SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“To come face to face with the living God…is a humbling, wondrous, life-changing experience…In Saint Paul’s case, a face-to-face confrontation with God enlightened his inner being and illumined the darkness of his hatred and self-righteousness. God changed Saul of Tarsus from a mere man into a holy apostle. After his baptism, Saint Paul withdrew into Arabia and avoided the centers of Christian activity. He had faced the Lord Jesus, and he needed time to assimilate all that ha

“What then is the source of contention in human society? The apostle’s penetrating insight discloses that the cause is found in the “desires for pleasure” (James 4:1). But the term that this phrase translates has a broader meaning than this phrase suggests. It refers to sensual gratifications, that is, insatiable lusts (vs. 1). James says that these passions “war in your members” (vs. 4:1). He does not mean that the cravings set different parts of the body against each other.

“To undertake this reverse orientation and remain ever true to Christ, our hearts must be committed to Christ first and foremost. In the original Greek text of verse 5, the word aplóteti (“sincerity”) connotes “singleness, simplicity, being uncompounded, pure, or even sound.” The Lord requires this of us, for “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ma

“Sin works in the soul and heart, but most terribly in the mind (Romans 1:28) or nous, which is the center or eye of the heart according to the Church Fathers. Sin corrupts and distorts the governing of our being at the very core so that our inward faculties become deranged. If we allow sin to rage freely, we risk become fully debased. As this inward struggle unfolds, it leads us to physical acts of the flesh. Sin always begins inside us, within our interior life; only second

“… when we deal with suffering it can be difficult to understand and convey why things are happening. St. Paul writes of suffering (and remember, he suffered a lot), “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18). This can be difficult to remember or to find consolation from when we are in the midst of trials.” (Melissa Tsongranis) “It is, of course, one thing to say that our

“As we tend to center our world (and ourselves) in the question of our choices, we are constantly tempted to justify those we feel were wrong. By the same token, we bring an anxiety about the choices that are yet to come. The power of goodness is not within our choice. We do not create the good – it is given to us. The impossible reality that surrounds our choices is seen when we examine the limits of our existence. We cannot see the consequences of our actions (beyond the mo

“We hear it frequently remarked that it matters not what one believes if he does right. But if one does not believe right, he does not do the right thing—that is, if his belief is sincere and carried out in practice. If one believes that which is wrong, and still acts otherwise from force of circumstance, he is wrong in heart.” (St. Sebastian Dabovich) “We learn from this passage [Philippians 1:8-14] that our witness to our faith in Christ should be as open as Paul’s testimon

“Shall I not punish them for these things? The Hebrew word translated punish (Jeremiah 9:9), literally meaning “to visit,” can be used of the visitation of God in mercy (Ps. 65:9) or in wrath…Punishment feeling like mercy or wrath has everything to do with us, not some sort of mood God is in. When God, who loves us too much to leave us in a state of sin, “visits” us with punishment to awaken us and correct us, our reaction to it determines experiencing it as mercy or wrath.”

“The Hebrew word for pride comes from a root that means “to boil up”; it refers to a raging arrogance or insolence.” (Foundation Study Bible, Proverbs 11:2) “It’s not a stretch in any way to equate pride with evil. Christian tradition teaches that Lucifer, the angel of light and music, committed the first sin ever, in Heaven no less, which is something many do not consider…Pride is the first sin that was committed in heaven and on earth. It was the voice of Lucifer that cried

“In the ongoing life of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ is the constant. He precedes all clarification of the truth in the midst of disputes, for He is ever the Lord and Master. As the Life, the Way, and the Truth, He is prior to all theology worthy of His name.” (Dynamis 5/12/2018) “Constant meditation upon the holy Scriptures will perpetually fill the soul with incomprehensible ecstasy and joy in God." (St. Isaac the Syrian) “What do we obtain from constant prayer? First