Philokalia Ministries

Stability of mind and heart: such are the characteristics of those who live the ascetic life. The mystery of the human person is such that we must suspend judgment of others as well as judgment of ourselves.  On a psychological level, things are multi- determined. In other words, many things coalesce to form our thoughts and actions. Therefore, we must be very cautious in the spiritual life not to act quickly when tempted to leave our state of life or vocation. The change of mere externals does not bring healing. The passions that often drive us in the way that we view circumstances and others are only healed through persevering through many trials.  We are ever so changeable. This is our great struggle and vulnerability, but it is also what allows us to repent. When we see our own sin or when we come to recognize the truth or when an illusion is revealed, we can turn toward God and cling to him and the healing he alone offers. “The Lord is an eternal rock”, the Scriptures tell us. Therefore, we must rest upon him. In him alone do we begin to experience an invincible peace and an unshakable hope. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:17:56 FrDavid Abernethy: page 351 para 11   00:33:42 Ambrose Little, OP: There are those who say that you are “lukewarm” if you don’t get upset about bad stuff happening in the world.   00:44:33 David Fraley: Reacted to "There are those who …" with 👍   00:47:50 Zoom user: Whoa   00:57:08 John Ingram: I've seen some of the psychological evaluation questions that are asked of candidates for the priesthood. They are truly bizarre and disturbing - and disconcerting.   00:58:40 Louise: Even in psychology departments, they do NOT use psychological evaluation for selecting PhD candidates. They are selected and evaluated only on grades.   00:58:48 Denise T.: This monk remained silent amidst the other monks' envy. Is it ever right to speak up for yourself and explain what you are doing? Or is it always better to remain silent when confronted with the envy of others.   01:04:27 Rachel: Yep   01:10:57 Denise T.: Thank you, Father. That is very helpful.   01:15:10 Rachel: Not leaving willie nilly..going to Mas. God bless!   01:15:17 Rachel: Mass   01:16:40 Louise: Thanks, Father!   01:16:53 Patrick Nugent, ObSB: Thank you, Father!   01:17:27 David Fraley: This has been a good session and a lot to think about. Thank you, Father!  

As we continue our reading of Step 15 on purity and chastity, gradually we are being shown a broader vision of what is offered to us through the ascetical life. Purity and chastity are not limited to dealing with our sexual appetites. Rather, we are striving to overcome any impediment to our seeing things and loving things in the manner in which God created us. Our vision is often distorted by our sin to the extent that we will objectify the things of this world and individuals to be used in whatever means we see fit. We lose sight of the dignity of the other as well as the beauty of creation. A heart that has been purified is capable of seeing the presence of God in every person, regardless of their deeds, and in every element of creation. A pure heart is the freest in its capacity to love.  Perhaps many of us have never tasted such a thing even in the smallest measure.  It is for this reason that St. John presents us not only with aids in the battle for purity, but also with the image of the highest degree of purity  we see in saintly individuals. They are often moved to tears when their capacity to see the world and others is elevated from the purely natural to the supernatural; to see the very essence and beauty of all things created by God. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:09:33 FrDavid Abernethy: page 148 para 56   00:20:38 Lori Hatala: What is dwelling amongst the tombs?   00:21:08 Louise: They are suckling, not the breast but a bottle, nonetheless.   00:21:52 Anthony: St. Anthony the Great and St. Benedict were both assaulted by vivid images. It seems they are examples of struggle against the violence of images.  I think one of the Desert Mothers (Synclectica?) has a saying or two about this for women as well.   00:22:19 Rory: ?does God communicate through dreams?   00:25:46 angelo: The Jesus Prayer is also a great help.   00:34:51 Eric Ewanco: "a bruised reed he shall not break; a smoldering wick he shall not quench"   00:37:05 Patrick: St. John doesn't seem to often caution against attempting ascetical practices but seems to more often praise them. How does one balance gradually adding more over time while balancing a certain level of self-knowledge and identifying if, perhaps, it may be too much to apply a certain practice. Example: at least from my experience, vigils that impact getting a certain amount of sleep may seem to make fighting against various thoughts the next day more difficult. I suppose this must be discerned on a case-by-case basis since it seems nuanced in practice?   00:44:46 Nathan: I was thinking that sometimes as we 'rationally' reflect on these writings and concepts of ascesis or our various modes of living and ways of participating in the body of Christ that it helps us to remember that all of our relations and practices are to participate with Christ/Trinity in the wooing of all back into the intimate union of paradise and the kingdom - NOT so much discipline and effort but longing and love to restore full union between all and its dear God?   00:50:48 Rory: ?is there a presence of God in all people that can be seen?   00:50:50 Rachel: But perhaps it should be remembered that it is God Himself that reveals Himself in the other   00:52:26 Ashley Kaschl: Reminds me of a quote by Ven. Fulton Sheen: "Dear Lord, what can we, Thy followers, do to bring peace to the world? How can we stop brother rising up against brother and class against class, blurring the very sky with their cross-covered Golgathas? Thy First Word on the Cross gives the answer: We must see in the body of every man who hates, a soul that was made to love. If we are too easily offended by their hate, it is because we have forgotten either the destiny of their souls or our own sins. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Forgive us for ever having been offended. Then we, like Thee, may find among our executioners another Longinus, who had forgotten there was love in a heart until he opened it with a lance."   00:52:32 Rachel: That it is us who in the meantime patiently wait for Him to reveal himself, and grant this purity of heart and until then in all humilty know, that we guard our senses and hearts.. I only say this because it can be discouraging to find weakness so deeply rooted in our hearts   00:53:50 Nathan: Reacted to "Reminds me of a quot..." with ❣️   00:54:14 Ashley Kaschl: I love him 😂   00:54:23 Rachel: Reacted to "I love him 😂" with ❤️   00:54:23 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "Reminds me of a quot..." with ❤️   00:54:46 Louise: At the Traditional Latin Mass, there is a beautiful prayer, "Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus! Heaven and earth are full of Your glory, …Alleluia, alleluia."   00:55:20 carol nypaver: Reacted to "I love him 😂" with 🥰   00:55:33 Rory: Jesus spoke of the Samaritan who helps the man on the road who was beaten, as an example of how we treat our neighbor as ourselves   00:55:37 Rachel: This was meant to be attached to the other comment but the class moves faster than I can type +)   00:56:00 Ann Grimak: Reacted to "Reminds me of a quot…" with ❣️   01:00:21 Ashley Kaschl: That quote is either from his anthologies or from the little book of his sermons on the last seven words called “The Seven Capital Sins” it would be under the reflections on Anger/Wrath   01:00:53 Anthony: Maybe it would help to distinguish the different meanings of "sin" in the Bible and the Fathers.  It seems to me that one meaning is our general inclination to evil, another is entertaining what is wrong, another is doing what is wrong, another is "mortal sin."  These meanings maybe can get mixed up in our thinking about the Faith.  Sometimes the meaning "sin" seems univocal, but places like 1st John indicate that there are lots of meanings of "sin."   01:02:08 Jeff O.: Reacted to "Maybe it would help ..." with 👍   01:03:32 Rachel: What I was trying to touch upon was how we are supposed to see the other. With purity of heart. Amma Syncletica prayed that her heart would be pure towards all. This got me thinking many years ago about what that means. The purity of heart that Saint Climacus is speaking of is something rarely ever spoken of because many are stuck on the surface or, dont really know what it truly means to objectify the other. It is not only speaking in terms of lust but, there can be many ways in which we only seek ourselves and so God will not reveal himself or, we are incapable of seeing him in the other because our hearts have not been healed.   01:03:57 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "What I was trying to…" with ❤️   01:04:41 Rachel: I was trying to touch upon St. John speaking of how a soul in that state like Amma Sybcletica is speaking of does not pray that her heart be pure towards all so she may feel better about herself but so that she may see God, this side of the veil.   01:06:22 Rachel: Yes, just as you said Father, very simply. So she may love Him.   01:13:01 Louise: Thanks so much!   01:13:02 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 🙂   01:13:41 Nathan: Thank you so much (and for the Pentecost retreat) and the so many many careful prayerful readings you guide us through   01:13:42 Rory: what is the email address?  Have a good night   01:13:46 Michael Abele: Thank you Father!   01:13:49 Nathan: Replying to "Maybe it would help ..."   'inclination to evil'?  Guess I had understood that both evil and sin were swerves or mistaken applications of the good - not anything in themselves - but twistings of what is good in means or ends or fulfillments of the 'true' desire that evokes the activity?  Ascesis and 'purification' are to reorder these aims aright (in union with God)?  I had thunk - finding the fullness of the misguided in the way-truth-life?   01:13:50 Jeff O.: Amen! Thank you!   01:13:50 David Swiderski: Thanks father!   01:13:54 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!!  

We are truly being nourished on solid food in reading the fathers. They present us not simply with a moralistic or legalistic view of sin and its impact upon our lives in the lives of others. We are to hold the peace of another’s heart as precious as we do our own. And when we are stirred to anger or hatred because we have been maligned and mistreated, we must not give way to hatred. Rather, we must suspend judgment and recognize that others are first and foremost tempted to sin as we are. We can hate the sin and the evil and in fact we should do so. But we must never lose sight of the dignity and identity of others or our own identity.  When we get angry, we can lose our stillness and peace of mind and heart. These things are often hard won and so we must be careful not to cast them off easily. Nor should we cast off brotherly love lightly. We often can treat others with harshness and lack of generosity - never realizing that we place our souls and theirs’ in jeopardy. Again, I’m not speaking simply in moralistic terms. If we goad others to anger, we can make them lose hope in the providence and love of God. If we treat their vulnerability, not with generosity and support but abuse it, then we sin against charity - we sin against Christ.  We must learn to slow things down internally; for we do not see all ends; even when we think we see things clearly. Our goal should be to live in divine love and help this divine love be maintained in our relationships with each other. In fulfilling, the commandment to love, we are offered and promised everything - to be sons and daughters of God. In light of this, whatever lengths we go to guard our minds and our hearts from anger is worth it. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:12:20 FrDavid Abernethy: page 348 letter G   00:22:19 Adam Paige: I just received an icon today of the Synaxis of the Bodiless Hosts   00:29:53 Rory: ?is divine providence the stillness among the passions of life?   00:37:05 Rory: ?is God revealing the truth in our silence when anger is expressed from another?   00:39:57 Louise: Father, what would you say about people who sue here and there to deal with their anger?   00:48:25 John Ingram: This reminds me of the Roman judges who flew off the handle, into a rage immediately upon hearing the testimony of the Christians they were sentencing.   01:03:55 David Fraley: I’m sorry I’m so late. I forgot today is Monday.   01:04:23 Ambrose Little, OP: Reacted to "I’m sorry I’m so lat..." with ➕   01:07:27 Rory: when someone trespasses another,  is this God's way of showing us the clarity through peace and hope.   01:09:52 Rory: ?is anger really fear?  and wouldn't Divine Love  quell that fear   01:17:44 Lorraine Green: Thank you   01:18:08 Louise: Thanks you, Father.   01:18:09 Helena Babington Guiles: Thank you Father David. Very helpful. 🙏🏼🤍  

John continues to draw us ever deeper into the mysteries of the human mind and heart. We are in a constant state of receptivity as human beings. We are constantly engaged with the world around us through our senses. Our vigilance, therefore, must be of such a nature that we take these things into consideration. The sense of touch, the sense of hearing, etc., all can be things that give rise to the passions. In and of themselves, they may not be sinful and may not lead to sin on many occasions. However, our understanding of the power of this receptivity leads to the realization that the evil one can use them as a source of temptation. There is no room for pride in the battle that emerges from sensuality.  Even actions and behaviors from the past remain forever in the imagination and memory. They are deeply ensconced in the unconscious. No matter how long ago certain things took place, something in the present day can give rise to and trigger those memories ever so powerfully. Conceit will always be our downfall; when we think our spiritual practices or circumstances, place us outside the reach of temptation. Saint Isaac the Syrian said in the spiritual battle there is no Sabbath. In other words, there is no rest in this life when dealing with the temptations of the evil one. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:06:26 FrDavid Abernethy: page 147 top of the page   00:12:40 FrDavid Abernethy: page 147 top of the page   00:17:47 Anthony: Maybe the way "Theology of the Body" is approached by some teachers, the way physicality and theology are intertwined and appealed to by the imagination is a dangerous thing.   00:19:46 Rory: ?is the silent stillness our spiritual existence?   00:24:51 Louise: Could reading the Psalms written by King David stimulate the sexual appetite because he gravely fell in the sins of fornication and adultery, and also murder?   00:35:48 Cindy Moran: I don't understand this about the man & his mother...   00:37:58 Rory: ?are words a sense of touch?   00:38:15 Cindy Moran: Ok...I am getting more clarity...thank you.   00:38:50 Anthony: It's a sad reality that such a thing as incest exists.  I guess the watchword is chastity or prudence, not focusing on so many permutations of evil that exist.   00:43:26 Cindy Moran: My mother told us to remember that you can't "unsee" something.   00:49:54 David Swiderski: There used to be a long tradition of contemplating the 5 wounds. I have found this extremely helpful to also sort out personal wounds. There is something strangely beautiful in overcoming suffering.   00:51:08 Rory: ?are deep wounds transcended by surrendering our weakness to God?   00:52:11 David Swiderski: The cross itself is our sign of victory   00:52:51 B.M.: Reacted to "The cross itself is ..." with ❤️   00:53:16 David Swiderski: Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within your wounds conceal me. Do not permit me to be parted from you.   00:54:41 Lorraine Green: Is there a third order for laymen that is mainly Eastern?   00:54:54 Anthony: The demons see out want to follow Christ and take advantage of our weakness to crucify us by our weakness, so we then have a real solidarity with the Crucified One.   00:56:12 wayne: I belong to the eastern rite, and to my knowledge there is not third order in the east   00:57:33 Anthony: Replying to "Is there a third o..."   An internet search shows there are "associates" of monastaries - Holy Resurrection Monastery, Sisters of St. Basil.  These are answers at byzcath.org.   01:14:05 Cindy Moran: Replying to "Is there a third ord..."     Excellent session...thank you Father!   01:14:13 Lorraine Green: Replying to "Is there a third ord..."   Thank you   01:14:17 Rachel : Thank you   01:14:19 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:14:21 Bonnie Lewis: Thank you Father David.   01:14:38 Louise: Thank you!   01:14:39 Cindy Moran: Replying to "Is there a third ord..."     🙏   01:14:44 David Swiderski: Thank you father!  

The subtlety of Temptations! Again, and again the fathers show us the relentless work of the evil one in drawing the mind ans the heart of individuals into sin. He can create within our hearts a kind of childishness; a veneer of sanctity or virtue. One can experience, joy or tears or consolation in their soul, but it can all be an illusion, and not truly rooted in repentance. It is for this reason that we so often backslide in the spiritual life. We do not let go of the attachments that we have to the things that lead us into sin. We may repent and go to confession, but within our hearts we still hold on to a multitude of things that give rise to temptation or that stimulate our inclination to particular sins. Fornication in particular is something that is seen as having great weight among the fathers because it is so tied to our very make up as human beings and to our bodily appetites and desires. We can fall into error in our thinking and be corrected of this error even when we cling to it with pride. But once we have acknowledged the error we are unlikely to return to it. However, when the sins of the flesh become tied up with our imagination and memory, and when we give ourselves over to the sin, the deeper the roots become. What is lodged in the imagination and memory is easily taken hold of again through fantasy, at first, and then finally an action. Therefore the sins the flesh often need the greatest commitment to ascetic disciplines in order to uproot them. We were told in the Scriptures that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent to bear it away. Similarly, there are things that we must be willing to cut out of our life in order to keep us from falling into the same sins again. Our desire and our courage in doing so, however, is often lacking. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:05:54 John Ingram: Greater Cincinnati/N KY   00:08:32 FrDavid Abernethy: page 145 para 42   00:25:53 Ashley Kaschl: Is St. John saying this over sharing/emotionalism be a symptom of this sin?   00:25:53 Louise: Blind to consequences.   00:29:25 Louise: Hooking up maybe to avoid aloneness at all cost.   00:29:26 Debra: Hook Up culture isn't just on Universities   00:32:27 Rory: Being in the moment with prayer, incarnate with God, we are never alone, as a temple of the Holy Spirit   00:36:40 Rory: ?is sin a correction?   00:37:39 Anthony: When I look at the history of heresy, I see that mental and physical errors often go together.   00:39:00 Anthony: Examples that come to mind: Marcion & other Gnostics; Cathars; Lutherans; Munsterites   00:45:48 Louise: As a Catholic child, I was taught that we were forgiven if we recognize our fault, repent (suffer from having caused pain, which would reduce repetition), and to repair (in reality as much as possible). The last two requirements seem to be dismissed these days , especially the third one.   00:48:17 Ambrose Little, OP: It goes both ways. Some heretics go the way of overly puritanical approaches to the Faith.   00:54:31 Ashley Kaschl: The thought troubles me, and there’s a lot more to be said, I think, but the penance of not being permitted to receive the Holy Eucharist because of the sin of fornication makes a lot of sense.    Being that we receive the whole Christ, if someone has developed a deeply rooted habit of fornication they would have a kind of morbid, contraceptive disposition of soul that says “I want the pleasure of receiving Christ in the Eucharist, but I do not want His effects.” Even if the soul is fighting against the sin, that person still needs to be freed from that disposition before seeking a union with God they have trained their body and, thus, their soul not to seek above all other things. Obviously it’s not so cut and dry but I can see what the footnote is saying 😅   00:54:38 Rory: ?are there degrees of repentence?   00:58:03 Melissa Kummerow: Reacted to "The thought troubles..." with 👍   00:59:45 sue and mark: communion is the medicine....  I think that I disagree   01:02:49 Anthony: In my opinion, that goes back to the Germanic we-gild, or man price to satisfy for offenses in place of taking a "pound of flesh" so to speak.  When the Roman Catholic Church became more of a Germanic entity, we used a Germanic example (in my opinion) of penance, and of Purgatory / indulgences.   01:02:59 Anthony: "wer-gild"   01:04:00 David Swiderski: I have to admit the desert fathers helped me tremendously as they have practical things to overcome temptations, situations or vices. I wish in the confessional there was more application of those especially to younger people who give up before knowing of these weapons in the spiritual battle.   01:04:21 Jeff O.: Reacted to "I have to admit the ..." with 👍   01:04:23 Melissa Kummerow: Reacted to "I have to admit the ..." with 👍   01:04:32 Art: I recently heard about priests telling people in the confessional “Be brief, be contrite, and be gone”.   01:05:04 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "I have to admit the ..." with 👍   01:05:05 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "I have to admit the ..." with 👍   01:05:12 John Ingram: Reacted to "I have to admit the ..." with 👍   01:05:28 Bonnie Lewis: Yes, I had a priest say, "just get to the sins!"   01:06:29 Lyle: Reacted to "I have to admit the ..." with 👍   01:07:10 David Swiderski: The church as an ER and priest or elders as spiritual doctors   01:08:45 Eric Ewanco: I hate it when I go to a scheduled confession period in an unfamiliar church and no priest is there   01:09:34 Michael: Unfortunately, I have mostly seen the opposite problem. Exponentially more people going up for communion than are going to confession. I think many people are not well-catechized and don't realize the gravity of receiving communion without ever going to confession.   01:09:59 Ambrose Little, OP: Not our job to be judging others..   01:10:25 Michael: I don't mean to judge those people, I just think it is a big problem that so many are unaware. It isn't their fault   01:11:15 Michael: Precisely   01:13:17 Cindy Moran: Any thoughts about a book called The Philokalia and The Inner Life On Passions and Prayer written by Christopher Cook Psychiatrist   01:14:10 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:14:15 angelo: Thank you father David.   01:14:22 Michael: Thank you Father David   01:14:25 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father   01:14:32 Jacqulyn: Thank you! Quite a blessing. :-)   01:14:33 Bonnie Lewis: Thank you always Father.   01:14:37 John Ingram: Thank you, Father!   01:14:49 Louise: Thanks so much!   01:15:23 sue and mark: Good night and thank you.   01:15:27 Jeff O.: Amen, Thank you!   01:15:29 Debra: Thank you, for all you do!   01:15:29 Cindy Moran: Excellent session   01:15:31 David Swiderski: Thank you father!  

Once again, we are presented with a kind of fickleness that can plague the human heart. We can be ever so changeable. This includes how we look upon even our greatest commitments. The moment something becomes a trial for us or where we are asked to endure something that is reprehensible, or that causes us some suffering, we will want to change the external circumstances of our life.  However, the fathers in their writing show us how the evil one constantly seeks to magnify such experiences to the point that they breakdown our commitment to our particular vocation or vows. The one who has lived the common life for years can have the seed implanted in his heart that he would be happier or holier as an anchorite. Or one who is old of age might be tempted into thinking that his life no longer has value, and that he can no longer fulfill the rule in the way that he did as a young man. He begins to think about retiring from the religious life all together. Such thinking is pervasive and enters into every vocation.  Having said this, however, we also have to be aware of the fact that we can face obstacles in our environment, such as the envy of others that becomes destructive or immorality. In these circumstances, it may be necessary to change one’s environment.  We need to recognize that we are responsible for the spiritual well-being and fidelity of others. If we treat others without love, without respect, then we can put their vocation and their spiritual life in jeopardy. This is a sober reminder of the solidarity that exist between us. The only way that we are allowed to treat another person is to love them. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:03:09 FrDavid Abernethy: Hello Navy Dave!!!   00:03:26 David Fraley: I love those photos of you and your mom! Neither of you have changed!   00:03:42 FrDavid Abernethy: I look older than she does   00:04:24 David Fraley: Mrs Abernethy, you and I met at the Oratory a few years ago.   00:47:37 Ren Witter: Something about all these examples makes me really sad, and I think it has something to do with how they show that our words and actions can have such a profound on the ability of another to resist temptation. In all these examples, the temptations would have little weight if the elder in question was treated in such a way that he was assured of the affection and support of his fellow, younger monks.   00:48:08 Ren Witter: I just imagine how the way we treat others makes them more or less susceptible   00:51:00 David Fraley: Reacted to "I just imagine how t…" with 👍   00:54:46 Ren Witter: I am thinking, and I don’t think this is an overstatement, that when we treat others in a way that says “you are worthless,” “you are not worth my time,” “you don’t deserve kindness,” “you are a lost cause,” and many other such things, that we are not just making them more susceptible to the temptations of the demons, but are in fact becoming the tempting demon ourselves. We are already doing the demons’ job for them.   00:58:14 Anthony: "The Three Musketeers" has a plotline about a woman who left the convent in a bad way, and she brought ruin and misery to several men throughout her life until an avenger caught up with her.  It ties together some themes discussed today.   00:59:58 Louise: Sometimes, to be ethical, we have to confront, directly or indirectly, the obvious incompetence and even maliciousness of others. Of course, their hidden demons come out then forcibly. This would not be a sin, right?   01:03:07 John Ingram: Replying to "Sometimes, to be eth..."   I think St. Francis de Sales talked about how to respond to negative people (heretics, etc.): treat them with honey, not with vinegar.   01:05:48 Louise: Replying to "Sometimes, to be eth..."   Good point! However, some people even envy you when you treat them with honey, because they do not have honey and they hate you for having honey.  

Piercing! The vision of a Saint becomes ever so sharp. Out of their own experience of the desert, and the spiritual warfare engaged in there, comes a wisdom that strikes, hopefully, our hearts. Our hearts can become hardened by being so long immersed in sin. When the sin becomes hardened and habitual, becomes a passion, it is not easy to break free from it.  Yet words alone, even the words of the Saints, are unable to break us free. There must be within our hearts a faith and willingness to take hold of the grace of God that comes to us through Christ to enter into the fray, to fight the good fight of faith, and to engage fully in the ascetical life.  Both the habit of sin and the temptation of the Evil One often keeps us mired deeply in darkness. Yet we must strive to let the little light that is given to us draw us forward and emboldened our hearts. A different vision of reality is set before us; one that has come into being through the Incarnation and the Paschal mystery. We are called, not simply to be good people and those of high natural virtue but rather sons and daughters of God. Christ’s virtue is to become our virtue. His strength must become our strength. This is not something that we seize upon with our own hands but receive with humility and gratitude. With these two virtues may we set out on the journey with an invincible hope. --- Text of chat during the group:   00:04:27 FrDavid Abernethy: page 144 paragraph 31   00:11:03 FrDavid Abernethy: page 144 para 31   00:23:03 Michael: Is there any truth to the idea that God is particularly merciful about "natural" sins? CS Lewis said something similar in Mere Christianity.   00:31:28 Anthony: I suggest we read the passage of the Woman caught in Adultery in the context of Susanna and the Elders.   00:53:09 Lawrence Martone: Sometimes we have to question if we are doing the right thing, but we don’t have a spiritual director.  Is there an equivalent of Ignatian Discernment methods with the Desert Fathers?   00:56:54 Daniel Allen: Is that type of humility why someone such as St Philip Neri can say (paraphrasing), I have done nothing good today I will begin again… and mean it? Because to the outside observer obviously St Philip did much good.   01:05:57 Brad Smith: Is this similar to Psalm 137:9 about dashing infants against the stone…i.e. dealing with the sin early and completely?   01:06:41 LauraLeigh Monterey: My Egyptian is food. :-) So, I am to turn the power behind that appetite toward its source, which is God, yes? Can you explain a little more what that means in practical terms? That is, how exactly does one "kill the Egyptian"? Would it depend on what the Egyptian is?   01:11:18 Ashley Kaschl: This makes me think a lot about a Christmas Carol when Scrooge is first visited by Marley and how he’s fearful of this chain wrapped all around his friend more so than the fact that he’s a ghost. And Marley asks him “do you know the weight and length of the chain you bear yourself?” And I think that’s a lot like this Egyptian and how we may not know we are slaves to our sin and wrapped in chains.   01:11:23 Anthony: Replying to "Is this similar to..."   That's what I was thinking.  I think the monks interpret it this way.   01:12:47 Cindy Moran: What is the title of Pope Shenouda's book?   01:13:35 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:14:19 angelo: Thank you!   01:14:22 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!!!   01:14:27 Bonnie Lewis: Thank you so much Father.