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

Life in Christ is not an abstraction and the gospel is not simply a set of teachings or an ideology. It is clarion call to “Follow Me” from He who is the Lord of life and love. We are invited to participate in the mystery of Divine Life. Just as the fathers  tell us that we are to “become prayer” and not simply engage in a discipline, likewise, we must become Christ. We must put on Him mind and our hearts must be animated by His Spirit of love.  It is for this reason that Saint Isaac the Syrian places desire at the heart of the spiritual life. There is one path that lies ahead for us – we are to long for Christ and for the life of the kingdom. Anything else is reductive; shrinking the faith down to what is manageable and acceptable to our sensibilities and understanding. It is no longer faith but a simulation or as Christ would say “hypocrisy“. 

The reality that Saint Isaac places before us is the need for the healing of the soul; afflicted by sin, we are dominated by the passion. Yet because we are made in the image and likeness of God we often unknowingly reach out to grasp what is greater than ourselves while neglecting purity of heart and the need for God‘s grace and mercy. Such a path only leads to greater darkness. Sin unaddressed, like illness undiagnosed only grows worse. We must seek the healing that comes through participation in the Paschal Mystery; that is, a dying and rising to new life in Christ. We must die to sin and self in order to have the purity of heart and the depth of faith that allows us to comprehend what is beyond the senses and reason. 

Central to Saint Isaac’s thought is the purification of the Nous, the eye of the soul. If neglected one simply becomes blind to the presence of God and his love. The words of Christ come to mind in this regard: “the eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is  bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” To neglect such a reality is like the man who shamelessly entered into the wedding feast with unclean garments. We seek to enter into the fullness of life and love while yet immersed in the mire of our sin and clinging to the things of the world.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:13:13 susan: wish I could be there  I am a piano teacher  lol

00:13:20 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 123, paragraph 11

00:27:04 Myles Davidson: Father, a week or so ago you mentioned private revelation, many of which seem to also fit into this category (ie. fantasies of the mind). There are a plethora of so-called seers around today, many of which have been shown to be fakes. How do the Orthodox deal with this phenomena? I’ve heard they have a policy of keeping private revelations as just that… private. What are your thoughts on this?

00:28:12 Anthony: If Christ on the criss is the Bridegroom,  then I can see a person who has desired impure thoughts is running to be like the Bridegroom but is not "ready" to be married. Although, the Gospel does tell us to take up the cross and follow Christ,  without reference to one's state of mind or holiness.

00:37:36 Ren Witter: In my notes from the last time we did Isaac, you said that this teaching is not harsh, but practical. Sin being understood as a sickness, a person who has not yet been purified through praxis simply would not have the strength to take up the cross in such a way as to ascend to theoria. Sounds a lot like the teaching on taking up fasting beyond your strength - you’ll just end up worse off than you were before.

00:44:14 Joshua Sander: My apologies if you've already covered this or if Isaac is about to get to this and I'm getting ahead of him, but how does one discern that one's own "senses have found rest from their infirmity" and that he or she is ready for theoria, especially given that temptations and struggles against sin will always be with us while we are in the flesh?

00:47:00 Nypaver Clan: What page are we on?

00:47:07 Ren Witter: 124

00:53:46 Anthony: I suspect a lot of us seekers are like St Teresa d'Avila who suffer much from bad advice until we run into clearer presentations of faith, hope and love.
00:54:15 Catherine Opie: Replying to "I suspect a lot of u..."

Definitely my path 🤣

00:54:24 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "I suspect a lot of u..." with ❤️

00:54:52 Myles Davidson: add 😁

00:57:23 Myles Davidson: Christ as anchor
"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."  Hebrews 6:19

00:58:28 Ren Witter: The building where this happened was Pitt’s public health building, which is still nicknamed “Our Lady of Public Health”

00:59:11 Wayne: Reacted to "The building where t..." with 😂

00:59:21 Ben: Reacted to "The building where t..." with 🤢

00:59:21 Max Horcher: Reacted to "The building where..." with 😂

01:00:17 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "The building where t..." with 🤣

01:00:45 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Christ as anchor
"We..." with 🙏🏻

01:01:11 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "Christ as anchor
"We..." with 🙏🏻

01:01:32 Suzanne Romano: Hell on earth! 😆

01:02:07 Ben: Replying to "Hell on earth! 😆"

Health on earth?...

01:06:16 Myles Davidson: 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
Matt 6:22-23

01:06:21 Elizabeth Richards’s iPhone: Replying to "Hell on earth! 😆"
““The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.6.22-23.ESV

01:06:23 Nypaver Clan: Matthew 6:23

01:12:35 Myles Davidson: Is the word used here “watching” the same as the Greek word ‘nepsis’? (A concept I’ve found very helpful!)

01:12:57 Anthony: Ok, this is where philosophy fails, for in philosophy I only recall being taught about "a priori" knowledge and "a posteriori" knowledge.  Isaac is in a different dimension altogether.

01:15:02 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Ok, this is where ph..." with 👍

01:15:18 Alex Underwood: Reacted to "Ok, this is where ph..." with 👍

01:17:25 Ben: Replying to "Is the word used her..."

Thanks for pointing that out...I had been understanding "watching" as "vigils"...but I guess in that case it would have just said "vigils". 😆

01:17:59 John Cruz: Come and see….

01:18:13 Ben: Reacted to "Come and see…." with 👍

01:19:53 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Is the word used her..."

Could be both… good point 🙂

01:21:22 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing

01:21:30 Maureen Cunningham: Yay

01:21:48 Bob Čihák, AZ: Thank you Father. You'll never retire.

01:22:19 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!

01:22:21 Elizabeth Richards’s iPhone: And with your spirit

01:22:21 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. very "enlightening" discussion as always, God bless have a wonderful week

01:22:23 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:22:28 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you Father!

01:22:29 Suzanne Romano: Pax!!

01:22:40 David: Thank you Father!

01:22:41 Kevin Burke: Thank you father!