Philokalia Ministries

We picked up this evening with Step One “On Renunciation of the World”. St. John‘s focus is on entering into the spiritual life, the ascetical life, fully. We are not to make excuses out of our past sins or let them become impediments to our engaging in the spiritual battle. Psychologically they can become exactly that. Shame can make us hold back from opening ourselves to God and the healing that He alone offers. Likewise, fear of what lies ahead and the discipline involved can keep us from investing ourselves fully. Rather, we are to respond as if we were called by an earthly king; eagerly leaving everything to go to him and remaining alert lest he should call us day or night. We would never give ourselves over to sloth or cowardice knowing that we would find ourselves under the king’s judgment. Thus, we are to enter into the spiritual life unfettered by worldly concerns. Whether one is a monk or living in the world, one must have God as the beginning and end of all things - the very center of our existence. He must be desired and loved above all things.  If this is true then we will charge into the “good fight” with joy and love without being afraid of our enemies, the demons. They know the movements of the mind and the heart, the patterns of behavior that they observe within us and whether or not we are scared. Therefore, John tells us, we must enter into the battle courageously for no one fights with a plucky fighter.  Naturally St. John begins by focusing on the early moments of the ascetical life. God by design protects the novice in the spiritual life in order to keep him from falling into despondency. He hides the difficulty of the contest. However, if God sees a courageous soul He will allow him to experience conflict and to be in embattled in order that he might be crowned all the sooner. Thus, God will allow us to be tested if it will perfect our love and virtue and if He sees our zeal for Him. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:09:34 Robyn Greco: i could listen to you preach anytime Father, because you're such an excellent teacher   00:18:20 Ren: The number of men who started chuckling just then was pretty fantastic. Caught on camera! :-D   00:18:40 Debra: 😄   00:18:40 Cathy: i was thinking the same   00:24:28 Sam Rodriguez: Have heard it said before “if we don’t make time for prayer, we’ll never find time for prayer.”   00:24:48 Debra: Is removing prayer time, and saying that we are too busy, a sign of spiritual warfare....or 'just' allowing our will to 'win?   00:25:16 Debra: Sorry...I don't know how to do the digital hand lol   00:25:57 Carol Nypaver: Go to “reactions”   00:26:20 Debra: Oh! Thanks, Carol!   00:26:32 Carol Nypaver: 😇   00:26:56 Ambrose Little: Alt+Y on Win; Opt+Y on Mac   00:27:16 Debra: Thank  you!   00:27:23 Carol Nypaver: 👍🏻   00:29:24 Ambrose Little: Did you really go to college if you never pulled an all nighter?? 🤔   00:29:35 Debra: Yes! Fr. D, I've experienced that...a peace when I've pushed through my will, to pray   00:30:19 Vicki Nichols: I never pulled an all nighter either   00:31:05 Carol Nypaver: Same, Vicki.  I can’t function without sleep.   00:38:38 Sheila Applegate: This. Above. Not because I am an asetic but I can't function as a human without 7 hours plus. Carol. :)   00:39:37 Carol Nypaver: In living the Gospel, how do you NOT offend people?   00:44:25 RiccardoO: “You will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven” has an interesting ring to it. Not far, but not yet in the Kingdom. Am I correct to interpret the list in this paragraph as the starting point? Is there another step that Climacus is not mentioning here, along the lines of the invitation of Jesus to the young rich man, “if you want to be perfect..”?   00:49:16 RiccardoO: Thank you father.   00:50:30 Rachel: LOL Nope, that would be me.   00:53:56 Robyn Greco: Ive lived on anxiety almost all my life but recently when I slow down and give it all to the Lord the fear leaves, literally, its holding onto that,  that is the hard part   00:54:45 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: I heard that the demons can't read your mind.  Is that true?   00:56:35 Debra: I wonder if Fr. Rippenger has talked about whether or not demons can read our minds   00:56:54 Robyn Greco: He has Debra   00:57:38 Robyn Greco: If you search on YouTube Father Rippenger you'll find talks he's done   00:58:24 Robyn Greco: I keep hearing about this "centering prayer" stuff but have no idea what it is   00:59:57 Debra: Robyn, I have one of his books...I went to get it lol   01:00:44 Debra: Yes....a 'little knowledge' is a dangerous thing lol   01:00:53 Robyn Greco: I've been told it's dangerous so I think I'll just keep staying away from it   01:01:34 Sam Rodriguez: Fr Ripperger gives an answer very similar to Fr Abernethy. One element that Fr Ripperger emphasizes is that they can access our memory and feed “thoughts” into our minds (for lack of a better term) and create confusion within us between our own inner voice and theirs   01:01:35 Ren: I love your thought about the problem being our over-reliance on ourselves. If we are weak, we are weak; that is not the problem, because God’s grace can work through that. Fear, and, essentially, the lack of trust in God that it exposes, is the real problem that leaves us vulnerable to demons.   01:03:01 Wayne: Need to attend church Services tonight.. Happy Easter everyone.   01:05:56 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: 🙂   01:08:19 Rachel: If not only other people but demons can read us so to speak in order to attack us and pull us away from God through fear, can it be that when one by grace, little by little comes closer to Christ, in turn,  that person because of their close proximity to Christ can ward off attacks? Where a person is able to discern more easily because they have kept the waters still. I think of Saints like Saint Maximus. Where many were against him and he kept pressing on able to discern and not abandon Christ. ( E   01:08:42 David Robles: Dear Father David, I am an Orthodox Christian in the Patriarchate of Antioch. This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday for us. Next week is Holy Week. I would like to wish everyone a blessed Easter. Christ is Risen! Truly, He is risen! We sing an ancient hymn,   01:09:50 David Robles: Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. 🙏😀   01:09:54 Carol Nypaver: Easter Blessings, David!🐣   01:10:47 Michael Shuman: Amen, David.   01:11:33 Cathy: Thank you David  Palm Sunday Blessings and have a Holy Lent.   01:11:59 Ashley Kaschl: There’s a good book by the late Fr. Gabriele Amorth called “An Exorcist Explains the Demonic: The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels” and it might clear up what demons are able and not able to do. 😁   01:12:02 Sam Rodriguez: When our sufferings and trials seem to pull us farther from God and hurt our relationship with God, is it perhaps our own preconceived notion of what is a “good” thing to happen vs a “bad” thing ultimately the source of that wedge? Given that any sufferings or trials that God Permits, we can trust that He Has Covered them all in a greater Good   01:12:32 Sam Rodriguez: Grace   01:14:23 Carol Nypaver: Thanks, Ashley.   01:14:55 Ambrose Little: St. Paul spoke of something like this as a thorn in his side that he beseeched God to take away, but God said, “my grace is sufficient for you; my power is perfected in your weakness.”   01:15:01 Robyn Greco: Been trying to find a spiritual director for years,  they are,  sadly, a rare breed these days   01:16:35 Robyn Greco: We see across the street, God sees 20 miles ahead of us   01:16:56 Sam Rodriguez: I’m reminded of a prayer that Mother Teresa prayed regularly: “Heavenly Father, if there’s anything I’m doing that’s not your Holy Will, please let it fall apart in front of me.”   01:18:13 Bonnie Lewis: I love that Sam.   01:18:49 Sam Rodriguez: 🙂   01:18:56 Debra: ❤️   01:18:56 Rachel: Yes, lots of baggage affects our vision. Throw it overboard!   01:21:34 Babington (or Babi): Thanks be to God  

Tonight, I have to say, was one of the most beautiful groups on the Evergetinos that we have had to date. I do not say this lightly given how wonderful the past groups have been; but this hypothesis (19) opens up for us the meaning of obedience in such a way that one begins to understand that it is a virtue to be loved precisely because it draws us into love.  Obedience is therapeutic; it brings about healing for the soul. It place one in a right relationship with God and so heals the wounds of sin. Obedience leads to intimacy; he who does the will of My Father in heaven is my mother, my brother, my sister. We are drawn into the most intimate relationship with a Most Holy Trinity, Christ tells us explicitly, so much so that He and the Father will come to us and serve us when we have been faithful.  Indeed we already know the fruit of this in every celebration in Holy Mass. We need to only ask ourselves: “Who is it that sits at this table and who is it that serves?”  Christ has made himself the obedient One and through His obedience has given us all; nourishing us upon His life and love. Our obedience allows us to respond in kind; it removes every impediment to our giving and receiving love. --- Text of chat during the group:  00:05:53 Rachel: Hola everyone.   00:07:56 Rachel: Road rage?   00:24:45 Ambrose Little: I remember reading St. Francis de Sales recommending that readily assenting to requests, even of our inferiors (e.g., even one's small children), is a kind of obedience. It is submitting our will to that of another.   00:26:23 Sarah Kerul-Kmec: Elder Paisios is a great example of this. giving over his will to a small child in an act of obedience   00:29:11 Daniel Allen: Would it be correct to equate obedience then as laying aside one’s own ego and preference to respond to the need of the other? Not to over simplify the topic but also trying to understand the common theme among the examples presented.   00:30:38 Rachel: It seems in this type of obedience to the reality of the person right in front of you God is not only trying to teach you something but He is offering Himself! This is the perfect example of what St. Maximus just said   00:34:18 Fr. Ben Butler: Yes, agreed. Well said about confession.   00:34:59 Ambrose Little: I think so, Daniel. It's a sacrifice of ego on behalf of another. Easier said than done!   00:35:06 Daniel Allen: Sorry question is above just prior to Rachel’s   00:38:41 Rachel: Wow   00:43:54 Forrest Cavalier: Is there a footnote about the camel in your English translation?   00:51:12 Forrest Cavalier: Marriage vocations are delayed, too.   00:52:16 David Robles: Father David, maybe it would be useful to point out that we do not obey the commandments as an exercise in ethics, or finishing a to do list, a set of rules, a legalistic requirement. For the Fathers , obedience to the commandments is something dynamic, nothing less than our participation in the Life of the Holy Trinity. The commandments are also therapeutic. Following them heals us. Finally we have the promise of the Lord Himself who in the gospel of John tells us, "whoever obeys my commandments is the one who loves Me... And the Lord promises that He and His Father will come into the heart of such a one and dwell in him.   00:55:47 Rachel: Obedience seems to be very closely related to purity of heart.  David Robles just expanded on that point I think.   00:55:52 Rachel: I'm so sorry!   00:57:17 Ambrose Little: John 5:19; 31 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise…. “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”  John 10:30 "I and the Father are one." Divine union is often seen as the culmination of the contemplative life.   01:02:44 Rachel: What if one ( no this is not pertaining to me) finds  there is a request or advice given by someone that contradicts what their conscience tells them? What if the person is a confessor or spiritual director? For a parent or spouse or friend this seems pretty clear cut but a confessor or spiritual director?   01:02:57 Rachel: LOL   01:04:37 Erick chastain: it is interesting reflecting on obedience after palm Sunday. I found myself wanting to make more sacrifices for Jesus after seeing how much our Lord lowered himself for me.   01:09:12 Ashley Kaschl: Seems like Newman is on the mind, because these paragraphs and sections are reminding me of the last part of a quote by St John Henry Newman,    “Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away.    If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”   It seems that obedience is tied up, then, in trust and hope, and that these sections we’re reading demand a sort of stretching of our trust in God’s plan and will for our lives to its limits so that God can show us the depths where we might find joy in our obedience no matter the circumstance.   01:10:02 Ashley Kaschl: Sorry 😂   01:10:24 Carol Nypaver: My favorite.  🙏🏻   01:11:32 Rachel: No, its my favorite! Newman probably loves you more though.   01:12:43 Carol Nypaver: 🙃   01:13:03 Ambrose Little: If we zoom out from seeing the Law as a long list of particular commands and rather as a guidebook to the practice of obedience, then it seems clearer the truth that Christ put forth when He said that He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. For in Him is the completion and perfection of obedience.   01:16:53 Carol Nypaver: Is there anything to be gained by obedience when it is done grudgingly….against one’s conscience?  My son was forced to mask for 2 full years, in seminary, hating it all the while.   01:17:16 Carol Nypaver: 🤪   01:18:28 Forrest Cavalier: Filial piety aids harmonious community, even grudgingly.   01:19:09 Ambrose Little: If we agree with a thing, it is more akin to following our own will than another's.   01:19:24 Carol Nypaver: 😲   01:19:54 Carol Nypaver: Thank you!   01:21:55 Ashley Kaschl: Thanks father!   01:21:58 Sharon: Do you want a correspondence by phone call, email or FB Message?   01:22:04 Rachel: Thank you Father and everyone.  😇  

As we step further into this first reflection of St. John Climacus on Renunciation, we begin to see how he paints with broad strokes. His intention is that we would begin this journey with a clarity of focus. Our asceticism is to be driven not by our own will or by fear or by hope of reward - but by love.  So often, we can turn the ascetical life into a matter of endurance, or self-punishment rather than a means of healing and drawing us into deeper intimacy with God. Thus, all the images that John uses in this first step call us to let go of our preconceived notions of the spiritual life and of God. We are to allow Him to draw us forward and His Spirit to guide us along the path that fosters our sanctification and salvation.  God wants us to enter this path with zeal and fervor. Love must fuel the fire within the heart that makes us run with swiftness when Christ calls us. We are to run with love and be motivated by desire. God and the pursuit of divine things cannot be set aside anything within this world as comparable in value or importance. God must be the beginning and end of all that we do. We must be ever so careful not to become calculating in our view of the spiritual life and never asceticism as another means of self-help. In fact, the self must be set aside in order that we might constantly gaze upon the face of Christ. It is Love that motivates us and beckons us and it is this Love alone that will bring us to what our heart longs for the most.  --- Text of chat during the group: 00:09:25 Cindy Moran: Good Evening!!   00:09:46 kevinferrick: Yes good eve!!!   00:13:59 Edward Kleinguetl: In a secular culture that is at war with the values of the Gospel   00:23:20 iPad (10)maureen: Sorry it was on by mistake   00:30:12 Bridget McGinley: Wow Father, that insight is profound as with the comparison of the Biblical texts. Thank you   00:30:18 Eric Williams: Stone is a building's foundation. Brick structures are built on top. Should pillars be built on bare earth? I don't know, but my guess is that doing so makes a structure vulnerable to ground eroding underneath. So, we must start our ascent will a solid foundation, for to attempt advanced ascesis too quickly would invite disaster. We might ask ourselves how firm the ground is under our ladders.   00:33:34 Ryan Schaefer: I think it is easy to focus on how much energy we put into putting awareness in Christ, rather than directly focusing on Christ. Does that make sense? Something that I have been thinking about this past week.   00:33:52 Andreea and Anthony: What page/paragraph are we at?   00:34:06 Anthony: 14   00:34:11 David Robles: Father, if a good foundation is Love and Chastity (see #8), and Innocence, fasting and temperance, which take time to learn (see#10), how can we attain to that in the beginning to be used as a foundation? In other writings Love is the summit of the spiritual life. What kind or measure of love do we need at the beginning? How is that love different from the kind of love that is our goal?   00:34:13 Carol Nypaver: 56. 14   00:36:58 Joseph Caro: Wow, I really love your interpretation of #14 Father. I thought at first it was good to build on stones. . .but your interpretation made me notice that the first two people are building structures (a stable dwelling place, either way  -- pillars on bare ground might not be within building codes but it would make a house anyway) whereas the third is running free. That's a strange juxtaposition that is only illuminated by your explanation.   00:37:13 David Robles: Thank you Father. That makes sense!   00:39:47 Eric Williams: I don't mean to belabor the point, but I may have insight as a runner. Attempting to run a race or a hard workout without warming up first could lead to either injury or poor performance. So, this metaphor doesn't strike me as very different from the others.   00:40:49 Sam Rodriguez: We live in a time of celebrity Priests and Catholic speakers that can often engender a cult of personality, self-promotion, and product-mindedness in much of our current catechetical offerings. When one contrasts that phenomenon against what St John Climacus, it seems to point to some concerning implications as to the spirit as to how current and future generation of Catholics might be formed, if not checked   00:41:39 Rachel: This is a pernicious temptation where when one is trying to avoid multiplicity they are in fact focusing too much on self   00:41:39 Sam Rodriguez: *contrasts that phenomenon against what St. John Climacus is saying   00:42:42 Andreea and Anthony: Everyone is needed in the Lord’s kingdom. My wife and I have benefited greatly from Bishop Barron and Fr. Mike Smitz, Fr. Dave Pivonka, etc   00:45:22 Anthony: Simplicity vs multiplicity. It may be better to smoke or drink in peace of heart on one's own porch than to listen to many Catholic teachers on YouTube.   00:46:03 Sam Rodriguez: Oh I agree, Andrea and Anthony. And I'm not saying its intrinsically bad. But I'm saying it *can* be bad... and i'm not pointing to any particular Priest/Speaker... and quickly acknowledge that many are wonderful and holy... but i'm speaking to the aggregate impact that such phenomenon can have to people seeking to give their life to ministry.... the glitz and allure of celebrity can be distracting... and launching a ministry such as that can sometimes rely upon self-promotion, which inherently carries spiritual risk and must be checked...   00:46:33 Andreea and Anthony: Judge not that you may not be judged. We cannot know how God is acting in someone else’s souls   00:48:26 Sam Rodriguez: If you re-read what I'm saying in those past two comments, there is no judgment intended to be expressed. This is merely a caution flag being waived. Nothing more.   00:48:29 Ren: My mind is also turned to the man found building a barn on the night he is going to die, and to Christ speaking of the destruction of the physical temple, and the enduring nature of the temple of his body. Everything in the New Testament, and here in this chapter, points us towards a less earthly, less secure (in one sense) way, and towards total abandon to the person of Christ.   00:52:01 Anthony: And it came to dust because it was intended to receive Messiah.  But when Messiah was rejected, the earthly glory was dismissed..  It's a warning for our cathedrals and basilicas too.   00:52:16 Robyn Greco: sorry im late   00:58:12 Sam Rodriguez: Amen, Father. Thank you   01:04:01 Ambrose Little: ❤️   01:05:51 Robyn Greco: i lost my spot can someone tell me where on page 57 we are? thank you   01:06:08 Rachel: I wonder at the examples of monks who fell away because of the lack of clarity Fr. Abernathy was speaking of a few minutes ago. The clarity Father A speaks of seems to be one received at every moment, from Our Lord through union with Him in whatever degree and capacity we are able to in that moment.                    In relation to St. John C., we will be pulled down by fears manifested in different idols and desires. The labor and grief also seem to be the pain that comes from the Divine Sculptor chipping away our illusions, of self and more importantly God Himself. Consumed by God Himself Also, ! I am not too sure what sublimation, that you mentioned means, so I will have to look up what you meant and how that related to what your were saying and how it relates.     01:06:15 Erick chastain: the joy of virtue should not exclude tears of compunction though   01:06:55 Rachel: Yes, Erick, a joyful sorrow. :)   01:07:43 Rachel: I was thinking the same thing. btw and am not afraid to say it lol   01:08:25 Rachel: What is peace?   01:12:37 Andreea and Anthony: Listening to the story about the Franciscan whose gift to the poor was destroyed by them before they could benefit, should we draw the conclusion that building on a large scale for others is always a mistake and a way of self-aggrandizement? For example, should Pope Saint John Paul the Great not have started any of the “big projects” he started such as World Youth Day, visiting so many countries, the work of the Catechism, Theology of the Body, etc … Should Saint Teresa of Calcutta not have built any of the homes for the poor? THAT was the way SHE was called to be the face of Christ in the world …   01:12:55 Andreea and Anthony: From Anthony: Regarding the idea that as soon as we try to enter the kingdom things go south, that seems very discouraging. Why would anyone then attempt it? It seems to me that God allows trials in accordance to what we need for the salvation of our souls, not allowing the devil to crush us immediately.   01:14:00 Erick chastain: joy should include suffering and  compunction, it is not a worldly joy   01:14:54 Erick chastain: suffering with christ   01:17:04 Cindy Moran: Thank you so much!   01:17:12 Rachel: Thank you   01:17:21 Sam Rodriguez: Thank you. Father!!   01:17:24 Rachel: If you say so lol   01:17:38 Rachel: Yes, it is drinking pure light   01:17:48 Ann Grimak: Thank you 🙏   01:17:56 kevin: thank you   01:18:08 Anne Barbosa: Thank you =)   01:18:11 kevin: Love Newman!   01:18:12 Debra: I like that the questions/comments are typed out, so I can go back and read them, if I've had to step away from the computer   01:18:28 liz2: Thank you Father!!   01:19:12 Rachel: lol I love this group  

Tonight we continued with Hypothesis 19 on the importance and value of obedience. I think it is safe to say that this is some of the most beautiful writing on the subject - one can only imagine because it arises out of deep experience.  Obedience is presented to us not as a kind of slavishness or something that leads to the crushing of the personality. Nor is it something that is infantilizing. What we find in the Fathers is just the opposite. Obedience is the prime good that we are to acquire because it casts out pride and it creates humility within the heart. Christ loved obedience because he loved the Father. It is in his incarnation that he was, by providence, obedient to his heavenly Father unto the cross and death. He obeyed the Father in love even though he was in no way inferior in greatness and dignity.  Obedience and love are intimately tied together. Divine love is vulnerable. And nowhere is this seen more fully than in Christ giving himself over to the Father’s will without question.  Such obedience also brings us healing and freedom from the danger of falling into delusion. Protected from pride, we never see ourselves and our lives as abstracted from God and his will for us. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:07:33 David Fraley: I always have snacks!   00:10:42 Anthony: "City a Desert" on YouTube is how I found him.   00:13:54 Debra: I didn't get any email today, regarding the commenting   00:24:02 Mark: Sorry… incredibly distracted on my end… what page are we on?   00:24:14 Anthony: 146   00:24:34 Mark: Thanks   00:32:21 Anthony: So this is what fundamentally makes our anthropology different than the Cathars.  They make ascetism a mere act of will.  We realize we have disjointed psychology that must be put aright.  And that is by grace and synergy of the will with grace we reorganize the soul/mind/body.  And this synergy is individual and communal.   00:37:56 Mitchell Hunt: I saw that. Very profound. Quote was from Elder Aimilianos   00:42:02 Ren: Didn’t one of the Fathers we read even talk about revealing ones thoughts to ones angel? It might have been in the context of the hermits, and I think they were able to see their angel, but I think it is still a lovely thought that could apply.   00:54:42 Anthony: I think that is a sentiment shared by Seneca the Stoic.   01:06:21 Ren: This paragraph really serves as the proof of the hypothesis: Obedience is most valuable because it defeats pride, and gives birth to humility and love of God - all without the danger of delusion. Amazing. Also helps to explain why the chapter on obedience is the longest chapter in the Ladder. Strange that the only time we really talk about obedience in the life of the church is little kids doing what mom and dad say.   01:11:16 Anthony: My discipline is political philosophy. Since the Reformation, and especially the American Revolution, we have a worldview of opposition and "I have the truth, I will separate from you."  This is immature and selfish and even Marxist, looking at life through a framework of parties being in perpetual opposition.  But classical political philosophy has a worldview based on love, friendship, patronage, "the ties that bind."  That is the Classical worldview upon which our Catholic ethics are based.

Thank you everyone who participated in the study of The Ladder of Divine Ascent tonight. Your questions were both beautiful and challenging.  Synopsis: As we continued our reflection upon Step One “On Renunciation” St. John makes it very clear that we must enter into the spiritual battle with a zeal and desire for God; we must leap into the fire if we really expect the celestial fire to dwell within us. None of our ascetical practices, or the renunciation of the world that John speaks of in this step, can be abstracted from our relationship with God and what he desires to give us. The firm foundation upon which the spiritual life is laid is innocence, fasting, and temperance. Like a child, a babe, we are to have a simple trust in the care of our heavenly father, we must allow him to nourish us upon that which we need. Our love can know nothing of calculation or sly deceit. This is essential John tells us. We must begin the spiritual life with clarity about who we are before God and what it is that we seek.  Likewise, we must enter into the spiritual life not lagging in the fight.  A firm beginning, John tells us, is useful when we later grow slack. We will all face trials and turmoil in the spiritual life and it is our first love, our first desire and zeal for the Lord, we must remember in order to set our hearts aflame once again. --- Text of chat during the group:  00:11:22 Cathy: Now thats Divine Providence!   00:11:36 FrDavid Abernethy, CO: Yes.  I thought so.   00:16:19 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: Where can you find the text Father is reading from?   00:16:53 Sean: Paragraph 9 at the bottom page 55   00:17:57 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: Thanks but is there a pdf file one can get this from? I do not have the book. Just started with you all.  Thanks.   00:18:40 Sean: I don’t think so   00:18:44 Ren: There is no PDF that we have access to. The book can be purchased at: https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/cPath/75_105/products_id/569   00:19:16 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: OK Thank you.   00:20:56 Anthony: I have a problem with laying off all things.  For example, although Christ went into the desert for 40 says and was often in prayer, He _did not_ utterly cast off His family.  His Mother was with Him.  He had friends.  He had family mentioned in the Gospels and Epistles.   00:28:55 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: http://www.prudencetrue.com/images/TheLadderofDivineAscent.pdf  found a PDF   00:29:36 Cathy: Great!  Saint John Climacus is looking our for you!!   00:29:50 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: 😇   00:30:30 Anthony: And this is where a spiritual father, an elder / staretz, and Catholic Culture come in.  They can regulate us to be neither puritanical nor lax   00:41:31 Ambrose: fortitude maybe   00:42:19 Rachel: that is a wonderful chapter!!   00:45:14 Anthony: YOU ARE RIGHT   00:59:56 Anthony: Synergy.  This is fundamentally opposed to the monergism which is the heart of the Calvinist American culture.   01:05:40 Michael Shuman: This is a really good question.   01:09:47 Joseph Caro: sheen talk: https://youtu.be/5e5oPIHnHQs   01:16:41 Carol Nypaver: Thank you, Joseph!  I love Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen!🙏🏻   01:17:18 Anthony: The more one loves, the more one suffers when the love is offended.  That is how I see Our Lady suffering at the foot of the Cross most closely with the suffering and loving Christ   01:19:37 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: colossians 1:24-26   01:19:58 Ashley Kaschl: “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.   He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.   Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”   - St. John Henry Newman   01:20:38 Cindy Moran: Thank you!   01:20:56 Jos: thank you   01:21:24 Cathy: My favorite night! Happy Feast Day!  

Tonight we continued our reading of Hypothesis 19 on obedience, its value, and how is attained.  We began with the Fathers’ understanding of the value of obedience. In it is realized all of the Commandments because through obedient love one conforms oneself to Christ. In this sense the person who is obedient, who embraces the will of another in whose care they are placed, becomes a “confessor of the Faith”. One who abandons his own will is rewarded more greatly than those who pursue virtue in accord with their own judgment or opinion. The clarity of the Fathers’ focus upon emulating Christ is essential for us to understand.  Obedience is not a slavishness; it is a self-emptying love that is rooted in the desire to please and serve the other. It is rooted in trust and shaped by self-sacrifice. May we never complicate it so as to make it unrecognizable. Within it is the power to redeem even what seems lost in our families, in our communities, and in life as a whole. It carries within it to seed of divine love that can reshape everything; even that which seems impossible to us. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:10:32 Lyle: Looking forward to another evening where someone may decisively, yet lovingly, dismantle erroneous ecclesiology for those of us catechumens.   00:19:55 Anthony: I'm guessing it was a fig branch or twig.  That's one way to propagate figs.  In year three, you get figs.   00:21:51 Ambrose: 1 John 2:3-5 ‘And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.’   00:22:18 Ambrose: John 14:15 ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.’   00:28:35 Anthony: This has implications for laity in problem parishes and dioceses and clergy under bishops with issues.   00:28:52 Anthony: Also had political implications against revolutions.   00:42:07 Ren: How does one reclaim the spirit of obedience once it has been lost? Once you have let resentment and even contempt of a particular authority figure to establish itself?   00:42:33 Jos: this was my question too but on the level of family/ generations   00:44:34 Ambrose: This one got me this morning. From lauds intercessions: Forgive us for failing to see Christ in the poor, the distressed and the troublesome, and for our failure to reverence your Son in their persons.   (particularly the "troublesome" part)   00:45:22 Carol Nypaver: Amen, Ambrose.   00:45:43 Anthony: We find our identity in the wrong.  Yeah, that's not healthy.   00:46:37 Ambrose: and not "sharing" it in social media   00:46:59 Jos: sorry I can't unmute   00:47:23 Carol Nypaver: Can you type it, Jos?   00:48:40 Jos: I wanted to ask about whether when one is born into a culture/ family structure and many generations that is filled with this pattern of resentment, lack of obedience etc, if it is then even possible to really change without enormous amounts of effort.   00:49:22 Lyle: Fr. David, I‘ve always appreciated the way you and some other spiritual directors continually point us to the Lord Jesus as our ultimate example whenever we need an example.   00:49:41 Jos: in our culture and my generation it is very common and it seems for many of us like outside of a very concerted effort it is nearly impossible to break out of the habitual that's been solidified in the unconscious   00:50:09 Anthony: Seeing each others flaws only - it can lead to long term and serious and acute resentments as with antipathy of different Slavic or Balkan peoples - or any of the old rivalries of Europe.   00:50:59 Ren: Agreed Lyle! “He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross.”   00:52:11 Ren: I have never been willing to be “obedient to death” 🤪   00:53:56 Carol Nypaver: There are many kinds of “deaths”—🤪   00:54:11 Ren: Yes. Ooof.   00:54:28 Carol Nypaver: 😩   00:54:36 Ambrose: All things are possible with God! Baby steps. Finding small things to train the will. Prayer. Nothing fast or quick fix.. Lean into grace.   00:55:55 Carol Nypaver: It’s a “choice” to obey/respect.   00:56:49 Lyle: Christ came into the world, not in His own name, but in the Name of the Father (John 15:20). He voluntarily accepted to fulfill in the most perfect way of the Father.  As an adopted child of God, must not I voluntarily do the same?  After all, God raised our Lord up and exalted Him above everything AND thereby provided eternal life to all mankind.   00:57:29 Ren: Amazing how obedience requires the other great virtues: Faith, Hope, Love, Extreme Humility. Maybe that is why the obedient brother is considered the greatest.   00:58:28 Carol Nypaver: 👍🏻   01:01:32 Anthony: That's part of the Benedictine charism   01:04:38 Forrest Cavalier: Chrysostom Homily 20 on Ephesians 5 has this phrasing on bending the will: “and nothing is so bitter or so painful to me, as ever to be at variance with you”   01:06:29 Anthony: We formed in the American life have a long tradition of self-will going back to the Puritan, Scottich Covenanter and Huguenot traditions such as "Lex Rex" and "Give me Liberty or Give me Deah."   01:06:35 Anthony: "Death"   01:06:44 Ambrose: Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at.   Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men.   He was known to be of human estate, and it was thus that he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6ff)   01:11:47 Lyle: During the Friday "Stations of the Cross", the Parish I am attending finishes EACH prayer with asking the Lord Jesus to "Do with me as YOU will."   01:13:15 Vicki Nichols: That sounds like St. Alphonsus Liguori's Stations of the Cross.   01:17:38 maureencunningham: Everyone a Movie called the Man of God about Saint Nektarios Of Aegina in Movie theater very beautiful film a friend said   01:22:15 Tyler Woloshyn: I have not found a viewing here in Canada for that movie yet   01:24:15 Anthony: Like the tendency to Jansenism or a Jansenist spirit among some American Catholic clergy and religious in past years and some trads now.   01:25:17 Lyle: The constant witness of the Eucharist is a very formative tool for anyone - adult or child.   01:25:50 Rachel: Thank you!!   01:25:51 Mitchell Hunt: thanks Father David   01:25:59 Anne Barbosa: Thank you Father!  

Lecture given by Father David S. Abernethy, C.O. on Saturday, March 26. 

After laying some groundwork in the previous weeks we finally stepped in to the meat, as it were, of John‘s writing.  We took up once again Step number One “on renunciation”. John moves very quickly to lay out before us the reasons why one would embrace the renunciation not only of the monks in the desert but of the ascetical life as a whole. The two fundamental reasons are the multitude of our sins and the love of God. The beginning of the spiritual life most often is the simple acknowledgment of our poverty and the infirmity that sin brings into our life. We see the emptiness of this life outside of our relationship with God. The acknowledgment of this truth bears the fruit of repentance; a fundamental turning toward God with streams of tears and heartfelt groanings that reflect an interior reality. It is then that God, as he did with Lazarus, orders that the stone be rolled away from the tomb and that we be unloosed from the passions that hold us in their grip.  Yet, John would not have us see this as a path that we take in isolation. It is always to be trod with a guide or a director, a Moses figure. We need those who can help bring about the healing of the passions of the soul by their care as physicians. We need to be guided by those who have lived a life equal to the angels; that is, who have been freed from the corruption of their wounds and so have become experts and the most skilled physicians/surgeons. We do not live our Christian life out in isolation but only in communion with others and strengthened by those who have been transformed by the grace of God and the ascetical life. This life, John tells us in an unvarnished way, requires violence and constant suffering; a dying to self and sin in order that our hearts might attain to the love of God and the love of chastity and all of the other virtues. There will be great toil in this battle and the false-self, that kitchen dog addicted to barking, John tells us, is only overcome by the one who becomes a lover of chastity and watchfulness.  The foundation of this journey is the courage to offer our souls to God in our infirmity, the faith to trust in Him, and the humility that we might bare all before his healing light of His Grace.  --- Text of chat during the group: 00:11:31 Cindy Moran: What version of the book is being used?   00:15:58 Anthony: copyright 1979 Holy Transfiguration Monastery   00:18:01 Fr. Miron Jr.: https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/cPath/75_105/products_id/569   00:53:17 maureencunningham: What was the book Psychology Orthodoxy wombs the writer?   00:53:58 Fr. Miron Jr.: https://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Psychotherapy-Esther-Cunningham-Williams/dp/9607070275/ref=sr_1_2?crid=174I4J6U16QTR&keywords=orthodox+psychotherapy&qid=1648080810&sprefix=orthoodx+ps%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-2   00:56:02 maureencunningham: Thank you   01:16:51 Ashley Kaschl: “The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling.” (Job 7:1, DRA)   01:24:50 Rachel: wow!   01:26:04 Rachel: How many times have the faithful heard in the midst of the battle, the same comparisons. A mistaken notion that the engaing in the battle means one has lost their " peace!?"   01:26:43 Bonnie Lewis: Thank you so much Father David.   01:26:45 Cindy Moran: Very good session thank you   01:26:53 Miron Kerul Kmec: Thank you   01:26:54 Rachel: Thank you Father and everyone.   01:27:09 Samantha Topolewski: Thank you!   01:27:20 Carole DiClaudio: Good night everyone!!  

Tonight we concluded Hypothesis 18 and began reading Hypothesis 19. Both emphasize the importance of not engaging in the spiritual life in isolation. One does not throw an inexperienced soldier, a novice in warfare, into the midst of a battle, having never used a weapon, and expect him to survive.  Similarly, we are taught that it would be foolhardy for us to think that we could engage in intense spiritual warfare, especially that of a hermit in deep solitude, without first having many years of being formed in a spirit of obedience and the common life.  One must be teachable in the truest sense of the word; we must be docile to the guidance of others and those who are more experienced. Wisdom teaches us to seek the guidance of those who have experiential knowledge of what it is to struggle with the evil one, to avoid mortal traps. We must become unabashed students of the holy Fathers. We must let the dust of the road, as one from the group noted, and that of the sandals of the elders we follow kick up and cling to us. Simply by drawing close to the Fathers, by studying their writings, we find the surest teaching. In such an age is ours, where freedoms and personal rights are emphasized, it can be very difficult to wrap our minds around the value in the essential need of walking such a path. Yet, as we shall see, it is the only way because it is the path trod Christ himself. --- Text of chat during the group:  00:36:49 Forrest Cavalier: Was it Chrysostom Homily 20 on Ephesians 5:22-24?   00:37:00 FrDavid Abernethy, CO: yes   00:37:01 Forrest Cavalier: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230120.htm   01:13:16 Forrest Cavalier: I think the word in greek βαφή connotes dyeing, not painting.   01:14:37 Anthony: Thank you, Forrest   01:16:55 Anthony: Forrest, that would make sense for it to connote dyeing, a dipping process; the word looks like it may share the same root as baptizo.  

Tonight we resumed our reading of Step One on the Renunciation of the world. The step fits into the larger context of a break with the world which includes, John tells us, detachment and exile. Here is where monks sought to remove everything from their lives that would keep them from focusing solely upon God and what He alone offers. As Christians we may not imitate the monk in living in the desert; yet, in reality, the desert exists within the human heart. The renunciation that John speaks of in this first step must exist within us as well. There are many ways that we have to let go of the things that hold us within their grip; the passions (sins that have become habitual), disordered desires that make us long for satisfaction and seek it within worldly goods and the fulfillment of the appetites.  In paragraph 4, John begins to define for us the various types of Christians. He does this not as an abstraction but rather as a frame through which we can view our lives. He paints with broad strokes and asks us to gaze deeply into the image to see if we recognize a reflection of ourselves. Are we an irreligious man (not thinking of God at all), a transgressor who distorts the faith in a depraved fashion? Are we a Christian who seeks to imitate Christ in word, thought, and deed - who believes in what God has revealed of himself to us; namely, believing in the Holy Trinity? Are we the lover of God who seeks to live in communion with all that is natural and sinless? Are we the continent man, who in the face of temptations and turmoil, struggles in order that he might be free? Have we interiorized monasticism in the sense that we seek a chaste love, purity of heart and mind? Do we remember death so as to cling to He alone who is our life? Have we set aside the things of this world voluntarily; not because they are evil but because we are a naturally attached to them more than we are attached to the love of God? --- Text of chat during the group: 00:34:39 Anthony: We are tied to an evolutionary metaphysic - to our detriment.   00:35:13 Anthony: "We" being society, even Christian society adopt evolutionary "becoming'   00:36:54 Eric Williams: I think Thomas à Kempis made a good effort to remind Western scholastics of the bigger picture.   00:38:18 Ambrose Little: Some people are more intellectually inclined, and God can use that to draw people to himself.   00:39:20 Joseph Caro: good point Ambrose! I agree, from my own observations   00:39:21 Edward Kleinguetl: To be fair, Aidan Nichols--who I referenced-- is a Dominican.   00:39:34 Ambrose Little: Fr. Garrigou-La Grange, O.P. is great. Highly recommend: Christian Perfection and Contemplation: According to St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross https://amzn.to/3JlEwrP   00:39:57 sue and mark: God will and can use who ever a   00:40:05 Fr. Miron Jr.: Let's return to Climacus   00:40:12 sue and mark: whoever and where eer you are to bring you to himself   00:40:57 Carmen Briceno: aren’t we doing the same thing now? over intellectualizing what has happened rather than going back to the sources?   00:58:23 Joseph Caro: “It is a mistake,” says St. John Chrysostom, “to imagine that one can in one’s own strength vanquish concupiscence and preserve purity; by God’s mercy alone can the passions of nature be controlled.”   01:02:58 Bonnie Lewis: This humility will reveal great truths about ourselves.   01:03:08 Mitchell Hunt: Where was that quote from above nothingness and humility? Amazing   01:03:14 Mitchell Hunt: About   01:07:34 Ren: @MitchellHunt - Mother Mectilde de Bar’s “Breviary of Fire.” The chapter on Pride and Humility   01:10:45 Erick: this is pure gold. each sentence of this is an outline of the spiritual life   01:11:19 Anthony: It takes experience in the world to see the trials and sorrow which result from the Curse, and we really then long to be free and to live in accordance with our nature (created and "deified").   01:13:49 Cathy: We can not have 2 gods... We will despise one   01:18:37 Mitchell Hunt: Thank you Ren   01:18:40 Eric Williams: Material comforts are like agglomerations attached to us. As they increase in number, they add to our “mass”, and as mass increases so does gravitational attraction. The more things we amass, the more we draw toward ourselves. With a little more thought one might find an interesting metaphor to be made from the accumulation of accretions becoming so great that a black hole is formed.   01:20:17 Anthony: God is the "Philanthropic One." Beautiful title.   01:22:45 Sean McCune: Eric: We become a nothingness that pulls everything in our grasp to ourselves where they are also become nothingness.   01:25:09 Sean McCune: (It took your comment about material things to get this secular Franciscan to say something) 😏   01:26:40 victoriaschweitzer: Righto. We must receive. We cannot approach with the mindset that we have to accumulate spiritual goodies. Ask and you shall receive.   01:28:21 Eric Williams: Indeed, Sean. The funny thing about massive bodies is that they interact with others. Either we enter into harmonious orbits or equilibria with other persons, or we are rogue bodies that collide with others or gravitational abysses that absorb and destroy all that falls within our sphere of influence. (Have I beaten this metaphor to death yet? 😉)   01:29:14 Mitchell Hunt: I think some people have have missed tonight due to your time zone change recently.  Got me on Monday night