St. Isaac writes with the clarity of one who has walked through the fire of trial and found the peace that follows surrender. His words do not flatter the soul or soften the edges of the truth. They are meant to awaken us to the living reality of divine love. He shows that what we call faith must be tested, and what we call trust must be purified, until both rest entirely in God.

He begins with the martyrs who endured every torment that flesh can bear. They suffered, he says, through a “secret strength” that came from God. Their pain did not prove divine absence but revealed divine nearness. The angels themselves appeared to them, not as symbols but as real presences sent to encourage and to shame the cruelty of their persecutors. The endurance of the martyrs becomes the measure of faith. Where human nature reaches its limit, divine power begins to act. Their calm in suffering, their peace under torture, proclaim that the providence of God surrounds those who love Him even when the world rages.

St. Isaac then turns to the ascetics and hermits who made the desert a dwelling place of angels. These men and women renounced the world not in bitterness but in longing. They exchanged earthly things for heavenly communion. The angels, seeing in them kindred souls, visited them continually. They taught them, guided them, strengthened them when hunger or sickness overcame their bodies. They brought them bread, healed their wounds, foretold their deaths. The desert became a city where heaven and earth met in silence. For those who abandoned the noise of the world, the unseen world became near and familiar.

This leads St. Isaac to the heart of his teaching. If we truly believe that God provides for us, why do we remain anxious? Anxiety is born of unbelief. To trust in ourselves is to live in misery, but to cast our care upon the Lord is to enter into peace. The one who has surrendered everything to God walks through life with a restful mind. He is not careless but free. His rest is not laziness but confidence born of faith.

Isaac describes the path to this inner freedom. The soul must learn non-possessiveness, for without it the mind is filled with turmoil. She must learn stillness of the senses, for without stillness there is no peace of heart. She must endure temptations, for without them there is no wisdom. She must read and meditate, for without this she gains no refinement of thought. She must experience the protection of God in struggle, for without that experience she cannot hope in Him with boldness. Only when she has tasted the sufferings of Christ consciously can she have communion with Him.

Finally, Isaac defines the true servant of God as one who has become poor for His sake and compassionate toward all. Such a person mortifies even natural desires so that nothing distracts from love. To give to the poor is to entrust one’s life to God’s care. To become poor for His sake is to discover inexhaustible treasure.

Here St. Isaac’s realism becomes luminous. He is not describing a harsh ideal but the hidden logic of divine love. God draws near to those who entrust themselves wholly to Him. Angels surround those who choose the path of surrender. The heart that abandons anxiety finds itself upheld by grace. This is the holy folly of trust. It is the wisdom of those who live as though God alone is enough and who discover in that surrender a peace that cannot be taken away.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:04:28 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 158 paragraph 12

00:07:21 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:08:29 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 158 paragraph 12

00:09:17 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: http://Philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:12:11 Janine: Congrats and best wishes! REN and Max

00:13:46 Janine: Yes… would love to see the pictures!

00:13:53 Thomas: This may be a strange questions, but Is Natalia Tapsak (formally Wohar) sound familiar

00:14:30 Thomas: She was my Sunday school teacher and changed at my church for a few years until she got married

00:14:52 Thomas: We were at her wedding and stayed at her church for a few nights when I was up there for baseball

00:16:02 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 158, paragraph # 12, first on page

00:31:46 Jessica McHale: Living alone, l do get lonely at times, and when I do, I ask my guardian angel to pray to the Lord with me. It's always consoling.

00:36:52 David Swiderski, WI: St. Jose Escriva used to greet the guardian angels of others first then the person. Once I heard this I find myself thinking of it sometimes with difficult people. The other thing he said is don't say this person bothers me but he sanctifies me. I have found a lot of sanctification in companies over the years. I used to joke about it but now I believe it to be true.

00:37:35 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "St. Jose Escriva u..." with ❤️

00:39:41 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 159, # 16, second full paragraph on page

00:44:34 Anthony: Take a person like George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life). He had a lifetime of failing expectations and then acute disappointment.  A person can really be driven to distraction and become blinded to God's Providence.

00:45:53 Thomas: What does this look like in the world, not taking pains to provide for yourself separately, because in the prayer it says “ bless us o Lord and these Thy gifts” clearly to a hermit what they find and are given are the gifts of God but how can we know when we have exceeded what God has given us and are now taking pains to provide for ourselves

01:06:51 Erick Chastain: Is there a paradox of less tiredness after vigils, even?

01:09:59 Rick Visser: In the night "Rouse yourself and cry out! Holy, Holy, Holy are You O God."

01:11:37 Thomas: It feels like if we are able to remember death when we would think that we don’t have time to sleep so we should pray before we die

01:15:17 Thomas: Wouldn’t the story of Lazarus and the rich man come into play here

01:19:43 Vanessa Nunez: I can really relate to what we are talking about 😂😂 I’m trying to decide between pursuing social work or psychology. After facing some health challenges, I’ve felt this sudden urge to make the most of life and not waste any time with the blessing of healing God has given me. Because of that, I’ve been overcompensating taking on two jobs and volunteering to give back as much as I can but it’s left me feeling unsettled, like I’m constantly moving without real direction.

01:24:54 Art iPhone: Thank you Father.  Send pics Ren and congrats to you both!!

01:24:55 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you ☺️

01:24:57 Rick Visser: Thank you, Father. I will pray for you as I know you pray for us.

01:24:59 Elizabeth Richards: Amen

01:25:21 David Swiderski, WI: Thank you father, God bless you and your mother.

01:25:25 Jessica McHale: Many prayers for you all!  Thank you!!!!

01:25:31 Deiren: Thank you Father

01:25:50 Rebecca Thérèse: It's an hour later in the UK next week

01:25:53 Janine: Prayers for you

The stories from the Evergetinos draw us into a vision of holiness that reaches far beyond passive endurance. The saints do not simply bear injustice with patience; they transform it by the power of divine love. Their silence is not weakness, nor their gentleness naivety. It is the strength of souls utterly freed from the tyranny of self, who see in those who wrong them not enemies but brothers blinded by ignorance or fear.

Saint Libertinus, robbed and humiliated, offers even the whip that might strike the animal taken from him. His response reveals the freedom of one who has already renounced everything. Possession and loss have become meaningless to him in the light of Christ. His forbearance becomes the instrument through which God corrects the offenders, not by wrath but by wonder. The earth itself bears witness, as the frightened horses refuse to cross the river until restitution is made. The entire creation responds to the humility of a righteous man.

Saint Marcian allows himself to be defrauded repeatedly, not because he is unaware, but because his heart sees deeper than the transaction. The fraud of the banker becomes a moment of salvation. The silent goodness of the saint pierces the conscience of the wrongdoer far more deeply than accusation could have done. His hidden act of mercy becomes a living sermon, spoken not with words but with grace. When the banker’s eyes are opened, the saint’s only concern is to avoid vainglory, not to claim vindication. He would rather lose money than lose humility.

Saint Spyridon, guileless and compassionate, meets deceit and theft not with censure but with patient truth. His words to the dishonest buyer, “Perhaps you forgot to pay for it,” reveal the tenderness of one who seeks not to shame but to heal. Even to thieves caught in the act, he offers kindness, releasing them from invisible bonds and sending them away with a gift. He teaches by generosity, not severity. The thief’s heart is not crushed but awakened.

These lives reveal that true correction flows not from moral superiority but from love purified by humility. The saints’ compassion does not end with forgiveness; it embraces those who harm them, holding them within the prayer of mercy. They see the image of God even in the one who steals or lies. They refuse to reduce a sinner to his sin.

For us, these examples uncover how easily we mistake indignation for righteousness. We defend ourselves with words, cling to our sense of justice, and separate ourselves from those whose actions wound us. The Fathers remind us that this self-defense closes the heart. The saint’s freedom lies in entrusting all judgment to God. To suffer wrong with love is not resignation but participation in the meekness of Christ. It is the hidden victory of grace over pride.

The Evergetinos teaches that one good deed done in silence can awaken repentance more surely than a thousand admonitions. The holy do not impose virtue; they unveil it through gentleness. They correct not by exposing others’ shame but by bearing their wrongs with dignity. Such love, born of prayer, makes the conscience tremble and the heart turn toward the light.

May we learn from them the art of divine tenderness.

---

Text of chat during the group:

00:08:19 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:09:09 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 297

00:13:16 Sheila Applegate: It was the most perfect homily!

00:14:26 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 297, A

00:25:34 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 298, B

00:34:37 Fr Martin, AZ 480-292-3381: These passages seems authentic and fruitful. The common practice I encounter in our culture of defending one's rights seems to disturb people's way of being and thinking, maybe even making their thinking obtuse in regard to their theosis or healing. I have difficulty in knowing how to gently communicate to even fellow Christians, how to be vigilant of their interior or nous, and that this is more valuable to their peace, joy, and spiritual as well as emotional well-being than defending their rights. Forgiveness and humility seem to be divine attributes that can fill our hearts amd mind with a sense of God's love. Like you said, not only for our sake, but it can impact others.

00:43:06 Jerimy Spencer: Aloha from Hawai'i, I have often had to reflect a lot on the reality that arrogance is not the only opposite of humility, but also self-hatred too. Mahalo Father, peace and Aloha of Christ be with you 🤙🏼🙏☦️

00:47:05 Anthony: It's the job of the Holy Spirit to convince one of sin. It's not your job to convince you if your sin

00:48:18 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 299, C

00:50:26 Rick Visser: Saint Spyridon Orthodox Church

00:52:45 Jerimy Spencer: Reacted to "It's the job of the …" with ❤️

01:01:11 Rick Visser: Offer to drive them to their destination

01:02:58 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Offer to drive them ..."

That may expose them in a lie which may be uncharitable?

01:03:04 Jessica McHale: When things like fraud happen to me, which they have a few times, as it happening, I usually hear a line from Scripture in my head ("turn the other cheek" or "walk two mile" etc) and that's when I know to let go of the material loss and let God work on the person.

01:04:38 Anthony: Listen to them, aid them, AND refer them to the unemployment office, with all encouragement, and coach them in thinking of their job skills

01:06:36 Anthony: I work for a state unemployment office. We are there to help

01:07:23 Fr Martin, AZ 480-292-3381: I began a practice more out of my desperation a few years back of asking panhandlers I gave money to, to pray for my son who was in dire straits. I was pleasantly surprise to see their humanity engage, and almost everyone agreed, many praying heartfelt prayers for my son in the moment. So homeless throughout the US have prayed for my son. I look forward to panhandlers now rather than the cringe I used to feel at seeing them. Even when I didn't have money, many panhandlers still graciously prayed.

01:08:01 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "I began a practice..." with ❤️

01:08:01 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "I began a practice m..." with 🙏

01:08:21 shang yang: Reacted to "I began a practice m..." with ❤️

01:10:19 Andrew Adams: Reacted to "I began a practice m..." with ❤️

01:11:51 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "I began a practice m..." with ❤️

01:12:31 Ambrose Little: St. Maximos the Confessor: “He who gives alms in imitation of God does not discriminate between the wicked and the virtuous, the just and the unjust, when providing for men’s bodily needs.”

01:12:58 Myles Davidson: As someone who spent some time as an addict and homeless when I was younger, I can say that any act of kindness, no matter how small, can make such a persons day

01:13:08 Jacqulyn Dudasko: Reacted to "St. Maximos the Conf..." with ❤️

01:13:10 Rick Visser: Reacted to "As someone who spent..." with ❤️

01:13:22 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "As someone who spe..." with ❤️

01:14:14 Rick Visser: Reacted to "St. Maximos the Conf..." with ❤️

01:14:35 Ambrose Little: Reacted to "As someone who spent…" with ❤️

01:15:31 Jerimy Spencer: Reacted to "St. Maximos the Conf…" with ❤️

01:15:47 Janine: Wow..great class

01:16:14 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You

01:16:26 Jessica McHale: Many prayers for you all!!!

01:16:27 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

In this section of Homily Five, St. Isaac draws deeply from the ancient well of ascetical wisdom, weaving together the practical counsel of St. Ephraim with his own luminous vision of divine providence. His teaching moves with precision from the diagnosis of sin to the healing of the soul, from the vigilance of self-knowledge to the vision of God’s mercy revealed through trial.

St. Ephraim’s words set the tone: every spiritual illness must be treated by its proper remedy. One cannot overcome a vice through random struggle or general good intentions, but only by applying a medicine suited to the disease. Just as heat is not fought with more heat, so envy, pride, and wrath are not healed through self-will or argument, but through the contrary virtues: humility, patience, and mercy. For St. Isaac, this is the beginning of ascetic discernment. The wise man learns to recognize the first stirrings of passion, and “plucks it up while it is still small,” knowing that what begins as a passing thought can quickly become a tyrant ruling the soul. Negligence is the mother of bondage.

From this root teaching springs one of St. Isaac’s central themes: the blessedness of patient endurance. The one who can suffer wrong with joy, though he has the means to defend himself, has entered into the mystery of the Cross. To bear insult without resentment, to be accused unjustly and respond with humility—these, he says, are the highest forms of virtue, admired even by the angels. Such endurance is not weakness but divine strength, the quiet radiance of faith proven by trial. Here we find the echo of the Beatitudes and of the Apostle’s words, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

St. Isaac then warns against a subtler danger: self-confidence. “Do not believe yourself to be strong until you are tempted and find yourself superior to change.” Virtue untested is unproven. To imagine oneself firm before temptation is to invite a fall, for pride blinds the soul to its own frailty. True strength is born only from humility, the knowledge of one’s dependence upon God. Likewise, knowledge itself can become a snare when it is not rooted in meekness. A “meek tongue” and “sweet lips” reveal a heart governed by peace rather than pride. Those who do not boast of their struggles or their gifts are preserved from shame, while those who glory in their works are permitted to stumble, that humility may be learned through experience.

The culmination of this passage is the vision of divine providence, which St. Isaac presents not as an abstract doctrine but as an experience granted to the purified heart. God’s care, he says, surrounds all, yet it is seen only by those who have cleansed themselves of sin and fixed their gaze upon Him. In times of trial, when the soul stands for the truth, this providence becomes radiant and tangible—as though seen with bodily eyes. God reveals Himself most clearly in suffering, granting His servants courage and consolation. As He strengthened Jacob, Joshua, the Three Youths, and Peter, so too He anoints all who endure affliction for His sake.

In these paragraphs, St. Isaac sketches the entire map of the ascetical path. The soul begins with vigilance, pulling up the roots of passion before they grow. It advances through endurance, learning the joy hidden in unjust suffering. It is tested in humility, discovering that self-reliance is the greatest enemy. And finally, it arrives at the vision of providence, seeing that all things—even trials and delays—are instruments of divine love.

The warfare is inward, but the victory is divine. The heart that ceases to rely on itself learns to rest in God, and the eyes once blinded by passion come to behold His mercy shining through every storm. This is the medicine of the soul and the peace of those who have learned the wisdom of the Cross.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:01:25 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: www.philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:02:00 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 156, last line on page, # 8

00:08:00 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: http://www.philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:10:33 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 156, last line on page, # 8

00:14:57 jonathan: Would it be fine to just print out a picture of an Icon? Want to make a prayer corner back home.

00:15:23 Jessica McHale: Father, I love this line from your blog post today: “The night is not absence but mystery, not an ending but the quiet preparation for dawn.”  These words help to bring holiness to my rest and to the sometimes challenging night vigils. Thank you!

00:15:42 Adam Paige: Replying to "Would it be fine to …"

00:17:38 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 156, last line on page, # 8

00:22:21 Ryan Ngeve: Father does that mean we should completely ignore other passions and focus on the most important one until it is uprooted and then move to the next?

00:24:44 Eleana: Father how to be certain that is not scruples?

00:26:58 Adam Paige: Replying to "Father does that mea…"

00:27:59 Eleana: Replying to "Father does that mea..."

Tx.

00:30:10 David Swiderski, WI: I am not sure this is wise counsel but a spiritual director I had in Spain mentioned. How much time to do spend praying to God and how much time do you think about things that lead to vice. First focus on leveling the field to allow grace to enter and second tackle one by one the thoughts that lead you away from focusing on God. Now that I read the fathers I think quite a bit about this .

00:31:41 Vanessa Nunez: How can you reduce anxiety of letting go of control and trust in the lord to be in control of one’s life.

00:33:32 Lilly: Novena of surrender

00:33:42 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Novena of surrender" with ❤️

00:36:21 David Swiderski, WI: Jesus I trust in you, please teach me your ways today. That is an arrow prayer that helped me. The other is the complete serenity prayer by Reinhod I find amazing but most only know the beginning. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as He did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that He will make all things right, If I surrender to His will, That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

00:37:04 Vanessa Nunez: Reacted to "Novena of surrender" with ❤️

00:37:09 Vanessa Nunez: Reacted to "Jesus I trust in you…" with ❤️

00:37:17 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Jesus I trust in y..." with ❤️

00:46:31 Lilly: What is Meekness?

00:48:09 Rick Visser: Is it boasting to rejoice in what small progress we find in ourselves?

00:50:03 Elijah Majak: Father, is there ever an appropriate time or situation to defend ourselves/speak up or should we just be silent against all  unfair treatment ?

00:51:16 Ryan Ngeve: Reacted to "Saint Nicodemos of t…" with ❤️

00:51:35 Ryan Ngeve: Replying to "Father does that mea…"

00:58:40 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 157, last full paragraph, # 11

01:03:51 Ryan Ngeve: Father what does Abba Isaac mean by “acquire sweet lips”

01:04:18 David Swiderski, WI: I have been thinking a lot about what you said about Abba Isaac the strong. Each night I feel lacking seeing the sun set in the west but each morning I look to the east and see the saints and angels.

01:06:21 David Swiderski, WI: Moses yes

01:06:24 David Swiderski, WI: Sorry

01:06:40 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "I have been thinki..." with ❤️

01:06:52 jonathan: I always struggled with the idea of always being soft with people. The Apostles could have a very sharp tongue at times, especially Paul.  Even Christ at times would call people vipers and fools. So how do we balance gentleness, with firmness.

01:09:00 Gwen’s iPhone: Gotta love Peter

01:12:49 Larry Ruggiero: Meekness is the pre emergent to the crab grass

01:15:04 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 158, first paragraph, # 12

01:15:28 Julie: Thankyou God bless Father

01:16:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

01:16:15 Jessica McHale: Thank you! Many prayers!   Prayers for you all!

01:16:22 cameron: Thank you Fr

01:16:22 David Swiderski, WI: Thank you father. Always praying for you the steroids and your mom!

This section of The Evergetinos is among the most luminous and convicting in its entire corpus. It speaks with the voice of a Father who has entered deeply into the mind of Christ; where justice is transfigured by mercy, where the love of neighbor becomes inseparable from the love of God, and where even material loss becomes a gate to eternal life.

The Elder’s teaching exposes the great inversion of values that defines our time. In an age obsessed with self-preservation, power, and vengeance, the Christian is called not simply to resist these tendencies, but to live from an entirely different center. His measure of life is no longer self-interest or fear, but the eternal horizon of the Kingdom.

The Elder begins with a piercing truth: God’s commandments are light. It is only our attachment to self-will that makes them seem heavy. In modern terms, we could say that the weight we feel in forgiving enemies, in relinquishing possessions, or in enduring wrongs, comes not from the Gospel itself, but from our clinging to the illusion of control and possession. The commandment of Christ is light because it is love; and love is only heavy to one still bound by pride.

The parable of the gem-engraver is a mirror for us. The man, faced with imminent danger, discards all his treasure to preserve a fleeting life. We, knowing the eternal stakes, cannot part with even trifles to save our souls. The Elder’s irony cuts deeply: a worldly merchant becomes a philosopher in action, while we who claim the Kingdom behave as fools. Has the Christian fallen below the moral and spiritual clarity of the pagans who could endure insult or misfortune with composure? The Elder’s words imply as much, for true wisdom is to value what endures, and to let go of all that perishes.

We live amid a civilization that sanctifies vengeance, calls anger justice, and worships material gain. The Christian, if he is truly of Christ, stands as a contradiction to this world. His meekness will appear as weakness; his patience as passivity. Yet the Elder shows that it is precisely this self-emptying love that manifests divine power. To endure injury without resentment is to share in the Cross. To pray for the one who wrongs us is to participate in the compassion of the Crucified.

The image of the Body, so carefully developed by the Elder, destroys the illusion of separateness that fuels violence. To harm my brother is to wound Christ Himself; to harbor anger is to cut myself off from the Body’s life. The Christian is thus called to a supernatural realism: to perceive the unity of all in Christ and to respond to injury with the same tenderness one shows a diseased limb of one’s own body. One does not amputate a member in anger; one tends it with healing concern. So must we treat the sinner who has harmed us.

In the closing examples, the Elder incarnates this teaching. The monk who relinquishes his books rather than quarrel over them, the ascetic who frees the brigands who attacked him — these are not tales of naiveté but of divine wisdom. They show that peace of heart and fidelity to Christ outweigh any claim to justice or property. The true betrayal, as Abba Poimen tells the frightened hermit, is not the crime of the brigands but the monk’s own fear and loss of faith. The victory of Christ is not in punishing evil but in overcoming fear through love.

St. Ephraim’s brief counsel at the end grounds this lofty teaching in ordinary charity. Justice begins in the smallest acts; in returning what is borrowed, in honesty, in remembering that we “owe no man anything, but to love one another.” The ascetical heroism of forgiveness begins with these humble fidelities.

In an age of terror, noise, and material excess, the distinctive mark of the Christian is not moral superiority or rhetorical witness, but peace that disarms the world. The Evergetinos reminds us that the Gospel’s revolution lies in meekness; in the refusal to let hatred dictate our actions or possessions define our worth. If we have not yet attained even the calm of the pagan sage or the detachment of the shipwrecked merchant, then our first step is repentance: to rediscover the lightness of the commandments and to trust that the Cross, embraced without vengeance, is still the truest power in the world.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:02:23 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 291, G

00:08:34 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: www.philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:10:48 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 291 G 2

00:10:57 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: http://www.philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:19:21 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 292, # 2, 2nd paragraph

00:21:44 Rick Visser: We think we can have both, temporal and eternal.

00:24:02 Anthony: Prosperity gospel also came from sectarians reading the Hebrew Scriptures in a carnal manner.

00:27:45 Janine: Blessed are you poor

00:28:00 Adam Paige: Happy Are You Poor: the simple life and spiritual freedom (Thomas Dubay)

00:28:27 Rick Visser: All of us here in the class are in the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world.

00:36:26 Jessica McHale: I got rid of just about everything. I have two boxes, one clothes, one religious items. I have never felt free-er.

00:36:44 Rick Visser: Reacted to "I got rid of just ab..." with ❤️

00:37:56 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "I got rid of just ab..." with 👍

00:43:18 Anthony: Didn't God make beautiful raw materials partly so we can be co-creators?

00:49:51 Maureen Cunningham: Jesus had 12 your halfway there

00:53:22 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 294, first paragraph

00:53:27 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "P. 294, first paragr..." with 👍

01:01:39 Catherine Opie: 🤯 We are silly things for sure

01:06:34 Anthony: And I try to apply this reasoning to public policy .... And how I talk about policy. It's really difficult.

01:12:13 Catherine Opie: St Catherine of Siena even gave away the belongings of the other members of her family as well as her own, much to their annoyance.

01:12:37 Rick Visser: Even Socrates on his death bed asked if there was anything he owed anyone--yes there was: a rooster. So, he made sure it was taken care of before taking the hemlock.

01:13:01 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "St Catherine of Si..." with ❤️

01:13:05 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Even Socrates on h..." with ❤️

01:15:03 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing

01:15:31 Jessica McHale: Thank YOU! Prayers for you all!

01:15:33 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:15:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: Bless you, Father.

01:15:46 Catherine Opie: 🙏🏻

01:15:49 Rick Visser: I pray for you.

St. Isaac speaks with a stark honesty that strips away every illusion about the spiritual life. To choose the good is to summon the battle. Every true beginning draws the adversary’s attention. God allows this not to crush the soul but to test its resolve and to purify its love. Without that fire, virtue remains unproven and fragile.

The one who doubts that God is his helper collapses under his own shadow. Fear itself becomes the enemy. Such a person starves amid plenty and drowns in calm waters, undone not by external trials but by the absence of trust. St. Isaac’s words expose this inner poverty: faith without endurance is only sentiment. The steadfast heart, confident in God, is revealed in trial and shines before friend and foe alike.

The commandments are not burdens but treasures. They conceal the presence of the Lord Himself. The one who carries them within finds God as chamberlain, waking and sleeping. Fear of sin becomes illumination, and even darkness turns transparent. The soul that trembles at evil walks with light before and within, guided by mercy that steadies every faltering step.

St. Isaac ends with a fierce precision. There is no substitution in repentance. What is lost must be restored by the same means through which it was forfeited. God will not take a pearl for a penny, nor alms in place of purity. Greed is uprooted only by mercy, not by any other virtue. He will not be deceived by offerings that leave corruption untouched.

This is the hard edge of Isaac’s wisdom: grace demands truth. The path to God is not through sentiment or display but through the narrow way where every false comfort is stripped away, and only the tested heart endures.

---

Text of chat during the group:

00:05:26 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Homily 5 paragraph 4 page 155

00:05:41 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:07:39 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Homily 5 paragraph 4 page 155

00:13:14 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 155, last paragraph, 4

00:14:30 Una: Nice!

00:17:20 Una: I like the way Anthony puts it: be prepared to be knocked around

00:17:20 Una: I like the way Anthony puts it: be prepared to be knocked around

00:17:33 Anthony: Reacted to I like the way Antho... with "❤️"

00:17:47 Anthony: Replying to "I like the way Antho..." 

 Thanks :)

00:25:07 Rick Visser: My despondency becomes so great that I cannot move. What am I to do?

00:25:38 Maureen Cunningham: how would you explain the difference between Grace  & Mercy.

00:26:27 Maureen Cunningham: When I have despondency . I put on Bach

00:29:24 Jessica McHale: There is a very short but tremendously helpful book called "Trustful surrender to divine providence: the secret of peace and happiness" (it's so short more like a pamphlet) but it helps so greatly with despondency. I read it every time I feel this struggle with trusting in God in every single tiny thing.

00:30:34 Barbara: The Church/grace is the spiritual hospital.

00:32:19 Anthony: It might be that our passion is the pride of scrupulosity that is revealed by falling to another passion and masked by that passion (a red herring).

00:33:48 Eleana: St. Claude La Colombière, Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure

00:34:00 Jessica McHale: yes, by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure (the author of the book I mentioned)

00:35:52 Anthony: This is a remedy for the terror of mortal sin.

00:40:23 Ryan Ngeve: Father to what degree is engaging in thoughts that lead to despondency harmful to someone. And if it is how are we supposed to avoid engaging in such thoughts

00:45:55 David Swiderski, WI: I find this prayer helpful in challenging times. At one point in my life I felt great despondency having lost everything I had, living in a country I did not want to live in and largely being alone barely surviving. After a time I realized I only had belief and needed to work on actual faith.

00:46:41 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Mobile-Litany-of-T..." with ❤️

00:47:10 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 156, first paragraph, #5

00:50:31 Jessica McHale: Psalm 119 -- i love it

00:53:29 Maureen Cunningham: Kind of like bad acting verse when a person capture the character of the person he playing

01:00:12 Myles Davidson: Lead Kindly Light by Cardinal Newman

01:01:08 Anthony: Here is a Tolkein digression: Frodo is given a gift to light him in the darkness (which I think is Marian "grace,") but it's such a generous gift that even his friend Sam can wield it in need.  The gift of Mary is a kind of kindly light when all is dark.

01:01:29 Ben: Reacted to "Here is a Tolkein di..." with 👍

01:02:53 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Here is a Tolkein ..." with ❤️

01:03:33 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Lead Kindly Light ..." with 👍

01:09:09 Nypaver Clan: My dad used to always tell us, “Give until it hurts.”

01:09:24 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "My dad used to alw..." with ❤️

01:12:23 Myles Davidson: I came across a book years ago (can’t remember the name) filled with stories of people who went through the Great Depression who said they were the best years of their life, due to the strong community spirit and acts of charity that bonded people

01:15:44 Lee Graham: Awesome group. Thank you.

01:15:50 Catherine Opie: Perfect for me as I am a complete beginner 🙏🏻

01:15:55 Jessica McHale: Thank YOU!!!

01:16:34 Jessica McHale: Prayers for you all!!!

01:16:36 Christopher Berry: Thank you, Father!

01:16:38 Art iPhone: Thank you Father! Good night all.

01:16:39 Elizabeth Richards: And with your spirit

01:16:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:16:40 Bob Čihák, AZ: Bless you, Father.

01:16:50 Catherine Opie: God bless

01:16:52 David Swiderski, WI: Thank you Father may God bless you and your mother

01:17:00 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you

The teaching of the Fathers on vengeance and anger does not allow us to linger in the comfortable ambiguities of human justice. It tears at the fabric of self-justification. Their words bring us face to face with the scandal of divine love—the Cross as the only standard by which we are to measure our dealings with others. The heart that desires retribution, or even to “set things right,” cannot bear the full light of that Cross without trembling.

St. Diadochus unmasks the subtle ways we clothe self-interest in piety. We say we fear becoming “a cause of sin” for those who wrong us, but in truth we simply wish to protect our possessions, our security, our image of control. Once we let go of blessing and guarding the heart, we begin to move toward the vestibules of the law courts; our concern for righteousness becomes indistinguishable from the world’s hunger for vindication. To stand before such courts is already to have abandoned the tribunal of mercy. The law of God cannot be kept by means of the laws of men, because mercy does not seek the restoration of things but of persons. The one who endures injustice praying for his oppressor becomes an image of the Crucified, who desired not the return of what was taken from Him but the return of those who took it.

Abba Isaac pushes the wound even deeper: to fight over what gives comfort after renouncing the world is blindness. The one for whom the world has died accepts insults with joy, not because they are pleasant, but because they reveal how little of the old self remains to defend. It is not the act of being wronged that kills the soul, but the refusal to see in it a call to die before death. Only those who have lost every hope of worldly consolation can bear this pain without resentment. Such poverty of spirit is rare, but in it the mind shines with tranquil radiance.

The Gerontikon illustrates the same wisdom through living examples. Blessed Zosimas warns the generous Dionysia that zeal to avenge an insult can destroy every virtue she possesses. Her almsgiving, though abundant, is nothing if it is not shaped by meekness. To lose composure over a trifling thing is to become a slave of that thing; even a needle or a book can master the heart that has not been freed. The true servant of God has one Master alone.

All these sayings converge on the Cross. There, vengeance dies and love is revealed in its purest form. Christ prays for His murderers, not from sentiment but from truth; He alone sees that their real torment is not what they do to Him, but what they do to themselves. The disciple who bears wrongs without retaliation participates in this same divine sight. He no longer divides the world into victims and oppressors, but into the healed and the unhealed. To forgive is to choose the side of healing.

To live by this ethos is to live cruciformly. It is to judge nothing and no one, to accept every wound as a summons to prayer, and to see in every thief a brother whose salvation God has entrusted to our mercy. The Cross does not destroy reason; it stretches it until it becomes translucent with grace. In that light, vengeance appears not only impossible but absurd. Only love remains—terrible, meek, and eternal.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:02:23 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:10:43 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 289 Hypothesis XXXVII

00:11:44 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:14:16 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

00:18:17 Anthony: THEY SHOULD TEACH THIS IN LAW SCHOOL.

00:18:40 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "THEY SHOULD TEACH TH..." with 😁

00:27:55 Anthony: Orthodox canon law, such as it is, is a collection called The Rudder, so I'm told.

00:28:47 Rick Visser: So there is a positive way of stopping others in order to reduce their sin and move toward repentence.

00:34:55 Rick Visser: How about agitation and grief for the state of our world today?

00:35:36 Jessica McHale: I love that line, but it is hard to do.

00:36:15 Rick Visser: How about agitation and grief for the state of our world today? Perhaps these are  a function of compassion.

00:40:26 Anthony: In the last few days, I read a Psalm that said multiple times words to the effect: "do not fret over evil." I took it as not ignoring evil, but recognizing it and referring it to God.

00:43:06 Anthony: Psalm 37

00:46:40 Sharon: There is much division within families, sometimes, over inheritance. When these troubles arise, it seems like the response should be passivity. Turning to God and allow the person desiring everything for oneself to take it, to have it?

00:50:07 Jessica McHale: I've experienced in a few different capacities. I have given what others wanted, without question, thnking "if your brother asks you to walk a mile, walk two" in a way. But some people call me a door mat for it. Is there a balance?

00:53:06 Jessica McHale: that gives me great peace, thank you

00:55:02 Rick Visser: Reacted to "that gives me great ..." with ❤️

00:57:20 Rick Visser: Supernatural virtue.

01:01:22 Jessica McHale: that IS beautiful!

01:03:44 Rick Visser: Christ's doormat is right below the cross.

01:03:58 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "Christ's doormat i..." with ❤️

01:13:23 Jessica McHale: It might be worse with women, lol!

01:14:28 Rick Visser: Humility is the reservoir of all the virtues.

01:14:28 Catherine Opie: I had somethinghappen to me. My father gave me a piece of land we used to camp on during holidays which I love and was planning to share with one of my brothers who lives overseas as a holiday retreat place. He became very jealous and demanded my father also give it to him even though he had never been there before and had no attachment to it. I decided I did not want to fight with my brother over this land and told my Dad  to let my brother have it and I would not. Eventually my brother decided that actually he did not want it and my Dad contacted me again to see if I did. So now it is mine to look after anyway. And I have not fallen out with my brother over it. This took over a decade to play out. It made me realise we do not know what gifts will be given upon letting go.

01:15:41 Rick Visser: Reacted to "I had somethinghappe..." with ❤️

01:15:43 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "I had somethinghap..." with ❤️

01:15:44 carolnypaver: Reacted to "I had somethinghappe..." with ❤️

01:15:54 Sharon: Reacted to "I had somethinghappe..." with ❤️

01:16:52 Rick Visser: My prayers are with you everyday.

01:16:58 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

01:17:40 carolnypaver: It works!

01:17:48 Catherine Opie: 🙏🏻

01:18:20 Jessica McHale: Many prayers for you!  ...and thank you again!

01:18:27 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:18:36 Janine: Praying for you Father..thank you

01:18:40 cameron: Great. Thank you.

01:18:42 Sharon: Thank you! So nice to be here again

01:18:46 Julie: God bless

St. Isaac’s words reveal that communion with God requires remoteness from distraction and a renunciation of whatever disquiets the heart. This is not something reserved for monks alone, though they live it most radically, but it is a law of the Christian life as a whole. For Isaac, the fruits of renunciation are not abstract but very real: tears, compunction, a fountain of sweetness welling up from the heart, light dawning within. These are given not to the distracted soul but to the one who bows like a convict before the Cross, empty-handed and intent upon nothing else. Renunciation is not simply turning away from sin but from every movement that agitates the mind. He calls it a kind of death, both of the outer man in worldly deeds and occupations, and of the inner man in thoughts, passions, and self-will. It is this dying that makes room for the Spirit to raise one into true life.

For the monk, this call is lived in visible and total form: silence, enclosure, vigils, fasting, the cutting away of unnecessary speech and activity. Leaving behind the noise of the world, the monk learns to dwell continually before God. For them Isaac’s words are direct and literal, for one cannot hold onto worldly cares and at the same time enter into the madness of divine love. Stillness is the path by which grace rushes into the heart.

For those living in the world, this teaching does not mean the rejection of responsibilities, but rather the careful discernment of what is indispensable and what is merely disquieting. Isaac himself acknowledges that not all can practice stillness in its fullness, but warns that one should not abandon the path altogether. Instead, there are ways of living the same spirit in daily life: simplicity, which renounces excess possessions, amusements, and chatter that scatter the heart; sobriety of senses, which guards against overindulgence and constant stimulation; interior watchfulness, which makes room for compunction and prayer in the ordinary rhythms of the day; trust in God’s providence, which loosens the grip of anxiety over outcomes. For the layperson, renunciation looks like choosing silence over noise, prayer over distraction, mercy over greed, humility over self-exaltation. In these small dyings the heart is opened to the same fountain of sweetness, even if not in the same intensity as in the solitary monk.

Isaac reminds us that whoever does not voluntarily withdraw from the causes of the passions will be carried away by them in the end. Whether monk or layperson, if the heart is constantly fed on the world’s noise, possessions, and anxieties, it will inevitably be drawn off course. But if one begins to renounce even in small ways, the Spirit quickly comes to give aid, comforting the soul and granting grace. The lesson is clear: every Christian is called to some measure of renunciation, not as loss, but as the doorway to joy and divine consolation. The monk may live it to the depths, but each person in Christ is summoned to taste it in their own measure.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:14:30 jonathan: started trying practising paustinia every Wednesday and Friday. Its been far harder trying to abstain from all forms of entertainment than it is from food. Like fr said, the noon day demon feels heavy.

00:17:10 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Ave Maria> What page..."

P. 152, last full paragraph on page

00:18:27 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "P. 152, last full pa..." with 🙏🏻

00:31:13 Janine: Rick. Thank you for that!

00:31:22 carolnypaver: Reacted to "Rick. Thank you for ..." with ❤️

00:31:23 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Rick. Thank you for ..." with 🙏

00:31:37 paul g.: I believe that.  Thank you Rick!

00:32:10 carolnypaver: Love that perspective, Rick.  Thank you for sharing!

00:32:14 Rick Visser: I go to bed early--7-8 pm. I make way for it.

00:32:21 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "Rick. Thank you for ..." with 🙏

00:33:19 Rick Visser: It is the highest form of human expression

00:33:21 Jessica McHale: As a 46 year old widow, I also find prayer much easier as I am alone and vigils are something I look forward to--all I want is God. :)

00:33:41 Myles Davidson: Waking naturally in the night rather than setting an alarm is the way to go.

00:34:22 David Swiderski, WI: My grandfather mentioned aging helped him let go of the last bits of pride and vanity. Enlarged prostate also led to more vigils. ha ha

00:34:38 Julie: Midnight office

00:35:17 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Midnight office" with 👍

00:35:26 Mark South: Reacted to "Midnight office" with 👍

00:35:36 paul g.: Reacted to "Midnight office" with 👍

00:35:37 Myles Davidson: Matins

00:49:53 Vanessa: I really did like your X account though Father. It said a lot of beautiful spritual things on it. I checked it everyday.

00:50:09 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "As a 46 year old wid..." with ❤️

00:50:17 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Waking naturally in ..." with 👍🏻

00:50:53 Rick Visser: Better to pray everyday for the time one was spending on social media.

00:52:45 Catherine Opie: Replying to "I really did like yo..."

You could perhaps repost things from FR or the desert fathers on your account to fill that gap?

00:53:14 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Better to pray every..." with 👍🏻

00:54:17 Lawrence Ruggiero: I hear your message! I was enjoying your daily post but I found it hard to reject all the junk I did not want waste my time.

00:58:03 David Swiderski, WI: My grandfather was in the merchant marine on the great lakes. He taught me Orion and how to find the north star. He always talked about instruments fail, winds blow but without focus on your north star one can be blow in every direction. It was only reading Issac that I now understand he was not talking about boating.

00:59:37 David Swiderski, WI: We see christ through the light that shines through grandparents or elders. We only need the eyes to see.

01:03:44 David Swiderski, WI: Or boating

01:07:57 Thomas: I have heard that we shouldn’t worry about renouncing the world, because if we live as Christians then the world will renounce us. Is this a correct way of looking at it, or is the only way to live a Christian life to renounce the world and be crucified?

01:11:27 Catherine Opie: https://stmaryhillsboroughnj.org/files/Prayer/BeginningPrayersPrayerToSanticyTheHours.pdf

01:12:35 Myles Davidson: Replying to "https://stmaryhillsb..."

👆The Rule of St. Pachomius

01:12:50 Jessica McHale: ..."and be crucified"...it's the hardest part because it's real. When family, friends, colleagues, aquaintances, even strangers shun you becuase of your faith, it hurts. But with the Cross before us (and His agony in Gethsemane), there's a drop of consolation.

01:12:58 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "..."and be crucified..." with 👍

01:13:14 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "👆The Rule of St. Pa..." with 👍

01:15:14 Lawrence Ruggiero: Always remember your weakness, "spoke to me". the second part: if your do remember your weakness, you will never over step the boundry of vigilance. Being aware that there is a way of escape encourages me to have this humble awareness.

01:16:31 David Swiderski, WI: I have journals from my youth perhaps for Thomas I think the best advice is to be patient, pray and ask for the gift of discernment and have your hand outreached. Some have vocations to be monks, some parish priest or nuns, but many of us are to have children, love families and hopefully be grandfathers like I was lucky to have who changed everyone he touched. I wished as a young person I would have had the fathers, tools of vigils and fasting and people that would have kept me from the secular academic world which often created confusion from what in my heart was true.

01:17:46 Rick Visser: Reacted to "I have journals from..." with 👍

01:17:51 carolnypaver: Reacted to "I have journals from..." with ❤️

01:18:10 Catherine Opie: I definitely agree with the need for God. I suffered from anxiety and depression, and tried all sorts of therapy, self help stuff. I think there is nothing that comes near confession, communion, penance and prayer focusing on God. I do not suffer from these any more since my conversion.

01:18:31 Jessica McHale: Reacted to "I definitely agree..." with 👍

01:18:31 carolnypaver: Reacted to "I definitely agree w..." with ❤️

01:18:36 paul g.: Reacted to "I definitely agree w…" with 👍

01:18:38 Rick Visser: Reacted to "I definitely agree w..." with ❤️

01:18:50 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "I definitely agree w..." with 🙏

01:19:25 David Swiderski, WI: Reacted to "I definitely agree w..." with ❤️

01:19:36 paul g.: Replying to "I have heard that we…"

01:20:06 Elijah Majak: Reacted to "I have journals from…" with ❤️

01:20:22 Elijah Majak: Reacted to "I definitely agree w…" with ❤️

01:20:24 Ben: Where is that blog again?

01:20:29 Jessica McHale: thank you!

01:20:33 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https:/www.philokaliaministries.blogspot.com

01:21:16 Catherine Opie: Thank you again Fr. God bless✝️

01:21:23 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:21:34 Thomas: Thank you

01:21:35 Janine: Thank you Father!

01:21:37 Gail Santy: Thank you!

01:21:49 Una: God bless everyone!

01:21:51 jonathan: Thank you Father! Love you lots, have a great day,

01:21:59 Catherine Opie: Replying to "https:/www.philokali..."

Your site is being flagged as insecure in my browser, perhaps make sure SSL certificates are up to date

01:22:00 David Swiderski, WI: Thank you so much father. I am glad you and your mom are better. May God bless you and care for you both you are a light to the world.

Abba Mark’s teaching pierces the heart because it strips away our worldly sense of “justice” and places us before the wisdom of the Cross. The lawyer’s questions are not unlike our own: What do we do when wronged? What about fairness? What about the law? But the Elder directs him beyond human reasoning toward the spiritual law of Christ.

For the world, the offense is external, and the “solution” is measured by punishment and recompense. For the ascetic, the wound of injustice exposes what is hidden in the heart. If resentment rises, then the wrong is ours as much as the other’s. To forgive is not indulgence or naiveté—it is participation in the very judgment of God, who alone knows how to weigh every soul. Vengeance, on the other hand, is a kind of blasphemy: it accuses God of judging wrongly, and so it becomes a heavier sin than the original injury.

Here the Evergetinos reveals the paradox of the Gospel: to suffer wrong with gratitude is not weakness but true knowledge. To pray for those who wrong us confounds the demons and makes us sons of the Crucified. The magistrate may punish, but the monk endures; the court may balance debts, but love “endures all things.”

The Elder’s words burn away excuses. To forgive is not optional—it is the very condition of our own forgiveness. To harbor vengeance is to live in fantasy, enslaved to illusions of fairness. But to embrace affliction as one’s own and to entrust judgment to God is to step into the reality of mercy, where the only true justice is love.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:06:42 Adam Paige: Philokalia combined volume 1 to 5 by Nun Christina is indeed 825 pages long

00:06:54 Anna: I'm looking for The Philokalia St. Peter of Damascus

00:07:57 Bob Čihák, AZ: One of our current books is “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” 2011, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 . This hard-covered book is on the expensive side but of very high quality.

00:09:53 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 287, D

00:17:59 jonathan: st nick

00:18:02 Adam Paige: Jolly ol St Nick

00:18:30 Una: Santa Clause!

00:25:56 Nina and Sparky: It is a hard teaching, but it matches 1 Cor 6:7 Now indeed [then] it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?

00:26:19 Nina and Sparky: Sorry, It is Forrest!

00:31:35 Rick Visser: Should we not protest injustice?

00:37:44 Anthony: The decision of the Opus Dei Priest in the movie There Be Dragons has been one of my examples

00:38:21 Maureen Cunningham: What happens if you do not like them . How can you love them ??

00:41:08 Bob Čihák, AZ: Yet Christ threw over the tables of the money changers in the Temple, and maybe did even more?

00:43:35 Maureen Cunningham: Nelson Mandela  when went prisons. They were so hateful

00:44:57 Catherine Opie: I used to be an avid protestor and activist until one day at an anti nuclear protest outside the French Embassy in London I realised I was getting angry with people and pointing the finger at others when I lacked a great deal myself and am far from perfect. So who am I to rage at others?  After my conversion to Catholicism I have realised its not up to me, I certainly am not to participate in evil or condone it and can stand firm in my principles and do positive things to help others. But that it is simply necessary to pray for those who commit evil and injustice to others just as I would pray for those suffering injustice. I find I am less angry and wound up when I know I can offer these things up to God and that its way above my job description to save the world. Activism is such a distraction. And we can be manipulated by the agendas of man through our emotions.

00:46:10 Rick Visser: Simone Weil said: "The greatest and most efficacious vehicle for social and political change is sacrificial love."

00:46:22 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Simone Weil said: "T..." with ❤️

00:47:18 jonathan: A Priest once told me, once you have the heart of Christ, then you can go flip tables, until then, be quite, be gentle and be peaceful. Blessed are those persecuted for my sake. Blessed are the meek, and poor in spirit.

00:47:37 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "A Priest once told m..." with 👍

00:48:03 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Simone Weil said: "T..." with ❤️

00:49:14 Rick Visser: Her view was that sacrificial love is the very structure of divine reality and the only path to justice.

00:52:51 Anthony: The message of Peace after 9/11 from Pope St John Paul 2 and Bishop Michael of the Romanian Catholics helped bring me back to the Church.

01:08:18 Maureen Cunningham: Many women have died by staying with an abuser. God would never want that

01:09:47 Larry Ruggiero: The landowner gave from his abundance and in doing so he secured workers for tomorrow.

01:09:59 Rick Visser: Radical

01:11:33 Janine: Thank you Father!

01:12:10 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:12:30 Catherine Opie: God bless

The Gospel Without Varnish

The Desert Fathers present the Gospel in its rawest form. Their words strike the heart not because they soften Christ’s commands but because they echo them without compromise: do not resist the one who is evil, forgive seventy times seven, love your enemies, bless those who curse you. To modern ears, this sounds offensive—even impossible. How can one not seek justice, especially when faced with cruelty, violence, or grave injustice?

Yet the Fathers insist: freedom in Christ means clinging to nothing but His love as the one thing necessary. When we are wronged, our sorrow should not be for what has been taken from us, but for the soul of the one who has inflicted harm. Their sin is their true wound. Our calling is not to avenge but to forgive, not to condemn but to pray.

Hypothesis XXXVII presses this home with piercing clarity. A struggler carrying a corpse is told: “Bear the living instead.” To shoulder the weakness of our neighbor, to endure his sins and insults, is the harder burden—but also the one that unites us to Christ.

The examples unfold like a mirror before us. The elder who restrains himself when boys blaspheme outside his cell reminds his heart: If I cannot bear this small vexation, how will I endure a greater trial? Another, who endures the disobedience of his companion without protest, embraces a hidden martyrdom. Still another teaches: To put up with your neighbor in a difficult moment is equal to the martyrdom of the Three Youths in the furnace.

The lesson is relentless: daily forbearance is our Golgotha. To return angry words, to demand repayment, to run to courts for vindication—these reveal hearts still bound to the world. But to endure injustice with patience, to forgive without condition, to pray for those who wrong us—this is to share in Christ’s meekness on the Cross.

Abba Isaiah pierces deeper: how can we beg God’s mercy for our sins while refusing mercy to our neighbor? To repay evil for evil is to declare, in effect, that God does not judge rightly. The Fathers show us how far we fall short: Christ bore poverty, betrayal, insult, and death without retaliation—yet we cannot endure even a word of offense without bitterness.

Modern sensibilities stumble here. We demand rights, recompense, recognition. But the Fathers summon us to something purer and more terrifyingly beautiful: to love as Christ loves, even when it crucifies us. When wronged, our grief must be for our brother’s soul, not our own loss. His sin wounds him unto death; our response must be prayer for his healing.

This is no easy path. It is a crucifixion of the will, a death to self. It cannot be done without grace. Yet in enduring wrong with gentleness, in forgiving when wounded, in praying for those who hurt us, we enter the very marrow of the Gospel.

The Desert Fathers offer no compromise. The way of Christ is the way of the Cross. To bear wrongs patiently is to drink His chalice. To forgive without measure is to wear His likeness. And to weep not for what we have lost but for the one who has harmed us—this is the freedom of those who live only in His love.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:15:19 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 284 number five: forbearing those who offend us and not taking vengeance

00:15:29 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 284, 5

00:21:21 Rick Visser: Has this any bearing on social media? A million small vexations......which we very often feel compelled to tell them off?

00:49:55 Catherine Opie: What does one say to someone who justifies anger by pointing to the righteous anger of Jesus driving people out of the temple? This is a common thing that I hear from people who wish to justify their own anger, including myself here.

00:55:34 Anthony: Jesus had already proved Himself to be Lord of the Sabbath, correct?  He demonstrated authority.  Plus they Knew Him from the prophecy of His birth and the disputation in the Temple at age 12/13

01:01:59 Rick Visser: What is the best book on the life of each of the saints?

01:03:24 Adam Paige: Replying to "What is the best boo…"

01:04:19 Rick Visser: Replying to "What is the best boo..."

👍

01:09:22 John Burmeister: nowhere in the scriptures does it say Jesus was angry. It just says he drove them out. We just assume that he is angry. my Dad wasn't angry with me when he spanked me, he was correcting me and disciplining me

01:11:47 Rick Visser: Mark 3:1-6

01:12:09 Myles Davidson: Mark 3:5: "He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored."

01:12:47 John Burmeister: i stand corrected then. thanks

01:13:03 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "i stand corrected th..." with 🙏

01:14:23 Forrest Cavalier: This was a topic of a recent homily that I heard. The occurrence in Mark 3:5 was the only place where Jesus was angry. The Strong's concordance is at  https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_3709.htm

01:15:44 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Everyone Blessing

01:15:56 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

01:16:00 Catherine Opie: god bless

01:16:12 Elizabeth - VT: Thanks!🙏🏻

St. Isaac does not flatter us with easy consolations. He sets before the monk the radical alternative: almsgiving is like the rearing of children, but stillness is the summit of perfection. One can pour out possessions, but if one’s senses remain open to the world, unbarred gates, then the enemy will always find a way in. It is not enough to scatter coins if the mind is still scattered; the true work is to gather the heart into stillness, where God alone becomes its horizon.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:05:45 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 151 mid paragraph 30

00:29:31 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 151, paragraph 31 at bottom of page

00:30:15 Julie: Reacted to "P. 151, paragraph 31…" with 🙏

00:32:53 Anthony: Father, for me I don't think it's exactly a linear progression. Some people might have the external and internal awareness overlap.

00:40:42 Jessica Imanaka: I worry about acedia/sloth... not so much because of praying offices, but from slipping into endless meditations on spiritual readings to the potential neglect of my schoolwork and housework. It's hard to discern given that my career/life gives me some leeway in what to focus on and when.

00:45:10 Kathryn Rose: We should turn these mundane necessary tasks into types of prayers

00:45:40 Elizabeth Richards: Like Brother Lawrence 🙂

00:45:52 carolnypaver: Reacted to "We should turn these..." with ❤️

00:46:30 carolnypaver: Replying to "We should turn these..."

St. Josemaria Escriva taught this.

00:46:42 Kathryn Rose: Reacted to "St. Josemaria Escriv…" with ❤️

00:47:38 Diana Cleveland: I have found this to be so true. For years I have wanted to renovate my house, but never had the money. Over the last 20 years or so, as I have watched trends come and go that I could never participate in, the cutting back has served to cultivated an abundance mindset vs scarcity. I always thought the cutting back would make me crave more, but actually cutting back has produced satisfaction in simplicity of life.

00:49:23 Art: Reacted to "We should turn these..." with 👍

00:50:35 Art: This little excerpt has helped me a lot of late.  “Fix your heart on God.  For the time being, you cannot, I admit, apply yourself to prayer or to other exercises of piety: but, with my confidence founded on Christ, I will give you a rule which will enable you to pray without ceasing: He prays always who lives well.  Animate yourself with faith, I beg you; keep yourself in the presence of God in all your actions.”  St. Paul of the Cross

00:52:43 Anthony: Oh I learned by experience not to multiply devotion....burnout and legalism and a lack of desire to do anything.....

00:52:59 carolnypaver: Reacted to "Oh I learned by expe..." with 👍

00:54:34 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Oh I learned by expe..." with 👍

00:54:43 Kathryn Rose: The exterior tasks like cleaning, going to jobs, driving, things we all have to do don’t have to be distractions, they can be symbols of doing the work on tending our interior castles

00:57:03 Catherine Opie: realised when I had my first child that my spiritual practice had to be staying in a heart centred space as much as possible and making all my work an act of love. Now I am Catholic I have learnt to dedicate these things to God, saying a prayer before work for example. I used to chant a mantra while doing tasks, but now I can say the Jesus prayer the Pater Noster or the Ave Maria instead which is bringing my mind to God and is of course the right focus to have. If prayer is simple it can be done at all times.  This is what I love about what I am learning here. Having said that I am really enjoying attending vespers on Sunday.

00:58:18 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "We should turn these..." with ❤️

00:59:58 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "The exterior tasks l..." with ❤️

01:01:52 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "This little excerpt ..." with ❤️

01:02:05 Elizabeth Richards: Reacted to "This little excerpt ..." with ❤️

01:03:26 Myles Davidson: Free PDF of Flowers Of The Passion: Thoughts Of St. Paul Of The Cross https://archive.org/details/FlowersOfThePassionThoughts

01:03:48 Andrew Adams: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers ..." with ❤️

01:04:29 Art: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers ..." with 👍

01:05:12 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to " realised when I had..." with ❤️

01:07:09 Julie: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers …" with 🙏

01:07:24 Anthony: Ok that's me, I claim the weakness

01:11:59 carolnypaver: Reacted to "Free PDF of Flowers ..." with ❤️

01:14:16 Julie: 🙏

01:14:34 Jessica Imanaka: It's all good.

01:14:39 Janine: Great stuff tonight! Amen

01:15:14 David Swiderski, WI: Take away- The secret eater monk

01:15:15 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!

01:15:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

01:15:30 Catherine Opie: 🙏🏻

01:15:31 David Swiderski, WI: God bless Father and your mother

01:15:42 Elizabeth Richards: Thx Father!

01:15:48 Catherine Opie: 👏🏻

01:16:28 Diana Cleveland: Thank you!