Battles of Faith: Asceticism and Vigilance

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.“  As we read through the stories of the desert fathers and the trials and temptations they experienced in relation to their passions, we began to see with greater clarity how we must cling to God and rely on His grace. No matter how disciplined or virtuous an individual may be the wiles of the devil are always going to be relentless and fierce. If the Evil One can appear as an “angel of light”, then he most assuredly can present a thought to the mind that leads one to assent to sin or present himself as the very object of temptation. In the stories of the fathers tonight, the object of temptation was women or thoughts about them that arise through direct contact, conversation or imagination. 

It would be very easy for us and it is often a danger when the Fathers are read out of context to have our thoughts devolve into a negative anthropology - a negative image of what it is to be a human being as well as a sexual being. In hearing some of the stories, one might think that the monks simply sought to destroy this part of themselves or to bury it whether consciously or unconsciously. Perhaps it was simply a manifestation of masochistic repression.

Thus, we must read these stories in a discerning fashion. Yet, even more so, we must read them in context; not only in the context of the larger corpus of the writings we are considering, but in the context of our spiritual lives. For it is only within our own hearts that we begin to understand the nature of human desire as part of our identity and experience of the world. It is also only within our hearts that we understand that desire gives us the capacity to love and give ourselves in love. The ascetic life must reveal that we understand that we are created in the image and likeness of God and that with which He has endowed us is good. It only becomes destructive when it is distorted by sin and selfishness. We must also understand that these desires are very powerful – capable of leading us to great good or, outside of the grace of God, to become something that brings us unending grief.

We must read the Fathers writings, then, within the context of interiorizing the worldview rooted in faith that they put forward. Do we desire what they desired? Are longing for God and the desire to please him the reality that drives us forward in our day-to-day lives? Do we understand that it is only by living in the grace of God, living in Christ, that we become fully human?

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Text of chat during the group:

00:19:21 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 221 # D

00:28:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Do you think that lack of asceticism is a cause of clergy or monks perpetrating abuse or could it  an indicator that perhaps abusers have entered these vocations/occupations with nefarious motives hence they would not be committed to the more challenging aspects of these ways of life?

01:01:49 Forrest Cavalier: Father, I expected to see the mention that desire for sexual relations outside of matrimony is irrational selfishness (especially victimizing women and offspring), and use the contemplation of that realization to dissuade the passions. But I haven’t noticed that in any of these stories so far, which combat the temptation with physical activity (fasting, fleeing, burning) only. Am I missing it? It seems the intellect is ignored.

01:06:47 Mary Clare Wax: The tender love of a perfect Mother, the Mother of God, and consecrating ourselves to her Immaculate Heart is very powerful in this day and age. When we do this, it is like riding the waves of grace rather than being tumbled underneath them.

01:07:11 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "The tender love of a..." with 👍

01:09:09 Sr. Charista Maria: It seems that the more one grows in purity of heart and human/spiritual integration, the less one has such intense struggle or temptation when with a beautiful young woman or a young boy. I believe Pope St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body is a great aid to this. And, yes, I believe our Holy Mother and the Rosary are a GREAT aid!

01:09:47 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "The tender love of a..." with ❤️

01:13:37 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with 🙏🏼

01:15:03 Adam Paige: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with 📿

01:15:22 Adam Paige: Reacted to "The tender love of a..." with 🧕

01:15:42 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Father, I expected t..." with 🧠

01:15:44 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with 🙏🏻

01:20:34 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing

01:21:08 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with ❤️

01:21:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:21:12 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr.