SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews contains these powerful words: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever’ (Heb. 13:8). God’s love has not gone anywhere from us—it is we who have grown spiritually poor; but grace in the world is no less today than it was in the days of the apostles. We often look for the root of our problems in external things, forgetting that a ship does not sink because of the water around it, but because of the water that gets

“When we come to realize the numerous mistakes that we have made and our shortcomings, we should start reforming the way we untangle tangled threads, for instance. It is useless to fiddle about with a bundle of tangled threads—nothing will come of it. We should take one thread, find the tip, start pulling it out, and so the whole ball will gradually unravel. That is why prudence, graduality, and patience are required in spiritual life.” (Priest Anthony Borisov) “Maturation in

“….though wealth isn’t inherently evil, we must vigilantly guard against the temptation it brings.” (Dylan Pahman) “There is a tension in the Gospels between being a follower of Christ and being wealthy. Some have wondered whether in fact rich people can be saved or if their pursuing mammon already makes them at odds with Christ and the Gospel…wealth is a blessing from God and can be used for godly purposes. It is up to the prosperous to realize this and to use their possessi

“Thus, we can’t look to Adam or the book of Genesis to see human perfection because Adam was not created perfect; he was only potentially perfectible. We will not find in the book of Genesis how to be a perfect human. Adam did not fall from a state of perfection, rather he failed to develop this potential in himself. Jesus Christ is the perfect human and it is only from Him that we can understand what human perfection means. And Christ was born as a baby who also had to grow

“The Cross represents the voluntary offering of the incarnate Son of God who shared our fallen human nature. On the Cross, Christ gave up His life to deliver us from the powers of sin and death. In doing so, He was both the offering and the priest who offered it. No one took His life from Him, but He gave it up in the role of our High Priest. He did this that we might be freed from captivity to corruption and have eternal life.” (Fr. Basil) “Jesus will go to His death as an a

“There are two kinds of fear: one initial, and the other perfect… For example, he who fulfills the will of God out of fear of punishment is still a beginner, for he does not yet do good for the sake of goodness itself, but out of fear of punishment. But he who fulfills the will of God out of love for Him, loving Him simply in order to please Him—this one knows what true good is; he has understood what it means to be with God. Such a person fears God and fulfills His will no l

“God needs a place in our hearts, to grab a hold of something in a man’s soul. Then the man can be helped. But if his heart and soul are...

“In today’s gospel passage [Matthew 10:9-15] the Lord Jesus reviews the material provisions we need as we engage in the task of...

“After we have repented of our sins, renounced our wickedness, and have been purified by baptism, we turn back to the eternal light, as...

“The Spirit of God is present to help, for He is our foremost helper. He calls us to prayer. The trouble, however, is “we do not know...