“The ancient Greek word ecclesia means to be called into authentic community. It is within the Church that our personal transformation is intimately connected with the interaction we have with our fellow believers as we run side by side with them.” (Abbott Tryphon)
“...we must go beyond thinking about ourselves to knowing about ourselves, that is, knowing our true-self or authentic-self in Christ. This doesn’t come from merely using our mind. We must go deeper, to that which comes from our heart.” (Father David L. Fontes, PsyD)
“Young people, especially, are turned off to the inauthentic. They can see when their parents or even their priests are simply going through the motions of religiosity. They will not commit to a life that demands sacrifice if they do not see it lived out in the lives of their elders.” (Abbot
Tryphon)
“If we live with the right heart, an authentic heart, despite any flaws we have, God helps us grow toward Him and in Him.” God helps us do this because our hearts are what are so important to Him and He is willing to help us overcome major flaws within ourselves in order to draw us closer to Him. The Bible reads in 1 Samuel 16:7 (or 1 Kingdom 16:7 LXX), ‘For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ ”(Sacramental Living)
“We know God as transcendent, as far away; one of the feelings of truly authentic experience of God is that of awe, that of feeling annihilated in His awesome and distant Presence. However, it is also true that the opposite feeling is also part of true and authentic religious experience: that is to feel God as immanent, and intimately close and nearby and present.” (Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh)