Philokalia Ministries

The experience of reading Saint Isaac the Syrian is something like being caught up in a vortex; not a linear explanation of the spiritual life or spiritual practices, but rather being drawn by the Holy Spirit that blows wherever It wills. It is not as though Isaac’s thought lacks cohesiveness, but rather he presents the life of faith and life in Christ to us as an artist painting with broad strokes. This is especially true in the first six homilies that speak of the discipline of virtue. Isaac seems to be more concerned about our breathing the same air as the Saints. He wants us to be swept up by our desire for God and in our gratitude for His love and mercy. Our life is not simply following a series of teachings or a moral code, but rather embodying very life of Christ. We are to love and console others as we have been loved and consoled by the Lord. If our spiritual disciplines do not remove the impediments to our capacity to be loved and to love others, then they are sorely lacking.  In every way, our lives should be a reflection of Christ and the manner that we walk along the path of our lives should be reflective of His mindset and desire. In other words, we should desire to do the will of God and to love Him above all things, including our own lives. We are to die to self and sin and have a willingness to trust in the Providence of God that leads our hearts to desire to take up the cross daily and follow him. We begin to see affliction as something that not only shapes are virtue and deepens our faith, but that is a participation in the reality of redemption. We are drawn into something that is Divine and Saint Isaac would not have us make it something common. The Cross will always be a stumbling block when gazed upon or experienced on a purely natural level. But for those who have faith, we begin to see and experience the sweetness of God’s love and intimacy with him precisely through affliction. Isaac would have us know that joy in all of its fullness. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:10:51 Catherine Opie: Hi there, where are we in the text? 00:12:03 Lori Hatala: pg 122 Cover a sinner... 00:13:10 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "pg 122 Cover a sinne..." with 🙏🏻 00:13:53 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064674224441 00:14:25 mstef: What's the best place to buy the text for Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian? 00:14:55 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: Replying to "What's the best plac..." https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635/?srsltid=AfmBOop3vDmjuAXUXQSy7YsihYlEpKvTek3MiYqFazzowWu9fREOmiK3 00:16:24 Thomas: I think he is 44 00:17:52 Suzanne Romano: Charbelle 00:19:03 Una: Reacted to "Charbelle" with 👍 00:20:37 Ben: Replying to "What's the best plac..." Found mine used on Abebooks.com...had study notes, so price was right! 00:22:07 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: Reacted to "Found mine used on A..." with ❤️ 00:29:15 Suzanne Romano: Cover a sinner as long as he does not harm you. How do we define harm? Is a person's obstinate refusal of the truth the kind of suffering we can relieve? Or can dealing with an obstinate person open our heart up to harm?   00:35:56 Kate : Is there a difference between how the Eastern Church understands sainthood vs the Western Church?  In the Latin Rite you hear the term “heroic virtue” but it seems the Eastern understanding is more “Christ living within.” 00:38:18 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "Is there a differenc..." with 👍 00:38:57 Sr. Mary Clare: That's a good question, Kate. 00:39:43 Anthony: It's important to avoid self-loathing in failure to pursue good things, but commend all things to God's disposition. 00:45:40 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you so true , 00:46:55 David: It is easy to pray for deliverance or in thanksgiving but it seems as you draw closer it seems the only honest prayer becomes- Lord teach me your way I trust in you. 00:51:51 Ben: When Father's elected Pope...bye-bye, pews. 👍 00:52:11 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "When Father's electe..." with 😊 00:52:44 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It's important to av..." with ❤️ 00:52:46 Thomas: When he says to help the sinners in the first part how much are we supposed to do, because at some point wouldn’t you encroach on spiritual father type of stuff 00:53:02 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It is easy to pray f..." with ❤️ 00:53:09 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "When Father's electe..." with 🤣 00:54:05 Una: With my long-term fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue (severe) I simply could not keep up with Orthodox services, especially Holy Week. And the fasting. I was glad to come back to the Western rite and more relaxing fasting. God bless those who can do it. 00:54:48 Sr. Mary Clare: Unfortunately, covid became an excuse not to return to Mass. This has become a very sad situation. Watching the Liturgy online has become the norm. No doubt, this was a tactic of the evil one. 00:55:20 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Unfortunately, covid..." with 👍🏻 00:55:35 Eleana: I have seen more participation AFTER covid. 00:55:47 Jamie Hickman: This is how the TLM is in my experience. Yes, there are rushed low Masses out there, but my decades experience of Sunday Sung Mass is minimum 90 minutes, but usually closer to 2. The 10:30 in my area ends between 12:20-12:30 weekly. In Tampa this year, Easter Vigil began at 7 PM and ended around 12:30 AM...and the pastor actually began speaking some of the prayers in English that are permitted so to save some time. 00:56:07 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This is how the TLM ..." with 👍 00:56:30 Ben: Replying to "I have seen more par..." Trad. parishes *exploded* with growth, it's true. God brings good out of evil. 00:56:41 Catherine Opie: Interesting that 00:57:00 Myles Davidson: Replying to "This is how the TLM ..." The Extraordinary Form is just that… extraordinary! 00:57:53 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Trad. parishes *expl..." with 👍 00:58:55 David: In my parish we are filled with millennials and Gen Z even daily mass it is amazing I hope they stay. Before daily mass was just me and a few older people now almost every pew is full. But my parish is very traditional and lots of silence in mass. Covid might have been an momentary issue but now at least where I am I am shocked to see sunday service flow into the atrium and people holding open the doors outside during feasts. 00:58:59 Catherine Opie: Sorry, pressed enter before ready, I find it interesting that existing Catholics might be doing that, avoiding going to mass in person by watching on line, while for converts like myself lockdowns drove me into the arms of Catholicism, and adult conversions doubled this year on last year. 00:59:31 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "Sorry, pressed enter..." with ❤️ 01:00:09 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "In my parish we are ..." with ❤️ 01:01:40 Una: Thank you. Very encouraging. 01:06:51 Catherine Opie: I see the physical pain that intensifies when at mass, praying etc as the level of my resistance to sit with God. I offer it up for the souls in purgatory and breathe through it. As well as having to suffer the perfume other people wear!!!!! 01:06:54 Suzanne Romano: Guadalupe 01:06:54 Anthony: Guadeloupe was 1500s 01:06:58 Ben: Guadalupe was 1531 - Aztecs 01:08:12 Myles Davidson: Replying to "I see the physical p..." Perfumes = penance! 01:09:04 Ben: Reacted to "Perfumes = penance!" with 😲 01:11:32 David: Guadalupe did convert more Christians in the shortest period of time in history after decades of little success in the Americas. My son was baptized in the first stone font when we lived in Mexico,  the next year moved to a museum in Tlaxcala. The first Christians were other communities and the aztecas a minority in the territory were hold outs till Guadalupe. 01:16:57 Ben: Asceticism in the beginning of the spiritual life is basic to the Fathers, but today it's often treated as something for those who are already saints, with no reference to purity of heart. 01:19:05 Eleana: Reacted to "Guadalupe did conv..." with 😮 01:19:35 Lee Graham: Please explain the soul,s incentive parr 01:19:48 Lee Graham: Incentive 01:19:48 Anthony: Asceticism with little prayer and desire sounds similar to Jansenism 01:20:23 Ben: Right - we need all that. 01:23:11 Ben: It's a deep paragraph for 8:38pm 01:23:15 Sr. Mary Clare: What you have been saying is beautiful! 01:23:16 David: Why with all the ministries and works, committee's, Bingo, fundraisers isn't there more spiritual direction and an ER for the the spiritually sick. What I like most about the desert fathers is they identify the error and give a solution or solutions. I am dismayed by the latin approach to dealing with any of the evil thoughts. 01:23:20 Naina: Amen 🙏 Thank you Father 🙏✝️🤍 01:23:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:24:02 Elizabeth Richards: Peace to you 01:24:02 Catherine Opie: God bless Fr. 01:24:10 Francisco Ingham: God bless you Fr.! 01:24:11 David: Thank you father may God bless you and your mother.

What is the limit of our desire for God?  What conditions do we set on our pursuit of virtue, constancy of prayer and the avoidance of sin? What emerges from the writings of the fathers is their willingness to sacrifice themselves and comfort in ways that are unimaginable to the modern mind. Beyond that their actions seem to be absurd and extreme to the point of falling to the criticism of masochism or self hatred. It is very difficult for many to grasp the nature of such thirst and desire for God and to please Him. Equally, it is hard to imagine going to the lengths that these ascetic did in avoiding sin or overcoming temptation in the heat of the battle. They often treated the body harshly to prevent themselves from pursuing natural or disordered desires. Rarely do we consider the pretext that the Evil One is willing to use to draw us into sin. Therefore, we often will put ourselves to the test or engage in futile warfare that bears witness to pride within our hearts. Thus, even in our critical reading of the fathers we have to be wary of allowing our modern sensibilities to convince us that we see things with greater clarity psychologically and spiritually. If we are wrapped in the illusion of faith and comfortable with mediocrity, our sensibilities are going to be dulled and the Cross will remain for us as it has often been in every generation – a stumbling block rather than the revelation of selfless love. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:01:26 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 231 number 9 01:01:12 Suzanne Romano: This is the reason  why people should dress modestly. 01:02:40 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This is the reason  ..." with 👍 01:03:02 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "This is the reason  ..." with ❤️ 01:07:45 Kate : When children are formed in truth, goodness, and beauty from a young age, they are able to see the falsehood in secular culture. 01:08:37 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to When children are fo... with "❤️" 01:12:15 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "When children are fo..." with ❤️ 01:12:28 Anthony: I often think: if these things against innocence are wrong, why does God let it happen? And I have to fight rising anger. 01:16:36 Suzanne Romano: That is a truly consoling answer! 01:16:58 Sr. Charista Maria: Wow, great response Father :).I 01:21:57 Tracey Fredman: I have tasted it - what Fr. is saying is so right - so true, transformative - and then He sends us - 01:22:18 Anthony: Reacted to I have tasted it - w... with "❤️" 01:22:27 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "I have tasted it - w..." with ❤️ 01:23:02 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "When children are fo..." with ❤️ 01:23:49 Suzanne Romano: Your soul is always young! 01:24:31 Laura: Reacted to "Your soul is always ..." with 👍🏼 01:24:51 Suzanne Romano: 😆 01:25:05 Lee Graham: What is your address 01:25:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:25:30 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing 01:25:57 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father! 01:25:58 Catherine Opie: Deo Gratias 01:26:10 Julie: God bless 01:26:24 Catherine Opie: My dog has awoken

Gratitude is placing ourselves into the hands of God, trusting in His providence and allowing Him to guide us where He wills (without asking us for permission or our understanding His purpose). It is like having a bucket of cold water dumped over our heads. We are suddenly awakened and our whole being is set on edge.  We realize in the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian that gratitude and faith are often not what we imagine or want them to be. To show gratitude to He who is crucified Love means that we embrace that Love in our lives, are driven by the same desires as Christ, and willing to bear affliction patiently and with joy.  In the Scriptures, we hear the surprising words: “He was made perfect by what he suffered“. We see the perfection of love and the mercy of the kingdom most fully when Christ allows himself to be broken and poured out on the cross. Life allows himself to be swallowed up by death.  From the perspective of human understanding, it seems to be absurdity and failure. Despite our acknowledgment and the celebration of the resurrection of Christ - trampling death by death, so that those in the tombs might be granted life, we do not want this reality to shape our experience of life in the world. Saint Isaac is not presenting us with anything different from the gospel and yet our almost infinite capacity for rationalization makes us avoid affliction at every cost and become resentful when we find it ever present in our lives.  The kingdom of heaven is within. Salvation is now. The life that we are called to live and the love that we are to embody has been freely given to us. Not to embrace this life and love, not to allow it to shape the very essence of our lives is the height of ingratitude. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:01:11 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 120 01:10:34 Catherine Opie: I think that we have been indoctrinated into only being grateful when things go the way we want, I read a story about St Dominic that he took great pains to build a church on a hill. When it was finally complete the local king demanded it be torn down stone by stone until nothing was left. St Dominic upon finding this out declared joyously "Praise the Lord!". This really struck me deeply because it is so the antithesis of the attitude I was brought up in where we bemoan and curse God for misfortune and only are grateful when we get what we want. Or we see relationship with God only as a place to demand what we want. 01:10:56 Kathleen: Tall order. Very difficult. 01:11:35 Maureen Cunningham: Wow it hard but many rewards . That we can not see 01:11:36 Kathleen: It’s a decision one makes with complete awareness of the situation at hand 01:11:47 Rebecca Thérèse: Sometimes there's no option but to suffer. Uniting one's suffering to the redemptive suffering of Christ gives it purpose. 01:12:36 Art iPhone: Reacted to "I think that we have…" with 👌 01:13:48 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Sometimes there's no..." with ❤️ 01:15:03 David: I don't remember who said it but " It is only in suffering we know we have faith and grow". When everything is easy or pleasurable there is always doubt if this is the ego or faith and virtue. 01:15:28 Elizabeth Richards: We so want to create meaning & give purpose to our suffering (make sense of it), but Isaac seems to be showing that entering into suffering is entering into Christ. 01:17:25 Joseph: The heart of asceticism is stripping away the palpable, to open up space for the noetic 01:18:38 Kathleen: Yes 01:18:48 Ren Witter: ALS 01:19:03 Kathleen: Yes 01:19:28 Kathleen: Yes 01:19:50 Kathleen: Thank you!!!! 01:20:03 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you Father 01:20:04 Julie: Thankyou 01:20:47 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father! 01:20:52 Catherine Opie: 🙏🏻❤️ Thank you 01:20:54 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you, happy Easter everyone🙂 01:20:56 Matt S: Thank you! 01:20:57 David: Thanks father! 01:20:57 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you! 01:21:08 Andrew Adams: Thanks everyone. Great comments tonight!

We see clearly within the struggles of the desert fathers how difficult it can be to avoid extremes in thought and action. We see in them those filled with desire for God and striving for purity of heart; maintaining watchfulness and fostering a hatred of sin. Yet, how is one form and develop a sensitive conscience and awareness of the power of our own appetites and desires as human beings, concern with demonic provocation, and yet to hold on to a true view of the beauty of creation and the dignity of the human person? As fully invested as the desert fathers were, and as psychologically and spiritually astute as they could be, this was no small task. We find in their language at times a tendency to project their fear of sin or temptation onto others. This can be uniquely the struggle of religious people; rather than humbly acknowledging the truth within our own hearts and the power of our own desires we will blame temptation upon others – on the things they say or do. Saint Philip Neri once said: “Man is often the carpenter of his own crosses”. We do not like to acknowledge the truth of that fact; that we are the source of our own temptation or that it arises out of our own imagination and memory. Despite this, however, they did see very clearly that the Evil One can use every pretext to provoke a person into sin. The devil can appear as an angel of light, and the desert fathers would have us never forget this. Even that which is good - those bonds of love and familial affection, nostalgia for those relationships that have been so powerful - all of these things, the evil one will work on to distract us or pull us in a particular direction. One might argue, somewhat convincingly, that such a concern is extreme or neurotic. In this we do not want to defend the indefensible. However, we want to understand the changeableness of the human heart and mind, its fickleness and treachery. Demonic provocation can turn the mind and the heart toward things that we never imagined we would ever consider or do. May God have mercy on us and guide us. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:19:49 Wayne: page  again 00:20:09 Myles Davidson: Pg 230 L 4 00:20:30 Wayne: thnx 00:28:58 Anthony: This actually makes a lot of sense if we consider pagan myth. Monks strove to be like the descriptions of angels. But that desire to be "heavenly" can be perverted if we let the pagan myths distort our minds of the heavenly since sex was so often part of myth: like the relationship of Uranos and Gaiea, or the Olympians. We need a right view of God and creation and created things if we will truly strive to the true God. 00:52:05 Anthony: I saw it. Very good.  Also has scenes of temptation to love a woman who was attracted to him when they were young. 00:57:34 Catherine Opie: Being a new convert and coming from a non Catholic, mostly atheist family, and having a friend base who are not Christian I can relate in a small way how that might feel. I have had both friends and family become vitriolic over my change in belief. It can be challenging because I am no longer their ally in viewpoint. 01:03:01 Ashton L: I’d say a lot of people get fanatic and someone with genuine zeal confused 01:04:11 Anthony: Honest, not being a fanatic is a serious concern because some kinds of fundamentalism and truly nuts and malformed.  I don't want to be that guy.  I don't want to blow out of proportion stories of demons or private visions.  Then you're almost a solupsist, and insufferable. 01:07:29 Kate : There are a number of Western saints, men and women, who were great friends.  For example, Sts. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, Sts. Francis and Clare, Sts. Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal, among others.  I wonder if you could comment on how to understand these great spiritual friendships in light of these writings. 01:08:02 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "There are a number o..." with 👍 01:08:11 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "There are a number o..." with ❤️ 01:08:56 Vanessa: Replying to "There are a number o..." Jesus also had female friends. Martha and Mary. 01:09:18 Nypaver Clan: St. John of the Cross 01:11:16 Myles Davidson: The Spanish Teresa of Avila mini series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNBgLeqw6lxe_51ysMXFjR54sQf9LCl6j 01:11:30 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "The Spanish Teresa o..." with 🙏🏻 01:11:46 Ashton L: Reacted to "The Spanish Teresa o…" with 🙏🏻 01:13:58 Rebecca Thérèse: Therese asked that the sisters not put poisonous things within her reach lest she should take it in a moment of weakness 01:14:22 Anthony: Reacted to Therese asked that t... with "❤️" 01:15:01 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father! 01:15:03 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. God Bless 01:15:24 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Happy Easter everyone🙂 01:15:39 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Thank you. Happy Eas..." with 🥰 01:16:07 Ashton L: Reacted to "Thank you. Happy Eas…" with ❤️ 01:17:04 Catherine Opie: Happy Easter!!!

After having spoken to us about the importance of being filled with wonder at the love and mercy of God revealed to us in Christ and desiring him above all things, Saint Isaac immediately stresses that what is born from the heart must be real and concrete. It is one thing for us to use beautiful words to speak about Christ and the faith. It is another to embody the love and compassion of Christ so vitally that our actions and words transmit virtue to others. In other words, for our actions to be life-giving, they must be rooted in the experience of the living God. Otherwise, our wisdom becomes a “deposit of disgrace”. Whereas righteous activity born of the love of Christ and the experience of his mercy becomes a “treasury of hope”. How do we engage the world around us and those in it except by embodying He who is reality, love and truth. Our temporal life passes so quickly and Isaac tells us that if we love it then our way of life is defiled or we have been deprived of knowledge. He writes: “the fear of death distresses a man with a guilty conscience, but the man with a good witness within himself longs for death as for life.“  If Christ is the center of our life then we will have no fear or anxiety. The only thing that we take out of this world is our vice or virtue. Everything passes away like a dream disappearing in the morning. All that we have received is pure gift; coming to us through baptism and faith where we are called by the Lord - called by name - to enter into his life and to love as he loved. Indeed it is an interesting thing that Isaac begins his Ascetical Homilies by emphasizing wonder, desire, urgent longing and God‘s desire for us as well how freely He has given us everything that is good. Isaac set us upon a path that helps us keep our focus upon God and God alone. All of our spiritual disciplines must serve to help us love and give ourselves in love or they are hollow. Likewise, all that we receive must be responded to with gratitude. There is only one thing that keeps us from experiencing the richness of God’s grace and mercy. It is our failure to turn towards him through a lack of trust or appreciation for His generosity. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:08:47 Catherine Opie: Apologies I missed last weeks zoom due to being offline. What page are we on today? 00:10:29 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 118 paragraph 34 00:19:12 Catherine Opie: Things move slower down here in Australasia 🤣 00:24:50 David: I find this part so beautiful my grandmother was an artist near Lake Superior and painted in water colors I spent my summers with her and while I love her paintings I remember more the scenes , smell of the wildflowers and of course being next to her. The painting is but a pale reflection. So to with talking about love but feeling that from my family/mentors special people illuminates long after the time has past. 00:29:18 David: In the end I found Christ seeing him in my grandparents and others not the years of studying, reading the Summa. He was there next to me living through them. 00:46:06 Ren Witter: Don’t worry Father, I’ll throw myself on your grave and weep ;-) 00:46:50 paul g.: Reacted to "Don’t worry Father, …" with 😇 00:47:25 Tracey Fredman: Sometimes we find ourselves in a position ... I have thoughts! I pray for everyone's prayers - don't know how to raise my hand on the phone! lol 00:47:51 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to Don’t worry Father, ... with "😇" 00:48:13 Tracey Fredman: I can unmute 00:49:23 Tracey Fredman: (or not , lol) 00:49:36 David: I nice thing to do is to take a picture and send it to them SMS. Someone did this for me and it is really comforting in bad times to see a candle lit, a thought shared etc. 00:51:53 David: We enter this life and leave the same way - no teeth, no hair and in diapers what is important is what we share in-between was a saying from my Grandfather. 00:54:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: I've given up saying, "I can't wait to be a burden to my children." too much static. 00:57:01 David: Reacted to "I've given up saying..." with 😂 01:00:09 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: HIs advice here would also apply to those who carry trauma memories. 01:01:39 David: When my Mom was in hospice at home dying I was also raising my sons alone and commuting to Chicago (4hrs driving). I had a lot of anxiety and listed to relevant radio on the way back. Father Simon said the only honest prayer is not asking for things but - God teach me your ways. When I started doing this most of the anxiety and frustration went away. I guess letting go of pride? 01:02:23 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "When my Mom was in h..." with 👍 01:03:02 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "When my Mom was in h..." with ❤️ 01:03:14 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "We enter this life a..." with ❤️ 01:03:45 Anthony: A problem is that these very remedies - Bible, sacraments, real theology - have been distorted and abused and therefore look ugly and repulsive.  That blockage needs to be overcome 01:03:58 Bob Čihák, AZ: My favorite is "Thy will be done." So much so that we're planning it for our gravestone. 01:05:16 David: Reacted to "A problem is that th..." with 👍 01:05:21 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "My favorite is "Thy ..." with 🤣 01:17:39 Ryan N: Father, How does one who struggles with giving gratitude arrive to such state. Is it left to the grace of God? Do we ask God for the grace to be grateful? 01:19:45 Naina: Thank you Father 🙏✝️❤️ 01:20:30 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father! 01:20:30 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you! 01:20:42 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr, I will pray for you.  

Tonight‘s group consisted mostly of a monologue (out of necessity) about how it is that we are to read the Fathers. We have learned over these few years that one must read in a discerning and discriminating fashion, as well as prayerfully. There is great wisdom to be found within the ascetical writings, however, we must understand that the spiritual life and the personal struggle of each of the desert monks was unique. Furthermore, the desert itself was a laboratory like no other. In the deep solitude, the fathers saw with great clarity the workings of the human mind and heart as well as temptations that came from within and through demonic provocation.  If there is one point that I wanted to make clear in pressing through this with the group is that our love of virtue, of God and our desire to be free of the passions can lead us not only into extremes of discipline but also into a kind of psychological violence. The sorrow over our own poverty and sin can lead us to repress certain parts of our personality and aspects of our life as human beings that are a source vitality and the capacity to love. We have often spoken about desire being at the heart of the spiritual life; we seek He  alone who can fill what is lacking within us.  Yet when the ascetic life is treated like a defense mechanism, we can project our struggles and responsibility for ourselves onto others or, in the intensity of the struggle, repress that which is essential to being fully human. This is not an ancient phenomenon. Those who engage in the spiritual battle today can be tempted in similar ways. Each generation is unique in regards to the nature of the battle but the same pitfalls remain. It is for this reason that the ascetical life cannot be seen as an end in itself. It must begin with Christ, our relationship with him and our trust in his mercy and grace. Devoid of this relationship, the ascetic life can draw us into self focus that is destructive to us both emotionally and spiritually. Thus, our reading of the fathers places upon us a responsibility to be striving at the same time to draw close to Christ. Otherwise, the spiritual life can become a tragic distortion of the truth rather than the source of healing that it is meant to be. The current state of affairs within the life of the Church and the disconnect with this greater spiritual tradition points to such a distortion. When Christianity becomes a cultural phenomenon and whenever even its deepest and most beautiful forms of prayer become habitual and automatic, it becomes lifeless. Let us take heed then of this great responsibility and entrust ourselves to the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. All things are possible with God, but without him there is  only darkness or a sad simulation of faith. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:13:17 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 230, K 00:23:29 Rachel: Is the connection instable for anyone else? 00:23:42 Rachel: unstable* 00:24:21 Monk Maximos: Replying to "unstable*" Mine is fine 00:24:44 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 👍🏼 00:24:50 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 👍🏼 00:25:38 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 👍🏼 00:27:02 Anthony: Would it be psychology healthier for people to be ordained or vowed religious as older people? St Paul suggests this, but the stories of saints romanticized young vocations (like St. Agnes). 00:27:55 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Would it be psycholo..." with 🤔 00:30:39 Sr. Charista Maria: Very important thoughts you are sharing Father. Holiness and Wholeness. Human/Spiritual integration. 00:31:30 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Very important thoug..." with ❤️‍🔥 00:32:10 Rachel: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 🙏 00:33:19 Anthony: Right. Even St Symeon the New Theologian cracked mentally or emotionally as a young man. 00:35:58 Sr. Charista Maria: Pope Leo 13th spoke of the 100 years of satan which we have been in, hence such deep wound today and the need for longer formation for most. 00:38:48 Monk Maximos: The Servants of the Paraclete had a similar experience. 00:41:33 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Very important thoug..." with ❤️ 00:44:42 Monk Maximos: Not only secular universities… some “catholic” ones are too. 00:44:54 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "Not only secular uni..." with 👍 00:45:57 Maureen Cunningham: We need the Holy Spirit an lots of joy 00:46:03 Rachel: I wonder if we are not still reeling from that but have only just begun to see the havoc modern psychology relied upon as if gospel truth has wrought upon civilization. The eye when not purified by a life in Christ views the world skewed through modern psychology no matter how good the intentions of those pursuing help though these means. How much though, do we see through this lens? How much doe it affect how we see ourselves, others and Christ Himself? How do we relate to each other? 00:46:18 Forrest Cavalier: Before going to secular college (CMU, late 1980s), I promised myself to always meet my Sunday obligation. I know without a doubt it saved my faith. 00:49:56 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Before going to secu..." with 🙏🏻 00:57:56 Kate : It seems we have to look at these stories not through a moralistic lens, otherwise we will end up thinking of this in terms or right vs wrong.  Rather, they we seeking healing of the soul and healing from the passions. 00:58:14 Sr. Charista Maria: I believe reading the desert Fathers and also being open to the graces that God is pouring out in our times. There is a great movement within the Church to encourage healing of the deeper heart, opening up the deep struggle or disorder, being so real with Jesus about the longing, and invite Jesus in to redeem, heal; Jesus then reveals the truth that it is really longing for union with Him (the God-sized void) underlying such disorders. Then the disorder becomes a portal to invite God in. Oh happy fault. and St. John of the Cross spirituality. Many are ashamed to invite God into such disordered longing, and they repress and thus close off the deeper heart to God. 00:58:54 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "It seems we have to ..." with 👍 01:02:10 Adam Paige: I see this in a positive light, that we should create spaces for men to be with one another in the church. I went to a men's retreat in Ontario in January and their homework for us was to start a men's group in our parishes if one doesn't already exist. At our last local men's group, we prayed Compline together and we've had Orthodox and Protestant men join us from time to time. 01:08:17 Maureen Cunningham: Monks had mothers I do not understand if Jesus was very close women when did all start 01:11:04 Anthony: In my opinion, some of the issues may be ethnic issues, not fully conformed to the Gospel. Norman's profoundly shaped the  Latin Catholic culture, but they had issues. The Greeks had issues (read the Alexiad...wow!). We all have probematic ethnic issues we are not fully recognizing. 01:13:50 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father 01:13:51 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. very thought provoking as always. 01:14:32 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:14:38 Sheila Applegate: Reacted to In my opinion, some ... with "👍" 01:14:57 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father. 01:15:25 Nypaver Clan: Please pray for the soul of Cindy Moran, a member of this group.

Saint Isaac the Syrian begins his teaching with a gentle reminder that liberation from material things, that is, our attachment to the things of this world and placing them above God, is a slow process that involves great toil. Yet, this is the common order of things. In our journey, we often have to break loose of the mooring of those things that prevent us from loving. And so Isaac teaches us that righteous activity involves comprehending what God has revealed to us and then embodying it through action - praxis. Even as we make gains our memory of past sins and failures often brings grief to the soul. We shouldn’t be discouraged by this, St. Isaac tells us, but we must simply allow these recollections to lead us to greater repentance and gratitude for God‘s mercy. Yet all of this is but a prelude to Isaac asking us an important question: Do you desire to commune with God by perceiving the love and the mercy that He reveals not just with the mind or the senses but through faith and experience?  Do you desire God? Do you desire Love? If our answer to this question is “yes” then Isaac tells us we must pursue mercy: “For when something that is like unto God is found in you, then that holy beauty is depicted by Him.“ We begin to see and comprehend the mercy and love of God by loving as he loves; by going beyond the limitations and the confines of our own understanding.  Such spiritual unity once unsealed incessantly blazes in the heart with ardent longing. The soul‘s divine vision, Isaac tells us, unites one to God and the heart becomes awestruck; filled with wonder at what no eye has seen or mind could imagine outside of the grace of God. The path to divine love first begins by showing compassion in some proportion to the Father’s perfection. As Christ tells us, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect, be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful“ The dignity and destiny that is ours, the life and love into which God draws us should be what we pursue the most in life. To desire God, to give free reign to an urgent longing for Him brings about our transformation. Desire is our path to the Kingdom within. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:15:08 Callie Eisenbrandt: I’ll take your books Father!! 😂 00:16:21 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 117 paragraph 26 starting "Liberation from...." 00:20:11 Eleana: I want Icons😁 00:30:39 Sr. Charista Maria: Amen Father. So very true. We so often fall so short of such communion with the indwelling presence of the Holy Trinity. Most don't realize the profound grace of our Baptism. 00:30:43 Anthony: This is interesting.....in Italian, a translation of "lust" is "desire."  Lust (the sin) must be misplaced desire. 00:31:53 Paisios: There's a phenomenal article by Cormac Jones about converting desire being the most important thing in the Christian spiritual life 00:31:55 Paisios: https://cormacjones.substack.com/p/converting-desire 00:33:38 Sr Mary Clare: Reacted to "https://cormacjones...." with 👍 00:34:19 Anthony: Reacted to There's a phenomenal... with "👍" 00:34:25 Anthony: Reacted to https://cormacjones.... with "👍" 00:36:16 Jamie Hickman: Replying to "This is interestin..." concupiscence...think concupiscible appetite. we tend to think of it only in the negative (evil, sinful), but as you say: it is not in itself bad 00:41:56 Anthony: Too much asceticism leads to resentment 00:45:00 Nypaver Clan: Father, How do we balance Mercy with the Judgement of God?  Is it possible to rely too much on God’s Mercy? 00:50:05 Paisios: I once read, "God's judgement is mercy" 00:52:37 Maureen Cunningham: W hat about abusive act 00:55:43 Sr Mary Clare: There are many out there who constantly say, "Don't judge!. when a person may just be speaking about sins that hurt the heart of Jesus Christ. It is a constant cry of those who seemingly have problems with church teachings and the ten commandments. 00:59:45 Jamie Hickman: I might have missed it: to whom is Isaac intending homily? Was this preached in a church during Divine Liturgy? Looking for context and audience. 01:02:08 Anthony: Leaving their boats and family was leaving freedom and security of having your place where you belong. 01:02:20 Jamie Hickman: thank you, Father 01:02:37 Anthony: Also they left economic power 01:02:52 Sr. Charista Maria: There's a video called The Third Way, which is so beautifully done, that may reflect what you are saying here Father regarding love. Letting Love inspire in all things. The first way is Judging, the second is compromising, the third is Christ's way it seems. 01:04:42 Sr. Charista Maria: It is testimonies of some who were in the homosexual lifestyle, but then were drawn by love to the truth. 01:05:49 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: The intensity of man's thirst for God determines his spiritual progress. Longing for God stands above all ascesis. Man's desire constitutes the small human part, which man offers to God, and God then adds to it the great part of His grace. It is essential to constantly rekindle our desire, and this should be the main concern of our life. God gave the same commandments to all, so if God's gifts are more abundant in some, this means that their thirst for God is greater and they renew their desire day after day. Spiritual thirst brings the whole heart of man to the source Christ, as He Himself said, 'Where your heart is there shall your treasure be also." Respecting man's freedom, however, God responds to man according to his longing, as Saint Silouan writes: ‘The Lord has love for all men but His love is greater for the one who seeks Him.' If we expect the Lord's visitation with all our heart, then, of a surety, we will attract the living waters of His grace. 01:06:28 Lee Graham: Life with Christ must be “experiential”, 01:08:22 Sr. Charista Maria: There's a video called The Third Way, which is so beautifully done, that may reflect what you are saying here Father regarding love. Letting Love inspire in all things. The first way is Judging, the second is compromising, the third is Christ's way it seems. It is testimonies of some who were in the homosexual lifestyle, but then were drawn by love to the truth. 01:12:05 Kathleen: HAHA 01:12:45 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father 01:12:53 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:13:10 Maureen Cunningham: Yes 01:13:20 Lee Graham: Yes! 01:13:25 David: Thank you father! 01:13:26 Sr Mary Clare: Thank you  

In our ongoing discussions of the Desert Fathers’ writings, especially upon sexual desire and sensuality as a whole, one comes to the realization that we have to read in a discerning fashion. In other words, we cannot be lazy while sitting at the feet of the elders. Their wisdom grew out of experience. However, it was the experience of the desert and of monks. What they discovered and understood is unparalleled in its value for the life of the Church and our understanding of spirituality.  Yet, although they saw so very much it does not mean they saw everything or that they articulated it in a way that is going to speak to every generation in the same fashion. Every generation, every person, must embrace and embody the fullness of the gospel through striving to enter by the narrow way. The ascetic life is our exercise of that faith and every generation will have particular struggles and battles that are unique to it. In a time like our own, when so many aspects of the culture have been hyper-sexualized, living a life of purity of heart can seem to be not only a difficult but impossible pursuit. While we can see that the dignity of human sexuality and women change radically with Christianity, those changes were not immediate or complete and we see lingering vestiges where women are seen as the cause of sin. This implants in the spirituality of purity of heart and the struggle with temptation a kind of misogyny, a temptation to the hatred of the self and of sexuality. Inevitably this leaves a void in our understanding and practice of the faith that can be disastrous. Rather than seeing the dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God and our destiny in Christ to participate in the Divine life, we can drift into a lifeless moralism. Christianity must speak to the deepest part of a person‘s religiosity; capturing what it means to be a human being, fully alive and transformed by the grace of God. Even as we sit at the feet of the Fathers, we must keep our eyes upon Christ; for it is in Him alone, that we can plumb the depths of mysteries of God and the kingdom, but also the mystery of what it is to be a human being. Purity of heart is much more about what we can see having removed the impediment of the ego or of disorder desires. Far from being restrictive, it gives us a greater capacity to love and be loved. What is needed in our day are saints who embody this reality so fully that their lives reveal to us the deepest truths about ourselves and God. Only saints stand transparent to the fullness of truth revealed to us in Christ. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:12:51 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 227, I 00:14:06 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 227, I 00:24:18 Una: Let the past stay in the past, in other words 00:24:32 Diana Sciuto: Reacted to "Let the past stay in…" with ❤️ 00:24:49 Mary Clare Wax: This is why it is so important to live in the present moment. The past is dead, the future yet unborn. God is the God of "I Am", not "I Was," or "I Will Be." 00:25:05 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This is why it is so..." with 👍 00:25:23 Diana Sciuto: Reacted to "This is why it is so…" with 👍 00:26:08 Una: The movie and book "Sophie's Choice" really illustrates the danger 00:26:44 Una: Her memories of trauma 00:34:19 Sr. Mary Clare: Very interesting that the First Reading at Mass today was about Susanna and the Elders lusting after her. 00:34:46 Una: Reacted to "Very interesting t..." with 👍 00:35:27 Sr. Charista Maria: It seems this was the issue with the Pharisees who confronted Jesus for being too close to women, such as the one who washed His feet with her tears. They were projecting their impurity of their hearts onto Him, whose heart is so pure. 00:36:17 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "It seems this was th..." with 👍 00:37:56 Anthony: "Purity Culture"? 00:39:27 Nypaver Clan: Chastity ring or Promise ring almost like a pre-engagement ring 00:43:48 Sr. Charista Maria: Great point Fr. 00:52:51 Sr. Charista Maria: I think of the issue the Pharisees had who confronted Jesus for being too close to women, such as the one who washed His feet with her tears. They were projecting the impurity of their hearts onto Him, whose heart is so pure. 00:53:27 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "I think of the issue..." with ❤️ 00:59:27 Anthony: I wonder if any of the women here can enlighten us whether in a woman's general spiritual outlook, there can be a "negative anthropology" about men when they pursue purity? Or are the women in a different dimension in this regard? 00:59:40 Julie: I think it starts with our watchfulness of thoughts. 01:01:02 Julie: I taught my sons to see women as someone’s mother, sister or a daughter with that respect and love in their beauty 01:02:59 Sr. Charista Maria: Agreed Fr. Women bring the heart, such as Mary. 01:04:20 Sr. Mary Clare: It this day and age, it seems to be more of a Jezebel spirit among us. 01:07:45 Anthony: "You will be just like my horse, my dog and my falcon, only I will love you more and trust you less." Pharoah Ramses in The Ten Commandments 01:08:04 Bob Čihák, AZ: “Men and Marriage” by George Gilder is an excellent book for our  current times. He strips off the lies of radical feminist ideologies. 01:08:39 Sr. Charista Maria: Agree with you regarding the Theology of the Body needing more commentary on the transcending aspect of our sexuality. 01:19:04 Sr. Mary Clare: Well said, Father, you are so right concerning this. 01:20:08 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "Well said, Father, y..." with 👍 01:26:11 Sr. Mary Clare: We are called not to be possessive in our love 01:27:26 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:27:27 Forrest Cavalier: Thank you so much! 01:27:42 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.

As one reads the thoughts of Saint Isaac the Syrian the experience is almost like that of the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Did our hearts not burn within us?” Isaac speaks to something so deep within the human heart that it ignites the very thing that he sets out to inflame: desire, wonder, awe at the love of God and the mystery of the Divine Life into which God invites us.  One of the great struggles that we have as Christians is that we approach the faith and the spiritual life in a common fashion.  In our reading of the Scriptures, we approach them in a reductive manner, dissecting the gospels; pulling out for ourselves bits of wisdom to help us get through life. Yet, Isaac understands that we cannot over-scrutinize the words that are written or spoken to us, but rather must immerse ourselves humbly in Divine Wisdom. Isaac tells us that those who are filled with grace are led by the light that is running between the lines. It is this humble and prayerful approach not only to the scriptures but to the faith as a whole that prevents the heart from being common and devoid of that holy power that “gives the heart a most sweet taste through perceptions that awe the soul.”  A soul that is filled with the spirit is going to run toward God, driven by an urgent longing for the fullness of life and love that He alone can satisfy. Not every soul is awakened to that sense of wonder yet it is the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field, and the one thing necessary. May God fill our hearts with a holy desire. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:09:28 The Recovery Community Hub of PBC, Inc.: Hey everyone, in Christ, my name is Ian, I am only using my former workers Zoom platform 00:11:17 Myles Davidson: Pg. 116 “Just as the heaviness of weights…” 00:11:50 Vanessa: I'm in Ontario too. Blizzard is bad here. 00:12:18 Edward Kleinguetl: I lived in Toronto for a year! 00:12:46 Ben: Replying to "I lived in Toronto f..." I'm east of Ottawa. 00:14:16 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: When you desire to do something for the love of God, put death as the limit of your desire. In this way you will rise in actual deed to the level of martyrdom in struggling with every passion, suffering no harm from whatever you may meet within this limit, if you endure to the end and do not weaken.  ~ St Isaac the Syrian 00:20:34 Anthony: It appears Isaac uses "Liberty" of mind different than the Greek Fathers? 00:34:08 Ben: I remember reading "The Imitation of Christ" for the first time in my youth, and thinking, "Oh, boy, this totally demolishes everything we were ever taught about self-esteem!" 00:36:20 David: I am wondering if the Diatessaron which was the most common with Aramaic communities might have influenced idea of living the gospel instead of the legal way of the west? 00:38:06 David: St Emphrain wrote a discourse on that and I assume Issac was likely exposed where the separate gospels tend to compare and contrast and get far to analytical. 00:40:22 David: The other thing I find fascinating the Syrian fathers taught through poetry which moves emotions not just debates or arguments. 00:42:17 Anthony: Seeing the Word of God as the Divine Logos keeps us from the "fundamentalism" that makes categories of touchable and untouchable. 00:42:27 Jamie Hickman: Great podcast episode on the show Square Notes looking at Thomas Aquinas's poetry...too often he's only known by his Summas as though that's his only writing style 00:42:46 Jamie Hickman: hat tip to Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, for his contribution 00:43:11 Paisios: Next book/class should be Hymns on Paradise 00:44:14 Anthony: Reacted to Great podcast episod... with "❤️" 00:44:52 Paisios: yes 00:45:04 Zack Morgan: I feel like the over-scrupulous approach we are discussing works more towards an apologetic end than anything else.  We find it almost too easy to read the Gosepls and accept them in contrast to a world that wants to reject them, so we easily fall into the temptation to over-explain that which we have come to blieve by a gift of faith that is in contrast very simple. 00:50:04 Kate : Perhaps it is a lack of faith and trust in the grace of God and the workings of the Holy Spirit in the depths of the soul. 00:52:37 Jamie Hickman: In one of St Louis de Montfort's books on the Holy Rosary, he recounts that Our Lady apppeared to Saint Dominic and told him to preach a simple homily rather than the one he had prepared, which was super eloquent, because in his humility he would convert the souls in the church even though the academics wouldn't be impressed...apparently Our Lady told him to preach the same simple version repeatedly, which led many academics present to think less of him...I might have confused which Dominican, but I think it was Dominic and definitely it was a saint 00:52:40 Sr. Charista Maria: My experience in reading the desert Fathers has been that the purpose and heart of it all is an encouragement to strive to "become fire!" 00:56:53 lauren: Reacted to "My experience in rea…" with ❤️ 01:00:12 Elizabeth Richards: Reacted to "My experience in rea..." with ❤️ 01:06:37 David: "Virtue seen and lived inspires and virtue explained often makes others weary " was a saying of my grandfather. People were attracted to Christianity by seeing love among the followers not convincing arguments. My own path from being young and not sure of religion was seeing Christ along side me in my grandparents and parents living their faith in love and sacrifice. 01:11:20 Ben: I've thought of that... 01:12:18 Catherine Opie: ❤️🙏🏻 01:12:21 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:12:23 Jamie Hickman: thank you, Father! 01:12:23 Diana Sciuto: Thank you 01:12:25 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you Father! 01:12:26 David: Thank you father ! 01:12:31 Catherine Opie: Deo Gratias  

Dive into a fascinating exploration of Christian identity and human experience. Discover how grace shapes our understanding of sexuality and morality. Reflect on personal struggles with desires while living in a distraction-heavy world. Learn from a monk's journey to maintaining spiritual integrity through divine support. Emphasize the importance of silence and boundaries in conversations, and appreciate the role of saints and collective prayer in deepening faith. This dialogue invites reflection on our existence and connection with the divine.