SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The thinkers of the Enlightenment wanted a fixed and miracle-free universe so that science could operate without guidance from religion, which they saw as superstition. But living systems–complex and organic systems–live through cycles of death and life and, in some way that even science should recognize, are always miraculous…What we already believe shapes how we see things. It is why some see a miracle and others only see an event with a natural explanation. It is why mira

“In thinking about darkness and light – and their role in our apprehension of the truth – I cannot but think about Beauty, which is a primary place in which the light of God is made manifest among us (if rightly perceived). The heart that is full of darkness cannot truly perceive beauty: the heart which is full of light, cannot help but perceive it. Perhaps a measure of our heart can be found in how we perceive the world around us: is it primarily a place of beauty or darknes

“…the holy and the numinous do not need to exalt themselves with publicity or fanfare. But it will permeate the world, one by one, touching those in their very deepest soul of souls. In the quiet, in the stillness, God speaks to our brokenness. When we cry to Him in our suffering, when no one is looking, He hears. And He comes to us in the cave of our hearts. This is when we receive our callings.” (Jackie Morfesis) “Music is formed by the silence between notes, poetry comes i

“Someone begins to lose faith when his mind lacks the knowledge of God. A very common excuse, “How can I believe in God if there is so much evil in the world?” shows that the person in question knows very little or even practically nothing about the true faith. Evil appeared in people’s lives with sin, and the cause of injustice, betrayal, murder and other horrors is precisely sin. Let’s recall the First Epistle of the Apostle John the Evangelist: We know that we are of God,

“You can know life only through life itself. In other words, the practical application of the Scriptures builds up our relationship with God. We learn from the Bible about Christian life and find the basis for deep faith, because, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).” (Priest Anthony Rusakevich) “St. John of Damascus’s remark: Let us draw from the fountain of this garden [the Scriptures] perennial and purest waters springing into life

“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

“Trials should be distinguished from temptations. Trials come directly from the God of Providence, while temptations come directly from the evil spirits, although they are allowed by God. Trials are neither saving nor leading to spiritual death in themselves; they are only reasons for the manifestation of human will in relation to what the Lord gives us. The purpose of temptations is spiritual death, although they disguise themselves as something harmless and even good. Tempt

“God is an obvious reality, but man is a paradoxical being—God’s beloved creation, fallen away from real life and caught in some fiction,...

“Every human being who comes into this world is unique, and all are given the opportunity to know God.” (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica) “We...

“In shame, the only thing we accept is our failure and the idea that we deserve perpetual punishment….The shame we are speaking of is a...