The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily II, Part III

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.

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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.