The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part VII

As St. John draws us more deeply into his understanding of prayer and the experience of intimacy with God, he begins to emphasize the importance of maintaining purity of heart and humility. Either through negligence or through demonic provocation, we can find ourselves being driven not by the Holy Spirit toward God but rather driven by the desires of the flesh. The vulnerability of prayer, opening our minds and our hearts to God, also carries with it the need to have established watchfulness of heart. If we have not we can indiscriminately open ourselves up to certain dangers. For example, we may allow our mind to wander during prayer in such a way that we turn away from God. It can even happen that in this turning away we are move towards the enemies of God. Like Judas we can share most intimately with the Lord at the table of the holy Eucharist and then immediately be driven out by an unholy spirit into the darkness. It is those who are closest to Christ who often betray him the most. 

We all take certain things for granted. This is true in our relationship with God. We can treat that relationship cheaply; enter into it with a kind of familiarity to the point that we lose sight of the preciousness of what God has made possible for us. Our attachment to the things of this world or to individuals can fill our minds and our hearts even during the time of prayer. Therefore, John wants us to have no illusions about what it is that we ask for and seek in prayer. Our greatest desire should be what leads us to God and what endures unto eternity. As Saint James tell us: “we ask, but we do not receive because we ask wrongly.” We seek only the satisfy our natural wants and desires.  As it has been said, “The fool’s portion is small in his eyes.” Often we do not see the beauty of what God offers us.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:12:58 Bob Cihak, AZ: P.239, #50   00:13:44 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "P.239, #50" with 👍   00:14:28 Dave Warner (AL): Reacted to "P.239, #50" with 👍   00:51:38 Rachel: or to satisfy ego since it is difficult to see oneself as nothing and in such need.   00:59:38 David: Someone told me once - measure your thoughts and you measure what you treasure. Treasure only what is everlasting.   01:02:14 Laura: Reacted to "Someone told me once..." with 👍🏼   01:04:59 Rebecca Thérèse: It seems to me that it's easier to catch someone in infidelity these days because of socia media and smart devices etc than it was previously.   01:11:31 Anthony: I've wondered if we get monastic life and vocations imbalanced? I read that among Syrians, there was one "monastic" community composed of subsets of vowed religious, families and singles.  This makes for universality and diversity and maybe a healthier psychology for persons?   01:13:45 Rebecca Thérèse: Thomas Szasz the anti-psychiatry psychiatrist wrote a paper about how psychiatrists persuaded the Church that sex abusers were ill and could be treated and how this led to priests being "treated" and moved instead of being fired.   01:14:12 Una: Jon Hassler wrote North of Hope dealing with this situation of the priest who dealt with this issue   01:14:29 Una: Excellent novel   01:18:38 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...great to be back in class!!   01:18:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 🙂   01:18:47 David: Thank you father. Glad your feeling better!   01:18:51 Jeff O.: Thank you!!   01:19:02 Rachel: Thank you   01:19:03 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Thank you father. Gl..." with ❤️