Sarov) “St. Paul’s last letter was written to the Philippians from prison. He is hopeful that he will be

“Gratitude is not about gritting your teeth and saying things are fine when they are not. Rather, true gratitude involves acknowledging our sufferings, accepting them, and then interpreting pain in a spiritual way Gratitude gives us the power to dare greatly, with a courageous vulnerability that is able to stand up after defeat, striving valiantly for what is most meaningful…Gratitude empowers us to embrace the frailty, weakness, and pain around us while remaining at peace. H

“There is a happiness that comes from weakness, a happiness that is often called joy. When I am weak, St. Paul said, then God is strong in me. So long as I love the world, I have to be strong. I have to win. I cannot show weakness. But when I find the strength to turn my back on the world, I find the strength to accept my weakness. I find the strength to depend on God, the strength to weep with those who weep. Then there is peace. Then there is happiness, a kind of happiness

“No matter what challenges we face, including sickness and death and inconvenience, we may use them as points of entry into the blessedness of His Kingdom. Our present situation provides many opportunities to deny ourselves out of concern for protecting the health of our vulnerable neighbors. It calls us to die to our addiction to pleasure and self-interest for the sake of others. It reminds us that saving our lives in this world is an impossible goal, for the common ravages

“From sinful arrogance there follows the inversion of truth…Sin inverts the good order of God, so that mankind calls “evil good and good evil” (Is 5:20).” (OCPM 3/23/2016, 4/30/2017) “Inversion of truth leads to arrogance…In our modern age this sin [pride/vainglory] and its corresponding virtue [humility] have become strangely inverted, for humility and meekness are despised while self-esteem and pride are exalted as salve for the psyche…If we do anything, no matter how trifl