SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Gratitude is strongest in times of want and weakest at times of abundance. This is one of life's greatest ironies…by sharing the little we have with guests, we find that God blesses us with the paradox of abundance amidst poverty…Listen to the stories of people who went through hard times, such as those who lived through the Great Depression or the years of World War II. Certainly there were horrible and frightful moments of terror that elicit pain. But enduring through thos

“Our time is filled with sorrows; they are by the grace of The Creator an instrument of God’s Providence, at the same time, they also manage to serve “two masters”, becoming “loyal servants” of the enemy of the human race. It is this weapon that our enemy uses most effectively, undermining the faith of the weak in the wisdom of God’s Providence, causing cowardice, murmuring, and despair. All of this leaves a person with only sorrow itself alone, depriving them of a saving fru

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple (Lk 14.26). This is the extreme and terrifying warning against all passionate attachments stronger and more powerful than one’s passionate attachment to Christ alone. And the greatest passion of all which keeps one from the love of God and the love of one’s neighbor is the sinful passion for oneself. Sinful sel

“Struggle is inescapable, for if we are not struggling in the service of Jesus, we will be struggling in the service of sin…In Christ, by contrast, we have a relationship with the living God. He loves us, illumines us, stands with us, and forgives us as we struggle to have Him and His being formed within our hearts and souls.” (Robin Phillips, Dynamis 9/7/2018) “There is an ascetic imperative, an utter necessity to enter into the struggle that is Christ’s own struggle. We fas

“…God Himself takes on human form to reveal man’s vocation and meaning as divine. From this moment onward man is free. Nothing stands over him, for the very world is his as a gift from God to fulfill his divine destiny….Tragically, too many people do not hear this voice of Jesus as the voice of Love Incarnate calling us to repent, to sacrifice, to have sacrificial love in order to have the greatest joy, to have our deepest desires fulfilled, to find our true selves, to fulfil

“…love for a person does not at all mean blindness and thoughtlessness; it does not at all mean some sort of self-deception. The loving person sees the inadequacies, vices, and weaknesses of another, but above all this observation stands another, higher knowledge—namely: that a human being is something immeasurably greater than the sum total of his vices, sins, and inadequacies. Every human being is a child of God, who unconditionally deserves love. And all the darkness that

“Why was the entire dispensation of history and work of Christ necessary? Could not God simply have saved humankind by fiat?...The solution God has provided is to heal our nature from the inside out. By joining His divine, eternal life to human flesh, Jesus Christ has overcome the power of death; hence mortality will be abandoned in the grave when the universal resurrection dawns. If this explanation is not sufficient for the inquirer, ‘Say something like this to reasonable p

“…the witness of Christians generally is seriously hindered in the modern secular world by the great variety of voices that all claim to speak authoritatively for Christianity.” (Dr. Mary S. Ford) “Christ is giving a humbling lesson to His chosen Apostles about how difficult evangelism will prove to be. Even if you are offering people eternal life and entrance into God’s Kingdom, they may not believe you or may not be interested in your offer. Evangelism must be done in love,

Quotes of the Day for October 16, 2025 – Thoughts on theosis and union with Christ “…the goal of the spiritual life is theosis, union with God, such a union does not represent the loss of our humanity. Rather, it entails its fulfillment. We say of Christ that He is fully God and fully man. Our own path to theosis is not found beyond our humanity, but within it. As we have become fascinated with the power and potential of our technology, we even imagine such things as the marr

“…humility is the acceptance of healthy shame in a manner that allows us to see the truth of ourselves as well as the truth of God…Humility is not a virtue in which we think less of ourselves, as in self-denigration. Rather, humility is a strength of the self, an ability to bear our own healthy shame. It allows us to see the excellence and strength of others and not be threatened or shamed. Our well-being does not require the misfortune of others.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “G