SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“It takes the spiritual gift of discernment to recognize the difference between what comes from our own ego and what comes from the Spirit of Christ. What originates in our ego comes from our own pride. But we receive what is of Christ. We can only accept it with humility and gratitude as a gift…humility will realize that whatever wisdom, knowledge, spiritual gifts, and blessings it has, it has received.” (Fr. Basil) “Saint Paul urges us to be careful not to detach the forms

“Jesus now describes the guilt of the world. He came to these people with both words (15:22) and sign-miracles (15:24), yet they remained obstinate in their unbelief, and this sin of unbelief was without excuse. Jesus was not saying that if He had not come and spoken to these people they would be sinless; rather He was saying that if He had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of the sin of rejecting Him and the Father he came to reveal. Rejecting Jesus is th

“…he [Saint Seraphim of Sarov] raises the question of how pious activities may affect our life in Christ. Although in Baptism we professed Christ, we may forget Whose we are and slip into supposing that “the Christian life consisted merely in doing good works.” No! There is a purpose for pious activities: to acquire thereby “the grace of God’s Spirit.” All activities in life based merely on doing good, without assuring that they bring the grace of the Spirit of God, are scorn

Quotes of the Day for July 23, 2021 – Thoughts on challenging our understanding of true morality “The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which He rules. At the same time His holiness encompasses His moral authority, which derives from His royal position. As King He has the right to d

“Evil is a mutation, a parasite, an interloper. It is an ancient Darkness that fears and despises the Light. At war with the good, it is an immensely powerful force in human life and human societies…A veil of darkness – the fire of the worldly spirit – surrounds the heart preventing . . . the soul from praying, believing, and loving the Lord as it desires to do…we must look to Christ to contend with the dark forces of evil that otherwise would overpower us. Of all the visible

“No amount of thinking will ever yield knowledge of God. That is a straightforward conclusion of the claim that the knowledge of God is “noetic.” Second, the knowledge of God is not a psychological experience, per se. I have stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon and felt that terrible vertigo in the bottom of my feet, and the overwhelming sense of its vast and dangerous depth. The knowledge of God is not like that, though it can indeed carry an element of overwhelming otherne

“Quite simply, the events…usually spoken of in terms of God’s “special” action may be seen, not as the product of some kind of divine interference with the world, in which the laws of nature are set aside or manipulated. Rather, they may be seen as the outward manifestation in this world of something that is already present but hidden within it: what we can properly call its “natural” state. The miraculous is not, in this perspective, the result of something being added to th

“God works invisibly beneath our actions to deal with desperate circumstances. He uses our striving to face troubles and perils to carry out His will… We may act skillfully or clumsily. We may live wisely or foolishly. We may be clever or clueless, but the Almighty is with us. He is always working beneath what we do to fulfill His will in our lives. So let us abandon our pride and give Him the glory whether what we do turns out well or badly. Thus, let us trust that ultimatel

“You need an attitude of gratitude!” This was the response that an amazing prisoner gave me, when I asked him how he maintained a positive spirit inside the medium security prison where he lived.…when I asked…what was his secret to living a Christ-centered life in prison, he surprisingly responded, “An attitude of gratitude. You need to always see things for which you can be grateful, and then consciously thank God for them. Never focus on what you don’t have, or on how unfai

“The story of Christianity is the story of humanity’s rebellion against God.” (John Moriarty) “It is possible to find those who consider themselves enemies of God. But most people would deny it. Instead, many may admit that “God” does not mean much to them. They harbor no ill will toward God as long as He doesn’t interfere with their lives…this attitude is the bedrock of human sinfulness. From the initial sin of Adam and Eve, humankind has declared its independence from its C