SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Righteousness here does not mean sinlessness; rather, it means wholeness—when a person’s heart is united with God, the true Source. The word of the righteous is not always elegant. It may be simple, even severe. Yet it always possesses a certain vertical quality—it lifts us above the noise and vanity of life. The fruit of such speech is peace. After speaking with such a person, you do not feel “overloaded” with information; you feel revived. Anxiety leaves your soul, and the

“Freedom is a paradox. It is an utterly inherent part of our existence – a critical part of our salvation – and yet threatening in its power. Freedom of the self can seem a threat to every kind of order (religious, political, social, etc.). Nevertheless, we are told in Scripture that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom)” (2 Corinthians 3:17). St. Paul will also warn in his letter to the Galatians (5:13) that our liberty should not be used as an excuse

“Unfortunately, the spirit of moralism which we mentioned earlier, i.e., basing the Christian life on moral improvement, has adversely influenced the piety and spirituality of Christians to a significant degree even here in our land…Guidance that only aims for moral improvement is anthropocentric - it is centered on man, and in it, human effort dominates, and not the Grace of God. It then seems as if it is our own morality that saves us, and not the Grace of God. Life under t

“…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

Quotes of the Day for March 11, 2026 – Thoughts on lives transformed “Perhaps there is nothing so powerful as a testimony of a life transformed. I don’t believe it’s necessary to suffer so deeply that one’s life is crushed seemingly beyond repair, broken into a hundred pieces, before we fall to our knees and hear God’s longing for our soul. But this we do know; it certainly is an explosive doorway and being witness to God’s mercy. Pain transformed is holy space.” (Jackie Morf

“The greatest obstacle to sharing Christ’s pastoral care is the temptation to serve only ourselves. We may give in to weariness, or simply become indifferent to others. However, the Lord Himself calls us to this struggle!” (Dynamis 9/2/2021) “All the truths that are given to us in the Gospel, that the Church presents to us in the Apostolic Epistles, in the Church’s typikon, speak of one and the same thing: that saving your soul, and even more so the souls of others, takes tim

“To establish a solid and fruitful relationship with God and build himself up spiritually, a Christian must be attentive to himself. He needs a permanent attitude of vigilance (nepsis) to avoid evil thoughts (including diverting thoughts) and must remain attentive to God in undistracted prayer so as to develop a solid and fruitful relationship with God, which also builds him up spiritually by uniting him with the One God.” (Jean-Claude Larchet) “The fruits of sincere prayer a

“While very detailed instructions are given for other elements of sacrificial rituals, none are given for the means of killing the animals involved. To sacrifice something is not to kill it, but to eat it as a sacred meal. This required its death, whether the sacrifice was of animals or plants (such as first fruits from the harvest and grain offerings).” (Fr. Stephen De Young) “…the empty formalism of ritual sacrifices will not make up for sin. Perfunctory religious practices

“Throw out of your head the idea that you can, through a comfortable life, become what you must be in Christ!...We think as humans, and God thinks differently—there is a deep meaning in His actions, aimed above all at the salvation of our souls. For example, we often think, “This is my place, I feel comfortable here, and it is here that I can attain salvation.” But the Lord sees everything differently and puts us in circumstances that seem very unpleasant to us, but it is thi

“Fasting needn’t be limited to abstinence from food alone, because true fasting is departure from evil deeds. Forgive your neighbor any insult, abstain from causing your neighbor offence, abstain from irritation, from senseless sorrows, from fear, wrath, and so on. ‘True fasting is alienation from evil, temperance of the tongue, setting aside of wrath, casting out of lust, idle talk, lies, and oath-breaking’…This is a true and pleasing fast for the Lord. Departing from these