Emptiness
“Most believers go through times of spiritual emptiness. They feel that they are in a spiritual “black hole.” Their heart feels hollow. They keep going, but they are running on an empty tank…When we lose our purpose and meaning, we ask ourselves, what is the use? We no longer hope that anything good will come from our efforts. Therefore, above all, Paul prays that hearts of the Holy Spirit would “overflow in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). We earnestly d
Faith, Trust, and Belief
“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
Crucifixion
“Christ accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but so that by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy this last enemy, which is death itself." (Orthodox Study Bible, Matthew 27:50) “Christ, crucified and risen, is our Paschal lamb, our Passover. United to Him in baptism, our life becomes an unending deliverance from evil…Evil i
Rest/Renewal/Restoration
“The Apostle Paul declares, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (vs. 16). This process of renewal continues unabated inside us, because we are united to Christ. Even in our worn and sinful hearts can undergo wonderful, renewing change. However, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. We must stop looking “at the things which are seen, but [rather look steadily] at the things which are not s
Family and Relationships
“...human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself…Real relationships with others, with all the challenges they entail, now tend to be replaced by a type of internet communication which enables us to choose or eliminate relationships at whim, thus giving rise to a new type of contrived emotion which has more to do with devices and displays than with other people and with nature." (Pope