SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Understood accurately, asceticism is about Beauty; it’s about attempting to be the sort of artists who won’t betray what they have seen of the beautiful. For example, we don’t fast in order to be good, but rather so that our devotion, our eros for Christ’s Beauty, will be absolute. Moral effort only matters when it expands that ascetic effort into the arena of Goodness. Moral struggle has to be an amplification of asceticism, never a substitute. It has to be the working out

“Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness or unforgiveness of your sins, then, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation. You can see for yourself how serious it is…Our Lord Jesus gives us the teaching regarding forgiveness. He tells us that forgiveness is an integral part of the kingdom of heaven, and the

“ On the day of Christ’s birth, the regular events of human history began to be penetrated by eternal events: the Incarnation, the redemption on the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the sitting at the Father’s right hand…the Nativity was not properly the beginning of the Life of Christ, but rather a bodily extension of His eternal spiritual presence. His Incarnation was only the means for His entry into the world in order to carry out the strategy designed by God f

“Our modernity thirsts for fun and is quite refined at coming up with ways to amuse ourselves. But having fun doesn’t mean having joy. Fun is often just the feverish fluttering of the wings of a soul stricken by despair. Joy lives by the invincible certainty that its object can never be forcibly taken away—not today, not tomorrow, never. Modernity has lost faith in the very possibility of such joy. Thus, we must remind it all the more insistently that such joy is possible in

“The challenge today is not so much that people don’t believe in God; it’s that they don’t believe in a personal God. There is more of a sense that God is “something up there” as opposed to “someone who is here…Without ceasing to be “up there”, God is now also “down here” among us, saving His world from the inside out.” (Sacramental Living Ministries, Fr. Lawrence Farley) “Sky is a thirteenth-century borrowing from Old Norse, referring to the clouds or the region where the cl

“… ‘The night is far spent, the day is at hand’ (Rom 13:12). Night is the time of darkness, when most crimes are committed. Night is also the sinful state of the soul that does not want to know God and does not strive for salvation. Predators hunt at night, and the enemy of mankind works in darkness, “like a lion roaring after its prey, seeking whom he might destroy.” I am the light of the world, says the Lord. He chases away the darkness of night, and grants people the Light

“I am always leery when asked about various spiritual undertakings. Whether it’s a rule of prayer or a rule of fasting, the true struggle is never found in doing what is extraordinary. It is, rather, the very difficult matter of enduring what is given to us. God, in His providence, allows us all that is necessary for our salvation. Grace is primarily found within the ordinary faithfulness of our life.” (Father Stephen Freeman) “Notice the Archangel Gabriel’s words to the Theo

“The Lord allows a man's vices to humble his soul. Perhaps he will turn from them. But courage is one of the general virtues begotten by Wisdom. Courageous people enrich others in virtue.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 10:4) “When you think of what it takes to be a Christian, does the word “courage” ever come to mind? The first words that tend to come mind when describing what it takes to be a Christian are usually the obvious ones like faith and trust. Certainly those are

“Saint Maximos [the Confessor], as we just said, uses the term logos, with a small “l,” for each thing’s specific and particular share of the self-offering of the Logos. By this, the saint indicates that the identity of each thing that exists is a dimension or facet of the “big L” Logos, Christ Himself. Let us repeat, these logoi are not “things” themselves but the particular love with which Christ condescends to each created thing, so that each bit of creation will see in Ch

“…when you have new experiences, you never know what good will come out of them. You never know what you might be able to learn, how you might be able to grow. And, most importantly, you never know how your experiences will enable you to help others later on.” (Robin Phillips) “You never know where life will take you…When a day starts you never know how it’s going to end. That’s why I love that morning prayer, “Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with pe