Speaking to adolescents, I have often used this imagery of the inner temple to help them understand the Church's teaching regarding sexual intimacy. There is a 'narthex' of the soul, our 'outer courtyard.' This most public part of our lives represents the face we show the world. It is a place of...

It was said of Abba John the Dwarf that he withdrew and lived in the desert at Scetis with an old man of Thebes. His abba, taking a piece of dry wood, planted it and said to him, 'Water it every day with a bottle of water, until it bears fruit.' Now the water was so far away that he had to leave in...

What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as 'play' is perhaps what he Himself takes most seriously. At any rate, the Lord plays and diverts Himself in the garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with what we think is...

Abba Gregory said, 'The whole life of a man is but one single day for those who are working hard with longing.'

There is within us the very image of God: 'life and the kingdom...the treasures of grace.' If shame is part of our answer to the question, 'How do I feel about who I am?' this path reminds us that the truth of who I am is not found on the surface. Who I am is not to be mistaken for the 'garments of...