The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VII Part IV

This evening we concluded Hypothesis VII of the first volume of The Evergetinos. Once again we considered the experience of death of two saintly figures, St. Daniel the Stylite and Abba Sisoes. We begin to see in these two men how their constant repentance and the embrace of God’s grace brought forth, in anticipation, the life of the kingdom. The presence of the saints and angels, the light of Christ and the transformation of their countenance, all speak of the glory that lies on the other side of death. The stories are meant to awaken within us the desire for God and the life of virtue and to give us a lively sense of hope as we approach our own deaths. We are to allow these examples to spur us on in the spiritual life and to do so we must not read them simply in a notional way. Rather we must gaze upon them and listen to them with the eyes and ears of faith; such that we begin to comprehend the mystery of the Kingdom itself. Indeed this should be the posture of every man and woman of faith. We must look at all things in the light of what has been revealed to us in Christ; for only then will we begin to understand our true dignity and destiny as the redeemed Sons and Daughters of God.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:27:55 Eric Williams: Probably a lounge lizard. ;)

00:31:15 renwitter: Honestly, I feel super awkward when the priest begins confession by saying “Welcome!” Instead of making the sign of the cross. Its like….ummmm…thank you?

00:32:11 Michael Liccione: I'm just relieved to get a priest who doesn't need convincing that my sins are sins!

00:32:20 renwitter: Wow Joe. Ditto to everything you’ve said so far.

00:32:41 Erick Chastain: my secret is my own y'all

00:33:09 carolnypaver: You mean, “yinz.”

00:33:26 renwitter: Ooo….the Saint Philip influence is rubbing off on Erick :D

00:33:49 Daniel Allen: Erick Chastain for the win!

00:33:50 Erick Chastain: am I allowed to use yinz as a non-Pittsburgher?

00:34:02 carolnypaver: Absolutely!

00:34:25 carolnypaver: ; )

00:35:33 Joseph Muir: I maybe lived in Pittsburgh for 11 years, but it was prefaced  with 25 years in Georgia, so my vote will always be for “y’all” over “yinz”

00:35:56 carolnypaver: Snob!  ; )

00:36:44 Joseph Muir: Having now been in the NYC area for 2 years, we’ll see if “you’s guys” eventually enters my lexicon🤣

00:37:25 carolnypaver: NYC——so sorry to hear.   : (

00:38:04 Joseph Muir: Not a fan, I take it, eh, Carolyn?😆

00:38:50 carolnypaver: Visited once…not impressed.  One-and-done for me. Thank you very much.

00:39:48 carolnypaver: The ‘Burgh is the place for me.  People are friendlier, I have found.

00:40:48 Joseph Muir: Half of my family is originally from here, so a part of it has always felt like home. I also get to hang out a lot with the Missionaries of Charity, Sisters of Life, and Franciscan Friars of the Renewal a lot, which is a blessing (I went to the profession of final vows Mass for the Franciscans yesterday afternoon, actually ❤)

00:41:39 carolnypaver: Awesome!  You’re in a good part of NYC!  ; )

00:42:34 Ambrose: Who is “the Church”? We is the Church. :)

00:44:56 Jonathan Rodriguez: Great point Eric

00:45:00 Daniel Allen: Facebook and Twitter... the “anti-church”? The depth of a puddle, I like that a lot.

00:45:08 Joseph Muir: That’s a very theologically astute observation, Fr Ambrose!😀

00:47:31 Ambrose: Just a mister Ambrose. There is a Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P. in the St. Joseph province (Eastern USA), who I have occasionally been mixed up with. I don’t mind, but poor Fr. Ambrose! lol

00:48:32 sue and mark: understood that the confessional was sacrosanct and can not be hears by the demons.  Isn't that true?

00:50:58 Eric Williams: “Who is the Church?” That’s a great thought and something that should convict us. I was thinking more of the institutional Church, though. We’ve had so many generations of poorly catechized members of the Church that we’re a chaotic mess of well-intentioned klutzes. It seems to me - and I’m frequently wrong - that our leaders have let us down and left us hanging. Too many of us are wandering sheep without reliable shepherds. To mix metaphors, we’re the blind leading the blind.

00:52:34 Ambrose: I dare say that is the perennial reality of the Church—always something of a mess; always in need of reform.

00:53:21 Joseph Muir: On that point, Eric, I’ve been listening to the Bible In A Year podcast from Fr Mike Schmitz ever since the start of this year, and looking at the Facebook group, the comments and questions are so all over the place, in a way that demonstrates the poor catechesis

00:53:45 Joseph Muir: I should probably leave the group, for the sake of my own soul🤣

01:02:27 sue and mark: who would not want to die that way?

01:05:12 Joseph Muir: “Noble simplicity”🙄

01:05:26 Lilly: Agree 100% Fr David

01:13:10 Eric Williams: In other words, we don’t overcome sin, per se, so much as we acknowledge that we are always sinning. So, we must be in perpetual repentence.

01:13:41 Joseph Muir: Found the article😀: https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2008/06/the-incredible-hulk-the-philokalia-and-anger-management

01:13:56 Lilly: @Eric well said.

01:14:47 Ambrose: The “art” of repentance. A good term for it. Always room to improve and further our art.

01:14:51 Eric Williams: The secret to the Hulk controlling his rage was acknowledging that he’s always angry, rather than blaming his outbursts on particular outrages. He stopped treating his anger as someone else’s fault. He’s always angry, so he is always dangerous.

01:16:32 Joseph Muir: Amen, Eric. This is also why it’s healthier to not simply see sin as the bad things that we do and say and think, but it is the state of our broken selves due to our inheriting this brokenness by virtue of original sin. We aren’t simply sinners due to our commiting individual acts of sin; we are sinners due to inheriting a sinful nature, a disease which only the God can cure us of in in the church, via the sacraments and prayer

01:17:12 Jonathan Rodriguez: Thank you!