Being thrown off balance! The experience of vertigo! This is what comes to mind when considering the writings from the Evergetinos this evening. Once again, the gospel is put before us in an unvarnished fashion. It is as if through the unclouded vision of the fathers suddenly the truth of the gospel appears before us and all of its starkness. We are to love and to become love. It is this reality that must shape and form our interaction with every person we encounter. It suggests a kind of vulnerability where we seemingly leave ourselves exposed to the world around us and its malice. So easily does the Evil One whisper in our ears, “If you give yourself in such a way, you will undoubtedly find yourself impoverished.” “Would God really ask such a thing from you?” Such thinking makes us very calculating about our lives. We are comfortable with boundaries and sometimes the religious boundaries, the walls that we put up around ourselves in the name of God are the highest and thickest of them all.

Yet, we always have before us Christ crucified - arms outstretched and hanging naked upon the cross. He is mocked in the same way that our own hearts mock the truth when we shrink away from its demands in horror. To “think” about unconditional love always allows us to remain one step removed. If we keep the faith notional, we do not have to live it. The fathers, however, allow us no such luxury. Nor did they have confidence in their own virtue or rectitude. Humility understands one thing – all is Grace. This will forever compel us to look upon others with the generosity of God and ourselves as the recipients of incalculable and unmerited mercy.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:14:10 FrDavid Abernethy: dabernethy@gmail.com 00:24:14 LauraLeigh: Not sure how to do this in real life. Last week, I pitched a battle at work, and won. And it was no petty matter. I think it takes a lot of wisdom, a lot of discernment, to do this well. Me, I was lucky. 00:26:37 LauraLeigh: Thankfully, it wasn't about the Faith. 00:28:13 Louise: We lost you Fr. 00:28:14 carol nypaver: Yes 00:30:02 Eric Ewanco: “Here the parallel holds good—it is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.” Newman, John Henry, Sermon III, The Usurpations Of Reason, Preached December 11, 1831. MATT. 11:19, Sermons, Chiefly On the Theory of Religious Belief, Preached Before the University of Oxford (London: Francis & John Rivington, 1844), p. 48 00:52:02 Anthony: I do have a concern. I don't want to be a sucker and I resent having been taken for a sucker. That helps drive my engaging religious and cultural discussions and it's why I'm careful in what charitable works I agree to do. 01:00:33 Maureen Cunningham: What about the Book The Way of the Pilgrim Hw would say the Jesus Prayer in silence 01:03:12 Paul Fifer: I see people walk in for help with food, gas, or money quite regularly. Many I know for a fact are gaming the system and it really gets to me at times. I have this quote written down from Mother Theresa to reflect on for those times. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” 01:20:19 LauraLeigh: I love this message, but in the moment, I forget them. 01:23:41 John: Thank you Father!

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