The Kingdom Within

Everything we have in the life of the Church is part of God's divine prescription for our healing that allows us to come into communion with Christ and to grow in our faith. In Part Four of the Four Pillars Retreat Series, we look at how daily spiritual practices ground and nourish our faith. 

"Just as there are 'better angels of our nature,' there are also 'lesser angels' of our nature. We have the capacity for compassion, but we also have the capacity for indifference. We have the capacity for forgiveness and for resentment. We can build bridges and we can burn them, we can heal and and we can hurt. We have to very intentionally choose the path of compassion and forgiveness and healing, and of all those things carried in that phrase 'the better angels of our nature.'"

Sometimes, it's hard to know God's plan for us. But if we're being truthful, even when his plan is clear, it can still be hard to process. Here are some thoughts on what to do when all we want to do is walk away.

In part two in a series on the "Four Pillars of Our Healing" we learn that it's not only hard to sometimes see the forest for the trees, it is also hard to see the Tree for all the noise.  Sound cryptic? Listen on!

In Part One in a series of episodes that look at the "Four Pillars of Our Spiritual Life," we learn how the Christian Gospel broadens the scope of what we know as "my life."

In the Garden of Eden, God gave humanity one rule and that was a fast. That means that the essence of sin relates to our appetites. Appetites are natural, but harmful if they get away from us.

St. Isaac the Syrian said: “Enter eagerly into the treasure-house that lies within you, and so you will see the treasure-house of heaven; for the two are the same, and there is but one single entry to them both.” The thing is, the journey into the treasure-house of the soul looks like the spiritual version of an Indiana Jones movie. In the words of St. John of Kronstadt: "My life is a lengthy, stubborn, and constant battle with myself, a battle which I am waging at present being constantly fortified by God's grace." Fortunately, this isn't a journey that we have to take by ourselves.

The story of the Publican and the Pharisee, martial arts, and this quote from St. Porphyrios: "When a temptation threatens to inflict you, don’t fight it..." Listen in to find out how we tie all of this together.

The story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 is only 10 verses long, but it contains some valuable insights about our relationship with God.