SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The difference between obligation and obedience is more than mere semantics. An obligation is imposed on us, but obedience, as the Church uses and understands that term, is self-chosen…The Greek word for “obedience” is hypakoe. It comes from the root word akouo (“to hear”). The relationship between hearing and obedience is clear in the Scriptures: one obeys when one hears the word of God and does it.” (Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou) “While knowing that the people you ar

“The Church is not merely a refuge from the troubles and sorrow of the world, though it can be that. Its real purpose is to equip us to go out of the church and into the world to be witnesses to the Gospel (Luke 24:48), to be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14), and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). We don’t go to church to escape the world or to withdraw from it. When Jesus prayed for us to His Father, he petitioned: I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but

“There is an etymological connection between authority and authenticity. The word authentic is from the Greek authentikos, meaning “original, genuine, principal,” and from authentes, “one acting on one’s own authority.” God, as the author of all being, is the only one whose authority is not derivative. For the rest of us, if we have genuine authority, it must be rooted in some way from above. In order for a created being to have authority, we must be subject to authority.” (N

“While the rich man was probably being sincere when he insisted I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws [Mark 10:20], he had confined his righteousness to external obedience. The rich man’s response to Jesus’ command to give away all he had revealed that internally he loved money more than God.” (NET Bible, Mark 10:20) “Obedience is good but true obedience to God is evidenced by how we are obedient. It is easy to be unconsciously legalistic and think we are being obedient

“When we separate faith from everything else, we make it into belief. It becomes the assent to the truth of something that cannot be proven by empirical evidence. The Book of James addresses this mistaken thought directly when it says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (OSB James 2:24)… Paul speaks of “faith active” in love. This poignant phrase indicates that Paul would agree with James, who wrote against the idea of “faith alone.” He ins

“Any form or expression of authority, then, must not be the expression of human pride but of humility before God, of assimilation to the divine hierarchy, and of obedience to the will of Him who alone is called Father (cf. Mt. 23:9). Such obedience is of the very essence ("esse") not simply the well-being ("bene esse") of humanity.” (Rev. John Chryssavgis) “All authority is for the sake of loving service (all authority is humbling) and all submission is to God (all submission