Category: The Morning Offering

Being in the presence of God for all eternity, and hating it One of my favorite authors as a young man was Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk. In the introduction to his work New Seeds of Contemplation he wrote: “Hell was where no one has anything in common with

Being sensitive to other peoples crosses We humans are an odd species. We are capable of great sensitivity and compassion, yet we are also capable of terrible cruelty. Staring at people with facial deformities, or who may have peculiar, physically malformed bodies, may satisfy our innate curiosity, but the cruelty

Prayer with force is higher than prayer unforced Prayer is a discipline we must nurture, and one that must become a lifetime commitment. We must develop a lifestyle of prayer that is not merely a routine, but something that absorbs us completely. As we Christians go through ups and downs

Ask for repentance in your prayer and nothing else The first step in becoming truly repentant is found in a heartfelt contrition before God for our sins. Saint Paul tells us that we must “Pray without ceasing (Thessalonians 5:17)”, and the Church Fathers saw this as the basis for the

Becoming partakers of the Divine Nature Although our regeneration began with baptism, our repentance opens the gates to grace after grace. Repentance is the second regeneration in that through our repentance, the door to the mercy of God opens wide. In being regenerated by God’s mercy, we are justified before

And the forgetfulness of the things of God The passions that create a state of unrest in our hearts cause us to forget the real purpose of our life, which is union with God. Saint Basil the Great tells us we cannot approach the knowledge of the truth with a

We must destroy the ego Modern psychology has told us we must feel good about ourselves and instructed us to reject the idea of guilt and sin. Sin is seen as religion’s instrument for keeping people in line, making them dependent on an institution that should be relegated to the

The Church, like a forest, provides needed oxygen Growing up in Northern Idaho, I was surrounded by mountains and forests. I don’t remember a time when forests did not tug at my heart and fill my imagination with thoughts of adventure. As a small child my parents took my brother

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2).” While sitting in Victoria, B.C’s, Murchie’s sidewalk cafe, back in June of 2013, with my friend Mitred Archpriest Basil Rhodes, we noticed a homeless man stop behind me. The man was staring at our food,

Man was not created for earth, but for heaven The times we live in are not easy ones, and these difficult times are causing more and more people to lose hope. The struggle just to stay the course has become increasingly stressful for ever-increasing numbers of people, and Christians are