Sacramental Living

Join Michael in a discussion about the debilitating type of anxiety based on lies that can lead to hopelessness, and what we need to do to overcome it.

Join Michael as he tells the story of a loved one’s final forty-eight hours and explores death as both sorrowful and strangely beautiful, revealing God’s grace, the power of love, and the hope of resurrection, even in life’s most painful moments.

Join Michael as he shares a personal experience and discusses the challenge of facing uncomfortable truths about ourselves that are necessary for our spiritual growth.

Join Michael in a discussion about how the culture we live in deeply effects our spirituality, and how the pragmatism of American culture, in general, can kill our spirit and what we need to do to maintain our connection with God.

Join Michael for an in-depth discussion of brokenness in our lives, how it can be either transformative or debilitating, and how to make sense of what the Gospels and Epistles say about having peace and joy within our suffering.

Join Michael as he compares the corporate world of business to what goes on in the Church, but also how a lack of corporate appreciation and understanding as an underpinning of reality at home, the arts, and in other aspects of life, is pervasive in its negative effects.

Join Michael in a discussion about what the abundant life is that Christ wants to give us; what is the experience of this life now amidst all of the daily worries, stresses and anxieties; and how learning to see and experience all of life as liturgical and Eucharistic is key to living how God wants us to live

Join Michael in a discussion about how we easily succumb to delusional thinking due to our egos, how this is a great detriment to ourselves and others, and what we can do to overcome it and move toward salvation and not destruction.

Join Michael in a discussion of how the quest for high self-esteem, and even having low self-esteem, often take us in the opposite direction of God, and what we need to do to break free of this self-made prison and become who we are meant to be in Christ.

Join Michael as he discusses what combat with the true enemy looks like, the weapons and strategies we should employ, and the trap we can fall into if we don’t learn how to see deeper spiritually.

Join Michael as he explores the difference between loneliness and being alone, and how we can be more aware and supportive to anyone struggling with debilitating loneliness.

Join Michael in a discussion of what is means to live as a pilgrim of Christ and how to understand and address our deep yearning and longing of unmet desire in a world of restlessness, noise, and distraction.

Join Michael in a discussion of God’s goodness versus our own goodness, and why the prevalent cultural belief of many that all you have to be is a good person is results in so many unintended consequences.

Join Michael in a discussion of our desires, how they get in the away of the elusive peace we seek, and what we need to do to find true contentment.

Join Michael in a discussion about how many people are haunted by a spiritual reality they consciously or unconsciously acknowledge, especially during times of tragedy and loss, and how to minister to them through relationship and storytelling.

Join Michael in a discussion about an encounter he had with man with severe facial injuries, and what it caused him to reflect on concerning the face of Christ and the theological understanding of our faces that should guide our daily encounters with everyone.

Join Michael in a discussion of the difficulty of getting out of our own heads, the cultural and spiritual challenges that perpetuate this, and leaning to live our faith through our hearts and not just our minds.

Join Michael in a discussion of how to guard our hearts and minds against the ancient sins of infidelity and individualism that are both subtle and celebrated in today’s culture.

Join Michael is a discussion on our need to navigate the difficult liminal spaces in our lives with patience and discernment, as illustrated beautifully in the story of St. Mary of Egypt, and how it is possible to overcome sin and depravity to fulfill our calling to become saints and living icons of Christ.

Join Michael in a discussion of some of the spiritual pitfalls we can fall into during Great Lent if we are not careful and attentive to its true purpose

Join Michael in a discussion of God’s essence and energies, other energies present in the world, and how we should really understand our motivations to ensure we participate in our actions with God’s grace and not with the enemy.

Join Michael as he discusses questions about why good people suffer, bad people thrive, and reconciling this with the goodness of God.

Join Michael in a discussion of what Christ said in the Gospel accounts, and what the New Testament in general says about being a thief or thieves, and how the symbolism of the thief applies to us and the choice of salvation or condemnation.

Join Michael as he uses the symbolism of the North Star to take a deep dive into the true nature of repentance and why we often misunderstand it to our detriment.

Join Michael for a discussion about the meaning of hypocrisy and what Christ said about it in the Gospel, and how to understand and protect ourselves from this deadly sin that causes us to wear “masks” and fall into self-deception, deception of others, and spiritual death.

Join Michael in a discussion about experiencing God’s healing and redemptive beauty and goodness even in the worst of life’s circumstances.

Join Michael in a discussion about what well-being and non-being really mean, and how we often do things we think are beneficial but really are not in our best interest and lead us father from God rather than towards Him.

Join Michael in a discussion about what it means to create “heat” without “light” and how ego driven self-motivation and self-focus is poisoning society, and what we should be mindful of not to be contributors to this.

Join Michael in a discussion about living intentionally to embed hopefulness in our body, mind and soul, and accept death with the hope of eternal life.

Join Michael in a discussion about what the Scriptures and our Holy Tradition teach us about the importance of clothing as it relates to salvation, communion, or lack thereof, and what our attitudes and actions toward clothing reveal about us individually and culturally.

Join Michael in a discussion about what is means to be feel like a stranger in our own surroundings and in this world in general and why this actually a good thing.

Join Michael in a discussion about the many different aspects of tears, why some tears are good, some are evil, what they indicate about our hearts, and why they are necessary for salvation.

Join Michael in a discussion about how we often neglect our bodies, the physical and spiritual ramifications to ourselves and loved ones, how this is profoundly unspiritual, and what we need to think and do to treat our physical selves the way God intends us to.

Join Michael for a discussion of the primacy of focusing on loving more not sinning less and why this will be the basis of how God judges our lives.

Join Michael in a discussion about prayerful and practical ways to frame our understanding in regard to our difficulties and setbacks, and deal with them in a spiritually healthy way.

Join Michael in discussion of what it means in the Liturgy when the Priest prays “And let us ask for a Christian end to our life, peaceful, without shame and suffering, and for a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of Christ” and how that should drive our daily behavior.

We live in a consumer culture. Businesses gather and sell data and information about us to target us as consumers. We are increasingly treated more like consumers than persons. The Christmas season for many has become nothing more than frenzied consumerism. John Michael as he discusses the human person in the context of consumer culture, comparing and contrasting the language of consuming used in our Liturgy and throughout the Bible with modern notions of consuming and how this relates to our love and growth as human persons.

Join Michael as he discusses the deep theological truths of simple hospitality and how it directly relates to our salvation.

Join Michael as he discusses how we should understand time and reconcile our past through the eternally crucified Christ, and let Him transform it and free us of guilt, shame, and regret.

Join Michael as he discusses how we should see and experience ourselves and others as living icons of Christ, and how we achieve this through the difficult task unknowing ourselves.

Join Michael as he discusses the complementary nature of light and darkness, how both are under God’s control, and how we can understand this to maintain hope during tough times, grow in faith, and shine the Light of Christ to others.

Join Michael as he recounts a story of a good friend’s nervous breakdown and his experience of theophany, theosis, repentance, and God’s beauty amidst his trauma and suffering.

Join Michael as he shows why restraint is Christ-like and liberating, and the path of ultimate freedom out of the self-inflicted tyranny of our own thoughts and behaviors.

Join Michael as he reflects on the recent Supreme Court decision and why we need more than ever to remain prayerful and faithful within ourselves, and civil with each other.

Join Michael as he discusses the success of failure and the failure of success, and how our worldly success can be a blessing or a curse depending on we approach it spiritually.

Join Michael for a discussion on how to understand and overcome the subtle spiritual deafness and spiritual blindness we can suffer from that leads to spiritual heart disease.

Join Michael for a discussion on how to avoid being paralyzed with guilt and shame over our worst failures, and experience God at work within them.

Join Michael for a discussion on why forgiving ourselves is often so hard and what we need to understand and do to open our hearts to self-forgiveness.

Join Michael as he examines trauma and traumatic episodes from his life, and explores how to use them to develop a deeper trust in God.

Join Michael as he examines what it means to experience true freedom, and why what we think is freedom is a form of bondage we don’t recognize.