Sacramental Living
Sacramental Living is a podcast by Michael Haldas, produced by Ancient Faith Ministries. It explores how to understand and live the Orthodox Christian faith in the context of real life and real-world issues. The show aims to help listeners grow closer to God through a sacramental approach to daily living. Episodes offer practical and theological reflections for Orthodox Christians and others interested in the faith.
Episodes
There Is Still Light: Science, Darkness, and the Light of Christ
What can the science of light teach us about the spiritual life? In this episode, Michael explores the fascinating science of the light emitted by living things and the strange relationship light has with space and time, not as proof of faith, but as a physical image that can deepen our sense of wonder at spiritual reality. From Tolkien’s image of becoming “a glass filled with a clear light” to th
The Strange Gift: When Rock Bottom Becomes a New Beginning
There are moments in life when we find ourselves descending through suffering, loss, failure, grief, or circumstances beyond our control. In this episode, Michael explores the Christian idea of katabasis, the descent into the depths, and its surprising connection to what we call “rock bottom.” What if reaching the bottom is not necessarily the end of the story? Through reflections on faith, suffer
Let us Be Attentive…So Why Aren’t We?
What if attention is far more than a mental skill? What if it is one of the deepest expressions of love and one of the primary ways God transforms us? In this episode, Michael explores the spiritual significance of attention, From interruptions and distractions to self-obsession, prayer, multitasking, and the modern attention economy, he examines why our inability to be fully present has profound
Does Artificial Intelligence Have a Silicon Soul?
Join Michael in an in-depth discussion about artificial intelligence, its history, what secular and Orthodox Christian thought leaders are saying about it and, most importantly, what is the potential danger of AI to our formational growth as human beings.
From Consumption to Communion: Choosing Spiritual Sickness or Spiritual Health
Join Michael as he discusses the consumer culture and how consuming has become a spiritual sickness with many comorbidities. Drawing on Scripture, Orthodox theology, and observations of modern life, he explores how choosing consumerism can give rise to materialism, hedonism, narcissism, individualism, and even nihilism, shaping the way we view ourselves, others, and God, versus seeking Christ who
When Anxiety Lies: Overcoming Existential Crisis
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.
Life, Death, and Beauty in Our Last Breath: A Testimony
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.
Facing Uncomfortable Truths
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.
Pragmatism That Kills
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.
Blessings in Brokenness
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.
Lessons From the ‘Corporate World’
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.
Living the Abundant Life
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
Ego and Our Propensity to Choose Delusion
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.
The Prison of Esteem
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.
Defeating the True Enemy
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.
Alone but not Alone
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.
Living as Pilgrims in a Restless World
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.
Confusing Our Goodness with God’s Goodness
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.
Serving the Angel of Contentment or the Demon of Desire
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.
Haunted by Religion
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.
God in a Disfigured Face
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.
The Difficult Journey from the Head to the Heart
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.
The Twin Evils of Infidelity and Individualism
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.
Growth and Struggle in Liminal Space – Lessons from St. Mary of Egypt
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.
A Dangerous Time of Year
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
The Real Energy Crisis
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.
Tragedy, Clarity, and Reconciling Suffering
Join Michael as he discusses questions about why good people suffer, bad people thrive, and reconciling this with the goodness of God.
Two Thieves, Two Ways, Two Choices
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.
Repentance is Our North Star
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.
Hypocrisy and the Mask of Death
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.
Beauty and Theodicy
Join Michael in a discussion about experiencing God’s healing and redemptive beauty and goodness even in the worst of life’s circumstances.
Well-Being or Non-Being - It's Our Choice
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.
Heat Without Light
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.
Living Intentionally to Live Life Hopefully
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.
Clothed in Christ
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.
Strangers in a Strange Land
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.
Tears
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.
Our Bodies and the Sin of Self-Neglect
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.
How Much We Loved Not How Much We Sinned
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.
Dealing with Difficulties and Setbacks
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.
Mutual Accountability and the Awesome Judgment Seat of Christ
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.
Consumed Through Consuming
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
Hospitality and Our Salvation
Join Michael as he discusses the deep theological truths of simple hospitality and how it directly relates to our salvation.
Remembering the Future to Reframe Our Past
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.
Unknowing Ourselves
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.
Light Shines Out of Darkness
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.
Breaking Down to Break Through
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.
Freedom Through Restraint
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.
Civil and Uncivil War
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.
The Success of Failure
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.
Overcoming Spiritual Disabilities
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.
I Wish I Hadn't Done That But Thank God I Did
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.
Healing the Soul through Self-Forgiveness
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.
Faith, Trauma, and Trust
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.
The Myth of Human Freedom
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.
Beware of Our Own Opinions
Join Michael as he examines the role expression of opinion plays in society today, how to guard ourselves against our own and other’s opinions that fuel our pride and cause anger and division, and what to do to maintain humility, thoughtfulness, and love of others.
Tearing Down Authority at Our Own Peril
Join Michael as he discusses how we should understand God’s authority versus secular notions of authority, and why rejecting and tearing down authority does not result in liberation and freedom but rather the opposite.
Why We Need Separation Before Unity
Join Michael as he discusses why we need separation that is holy before we can have true unity with each other; and how many are choosing an unholy type of separation based on fear, ideologies, and other things are the entry to the wide gate leading to destruction.
Consenting to the Devil
Join Michael as he addresses our choices and what we consent to that results in us either growing in holiness and union with Christ, or an unholy union with the devil that leads to our gradual and eventual complete destruction.
Do We Get What We Deserve?
What do we deserve in life? Anything? Everything? Join Michael as he addresses the various ways we can focus on what we deserve and how most of them lead us in the wrong spiritual direction.
Saving Ourselves and Others Through Patience
Join Michael as he provides an in-depth discussion of the many spiritual aspects of patience that are critical to our salvation and the salvation of others, and how lacking this virtue is more spiritually harmful than we may realize.
Episode 100 – Dealing with Our Inner Darkness
Inner darkness. We all have it whether we admit or not. How do overcome it? How do we find our way to Christ the Light and master our inner darkness? Join Michael as he addresses these questions in-depth and shows we can find our way to the Light no matter what darkness we are in.
Battling Our Little gods
Join Michael as explores the subtly of idolatry and the little gods that lurk behind our idols that lead us slowly down a dangerous spiritual path.
The Only True Religion or the Completely True Religion
Join Michael as explores the question is our Orthodox Christian religion the only true religion or the completely true religion, and the how our answer to this question affects our internal self and outward behavior to detriment or betterment of ourselves and others.
Why God's Wrath is also God's Love
Join Michael as he discusses why God’s wrath is an expression of His love, what hinders us from understanding and accepting this, and why it is debilitating when it is intended to be transformative.
Eros, Agape, and Ordering our Disordered Desires Through Suffering
Join Michael as he discusses what eros and agape really mean and why they cannot be separated, how growth in love is deeply linked to suffering, how disordered desire can grip us, how we never truly sin alone, and how it always affects both us and others when we act on our disordered desires.
Darn those Darnels: Acquiring Discernment in this Age of Deception
Join Michael as he discusses what a darnel is and what it means to us, how easy it is to be deceived by the spirit of the age, and what we need to do to ensure we gain and apply Christ-like discernment in all matters.
Trying to Keep God in Box
Join Michael as he discusses the challenge of living our Orthodox faith and Holy Tradition fully and without compromise, and witnessing effectively and lovingly to others outside of the faith. Listen as he explains how easy it is to fall into the trap of putting God in neat little box in our minds and hearts how this is detrimental to ourselves and others.
Sacramental “Enchantment”
Join Michael as he explains why we need to become, and always stay, “enchanted” by God through sacramental understanding and participation, and how this is our witness and demonstration of the truth of the Gospel.
Trampling Down Death by Death
Join Michael as he expounds upon these words we sing and chant between Pascha and Ascension Thursday and what they should mean to us even as we continue to face the reality of death.
The Power of Powerlessness
Join Michael as he discusses false power versus real power, our attraction to the former at our own expense, and how the powerlessness Christ demonstrates for us is the true power we gain when we let go of our need for control and surrender to God.
The “Awful Problem” of Existence
Join Michael as he discusses how we are either living in repentance or rebellion at any given time in our response to God grace, and how this determines the quality of our existence both now and in the life to come.
The Failure of the First Fast
Join Michael as he discusses the failure of the first fast in the Bible and its implications to us; how fasting is not about food the way we typically approach it; and fasting’s corporate and communal nature and what it means to us as persons not individuals.
Great Lent – The Sacred and the Secular
Great Lent is a holy and sacred time of year yet we can turn it into a secular practice and experience if we are not careful. Join Michael as he discusses our understanding and participation in Lent, and how to avoid subtle ways that lead us to experience Lent less than how we should.
Conspiracy Theories Unmasked
So many people love a good conspiracy theory. But these theories do damage and harm to individuals, communities, and our society. Join Michael as he discusses the primary reasons people believe them and why doing so is antithetical to our faith.
Why Cancel Culture Needs to Be Canceled
Cancel culture is a culture of hate, division, and destruction. Join Michael as he uses the Gospels and other scripture to show just how wicked this culture is; what the current culture is doing to us; why we are knowingly or unknowingly participating in it; and what we should do to combat it.
“Your Faith Has Made You Well” – Or Has It?
Christ says “your faith has made you well” specific to three healings in the Gospel accounts. This phrase means much more than we think it does and understanding it in full opens our eyes to how we should be living our faith and why many of us are not. Join Michael as breaks this simple phrase down with all of its layers of meaning and what we should be doing daily to be made well.
Tried, Tested and Tempted
What’s the difference between testing and temptation? How can we discern God’s at work in our lives versus the enemy’s attacks? Why does the Greek in the scriptures use the same word for testing and temptation? Join Michael as he addresses these questions and compares and contrasts testing and temptation.
Why Christians Must Acquire the Soul of a Poet
St. Porphyrios wrote, “Whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet.” Most of us are not poets so does this preclude us from being true Christians? Join Michael as he explores God’s poetic and artistic nature and how to understand and connect to Him through the divine language of symbol, beauty, and our own personal artistry even while living in a culture dominated by utilitarianis
It is More Blessed to Give Than to Receive Except for Suffering
Join Michael as he discusses the Book of Job as a case study in suffering and the importance of how we receive our suffering; how it is often what defines our salvation and belief in and relationship to God; what God gives and does not give to us in our suffering; and how our suffering can be a mystery and those closest to us can often create obstacles for us to receive it well.
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