SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Scripture memorializes two types of events. On the one hand, the righteous exploits of God working through His saints (e.g., Ps 104) are held up as examples to be followed. On the other hand, there are the mistakes of the people of God and their consequences (e.g. Ps 105)…In various circumstances, every human is both the committer of sin and its victim. For this reason, even when God gives sinful humanity over to the consequences of their sin, they are measured and aimed at

“St. John the Forerunner witnesses that he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus at His baptism – this is how he knew that Jesus is the Messiah. Additionally, the fact that the Holy Spirit not only descended on Jesus but remained upon Him, signifies that God is restoring humanity to its glorious original position. In Genesis 6: 3, just before the Great Flood, God in His disappointment with sinful humanity says His Spirit will not remain on us forever. Now in Christ, the Holy

“In order to have a center formed in oneself and to be able to pray from that secret place, it is imperative that one put one's time in before God, every day without fail. Specific periods of watchfulness and prayer must be set aside each day, especially in the morning and evening.” (Hieromonk Damascene Christensen) “ ‘By practicing watchfulness, we essentially fulfill all the commandments—both those of the Old Testament and those of the New Testament. Sometimes we ask: “Wha

“How do we experience God? Do we hear voices? Do we sense a presence? Are there physical sensations involved? Should we see light or feel warmed? Some may be surprised to hear that our belief in God is not based in an interior human experience. Such things stretch across an incredible variety (such is the nature of human experience). However, none of these are definitive, none of them meet the standard of canonical authority, and none of them make the stuff of persuasive reli

“Christ is the New Adam. He comes to repair the damage inflicted on life by Adam, to restore man to true life, and thus he also begins with fasting. ‘When he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he became hungry’ (Matthew 4:2). Hunger is that state in which we realize our dependence on something else – when we urgently and essentially need food – showing thus that we have no life in ourselves.” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann) “To understand fasting as simply abstaining from meat and d

“God is free and cannot be expected to behave in a predictable manner (known to us). We can expect certain things according to His promise, but even those things remain largely hidden. For example, we can trust that He is always at all times and in all things working for our salvation, our true communion with Him and healing from the ravages of our brokenness. But we are creatures who dream of being gods, though entering by a false door. Rather than being raised up and confor

“What more can be said about this other than what Christ Himself said? Do not sound a trumpet before you (Matt. 6:2). There was a custom that the Pharisees especially loved to follow: to stand on the crossroads and sound a trumpet, to give a signal that the needy should run to them, then triumphantly hand each one some small coin—as if they were handing out rewards. Do you recall how Christ valued the widow’s mite? She gave less than everyone, but He considered her sacrifice

“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,

“….a child at play is a child engaging in ritual activities. Rituals have rules, meaning, purpose, even repetition. It is not childish – it is merely human…Those who utter phrases such as “empty ritual” (something I’ve heard all my life) forget that it is God who first gave ritual to the people of Israel. This primary story about the faith runs counter to modern intuitions. For we presume that real things and true things are in the mind. It is thought and sentiment that we co

“The overwhelming grace of God shines through this memorable story. There is no record of Zacchaeus asking explicitly for the forgiveness and mercy of the Lord. All that he did was to climb a tree out of curiosity, but that was enough to begin to open himself to the healing divine energies of Christ…Zacchaeus passionately desired to see Christ. Such a longing on the part of a publican testifies that although according to God’s law his life is unworthy—unworthy of him as a hum