SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Ancient people (and most non-Western societies today) did not think in this way. They acknowledged that there were both physical and spiritual elements to the world, but far from seeing them as separate domains, they viewed them as fundamentally interrelated. The idea is that there is a physical component to all spirituality and a spiritual meaning in all physical things.” (Dr. Zachary Porcu) “Ancient people did not believe that the lights in the sky were angels, whereas now

“Christ himself did not preach “faith alone,” but a rather more complex picture of salvation that also involved repentance and self-denial…The foremost question we must resolve is one of desire (Mark 8:34-35)…we declare that our foremost desire is to follow Him [Christ]. But let us ask ourselves if this truly our heart’s desire. Our criteria for determining whether or not this is so can be found in the three conditions that the Lord stipulates in these verses: self-denial, ta

“Today the words of the Apostle of love, John the Theologian, knock at our hearts—words that sound like a sword cutting in two all the complexity of our being: He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11). In these simple words lies the entire optics of the Christian life. We often confuse goodness with natural gentleness, good manners, or merely a fleeting emotional impulse. But the Apostle speaks of something else. Goodness is not a chara

“We may abandon God, but He never abandons us. Our actions may cause us to leave His loving embrace, but His love endures…nothing can separate us from God. He is with us, in our health. He is with us in our pain. He is with us in our healing. Yet, regardless of where we are at any given moment, He is still with us.” (Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, D. Min, Jackie Morfesis) “The presence of the Holy Spirit, then, brings us into the presence of Christ “through faith” (Eph

“Spiritual warfare is what we fight against daily; but let us remember that in fighting the darkness and the adverse powers, we must not open the portals in our armor to become agents of the darkness itself. How is this possible? This is possible when we foment hatred and anger in our hearts. When we judge our brothers and sisters because we see them as the enemy, as someone to overcome and defeat. Christ already defeated death with death. The thief comes but to steal, and to

“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 offers us the choice to “eat the good things of the land” or “be devoured by the sword” (Isaiah 1:19-20). What is inescapable...

“To be made in the image of God is a sign of highest dignity; so high, in fact, that outside of Christ no human being can even be said to...

“In deepest Darkness, we often “see the Light” while, by contrast, In brightest Light, we often become Blind.” (Timothy G. Patitsas) “In...

“From a lack of contentment comes death…What we see in the Garden is paradise. A place of intimate and immediate communion with God,...