The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part IV

We continued our study tonight by reflecting upon the Fathers’ encouragement to reach out to God in the spirit of repentance. More than anything, the examples that are given, the stories that are told, are meant to help us to avoid despair. We have a God who is set upon our salvation. The mere movement of the mind and the heart towards Him with contrition brings with it a flood of mercy and grace. We are meant to be valiant strugglers; taking hold of the grace that God has given us and the mercy and the forgiveness He has bestowed upon us in order that we might come to experience the full freedom of those have been made sons and daughters of God. The Ascetical life is not simply about self- discipline: it is about love and the fullness of life. Christ is the most beautiful person. In Him we see the fullness of God and the depth of His love.  It is to this beauty that we are called and it is this beauty that we cultivate through the Ascetical life. It is better for us to struggle with our own poverty and sin and experience it truly than to remain in the fearful enslavement of Egypt; that is, bound to the emptiness of sin.

 

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Text of chat during the group:

00:23:38 renwitter: Everything he writes is amazing. 100% recommend “Woman and the Salvation of the World.”

00:24:46 Joseph Muir: Is that by the “more contemporary elder” whom Fr David mentioned, Ren?

00:25:10 renwitter: Yep! Evdokimov

00:25:23 Sue mcmillen: was the name?

00:25:41 renwitter: Paul Evdokimov

00:30:48 Joseph Muir: Fr Jeremiah Shyrock, CFR, is his name, if anyone wants to look him up

00:43:05 Anthony Gallagher: my raise hand button is not working :-( trying to raise hand.

00:56:28 Eric Williams: Kids fought over something sharp and the 6yo’s finger got cut badly enough that she’s off to the ER to maybe get stitches (hence my sudden disappearance). What page are we on now?

00:56:54 renwitter: Same one Eric :-D

00:57:09 Eric Williams: 11?!

00:57:16 renwitter: Yepperz

00:57:25 carolnypaver: 11

00:57:49 Michael Liccione: Prayers for your daughter

00:58:30 Eric Williams: Thank you :)

01:14:12 Eric Williams: “All your life you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye, and when something nudges it into outline it is like being ambushed by a grotesque.”

― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

01:15:49 James Ellis: Thank you Father!