Season 7

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part VII

The deeper that we go into this letter, the more we begin to see the necessary qualities of an elder. In our society, we often value what seems to be productive. Yet what St. John emphasizes is the heart of the elder. One cannot offer care to another soul unless they have struggled long and hard with their own passions and are able to look at those who come to them through the lens of compassion, humility, and the love of Christ. 
Repeatedly, we are shown the care that the elder must exhibit in his approach to those who come to him. He cannot be easily agitated when anger or hostility are directed toward him. Nor can he show disgust at the past or present behavior of another. He does not condescend, but rather makes himself the servant of one like himself – one who knows the deep wounds of sin; often wounds that are self inflicted. 
Therefore, John tells us it is not right for a lion to pasture sheep, and it is not safe for a man who is still subject to the passions to rule over passionate men. One who does not seek to tend to the wounded, but rather to rule - one who does not seek to lead by example, but rather instruct with force - is going to be a gross distortion of the image of Christ.
The elder must have the greatest sensitivity to the needs and the struggles of those who come to him, realizing that there is great variety and difference between individuals. Thus, an elder must be the most obedient and humble of souls; that is, he must have a refined ability to hear the truth, to hear the word of God spoken in his heart, and he must possess discernment that is born of humility. An elder can only see in others what he has contemplated in himself. 
His awareness of the wounds that others bear only help him to understand that they are his responsibility. He approaches others not in a detached fashion, but as one who shares deeply in their sorrow and desires their healing as he desires his own. In this, St. John tells us Christ is the standard. The elder must receive all that is thrust upon him with the same selfless love that we witness on the cross. It is here that we begin to understand that John is not simply speaking about monks. He speaks to all of us and the necessity of taking Christ at his word; to love others as he has loved us, to be willing to lay down our lives for others, including those who treat us like enemies.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:09:11 Anna Lalonde: Pray because I was just anointed. Been not well since late Sept.
00:10:02 Janine: Yes Anna…I will pray for you!
00:10:09 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "Pray because I was j..."
Will do. God bless you.
00:10:50 Rebecca Thérèse: Reacted to "Pray because I was j..." with 🙏
00:11:18 Suzanne Romano: Happy Feast of St Paul, Proto Hermit!!!
00:12:50 Anna Lalonde: What's your special day Father?
00:13:09 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Pray because I was j..." with 🙏
00:13:53 Anna Lalonde: Yes a BioLab Chemical Fire happened Sept 30. That caused me life threatening health issues in my lungs. So thanks for prayers.
00:14:12 Anna Lalonde: Congratulations!
00:15:16 Suzanne Romano: Maybe St. Paul is responsible for your love of the Desert Fathers! 😇
00:15:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 254, # 44
00:16:16 Eric Ewanco: what step are we on, and what's the lede to the paragraph?
00:16:38 Myles Davidson: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
P. 254, # 44
00:16:50 Eric Ewanco: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
I don't have that book.
00:18:05 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
Lede: Let the established order...
00:18:38 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
of To the Shepherd
00:32:28 Anthony: Gamal Nasser?
00:32:50 Art: Edi Amin?
00:32:50 Myles Davidson: Mubarak?
00:33:03 Adam Paige: Hosni Mubarak ?
00:34:08 Adam Paige: The Life of Repentance and Purity (Pope Shenouda) pdf http://stphilopateerdallas.org/The%20Life%20of%20Repentance%20and%20Purity%20-%20HH%20Pope%20Shenouda%20III.pdf
00:41:23 David: Without detachment of the world we cannot even glimpse heaven.
00:42:01 David: I can't remember the saint that said that but when I looked for a spiritual director someone told me look for detachments first.
00:58:40 David: I love the saying of Mother Teresa- We are all pencils in the hand of God.
01:05:08 David: I have on my bedroom door a saying Fr. George Maloney had which is really hard to practice every day- In loving one another God in us is made flesh. I try to keep this in mind but as the day goes on I sometimes get lost.
01:06:11 Daniel Allen: Terrifying thought… what if instead of the explanations we give or hear to make the gospel more approachable, what if Christ meant the things He said? That’s the most terrifying thought because who really has embodied that? And yet that’s what we’re called to.
01:09:20 Anna Lalonde: Reacted to Terrifying thought… ... with "❤️"
01:11:24 Eric Ewanco: yes
01:15:00 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Have a good retreat🙂🙏
01:15:46 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father! Have a good time with the monks!
01:15:48 MOME hermits: Excellent!!!!
01:15:52 Suzanne Romano: Thank you!
01:16:14 Anna Lalonde: Yes
01:16:16 David: Thank you very much Father. Isaac is worth the wait
01:16:19 Vanessa: i'm fine with that
01:16:21 Jeff O.: happy to finish this!
01:16:22 Lori Hatala: yes comtinue
01:16:23 MOME hermits: Continue
01:16:26 David: Not in our time but God's Time
01:16:27 Janine: Yes…continue with it..
01:16:28 Art: I’m fine with that.
01:16:29 ANDREW ADAMS: I’m good with whatever the group prefers.
01:16:33 Kate : Please continue!
01:16:40 Eric Ewanco: I'm fine finishing it FWIW
01:16:41 Bob Cihak, AZ: Preach it, Father.
01:16:42 Adam Paige: It’s worthwhile to take the time to complete Climacus
01:16:43 Jessica Imanaka: Makes sense to complete it.
01:16:43 Anthony: Isaac's waited 1500 years to talk to me, he can wait a bit more :)
01:16:46 Lee Graham: Yes, finish it up
01:16:48 Jeff O.: Thank you!
01:16:50 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you!
01:16:50 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part VI

One of the reasons that I’ve decided to prolong our study by reading this letter of St. John Climacus is that it speaks to our hearts about not only our interior life, the struggle with the passions and the growth of the virtues, but it also exhorts us - warning us that the care of others in love, our concern for their spiritual well-being trumps all things. In other words, our spiritual life cannot lead us to become self focused. Rather, it is meant to create hearts that are selfless and attentive to others and their needs. 
What St John says about the care of souls and the responsibilities of spiritual elders he says to all of us. The consolation that we have received from Christ and the wisdom that he has bestowed upon us in our spiritual life and through experience is not our own possession. We seek to console as we have been consoled. We seek to protect as we have been protected by the grace of God and the guidance that we have received at the hands of others. The Church is not a business nor is it to function like one. We come to Church and receive the Sacrament not to “take something” for ourselves. We are drawn into the very life of the Holy Trinity and our “Amen” when receiving this gift means that we are saying “so be it” - let this be the reality in my life!  Like the good Shepherd, I will lay down my life for the good of others.
We can never set aside our identity to fit in with society, any more than a spiritual elder can set aside his responsibility and his role of guiding and forming others. Therefore, this letter we are reading is not simply a pious exhortation but rather a call to revolution; that is, a call to radical repentance. We must turn to God in every way in order that by His grace we might love others as He has loved us.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:04:54 susan: asking prayers for my son peter and 16 week pregnant wife in la brea la below fires.
00:11:19 Rebecca Thérèse: Reacted to "asking prayers for m..." with 🙏
00:20:42 David: Having lived in Latin America for 12 years. Another notable difference is the priest often goes and meets everyone in the parish. I do think a lot of vacation days and shorter work hours help community as well.
00:25:21 Myles Davidson: The Protestant work ‘ethic’ has a lot to answer for
00:25:40 Wayne: Reacted to "The Protestant work ..." with 👍
00:25:50 David: Work to live not live to work is the saying in Spanish
00:25:56 Anthony: For the change in culture, see A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland by Cobbett.
00:26:16 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Work to live not liv..." with 👍
00:31:30 Bob Cihak, AZ: Re: priests and visiting their flock: Our Ruthenian church, at least in the wester USA Phoenix eparchy, has a strong tradition of annual House Blessings, (at least in the 3 out of about 20 Parishes that we know well) which does get the priest visiting parishioners, including a Gomez family here in CA. The family has 14 children and many grandchildren. The house was full AND they hosted a very good dinner for the family and the priest's family (my wife and me).
00:35:26 David: When I grew up near Lake Superior every house had a BMC and two crosses put on each door jam by the priest but that was Franciscans
00:35:38 Una: How can a priest balance his need for friendship with being a pastor. If the friend elects to go to confession to another priest, isn't that perhaps preferable. Especially if the person can find another good priest?
00:36:50 Myles Davidson: Our priest is doing house blessings as we speak
00:43:01 Kelli: PRIDE
00:45:06 David: A nice way to handle that is great question how can we find the truth and then delegate yourself and others to come back with different things.00:50:08 David: Leaders at least in business are best chosen by those who people follow not appointed.
00:53:56 David: Does some of that be the secular take and separation of church and state? It almost seems like there is tolerance or opinions about everything but values based on faith sometimes. When one decides when human life begins there is faith on both sides.
00:55:43 David: I am just wondering if a lot of the difference it based on secular beliefs
00:56:21 David: We act one way in church and are pressured to relativism in the world.
01:04:10 Lyle: Amen, Father.
01:04:34 David: Mmm monetizing BINGO or spiritual direction great point
01:11:38 Lyle: The Holy Spirit can do it!
01:12:04 Maureen Cunningham: Church in Egypt and Middle East is being persecuted
01:12:35 Myles Davidson: The growing interest in the desert fathers in the Church is going to change it in a dramatic way eventually I think
01:13:13 Anna Lalonde: Holy Spirit was moving in you. Don't apologize.
01:14:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "Holy Spirit was movi..."
Preach it, Father!!!
01:14:10 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "Holy Spirit was movi..." with 👍
01:14:15 ANDREW ADAMS: Reacted to "Holy Spirit was movi..." with 👍
01:14:27 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Preach it, Father!!!" with 🔥
01:15:05 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father and everyone such a Blessing
01:15:14 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:15:16 Suzanne Romano: Pax Vobiscum!
01:15:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:15:20 Deiren Masterson: Thank you Father
01:15:21 David: Thank you father God bless
01:15:35 Cindy Moran: Thank you@

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part V

As we read this letter we slowly begin to see that St. John is not presenting his reader with a manual for spiritual direction; that is, specific counsels in regard to practices and disciplines. St. John’s astute psychological observations and his capacity for discernment reveals a heart that has been transformed by love. Contrary to the old adage love is NOT blind. Love, in fact, sees all things with greater clarity. 
One of the things that we struggle with in our day is a tendency to dissect certain realities (as well as personalities) in order that we might see ourselves as understanding them or being able to control them. The desert fathers, however, never allow us to lose sight of the mystery of the human person or the relationship that is at the heart of Christianity. A human person is not the sum of their actions or their opinions any more than God can be reduced to the teachings of the catechism. Love draws us in to the mystery of God and also allows us to see the presence of God in the other. If any Christian, let alone any elder, loses sight of this then our interactions with others are going to become grossly distorted and our view of God myopic. Love must shape our hearts and expand them to the dimensions of God himself. 
This may seem to be an absurdity and yet it is the reality that has been revealed to us. God has become man in order that man might become God. Our Lord assumes all that there is in the human experience - our sin, sorrow, failure, weakness and death. He embraces all in order that we might never be in isolation and that his presence within us might also be a source of radical healing. The miracles in the gospel merely show us the desire of God to remove every obstacle in our experience of His life. 
Therefore, an elder must have experiential knowledge of this Love; especially how it touches the woundedness of our sin and our experience of hopelessness and isolation. The elder must become that love so as to enter into the sufferings of those who come to him. Whatever guidance he offers, whatever correction he makes, must be rooted in a love that is curative and that seeks to raise up the other. Only one who has encountered the wonder of such Divine Love has the capacity to enter into and take upon himself the vulnerability of the other. In this sense, the spiritual elder and his role cannot be seen outside of his relationship with Christ; for it is only the love of Christ that can possibly bring healing to the human heart.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:04:47 Anna Lalonde: What about them?
00:05:37 Anna Lalonde: I'm in GA. Where are they?
00:15:30 Anna Lalonde: We finally got both books for family gift and we're ordering four volumes too.
00:27:58 Myles Davidson: I know someone who has never owned a computer and goes to the library to use the internet, due to his fear of what it might lead to
00:30:22 Anna Lalonde: We experienced a family friendship break and after saw how we fell into sin or lessened our way of life. Such an awakening experience.
00:31:49 Lyle: His fear may be VERY warranted.  How often does the devil DIRECTLY attack us?  His friend may view something that “appears” very innocent, but it may lead to something very evil.
00:38:04 Anna Lalonde: My sister is a missionary of charity. Love her letters home on guidance to family.
00:42:06 Lyle: A word of ecouragement from a recovering ADDICT.
00:42:23 Andres Oropeza: St. Theophane wrote that we should picture a lazy man sitting in his room. His house is on fire but you wouldn’t tell him it’s fire, you would let him see the flames. Then he would be roused to look for a way out; an open door, a window. He said the Holy Spirit does this for us. Maybe we can do this for others too, patiently and lovingly help them to see that their way of life is harmful and were it inevitably leads. Though often times I think we wouldn’t try to escape even once we realize our house is on fire. I’ve experienced this myself!
00:42:33 Lyle: Avoid ANYTHING that appears "questionable".
00:43:58 Lyle: Myles' friend.
01:04:51 David: We often sit back and hope for miracles but all these verbs the Lord uses requiere us to be doing things first before the remedy can be found-“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
01:09:03 Suzanne Romano: A great confessor I had always used to say, "There's a time for every grace."
01:13:32 MOME hermits: Thank you Fr. David, Blessed Solemnity of Mary and New Year :)!
01:13:40 MOME hermits: Fr. Charbel
01:13:46 Joanne Martinez: Thank you!
01:13:53 Suzanne Romano: Thank you!
01:13:57 Aric B: Thank you Father!
01:13:58 David: Have a blessed 2025! Thank you father
01:14:03 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Happy New Year everyone🙂

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part IV

As one moves along through this text, one begins to understand that St. John Climacus is not only addressing elders but all those who have the care of souls. Fundamentally this is every Christian!There is no radical individualism in our faith, nor do we see ourselves disconnected from the sins of others and the burdens they bear. Love, compels us to be attentive to the other; not in a condescending fashion, but attending to them with the tenderness and compassion that we have received from Christ. Our Lord is the archetype for us and the consolation that we receive from his hand we are to offer to others freely.
The fundamental virtues of an elder are humility and obedience; that is, truthful living and the capacity to listen. How can one serve others when there is any focus on the self or when they are still in the grip of the passions? There is  nothing so unseemly as an angry elder - one who looks at others with a harsh eye or is always quick to investigate trifling sins. The elder must be driven by love that makes him ever vigilant and watchful of those things that can be obstacles to the spiritual development of those in his care. He cannot be lax in fulfilling this responsibility or timid and cowardly in offering correction. He must be willing to offer counsel even when there is no thirst for understanding. 
One begins to understand that such a responsibility is carried out with fear and trembling. The care of souls carries within it the Cross; it is crucified love that guides the elder and gives light to his path.  He is never a passive observer, but one who like Christ looks out and acknowledges the crowds as being sheep without a shepherd; in fact, as sheep already mauled by the wolves and in desperate need of healing. Thus, the capacity to care for others in this fashion is not something that can be set aside; nor can the abilities that God has given to an elder be buried in the ground with drawing down His wrath.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:09:34 Una: Does Father send out handouts in email?
00:10:08 Una: Could I get one at Una.McManus@gmail.com?
00:10:25 Adam Paige: https://mcusercontent.com/c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df/files/22eb6d8c-a2f9-1ed8-1270-b5bcd86c22f6/To_the_Shepherd.01.pdf
00:10:31 Una: Thank you
00:10:43 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thank you" with 👍
00:12:22 Una: Yes for me on New Year DAy
00:12:26 Sam: Greetings from Hot 🔥 Australia Fr
00:12:39 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Greetings from Hot ..." with 🇦🇺
00:18:01 paul g.: Amen
00:21:55 Bob Cihak, AZ: Amen, Amen!
00:33:54 Mary Clare Wax: Fr. it is so refreshing listening to you. We love your contemplative spirit and your love for the desert father teachings. Thank you. We appreciate your present sharing on the priesthood. So true.
00:34:22 susan: Amen
00:36:20 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "Fr. it is so refresh..." with 👍
00:37:22 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Fr. it is so refresh..." with 👍
00:38:31 Andres Oropeza: Is it always pride when you have trouble trusting your spiritual Father because of his manner of life or that of his monks? I feel like I’m judging him/them but I also have serious misgivings. Could it be just a test of obedience where the Lord wants me to obey even with the misgivings, to have faith before understanding ?
00:41:56 Bob Cihak, AZ: As the fathers and you say, the wisdom required to be a spiritual leader is learned from and with experience, not just book learning, which usually required a lot of time.
00:43:08 MOME hermits: I (sr charista maria) believe Mary's special presence in our times helps to make up for what is lacking in the priesthood today, when we have a special relationship with her.
00:49:32 David: The orthodox later republished that as Unseen Warfare by Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and Theophan the Recluse
00:49:47 Kate : Father, could you address what to do when one experiences a spiritual father who is not mentally healthy and whose guidance not sound?  In this case, I would think that one must pay attention to their misgivings.  We lived through this and sadly witnessed much damage done to souls.
00:50:24 Maureen Cunningham: Christ was betrayed
01:14:07 Victor - WV: Thanks to all, to Father as well. Merry Christmas! 🎄 🙏🏼
01:14:26 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 👍
01:14:47 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 👍
01:16:02 Laura: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 🎄
01:16:17 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 🎄
01:20:00 Andres Oropeza: I think it was in this book where it describes the spiritual father being like Moses stretching his arms out so his child can pass through the sea unharmed. Beautiful image Off topic, but does it make a bad confession if you feel like you should’ve confessed to your spiritual father that you judged him specifically (vs just judging people) but didn’t because of anxiety ?
01:23:26 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
01:23:28 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂Happy Christmas everyone🎄
01:23:29 David: Thank you Father and God Bless you and your mother! Merry Christmas! As we celebrate his birth may he be reborn anew in our hearts.
01:24:17 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:24:27 Rachel: Thank you father
01:24:28 Deiren Masterson: Thank you Father.
01:24:36 liz sabath: Thank you Father!!
01:24:37 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: BleSSED Christmas~

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part III

Sometimes during a group it is as if a light comes on that illuminates some aspect of life in a magnificent fashion and that speaks to each person in the group whatever their background or station in life. This was true in particular this evening as we continued to discuss St. John’s writing “To the Shepherd” on the responsibilities of a spiritual elder. As we made our way through the text, it became clear that St. John’s teaching about the care of souls applies to all of those who are responsible for the formation of others; not only priests or religious, but also parents, teachers, friends, etc. 
Not one of us is free from the charge of the salvation of others; aiding them through our prayers, taking opportune moments to clarify their understanding of the faith, being living witnesses of the gospel and the love of the cross. All of us have the responsibility of seeking purity of heart and freedom from the passions in order that we might be able to discern with clarity and humility the needs of those around us. Lacking this, St. John tells us, we undermine our capacity to be well disposed and compassionate to each individual for whom we are responsible or who enters our life. How is it that we can serve others if we cannot discern good from evil and everything in between?
In fact, St. John tells us it is a great disgrace for a superior to pray for or hold forward spiritual gifts to others that he himself is not acquired. How is it that he can faithfully guide others to God and to become partakers of the glory of God if he has no understanding of this within his own heart. Experience is the truest teacher and if the superior lacks that experience, he may only bring harm to others.
Those who are spiritual elders, fathers, or mothers, must not be tempted to set aside this role in order to enjoy worldly friendship with those in their charge. It can be a natural thing to want companionship and to some extent this can exist. However, if a familiarity develops between the superior and others, he may lose the capacity to guide and feel constrained to do the bidding of others; never to contradict them, refuse them, or correct them.
The elder must be pure of heart and able to understand the interior life and also the realities that sanctify us within the life of the church. The elder must be able to create a culture that forms a mind and heart directed toward God, the love of neighbor and the love of virtue. He must be able to discern the emotional capacity and maturity of others, so as not to push too hard and risk breaking their spirit or neglect giving counsel or correction of those who are quick witted and naturally gifted.
Such purity of heart alone allows the elder to perceive supernatural realities and to understand the struggles that individuals have with multiple demons. The elder must be able to cure passions thought by others to be incurable. In this sense, he must have truly put on the mind of Christ and be the most humble and obedient member of the community.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:14:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 251, # 14
 
00:19:16 carol_000: Is much known about the repentance of Joseph's brothers or God chastising them for their treatment of Joseph
 
00:26:27 David: I think this is a big problem also in families. My oldest son felt I was often to hard on him. Now that he is 27 he has mentioned several times that I was the only one that loved him and was always there. It is really hard but being a father is different than being a friend only there to enjoy the good times and not try to guide someone to what has value.
 
00:28:48 Art: Reacted to "I think this is a bi..." with 👍
 
00:28:52 Catherine Eisenbrandt: Father when you are entrusted to forming children it is easy to understand friendship with angels and saints is beneficial for them but how can you explain that to a child who is suffering from isolation
 
00:29:17 David: Well from 15-22 we are idiots but we get smarter and as time goes on even seen as wise. ha ha
 
00:35:31 Anthony: The cultivation of religious imagination must be cultivated so as to distinguish this "friendship" from "imaginary friend" or a dialogue in the mind with oneself.
 
00:36:38 Carol Roper: My 10 year old loves those books
 
00:37:27 Carol Roper: They’re like graphic novels
 
00:37:34 David: One nice tradtion with small t is in Spain where you celebrate "Tu Santo" or your saints day with the same passion as a birthday. Cake, read the life etc. I did this with my kids when they were younger and it makes an impact later.
 
00:38:36 David: The saints let the light of God enter into our life and saints through the windows.
 
00:39:15 Una: Who is this author?
 
00:39:54 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Who is this author?"
 
https://creativeorthodox.com/
 
00:40:10 Una: Thank you
 
00:41:43 Art: https://www.themerrybeggars.com/shows/the-saints 
The Saints: Adventures of Faith and Courage
A daily podcast bringing the Saints to life with award-winning actors, writers, and sound designers.
Thrilling and inspiring stories to ignite your family's faith. Intended for children but I really enjoy them too.  My sons really enjoyed the episode on Moses the Black.
 
00:42:10 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "https://www.themerry..." with 👍
 
00:42:11 Anna Lalonde: That's what we do!
 
00:43:27 David: This is nice at bed time for kids or better to read with your own voice. LibriVox
 
00:43:44 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "https://www.themerry..." with 👍🏼
 
00:44:07 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "This is nice at bed ..." with 👍🏼
 
00:45:07 carol_000: Thank you All for the Links
 
00:45:52 Art: Reacted to "This is nice at bed ..." with 👍🏼
 
00:46:07 Anna Lalonde: Reacted to This is nice at bed ... with "👍🏼"
 
00:46:20 Anna Lalonde: Thank you David!
 
00:49:43 Anthony: Mass media kills imagination and familyblife
 
00:50:28 David: The way of the Pilgrim really impacted me and how this moves the orthodox both to the divine liturgy and the Philokalhia. Where in the west se send people to St. Thomas before they can really understand it. I like the hospital of the sick how do I deal with all the 8 evil thoughts not intellectual gymnastics and memorizing proofs. As least I have always struggled with discernment I don't get a lot of that from intellect but focusing on being close to God. When I taught a mentor said: don't teach them to memorize you only need to teach "the love of learning" and learning will follow. I think the same is true for faith- learn to love God the other things fall into place.
 
00:53:37 Myles Davidson: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Way of the Pilgrim had a big impact on me too
 
00:53:48 Carol Roper: Reacted to "https://www.themerry…" with 👍
 
00:53:58 Carol Roper: Reacted to "This is nice at bed …" with 👍🏼
 
00:54:03 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
👍 I thought it was just me. Thanks
 
00:54:16 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "👍 I thought it was ..." with 👍
 
00:54:55 Myles Davidson: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
@David Inspired me to pray the Jesus prayer to a much greater degree
 
00:55:45 Anna Lalonde: Yes, love of learning is what we do. My children are into all kinds of things now because they love learning.
 
00:55:54 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Me too I always carry a prayer rope with me now
 
00:56:15 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Me too I always carr..." with 👍
 
00:56:44 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Instead of wasting time I can dedicate that time to God. Waiting at a Dr. office with my Dad, stuck in traffic
 
00:56:59 Myles Davidson: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
@David Yes, me too
 
00:57:29 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Thanks ! Nice to know there are at least two of us. ha ha
 
00:57:40 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Thanks ! Nice to kno..." with 🙏
 
00:59:17 Anthony: The Holy Trinity is subliminal. Most real & underlying reality. More real and more clear than "real life."
 
01:01:24 David: Replying to "Thank you David!"
 
My pleasure Anna I hope you find it helpful. I really struggled raising my kids alone with time
 
01:02:01 Vanessa: Reacted to "I think this is a bi..." with ❤️
 
01:04:13 Maureen Cunningham: How long was the early church . Hour or many hours
 
01:16:06 susan: physics break through   all atoms interacting/from beginning to end throughout all time/ action impacts all the atoms one way or another  gave me such a deeper understanding of Jesus liturgy Eucharist the actions of the Mass present to all time and how Jesus 2000 years ago can actually be Here in the Mass now  made liturgy real to me. Helps me to see Jesus real with me now (Jesus prayer)
 
01:16:11 Aric B: Regarding the subject of paragraph #17. I have been reading a book that is about us living with Christs mysteries as also our mysteries to be experienced throughout liturgy and the liturgical year.
 
01:19:11 David: It is not what we get out of the mass in entertainment but what we bring to the table of the Lord. I see this as a big difference and evangelical friends are often dumbstruck when I mention this. The book "The supper of the Lamb" has really helped many come home in my experience.
 
01:22:06 Victor - WV: Thank you, Father, & all.
 
01:22:20 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father &  everyone
 
01:22:33 Alexandra: Thank you Father. I'll pray for you
 
01:23:11 Cindy Moran: Great session tonight! Thank you, Father.
 
01:23:13 Jeff O.: Thank you Father! Great to be with you all.
 
01:23:15 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 😊
 
01:23:18 Aric B: Thank you Father!
 
01:23:22 David: Thank you father and may God bless you and your mother!
 
01:23:35 carol_000: Thank you Father
 
01:23:42 Alexandra: Thank you everyone
 
01:24:41 David: God does not speak through one of us but all of us is what my Grandmother always said. Thank you Father for being our guide
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part II

We continued our reading and discussion of the treatment and cures that the spiritual father must understand for every malady that afflicts a person in the spiritual life. He must understand not only how to apply them but also the manner they are applied to each individual person with their unique needs. No person is the same and in the spiritual battle the elder must understand the subtle manifestations of spiritual illness and the manner in which various cures might be applied.
One of the most striking aspects of tonight’s discussion was on the capacity of the elder to be free from and endure nausea and to be able to untiringly strive to dispel the stench of vomit. Of course, St. John is speaking about sin itself and the willingness of the elder to enter into the darkness in which the other person finds himself; to descend into their hell and to endure the stench of sin itself. The capacity to do this comes through engaging in the spiritual battle throughout the course of one’s life and attending in obedience to the counsel of one’s own spiritual father. The lack of nausea and the ability to endure the stench of the vomit of sin comes from having long been immersed in it through one’s own struggles. Compassion is born in a powerful way through the experience of common trials. 
Beyond this, St. John tells that the shepherd must experience blessed dispassion. In other words, he must be free of the passions that would blind him and his ability to discern the particular needs of those in his care. This discernment allows the elder to illuminate the path that leads to repentance and so gives him the capacity to “resurrect every dead soul”.
This is the identity that every Christian soul should seek to embrace. While it’s true that not everyone is called to be a spiritual elder, every Christian by virtue of their baptism is called to the holiness described here and given the responsibility for the care of souls in their midst. We are responsible for the salvation and goodwill of those around us as much as we are responsible for our own.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:04:47 Anna Lalonde: Well my kids learned to walk up our hallway wall today so you up for that Father? 😄
 
00:08:41 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 250, # 12 halfway down "An ointment...."
 
00:10:11 Lori Hatala: https://gmail.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df&id=3f6ad96818&e=b6af48f1a0
 
00:10:52 Lori Hatala: link for To the Shephard pdf
 
00:11:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 250, # 12 halfway down "An ointment...."
 
00:25:47 Anna Lalonde: Anyone have a link for buying this version?
 
00:27:09 Bob Cihak, AZ: The current book is The Ladder of Divine Ascent by Saint John Climacus at https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/569 .
 
00:41:33 Anna Lalonde: Replying to "The current book is ..." 
 
 Thank you! Ordered
 
00:43:28 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "The current book is ..."
 
Good! It's on the expensive side, but is well worth it; the quality of the book exceeds its price.
 
00:45:11 Anna Lalonde: In Roman Catholic there are Spiritual Director certificates. But I love using Desert Fathers for this aspect with my clients.
 
00:51:23 Anna Lalonde: I prefer Catholic Coaching versus Therapy because it's an integrative of the soul as the trauma is affecting the soul.
 
00:55:52 Myles Davidson: Jung had very high praise for the Catholic Mass and felt that Catholicism was the closest thing to psychotherapy Interestingly enough
 
00:58:20 David: There is a nice podcast by Fr. Joshua Macoul called "Healing the Unresolved" but I don't know what school he ascribes to but does mention the desert fathers sometimes.
 
01:01:35 David: In the presence of nothing, everything is revealed. Can't remember which desert father wrote this but it stuck in my head.
 
01:02:40 Kate : What about the role of the grace of priesthood in shepherding of souls?  I know there are some Catholic spiritual direction training programs that train laity to be spiritual directors.  But what about the grace of priesthood in leading souls?  Isn’t this something that cannot be “trained” so to speak?
 
01:07:05 Anna Lalonde: I agree Father! As a certified Catholic Coach and a Certified Catholic Spiritual Director. My living the ascetic life and domestic monastics while studying desert fathers is very great so I can serve souls.
 
01:07:08 David: Not a criticism but it seems with all the honey, coffee, handicrafts and items monasteries produce it might be better to offer spiritual direction and donations through patreon or something?  My old parish priest mentioned he did not have capacity to offer spiritual direction to all the young people we had in catechism.  There seems to be a great lack of this for most parishes.
 
01:07:49 Anna Lalonde: Agree David!
 
01:17:26 Phil: Thank you, Father and Victor, for your responses.
 
01:18:16 Céline: Thank you father God Bless you.
 
01:18:23 Victor - WV: Thank you!
 
01:19:23 Bob Cihak, AZ: Sometimes it's focus, not digression.
 
01:19:24 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:19:37 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Great to be with you all!
 
01:20:10 Aric Bukiri: Thank you Father!
 
01:20:11 David: Thank you Father. May God bless you and your mother!
 
01:20:17 Rachel: Thank you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd"

Having completed the 30th Step of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, we are blessed to receive from the hand of St. John one additional bit of writing – “To the Shepherd“. It is here that John writes to the Abbot of the neighboring monastery who first requested that John produce for his monastery a treatise on the spiritual life.  He turns his attention now to this shepherd of souls – he who is responsible for the care of those entrusted to him. For the Abbot, it would be the monks of his monastery, and for those within the church, it would be the spiritual father. One might also say that the words written here would apply to all of those who offer spiritual care to others, including and especially mothers and fathers. 
John begins by telling us that the shepherd is he who seeks out to set aright the lost sheep. He does this not primarily through words, but by means of guilelessness, zeal and prayer; that is, by example. The shepherd above all must be a model of virtue and one who instructs out of experience not from what he has read.
He must also be a pilot. One who is a skilled helmsman, guiding his ship, not only through the billows of a storm, but raising it up out of the abyss itself, as if raising a ship that has sunk or smashed against the rocks. Again, one who has the capacity to do this is a person who has persevered through the experience of fear and hopelessness, one who knows where the dangers lie, the signs of a storm, and where one will crash upon the reef. He must be a genuine teacher, one upon whose heart God has etched the truth. He should not be one who needs other books, but rather he should be one who speaks from the heart and speaks of his own distinctive and unique trials. He must understand then that he must teach from on high. For lowly instructions cannot possibly heal lowly beings. We are healed by grace and through divine wisdom. 
In the role of a shepherd, he must not be afraid to reprimand those sheep who fall behind because of slothfulness or gluttony. To be separated from the flock, to cut oneself off from communion with God and with others who seek to breathe the same air, is to place oneself in jeopardy. The shepherd must forever keep his gaze directed heavenward, especially when the sheep are inclined to keep their heads turned towards the earth and the things of this world. It is then that they become easy prey for the wolves and so like John the Baptist he must forever be calling them to repentance. His mind must be like that of a dog; senses heightened and alert to the approach of any danger warning those in his charge. 
As a true physician of souls, he must not only have the capacity to diagnose the malady, but the instruments necessary to heal the wounds of others. He must understand the seriousness of the ailment and the right kind of remedy in order that he does not make things worse or fail to apply what is needed to bring an individual back to the fullness of health. He cannot be squeamish or hesitant in offering the diagnosis or applying the remedy. For he knows that he must give answer to the Master for the care he has given.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:32 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 249, # 1
 
00:31:03 Jeffrey Fitzgerald: On that note, Father, about the disconnect with the Fatjers, Ive discovered that even the simplest mention of the Eastern Fathers—in my spiritual direction or other Catholic contexts—people in general look at me like I’m speaking gibberish.  In my own parish, it’s all a matter of “Vatican 2 says…”, followed by agreement or disagreement depending on their own spiritual world view. I know you and many commentators have noted that this would happen, but it’s still startling.
 
00:33:34 Kate : To tag onto to Jeffrey’s point, I was warned to stay away from the Fathers.  I was warned that hesychasm is “dangerous.”
 
00:34:11 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "To tag onto to Jeffr..." with 😮
 
00:35:42 Bob Cihak, AZ: Yes, words in books can be wonderful. BUT, words are symbols of experience, as said by philosopher Eric Voegelin. Many of the writings we've read reflect the latter, i.e., experience leads; words try to articulate the experience for others.
 
00:35:50 Myles Davidson: On a positive note, I listened to a Bishop Barron video he did on the Holy Hour and he was giving different examples of what one may do in a Holy Hour. As an example he outlined what he had done in his Holy Hour that morning and he had prayed the Jesus Prayer for half of it. He said he loved it and did it regularly. Great to such a high profile Roman Catholic bishop promoting the Jesus Prayer like this!
 
00:36:55 Art: Let us start up Desert Fathers Societies in churches everywhere to teach these very baseline concepts, practices, and readings.
 
00:40:16 Anthony: Encounter. In War & Peace, an old man advises to read the Bible, even in the unfamiliar slavonic language, and over time will come comprehension and understanding.  That's like the spiritual life.  And, it's kind of true for me when I read New Testament in Italian.  Slowly the meaning comes.
 
00:40:28 Anthony: Reacted to Let us start up Dese... with "👍"
 
00:45:06 Gregory Chura: Learning in a different language... Attending Mass in Spanish made me listen to what I was praying.  Yes!  Slow down.
 
00:45:38 Anna Lalonde: I'm so grateful you're training us in desert Father's. My children ask almost every night if you're on. 😂
 
00:57:30 Bob Cihak, AZ: Faith DOES heal!!
 
01:09:09 Anthony: Maybe our catechizing should include this: repent immediately, be confident God forgives, do the opposite of the bad, and when you see a priest, if the matter was grave, ask for Confession.
 
01:10:03 Anna Lalonde: Minimal weekly Repentance has worked awesome for us!
 
01:11:49 Kate : I have to say that I am just amazed.  At the risk of oversimplifying, what we are talking about is love.  The Love of Christ.  There is a saying that time heals all wounds…but really, it is the Love of Christ that heals.  Honestly, this has been one of the biggest revelations to me since discovering the Fathers…that the Love of Christ heals!   And the spiritual father is an instrument of this Love.
 
01:12:26 Anthony: Reacted to I have to say that I... with "❤️"
 
01:15:51 Rebecca Thérèse: thank you🙂
 
01:15:55 Jeff O.: Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
 
01:16:10 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Reacted to "Thank you! Happy Tha..." with 👍
 
01:16:11 Laura: Happy Thanksgiving 🥧
 
01:16:18 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:26 Aric Bukiri: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXX, Part IV

As we come to the end of the Ladder of Divine Ascent St. John unfolds for us the heights to which we are drawn – the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. Hope, often the most neglected of virtues, is the annulment of despair. It allows us to hold on to the promise of Christ to be with us always. Even when faith seems to fail us and all grows dark because of the cross that we carry, our hope in the Lord allows us to be consoled by his mercy and to be drawn forward. It protects us from despondency and doubt.
Love when unimpeded allows us to see as God sees; to see the signs of the times and how things will unfold even when all seems chaotic. This divine love yields miracles; the supernatural healing and perfecting the natural. Through it we come to see the things of the kingdom with clarity. This clarity creates a fire within the heart; an urgent longing and thirst for the Lord that only he can quench. It is our movement into eternity. It reveals to us that the kingdom is now, heaven is now, eternity is now! We come to see that this love is not distant but that the kingdom dwells within. 
St. John closes the step by calling out to Love Himself to satisfy his desire, to show him the path of the ascent that is most direct. For even though he had received this wisdom from others, St. John understands that it is only Love himself who can guide us. It is the experience of this love alone that moves us from words to reality.
Finally, St. John exhorts us along with all those who read his book to ascend eagerly and to be resolved in their hearts to strive for the Lord above all things. He is our life, our salvation, our love!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:01:21 Bob Cihak, AZ: My microphone isn’t working again but this is probably for the better, because I have a strong head cold with the virus also giving my voice into a gravelly inflection.
 
Doreen Stacy, our artist friend’s funeral was yesterday. Preparations conflicted with our Monday meeting; I know I’m already excused but wanted to ask for prayers. Doreen only had 3 children but one of her daughters had 11. Who would have guessed that an English Professor could splendidly support a family that size?
 
00:08:21 Lori Hatala: https://gmail.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df&id=3f6ad96818&e=b6af48f1a0
 
00:12:25 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: What is the title of the St. Isaac book?
 
00:12:44 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 179, # I
 
00:14:52 Bob Cihak, AZ: Oops. Wrong book. Actually p.246, # 30 P. 179, # I
 
00:15:15 David: Sr. Barbara it is ISBN 978-0-943405-16-2 Holy Transfiguration Monastery my copy is 2011
 
00:26:39 Rebecca Thérèse: In what specifically are we supposed to hope? And what does lack of hope look like?
 
00:27:16 Lilly (Toronto, CA): “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” ...It's hard to surrender our weakness or sufferings, but it's in those darkest times that a simple Psalm will be enough to help us persevere
 
00:30:58 Myles Davidson: Replying to "What is the title of..."
 
The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian
 
00:32:31 Myles Davidson: Replying to "What is the title of..."
 
https://htmp.org/St-Isaac-Ascetical-Homilies/overview.html
 
00:58:14 Maureen Cunningham: Hound oh heaven
 
00:58:41 Joseph: “Love is the progress of eternity” echoes St. Gregory of Nyssa’s notion of epektasis, the eternal ‘stretching and straining’ of the soul toward God. Each step toward God is both a fulfillment and a new beginning. Our mystical ascent never truly comes to an end, the cup is never entirely full, our love reaches out to God for eternity.
 
00:59:54 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Who's the author of Flying over the abyss?
 
01:00:28 Dave Warner | AL: Flying over the Abyss: https://essexmonastery.com/bookshop/flying-over-the-abyss
 
01:01:26 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Thank you
 
01:01:41 Dave Warner | AL: Replying to "Who's the author of ..."
 
Archmandrite Zacharias Zacharou
 
01:02:18 Dave Warner | AL: Reacted to "Thank you" with 👍
 
01:03:20 David: I had an aunt who everyone loved. Children who were very bad she used to say "how peppy". She always told me - look till you see a glimmer of Christ and with patience you will see even the slightest light in some aspect. I remember this often and it seems like once you know what they have gone through or lacked in their experience there always is some of the divine in almost everyone. Just that thought helps me with trying to find something in the most difficult people I have encountered.
 
01:06:55 David: So your uncle thought you were peppy?
 
01:12:01 Lori Hatala: https://gmail.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df&id=3f6ad96818&e=b6af48f1a0
 
01:12:32 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You and all are always a blessing.
 
01:13:21 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:22 Cindy Moran: These sessions have taught me so much! Thank you!
 
01:13:23 David: Thank you Father may God bless you and your mother!
 
01:13:24 Bob Cihak, AZ: Thank you, Father.
 
01:13:31 Joseph: Thank you, Father
 
01:13:36 Art: Thank you Father!
 
01:13:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXX, Part III

What do we live for? Or rather, better stated, Who do we live for? As we come to the end of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John speaks to us about the nature of Divine Love that is our destiny and dignity in Christ. We pursue the spiritual life for no abstract reason - not for moral perfection - not to satisfy a sense of religious duty. Nor are we driven by fear or anxiety as has sadly so often been the case. 
It has always been Love that beckons us forward, that gradually heals the wounds of our sin or the traumas that we have borne. Anything that obstructs our vision of love and the mercy, God desires to overcome. God has created us for himself, made us in his own image and likeness precisely that we might share in the fullness of his life. The nature of love is curative not punitive. 
St. John begins by speaking of those who keep in their imagination the face of the beloved and embrace it tenderly. This love often is so strong that it strips them even of the need for sleep or for food. The one who yearns for God says: “My soul thirsts for God, the mighty, the living God. The grace of this reality transforms nature to the point that even their countenance changes and is filled with the joy and the peace of the kingdom.
Furthermore, the pure of heart, the one who loves without impediment, is the truth theologian and so grasp the very nature of the most holy trinity. Their heart transformed by love shows itself in their love of neighbor, their intolerance for slander or anything that might diminish the other.
St. John also tells us that the power of love is in hope because by it we await the reward of love. Even when we cannot see, when we find ourselves wrapped in the darkness of the cross that we carry, it is in hope that we find rest and the reassurance of God‘s love for us .
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:33 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 245, # 16
 
00:27:24 Jeff O.: Seems like Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17, the river of life flowing in and through us producing within us fruit no matter what
 
00:30:04 Anna Lalonde: Is that the fear of reverence and awe of God?
 
00:31:17 Cindy Moran: I remember in a worldly being a love sick teenager and could care less about eating
 
00:32:30 David: Are there different levels of fear? I remember when I was a child my sister and I used to say the worst punishment was seeing disappointment from our mother and father not any correction. I sometimes feel more like this than trying to reconcile a loving God who has done so much and fire and brimstrone.
 
00:34:48 Myles Davidson: I love St. Isaacs view of hell as the love of God that is painful to those who have rejected Him
 
00:43:17 David: I love the mass no matter what but I often find homilies downloaded from sites which feel detached, not from the heart. I find the priest who speak of personal experience or their struggles capture the parish more. It seems there are administrators and holy men but they are often not in balance.
 
00:47:57 Jeff O.: St. Maximos’s “Questions 17-19” are great examples of examining the inner meaning of Scripture’s ‘enigmas’ with the fear of God (as he says). A higher reading, deeper reading - a mystical engagement with the Spirit that brings out the beautiful truths. He works out Exodus 4 with Moses and the angel threatening death into a beautiful way of describing the spiritual journey
 
00:48:54 Rebecca Therese: I heard someone say once that hell is a mercy for
those who feel tortured by the vision of God.
 
00:50:19 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "I heard someone say ..." with 🙏🏼
 
00:53:26 Francisco Ingham: We need less news and more nous
 
00:53:37 David: Reacted to "We need less news an..." with 👍
 
00:53:45 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "We need less news an..." with 👍
 
00:54:01 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "We need less news an..." with 😂
 
01:02:20 Anna Lalonde: I call that domestic monastic as we do
 
01:12:15 Nick Bodmer: Wow, that's amazing, Fr. !
 
01:12:38 Serene Lai: How can we increase our hope?
 
01:14:49 Nypaver Clan: They instantly become little saints!
 
01:16:58 Myles Davidson: Fr’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@frcharbelabernethy
 
01:17:42 Anna Lalonde: Prayers for my healing to Charbel please.
 
01:17:42 Art: Reacted to "Fr’s Substack:
https..." with 👍
 
01:18:27 Rebecca Therese: Thank you🙂
 
01:18:33 David: Thank you father! May God bless you!🙏
 
01:18:34 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:18:34 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Great to be with you all!
 
01:18:44 Nick Bodmer: Reacted to Prayers for my heali... with "🙏"
 
01:18:52 Nick Bodmer: Thank you!
 
01:19:01 Anna Lalonde: Reacted to Prayers for my heali... with "🙏"
 
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXX, Part II

What does it mean to be drawn into the mystery of Divine Love? Even as beautifully as John writes, it is difficult to wrap our minds around the experience of the living God; the experience of a love that is free of every impediment and passion, a love that makes us sons and daughters of God and so shapes are identity in such a way that it is unshakable. 
What is it that can overcome such a love? Our identity is often shaped by anxieties and fears, the unexpected and unknown, and our insecurities. Yet, as we are immersed in the love of God, all fear dissipates and is overtaken by an urgent longing for God and the thirst for his love. 
We often resist opening ourselves up and becoming vulnerable to this love. One famous author wrote, “humankind can only bear so much reality.“ Yet the love of God, the more that it is experienced, allows us to run toward that reality rather than avoid it . It  reveals to us that even our weaknesses, the things that we perhaps hate about ourselves or the wounds that we bear, draw us toward him. Love reveals to us that we experience nothing in isolation. Christ is always present to us and within us. This being so allows us to offer Him all that we are without shame.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:06:36 Una: Byzantine Carmelite nuns https://www.byzantinediscalcedcarmelites.com/index.html
 
00:06:55 Una: In Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania
 
00:08:46 Bob Cihak, AZ: The author was one of the lecturers at Acton University when I attended over 10 years ago.
"The Glory that is Pittsburgh" at 
https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/the-glory-that-is-pittsburgh-5753572
 
00:12:33 Una: A line from that article that has me ROFL
 
00:12:35 Una: Pittsburgh is a town that makes me want to rhapsodize like a follower of Ayn Rand.
 
00:14:05 carol_000: Does this Zoom start a bit before 5:30 E Time ?
 
00:14:28 Una: Just chat before 5:30
 
00:15:10 carol_000: Una ..Thanks
 
00:16:00 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Is it the same material as Father posts on FB?
 
00:16:01 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 244, #9
 
00:19:08 Daniel Allen: What page are we on again? Sorry I missed it.
 
00:19:16 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 244, #9
 
00:19:21 Daniel Allen: Thank you
 
00:46:02 Anthony: Part of the issue is how we receive the Gospel and Apocalypse....these are written with fearful language.
 
00:48:36 susan: some of the teaching seems so hard to do or embrace and seems like climbing Mt Everest lol so I have decided to become a micro ascetic  offer the smallest, micro offerings tiny tiny acts
 
00:50:21 Anthony: Should peter have been confident of forgiveness , even before the Lord forgave him?
 
00:51:12 David: Isn't there a process of letting go of things that leads us from obedience and caring to devotion. It seems love itself has stages and perhaps devotion is a joy in itself. But without letting go we lack faith and trust in the beloved.
 
01:04:11 David: My grandfather one time had me write down everything I was worried about for weeks. He kept it and showed it to me a year later and I realized how much time I wasted on that. While it took me years to understand it did help me move from belief to faith.
 
01:04:29 Daniel Allen: How do you give God “those things” in a concrete way? For instance how do you give God your anxiety in a concrete way, because sometimes offering it in prayer seems somewhat abstract.
 
01:05:19 Wayne: Reacted to "My grandfather one t..." with 👍
 
01:08:28 David: A beautiful tradition I saw in Potes, Spain was at collection people would give both money but what concerned them or what sins they were struggling with written on small pieces of paper to bring to the altar. I wonder which this is just a small town and (small t tradition) rather than more common. Just struck me as beautiful and I still think of that when I put something in the collection basket.
 
01:09:07 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Some find writing helpful - a note or letter to the Lord in one's journal. Or an expression in art...
 
01:09:14 Anna Lalonde: More frequent mystery of Repentance and gratitude are so important for this! Seen it with grief in my children and I.
 
01:14:41 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:14:48 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:14:49 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:14:50 David: Thank you father. May God bless you!
 
01:15:33 Jeff O.: Thank you so much!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXIII, Part II and XXIV, Part I

Tonight we read the final sections on the fathers’ reflection on the practice of fasting. Once again the focus is on decorum; how does one eat in the presence of others while not giving himself over to pride. It is ever so easy to think oneself the great ascetic and hold oneself above others within the community. Ego can even distort well-practiced discipline into something that sets oneself apart from others rather than leads one to show greater desire for God, virtue and mercy towards others. 
All of our practices, the fathers teach us, must be guided by spirit of gratitude. We give thanks for the food that we receive and that nourishes us and we avoid criticizing others for how much they eat. Self discipline is not a weapon to be wielded by the ego for its own pleasure. Our tendency is to devour our brothers’ flesh by our criticism, and as the psalmist tells us to “eat up God’s people as if eating our bread.”
A humble attitude must be fostered, and we must not be ill-mannered. For example, a senior monk within a monastery must not demand honor or reverence or put on airs before his juniors. He must not draw attention to Himself in any way that would diminish charity among the brothers. What is the value of toiling all day only to undermine oneself to satisfy petty pride?
Again, the fathers want us to understand that fasting and all of our disciplines are about love. We must not diminish the practice by becoming legalistic or moralistic in our view. Therefore, we are taught not to takes oaths about avoiding certain foods. In doing so we set aside the freedom that is ours. No food is reprehensible. We are merely to eat with restraint and gratitude. But if we take an oath and then break it by eating the particular food we fall into perjury. As Christ tells us, no food is unclean; rather it is what comes out of the heart that makes a person unclean or sinful.
A rather lengthy discussion ensued in regards to avoiding a kind of ghetto mentality in our Christian practice; setting ourselves apart from others rather than serving them in the love of Christ. It is a narrow line that we walk and demands that we understand that all is grace. Christ has taken on our poverty and emptied himself in order that we might know the fullness of life and love. Our exercise of the faith, that is, our asceticism, must be relational; it must be directed toward Christ and enable us to love as He loves. Asceticism is not an end in itself, nor do we live out our Christianity in isolation. We turn to Christ, we die to sin and self, in order to be raised to life in him. To avoid the kind of isolationism that we would see in the scribes and Pharisees, we must become Christ.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:37 Cindy Moran: The joys of home ownership 😜
 
00:11:29 Una: I'm a happy renter
 
00:12:37 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 168, #F
 
00:35:02 Erick Chastain: Once you pop you can't stop- pringles
 
00:35:21 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Once you pop you can..." with 😮
 
00:36:46 Adam Paige: Two recommendations on fasting and feasting.. Benedictine monk Adalbert de Vogue's book To Love Fasting is back in print in English (https://a.co/d/3hSwoIX), and I recently watched the film Babette's Feast for the first time - very moving !
 
00:38:09 Myles Davidson: A free PDF of To Love Fasting is available here:
https://archive.org/details/tolovefasting
 
00:40:39 Adam Paige: Reacted to "A free PDF of To Lov..." with ❤️‍🔥
 
00:46:33 Francisco Ingham: There’s a great Chesterton quote related to this point
 
00:46:43 Francisco Ingham: “Let us put a complex entrée into a simple old gentleman; let us not put a simple entrée into a complex old gentleman. So long as human society will leave my spiritual inside alone, I will allow it, with a comparative submission, to work its wild will with my physical interior. I will submit to cigars. I will meekly embrace a bottle of Burgundy. I will humble myself to a hansom cab. If only by this means I may preserve to myself the virginity of the spirit, which enjoys with astonishment and fear.”
 
00:54:11 Adam Paige: Reacted to "“Let us put a comple..." with 🍷
 
00:55:51 Ambrose Little: Can you comment on the seeming contradiction between Christ’s example of eating and drinking with sinners (and generally chastising Pharisees for being puritanical), and the counsel to avoid such and only surround oneself with those we deem holy and who think like we do.
 
01:05:17 Ambrose Little: It seems like there is real danger (that has actually been realized) in thinking and acting as if the church is only for the already perfect. But as Pope Francis has emphasized, the church is supposed to be a hospital for sinners. I just think the advice to avoid sinners and those who are not seeking God as we imagine we are can easily be internalized as exclusivity, isolationism,  and judgmentalism. It requires humility as a primary principle, to realize we are sinners, too.
 
01:14:29 Ambrose Little: Amen. Thank you!
 
01:14:48 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:14:54 santiagobua: Thank you !
 
01:15:36 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:47 Francisco Ingham: Thank you Father
 
01:15:52 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 
01:15:59 Erick Chastain: Thank you father!
 
01:16:05 Una: Thank you
 
01:16:08 santiagobua: Where can we find the Substack?
 
01:16:10 SYu’s iPhone: Thank you, Father.
 
01:16:43 ANDREW ADAMS: Replying to "Where can we find th..."
 
https://substack.com/@frcharbelabernethy
 
01:16:46 Myles Davidson: https://substack.com/@frcharbelabernethy
 
01:16:50 Adam Paige: Reacted to "https://substack.com..." with 👍
 
01:17:10 santiagobua: Reacted to "https://substack.com..." with 👍
 
01:17:17 Ambrose Little: Reacted to "https://substack.com…" with 👍
 
01:17:18 Erick Chastain: Just woke up earlier
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIX, and XXX, Part I

We are brought to the denouement of the Ladder in these final steps on Dispassion and the “Trinity of Virtues” - Faith, Hope and Love. The words of St. John ring forth as if from the mouth of a poet. It is only one who has experience of and has seen the beauty of Divine love who can then speak of the urgent longing that begins to take over the soul when it no longer is held back by the weight of sin or one’s ego.
The dispassionate man, St. John tells us, no longer lives himself, but Christ lives in him. He has eyes only for the beloved and living in constant union with him.  All becomes Grace; Christ’s virtue becomes our virtue, Christ’s strength becomes our strength, Christ’s love becomes our love. 
Understanding this we must not allow anything to hold us back. Above all we should desire to enter into the bridal chamber; for this is exactly what Christ has made possible for us. Our relationship with God is often described with nuptial imagery; we are destined to become one with the most holy Trinity. What excuse could we possibly put forward for not at least seeking to break through the wall of our sin by embracing the forgiveness that is so freely offered?
St. John’s discussion of dispassion leads us to the final step of the Ladder. The theological virtues, named so because they have God as their end, become St. John’s subject matter. These three are preeminent because they endure unto eternity. The greatest of them, love, allows no respite for the soul but drives her on with a kind of blessed madness. Overcome with an urgent longing for the Beloved it takes on a greater resemblance to God in so far as this is possible. The soul becomes inebriated - so often does it seek to satisfy its thirst for divine love. Having satisfied this desire the heart expands, taking on  distinctive properties where it becomes a fountain of faith, an abyss of patience and a sea of humility. What takes place then is extraordinary: love banishes every thought of evil or judgment. Only mercy, forgiveness and compassion remain.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:13:44 Myles Davidson: According to Wikipedia Scorcese is doing one on Moses the Black
 
00:14:08 Myles Davidson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese_Presents:_The_Saints
 
00:18:40 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 243, #13
 
00:37:15 Anthony: Renzo Allegri write a book: "Padre Pio Man of Hope." Good book.
 
00:39:32 Anthony: And this is why legalism and scrupulousity is such a problem. They strangle wonder and longing.
 
00:41:29 Anthony: Franciscans are  like the east
 
00:56:20 Anthony: Eastern Star
 
00:56:26 Leilani Nemeroff: Eastern Star
 
00:57:29 David: A book that really lead me to the fathers and from mere belief to faith was "What Difference Does Jesus Make"- Frank Sheed. Really hard to find not sure why this is not more popular.
 
00:59:25 carol_000: What time zone did this meeting start at 7:30
 
00:59:34 Nypaver Clan: EST
 
00:59:34 David: EST
 
00:59:48 carol_000: Thanks
 
01:00:09 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Thanks" with 🥰
 
01:01:21 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: The kingdom must be preached/shared -  we are way too silent about sharing our faith...
 
01:02:42 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Guardini has a great book on prayer..
 
01:02:49 Jeff O.: Reacted to "Guardini has a great..." with 👍
 
01:04:42 carol_000: Calgary, Alberta Canada.  Mountain Standard Time. My first time here.
 
01:05:07 Nypaver Clan: Meditations Before Mass - Guardini
 
01:05:07 Myles Davidson: Welcome 🙂
 
01:06:19 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Thanks.
 
01:07:33 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Hooray!  Glad you found us! 🙏🏼
 
01:07:36 Jeff O.: The madness of pride as opposed to the madness of love is an interesting juxtaposition. Two very distinct and different “pictures” of madness.
 
01:09:10 Cindy Moran: Reacted to The madness of pride... with "👍"
 
01:09:48 Cindy Moran: Me, too!!
 
01:09:53 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Welcome, Canada!🇨🇦
 
01:10:06 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
I've been following Fr. Charbel for a while, but now I'm wondering which branch of Orthodoxy is this? Reference to author & "Mass" ?
 
01:10:59 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Byzantine
01:11:09 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Thanks
 
01:12:54 Anna Lalonde: Thank you! My children and I are loving this.
 
01:13:03 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Ukrainian Greek
 
01:14:09 Jeff O.: That would be lovely!
 
01:14:26 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Thanks, I was raised Ukr. Grk Orthodox but now go to OCA church in All English.
 
01:14:45 Kevin & Lilly: Yes!!
 
01:14:52 Rachel: and icon paintng
 
01:15:00 Jacqulyn: Let's do it!
 
01:15:34 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father
 
01:15:35 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:35 Anna Lalonde: Prayers for my healing. Please especially St Charbel help me!
 
01:15:38 Rachel: thank you!
 
01:15:39 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 😊
 
01:15:42 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all!
 
01:15:44 David: Thank you father!
 
01:15:46 Dave Warner (AL): Thank you Father!
 
01:15:54 Edmund Dyjak: Thank You GOD Bless You
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIX, Part I

St. John understands that we are out of our depths whenever we try to capture with words what comes through experience. This is true in particular of the heights of prayer, contemplation, and with dispassion. John’s language is poetic and thus a reflection of his straining to present us with the end of the spiritual life and what the heart longs for the most.
In concluding his teachings on prayer, he warns us of certain pitfalls to avoid in order that our focus might remain upon Christ. Above all he does not want us to become discouraged by the attack of the evil one. Such a thing is to be expected. Prayer is so beautiful and transformative that the demons are going to do everything they can to disrupt it. Yet, John would have us understand that the demons are scourged by prayer and when we show fortitude they flee. Finally, he would have be confident in the practice of prayer. There is nothing that one can write in a book that is necessary when we have God himself as the Teacher of prayer. It is the Holy Spirit that searches the depths of God the guides us forward.
Dispassion is even more difficult to capture with mere words for it describes one who has made his flesh incorruptible and has subdued all the senses; keeping his soul before the face of the Lord and always straining towards him. One is not only detached from the things of this world but has a gathered an exhaustible store of virtue as a source of strength. They are driven no longer by fear, but now only love; love that cannot be understood by mere reason. The soul is drawn forward by an urgent longing that belongs only to those who are created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, St. John sees dispassion as purity of heart; where a person has reached a level of existence where sin has no hold upon them and there is no longer even any awareness of the presence of demons. Such an individual is wholly united with God and always will be.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:05:24 Gregory Chura: Which step?
 
00:06:05 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 240, #58
 
00:07:29 Myles Davidson: Can I ask what edition of The Ladder we are reading from?
 
00:08:08 Adam Paige: Paulist Press edition page 281 🙂
 
00:09:01 Adam Paige: The introduction is excellent too, although it doesn’t contain the Letter to the Shepherd at the end
 
00:11:21 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 240, #58
 
00:15:46 Kevin & Lilly: Aren't we supposed to expose our wound (sin) in its entirety for Jesus to heal it (in the confessional)? Similar to removing the band-aid, even if it hurts us?
 
00:21:42 Cindy Moran: Some things you can not "unsee"
 
00:26:26 susan: I get attacked walking up to communion and then I feel
 
00:26:48 susan: like I have done something wrong
 
00:29:02 Anthony: I also think having undergone at least once a spiritual attack, a person anticipates it and therefore brings it to mind?
 
00:31:05 Christian Corulli: Love of God destroys all fear
 
00:56:07 Christian Corulli: This sounds like the 7th Mansion of St. Teresa, can we make that comparison? Do the Carmelites trace the same spiritual path as St. John Climacus?
 
01:08:10 David: Is there an element of experience or getting older in this step. My grandfather always used to say youth is a process of acquiring and drive and growing old is the challenge of learning to let go. Through suffering, experience I can see more an more elements of dispassion or not feeling as connected to what many seek in the world and am left with only what endures which is family and faith.
 
01:22:15 David: Saving us from ourselves
 
01:22:38 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing to all
 
01:23:06 Gregory Chura: Thank you, everyone,
 
01:23:06 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Thank You Blessing t..." with ❤️
 
01:23:07 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father !!!
 
01:23:10 Anthony Kinyon (Αντώνιος Κινγιόν): Thank you Fr. Charbel.
 
01:23:10 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:23:10 David: Thank you father and God bless you and your mom
 
01:23:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:23:16 Cameron Jackson: Overwhelmed again. Thank you Fr.
 
01:24:13 Alexandra: Thank you Father. I'll pray for you
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part VII

As St. John draws us more deeply into his understanding of prayer and the experience of intimacy with God, he begins to emphasize the importance of maintaining purity of heart and humility. Either through negligence or through demonic provocation, we can find ourselves being driven not by the Holy Spirit toward God but rather driven by the desires of the flesh. The vulnerability of prayer, opening our minds and our hearts to God, also carries with it the need to have established watchfulness of heart. If we have not we can indiscriminately open ourselves up to certain dangers. For example, we may allow our mind to wander during prayer in such a way that we turn away from God. It can even happen that in this turning away we are move towards the enemies of God. Like Judas we can share most intimately with the Lord at the table of the holy Eucharist and then immediately be driven out by an unholy spirit into the darkness. It is those who are closest to Christ who often betray him the most. 
We all take certain things for granted. This is true in our relationship with God. We can treat that relationship cheaply; enter into it with a kind of familiarity to the point that we lose sight of the preciousness of what God has made possible for us. Our attachment to the things of this world or to individuals can fill our minds and our hearts even during the time of prayer. Therefore, John wants us to have no illusions about what it is that we ask for and seek in prayer. Our greatest desire should be what leads us to God and what endures unto eternity. As Saint James tell us: “we ask, but we do not receive because we ask wrongly.” We seek only the satisfy our natural wants and desires.  As it has been said, “The fool’s portion is small in his eyes.” Often we do not see the beauty of what God offers us.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:12:58 Bob Cihak, AZ: P.239, #50
 
00:13:44 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "P.239, #50" with 👍
 
00:14:28 Dave Warner (AL): Reacted to "P.239, #50" with 👍
 
00:51:38 Rachel: or to satisfy ego since it is difficult to see oneself as nothing and in such need.
 
00:59:38 David: Someone told me once - measure your thoughts and you measure what you treasure. Treasure only what is everlasting.
 
01:02:14 Laura: Reacted to "Someone told me once..." with 👍🏼
 
01:04:59 Rebecca Thérèse: It seems to me that it's easier to catch someone in infidelity these days because of socia media and smart devices etc than it was previously.
 
01:11:31 Anthony: I've wondered if we get monastic life and vocations imbalanced? I read that among Syrians, there was one "monastic" community composed of subsets of vowed religious, families and singles.  This makes for universality and diversity and maybe a healthier psychology for persons?
 
01:13:45 Rebecca Thérèse: Thomas Szasz the anti-psychiatry psychiatrist wrote a paper about how psychiatrists persuaded the Church that sex abusers were ill and could be treated and how this led to priests being "treated" and moved instead of being fired.
 
01:14:12 Una: Jon Hassler wrote North of Hope dealing with this situation of the priest who dealt with this issue
 
01:14:29 Una: Excellent novel
 
01:18:38 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...great to be back in class!!
 
01:18:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 🙂
 
01:18:47 David: Thank you father. Glad your feeling better!
 
01:18:51 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:19:02 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:19:03 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Thank you father. Gl..." with ❤️
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part VI

Above all St. John’s writing on prayer works to break through the myopic vision that we have of life, of prayer, and of God.  Like so many of the fathers, he will hammer away at anything which prevents us from experiencing the fullness of God’s love and mercy. Thus, he both rebukes and encourages. 
We began this evening with a warning about admitting fantasies into our mind and heart during prayer. The demonic provocation at such times will be to use religious ideas, visions, etc., to distract us from the beloved and the encounter with him in silence. However, John tells us, if we hold fast to this prayer we are given an invincible assurance; there is a loss of all doubt and the certainty of God’s love is all that remains. The encounter with God Himself is proof of the unprovable!
We must give great care to put on the mind of Christ. We must be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. To allow ourselves even to think of justice is going to immediately pull us down. For there is no justice! What has been revealed to us is unconditional love, mercy, and compassion. To turn a harsh eye toward another is to turn our eyes away from God.
Furthermore, we must allow God in his providence to set both the time and measure of prayer. We cannot treat it as something that anything else in our life is equal to in importance. This is especially true in those blessed moments where God fills the heart with compunction and the eyes with tears that cleanse the soul. We must not break away or abandoned prayer until we see that by divine Providence both the fervor and tears have diminished. “For perhaps you will not have such a moment for the remission of your sins again in all your life.“ We must always choose the one thing necessary.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:15:36 Una: The Catholic psychologist Dr. Raymond Lloyd Richmond
 
00:15:53 Una: ChastitySF.com
 
00:31:09 Anthony: Why are Roman Catholics so fixated on justice? I've thought it's due to inheriting the legal notions of Roman imperial law and German folk law.  But we're so focused on law, that being a Roman Catholic is sometimes not appealing.  Thank God for persons like St Francis of Assisi.
 
00:33:15 Victor Haburchak: Americans are impacted by English Common Law. We’re more rigid than Italians it’s been said.
 
00:34:42 Anthony: I went to Italy. Naples and South. It's so different
 
00:34:56 Victor Haburchak: Reacted to "I went to Italy. Nap…" with 👍
 
00:38:00 Victor Haburchak: On the monastic rules for fasting my grandfather, a Ruthenian immigrant from Eastern Europe, said they were practically starving & yet there were constant calls to fast throughout the year while he was slaving in coal mins v
 
00:38:47 Victor Haburchak: Coal mines….
 
00:41:16 Victor Haburchak: He was a Greek-Catholic so experienced strictness of G-C priests.
 
01:05:38 Anthony: So that prayer also is as quick as breath
 
01:16:48 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:16:51 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:16:51 Myles Davidson: That was a great hour. Thankyou Fr ! God bless you!
 
01:16:53 David: Thanks Father!
 
01:16:55 Cindy Moran: Thank You Father!!!
 
01:16:57 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part V

What is prayer and, more importantly, what do we become by engaging in prayer? So often we take a reductive view of the realities in our life, including the reality of our relationship with God. We reduce our converse with God to a discipline or an afterthought or worse and obligation. And yet as we read the fathers, we begin to see with greater clarity that prayer involves a kind of mutual vulnerability. We stand before the Other, God, withholding nothing of ourselves from him. In this, we imitate Him who has revealed himself to us in the most vulnerable fashion. He has drawn back the veil and revealed his heart to us and the depth of his love and compassion. 
Such a vision of prayer precludes are treating it in a common fashion; approaching it like we would any other interaction. However, what we are drawn into from the moment of our baptism is the very life of God, a participation in the life of the most holy Trinity. Prayer, then, becomes an expression of identity, of who we are as human beings and what we’ve become in Christ. Seen in such a manner, an unquenchable thirst should arise within the human heart to remain in prayer and prolong it. One desires to linger long with the Beloved. It is to choose the better part. So much of what we learn, and our taught leads only to the fragmentation of the self. The frenetic pace of life and the desperate pursuit to satisfy expectations that we have for ourselves or that others place upon us distorts who we really are. We are sons and daughters of God, heir to the kingdom of heaven, and the Spirit that dwells within the heart alone gives us the capacity to express the love God Himself has for us.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:45 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 237, #34
 
00:38:13 Callie Eisenbrandt: Father how do we learn something everyday in prayer in times of spiritual dryness? Sometimes it feels like its difficult to see what you are to learn until you look back on prayers from the past but how do you do that on a daily basis?
 
00:39:51 Wayne: late what page are we on?
 
00:41:07 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 238, #38 or so.
 
00:41:35 Wayne: thnx
 
00:42:41 Christian Corulli: I think it would ruin the prayer if we did understand the points of dryness
 
00:53:39 Victor: Parental bragging rights enhanced by need for non-ending FB posts. Good points. Let kids play. “Leisure, the basis of culture”.
 
00:53:44 Alan Henderson: Father, on this point about children, what are your thoughts about finding a balance between - letting children have the play time as you mention, and finding them hobbies/activities that they can enjoy (and spend time with friends).  I agree with you that this is a major concern in how we are shaping our kids.
 
00:55:50 Leilani Nemeroff: If I had it to do over, as a parent, I wouldn’t have felt obligated to run to so many activities.
 
00:56:06 Wayne: Reacted to "If I had it to do ov..." with 👍
 
00:58:07 Leilani Nemeroff: There needs to be time for more free play.
 
00:58:56 Victor: Playing cops & robbers as a kid helped me to warn community when gunman was outside our liturgy back in 70s. Also to help generate strategy when a priest & I were chased by robbers in Africa once.
 
00:59:55 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Playing cops & robbe..." with 😮
 
01:00:10 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Playing cops & robbe…" with 😮
 
01:02:03 Ashley Kaschl: Father, I don’t want to totally change the topic away from
good leisure and play, which is so good, but I was thinking about what you said in regards to busying ourselves or adding to our lives when we don’t need to add, and it brought to mind two quotes:

the first is a monk’s reflection on his need to leave his cell for begging. He said, “Every time I leave my cell, I return less myself.” 

And the second is from St. Francis of Assisi, when he would daily pray, “who are You, Lord, and who am I?” 


I think work properly related to our state in life is meant to be shaped around our prayer time, not our prayer time shaped around our extracurricular activities. I know I fail in this all the time but I find that I have to often reorient myself when I approach prayer because I have to shed burdens I did not know I picked up to carry before I can be with the Lord in a deeper intimacy.
 
01:03:42 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Father, I don’t want..." with 🥰
 
01:05:47 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: I have come to realize that sane and holy life requires quiet time for prayer but also quiet time for psychological wholeness.  Time to sort things out...
 
01:13:07 susan: learned so much!!
 
01:13:13 Victor: Thanks, Father & everyone.
 
01:13:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:29 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part IV

The very words of St. John Climacus seem to carry us up to heights hitherto unknown and unexpected. The experience of this ascent takes place as we feel our hearts begin to burn for love of God and the desire for him in prayer. 
St. John quickly moves us away from looking at prayer as a mere discipline and rather our being drawn into the depths of Mystery, the very Mystery of the Triune God.  The act of praying is a blessing in and of itself. To enter into this converse with God is also to experience the action of the Spirit within our hearts, the groans of Love that are beyond words.  
In all of this, St. John reshapes are understanding of the nature of prayer. It is not a discipline but an expression of our true nature in Christ. We are to become prayer, consumed by love for the Lord; anxious to show that love and treat it cheaply. 
Faith, St. John tells us, gives wings to prayer. Through it we see with clarity our hearts’ desire. An urgent longing takes hold of the heart that seeks quick satisfaction; that is, seeks to take hold of the Beloved without delay.
---
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:08:23 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 237, #26
 
00:12:17 iPhone: Thank you, Bob
 
00:12:37 Myles Davidson: Hi Father. Which edition of Isaac the Syrian’s AH will you be using?
 
00:13:38 iPhone: Beautiful book
 
00:13:51 Bob Cihak, AZ: Previous posts don't show for newcomers, so I repeat: P. 237, #26
 
00:14:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: Yes! “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 .
 
00:14:16 Cindy Moran: I just got mine in the mail---loving the glossary.
 
00:14:43 Cindy Moran: Excellent...yes!
 
00:26:15 Anthony: I think the focus on law and duty that we see in some Catholic subcultures damages our understanding of prayer in this mystical way. At least, I think it was not healthy for me, with efforts like "storm heaven with this novena."
 
00:27:53 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Yes! “The Ascetical ..." with ❤️
 
00:30:43 Anthony: Another thing about legalism is that it chokes faith.
 
00:34:13 Anthony: Like how God said His name was blasphemy among the nation's by bad behavior of the Chosen people.
 
00:35:35 Kate : I have had to undo a lot of this strict legalistic teaching over the years.  Sometimes I fall back into it, and I think it is actually easier for my mind to grasp this legalism rather than open myself and surrender myself to the Love of God.  His Love is almost incomprehensible sometimes, but wonderfully so!
 
00:35:42 iPhone: Glad you mentioned corporal punishment. When I was five or six, I realized how unjust this violence was and I saw that the nun hit us hard enough to make us cry. In my desire for Justice, I resolved not to cry and I didn’t. After that I was marked as a problem child and never got a break. So, yeah, learning to trust is big
 
00:36:49 iPhone: The nuns meant our best, I’m sure. But something was really off with Irish Catholicism at that time (early 60s)
 
00:37:13 Anthony: Replying to "The nuns meant our b..." 
 
 It's Jansenism
 
00:38:19 iPhone: I think Jansenism is applicable but not the whole story
 
00:39:21 iPhone: Oh this is Una. Forget to put in my name
 
00:55:33 Cindy Moran: It's a sort of Divine healing radiation
 
01:04:21 Erick Chastain: Sorry about that got in car mode
 
01:04:27 iPhone: Ignatius and remote preparation
 
01:06:53 Jeff O.: So it all starts with obedience….is this the general
movement…recognizing that it’s not quite so linear? obedience —> humility —> discernment —> dispassion —> true prayer
 
01:12:22 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Sorry about that got..." with 👍
 
01:13:34 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing
 
01:13:50 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:57 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father! Will be in prayer for you!
 
01:13:58 Jacqulyn: God bless!
 
01:14:03 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂Have a good retreat!
 
01:14:05 Nypaver Clan: Is there a particular website we should check to get the next book?
 
01:14:06 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:14:10 Art iPhone: Thank you, Father!
 
01:14:22 Joseph: Thank you, Father.
 
01:14:40 Nypaver Clan: Is the next book cheaper than $70 anywhere?
 
01:14:59 Maureen Cunningham: On line
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part III

Joy! Suddenly, as we read through the Ladder of Dive Ascent every cross, every struggle in the spiritual life, while still present, begins to fade into the background. The costs involved in this struggle pales in comparison to the blessings and the fruits that God bestows upon us, especially prayer .
St. John places before us the essentials of prayer - as well as what can undermine it. We continue to struggle to confine our thoughts and then to completely still the mind and the heart. When this takes place, prayer becomes perfection and rapture in the Lord. 
This joy, however, especially among the anchorites is marked by humility. One does not expose the deepest elements of the most intimate relationship indiscriminately with others. In any case, it would be impossible to do so. As we are drawn along in faith, as we begin to encounter and experience God as he is in himself, words fail us.
What we must do is hold on to what is precious. Imperfections and anxieties can pull us away from God and our trust in his love. Furthermore the evil one is ever set on disrupting that relationship. Plotting and conniving as he is, he will stir an emotion within our heart; or influence another to engage us in such a way so as to agitate or distract. But we must keep our eyes upon the Beloved. 
St. John asks, “For what have I in heaven? Nothing. And what have I desired on earth beside Thee? Nothing, but to cling continually to Thee in prayer without distraction.”  Hearing these words, one can never look upon prayer simply as an activity or discipline. It is life. It is love. We are to become prayer.
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Text of chat during the group: 
00:06:52 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 235, # 19
 
00:11:46 Myles Davidson: Greetings from New Zealand! (my apologies for turning up at the end of the last session… got the time zone conversion wrong). Anyway, delighted to be here. These discussions have been an immeasurable blessing to this baby Catholic. Thanking you profusely Father, and God bless you and your ministry!!
 
00:20:15 Myles Davidson: Do you have any tips for developing watchfulness of thoughts. Is this just a constant practice of mindfulness of thought?
 
00:29:37 Kate : What about the publication of saints’ diaries or journals?  What would the Fathers say about this?
 
00:30:01 Anthony: Replying to "What about the publi..." 
 
 I love this question
 
00:30:36 iPhone: Can you explain vigils? Is it vespers and compline?
 
00:31:17 Rod Castillo: My Life in Christ by John of Kronstadt ????
 
00:32:42 Anthony: So the idea popular in "evangelicalism" (and now with Catholics and Orthodox) of a tell-all conversion story is not appropriate.
 
00:33:02 Jeff O.: Reacted to "So the idea popular ..." with 🎯
 
00:34:59 iPhone: This is a fascinating topic, this saying too much   Thank you
 
00:35:31 Rebecca Thérèse: Is there any evidence of changes in attitudes towards publishing personal spiritual journals since the advent of the printing press?
 
00:37:00 iPhone: Why is this tell-all trend happening? Because so many people have not read the Fathers?
 
00:37:23 iPhone: Blogs! Immodesty personified!
 
00:37:30 Myles Davidson: People aren’y going to confession perhaps?
 
00:56:33 Anthony: Wow.  So excessive chasing after goods and the obsession with trans- stuff us a war on prayer.
 
01:03:27 Rebecca Thérèse: There was a real antipathy towards ancestral religions by many of the founders of modern psychology and psychiatry including Freud. There are also nefarious financial and political interests in these areas
 
01:06:37 Bob Cihak, AZ: Too true. Too often, it's the easy way out, just prescribing drugs.
 
01:07:48 Nypaver Clan: An instructor I had at Duquesne U.  who was a therapist, often said that the majority of her clients would have best been served in the confessional.
 
01:13:01 Cameron Jackson: Thank you Father. A great blessing.
 
01:13:05 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you, Father! This is a Blessing!
 
01:13:42 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:13:43 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:45 David: Thank you father!
 
01:13:47 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:51 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part II

There are some things that cannot be learned from books – prayer most of all! However, St. John, as so many of the Saints speaks to us from long experience as one who truly has seen Christ, knows Christ and has conversed with him deeply. Whatever might be lacking in his thought it still stokes the fire of desire within any heart that longs for God. 
The desert fathers understood that God looks upon us as his sons and daughters his children, and the simplest word or groan from the heart is sufficient to express our need and love. Above all, we are to have gratitude and a spirit of compunction. With these then we approach the Lord with the intentions of our hearts. 
We should not fear our own weakness or the multiplicity of our thoughts that seem to overwhelm us. St. John reminds us that He who “sets the bounds to the sea of the mind will visit us, and during our prayer will say to the waves thus far shall you come and no further.” 
Prayer should be the simplest of things, but also what we hold to be most precious. We should come to see it as necessary as breathing but even more essential. The fathers tell us that we are to become prayer - our life is to be a sacrifice of praise. We are to be the very reflection of Christ. The kingdom is now, heaven is now and dwells within us. May our foolish hearts take hold of the gift that the Beloved offers us so freely.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:01:29 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 234, # 1.5
 
00:05:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: We were half way thru #1.
 
00:05:53 Gregory Chura: Which step?
 
00:06:03 Gregory Chura: Thank you!
 
00:39:40 Anthony: So how to ignore the rational and irrational mind when praying? Just pray and eventually it happens?  Because my mind gets in the way.  
 
00:40:42 susan: Jesus [rayer
 
00:45:37 David: Sometimes something tactile like a chotki, rosary or stone ( have one that fits my hand from a retreat center) can help one become grounded. Others a icon or image can help set the mind and still others a candle or breathing technique can quickly return us to a calm state.
 
00:51:37 Wayne: Doing some active physical activity can settle the mind down before prayer.
 
01:03:05 Jeff O.: proverbs 24
 
01:03:22 Jeff O.: verse 16
 
01:03:24 Nypaver Clan: Verse 16
 
01:14:56 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:14:59 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:15:02 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:05 David: Thanks Father!
 
01:15:06 Gregory Chura: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:11 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII, Part IX, and XXVIII, Part I

As St. John Climacus comes to the end of the step on stillness and segues into the step on prayer, it is as if he is beckoning us with every word to enter into silence and to give ourselves over to prayer; not as a discipline but rather as a response to the gift of God’s love. We are so often filled with a hunger that is inexplicable to us. We seek to nourish ourselves upon the things of this world indiscriminately - only to find them sadly insufficient. We pathetically move on to something else that captures our attention. The world constantly tells us that it has “some thing” that will fill that void within our hearts. 
Therefore, St. John begins to define for us the mother of virtues – prayer. Not once does John describe prayer as a discipline but rather lays out before us all that it promises. The world sees it perhaps as a waste of time or an escape from reality. However, John makes it clear that the union prayer establishes with God upholds the very fabric of the world and opens the door to reconciliation with God. It becomes the cure and the healing balm for the deepest sorrows of human existence. 
Those realities that we experience during our life that are most painful are healed by being drawn into the eternal life and love of God - a God who has taken every bit of this suffering upon himself and permeates it. Prayer is our greatest treasure! May God give us the grace in the coming weeks to see and understand this.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:15:43 Bob Cihak, AZ: P.232, #77
 
00:17:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: As best I know, the next book, we’ll be doing is “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 .
 
00:17:13 Jeff O.: Reacted to "As best I know, the ..." with 👍
 
00:22:47 Jeff O.: I find that the 3 o’clock hour is the hour I most regularly awake to spiritual battle…fear, attacks in dreams, etc. There have been many nights I awake during that hour feeling an overwhelming need to pray and sings hymns… I have increasingly seen the value of praying at some time during that hour.
 
00:38:44 Anthony: This curiousity is a misdirected "eros"
 
00:39:42 Ambrose Little, OP: You triggered mine, too.
 
00:39:47 Ambrose Little, OP: Twice
 
00:39:53 Andrew Adams: Mine too!
 
00:40:57 Kathy Locher: How can you break its hold? Internet etc
 
00:42:37 Anthony: Makes us nervous and anxious too
 
00:59:42 Lori Hatala: there yourlies also
 
00:59:47 Rebecca Thérèse: Where your treasure is there will be your heart also
 
01:20:02 Anthony: If chronological time is a creature, prayer brings us to kairos time which like the shekinah or tabor light, is untreated. Thus things in chronological past can be healed.
 
01:23:09 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:23:10 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father!
 
01:23:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:23:12 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:23:32 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father!
 
01:23:35 Cameron Jackson: Thank you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VIII

One of the most wonderful things that someone said in the group tonight was: “I am amazed at how simple it all is!”  And they are absolutely right in their observation. All that the fathers tell us - about the struggle for purity of heart and overcoming the passions, seeking stillness and constancy in prayer - comes down to one simple reality. 
God is love and that all run but “one receives the prize without effort!” He who humbles himself will be exalted. The moment we turn the mind and the heart to God and - even prior to that - the mere existence of humility in our hearts leads God to lift us up to gaze upon him face-to-face. It is like a child who has no illusions about his self-worth or identity, but simply reaches out for the parent and is lifted up immediately in love!
It is this love that the hesychast seeks above all things; the eye of the heart is constantly turned toward and seeking the Belived. What is the one thing necessary that our Lord speaks about in the gospel? Mary sat at his feet being nourished upon his words of love and his presence. This is the better part. We so often complicate our lives and spend years and decades pursuing what the false self tells us that we need or where we will find dignity and the fullness of life. In the end, there is no ladder! There is only love and the urgent longing that makes us strive for it.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:22:52 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 230, #68
 
00:30:26 Anthony: There is a tension though, between a situation that is wrong which should be made right, and waiting in patience
 
00:33:32 Anthony: Ok, so like Abraham had a promise that took a long timevtivrealize
 
00:33:41 Anthony: Long time to realize
 
00:34:58 Anthony: Thank you
 
00:37:15 Fr Marty AZ 480-292-3381: be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 1Peter 4:7
 
00:39:41 Julie’s iPad: It’s hard when you’re accused of something you didn’t do or say not to defend yourself.
 
00:51:14 Anthony: Ego is the false self. Is Despondency a false remorse?
 
00:53:58 Nypaver Clan: Without effort?
 
00:55:09 Kate : I am really blown away by the simplicity of this.  How many times I have complicated the spiritual life!
 
00:58:02 David: I wasted years reading books and talking to people on discernment which always was a labyrinth of paths. On a retreat a old Jesuit Priest made it easy in 1 minute: Does this lead me closer to God or away from God. Our intellect often gets us lost and like a rocking chair giving us something to do but going nowhere.
 
00:59:41 Jeff O.: Reacted to "I wasted years readi..." with 🎯
 
01:02:25 Susanna Joy: There is a proverb in Islam: There are as many ways to God as there are breaths of His creatures.
 
01:02:34 Anthony: FYI it was college professors and lawyers who, from late scholasticism
through "reformation " and spirit of vatican 2 caused us so many problems. 
 
01:03:04 Susanna Joy: It is as simple as the next breath, to turn back to God.
 
01:12:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:40 Bob Cihak, AZ: The next book, we’ll be doing is “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 .
 
01:14:24 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:14:25 David: Thank you Father David!
 
01:14:28 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Good to be with you all.
 
01:14:50 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VII

St. John draws us into the experience of stillness and its many fruits. It is a precious gift that comes to us by the grace of God and takes root in a heart prepared through years of asceticism and watchfulness. It is our waiting upon God. 
In many ways this sums up the vocation of the hermit/monk. But it also captures the essence of our life and the life of prayer. We are ever waiting upon God to act in our life and we seek to cultivate in our hearts a receptivity to his will and grace. This is the active life, the fulfillment of the vocation for the Hesychast and of all Christians. 
The temptations that come are always going to be things that draw one out of that stillness; loneliness, despondency, etc.  Whether monk or Christians in the world we must allow ourselves to remain within the crucible of stillness. When we feel lonely and isolated, when we are agitated, our tendency is to run to others or to things within the world. This crucible purifies the desire of our hearts and our faith. 
Are we able to give our will over to God? Can we trust that he will make of our lives that which endures to eternity? So often we are set upon fixing, undoing or changing the circumstances of our life that seem inconsistent with what is good or what will lead to a sense of fulfillment. However, when we long for God and when we turn to his love, we become free from being tossed about by the chaos of life. Our hearts find rest only in the Lord - He who is an eternal rock.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:03:46 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 229, #57
 
00:16:25 Ambrose Little, OP: Happy feast day, Fr. Charbel!
 
00:27:38 Erick Chastain: The rule of St Benedict even says that there is no eating outside of the communal mealtime. So those who follow the rule outside of the monastery can follow this too.
 
00:32:22 Anthony: Maybe it could be a person who entered this kind of life is not called to
it?
 
00:34:13 Art: My family has been out of the country for 2.5 weeks.  I’ve been trying to give myself a little taste of the solitary life from the little I know. I’m sure my attempt is laughable compared to monks, but I still found it hard!
 
00:34:14 Callie Eisenbrandt: Can this be related to like normal life? Separating yourself from the world work on your relationship with the Lord - It is difficult to find a "good" community with support - so how is one supposed to mimic this when they are in society
 
00:43:01 Una: Blessed name day, Fr. Charbel. Any books or sources of his teachings you can recommend?
 
00:45:11 Cindy Moran: This might seem nuts but I waited until God sent me a mate who loves Jesus more than me
 
00:45:51 Anthony: "Love is a Radiant Light" is, I believe,  a collection of St Charbel homilies
 
00:46:15 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "This might seem nuts..." with 🥰
 
00:47:15 Callie Eisenbrandt: Connect me Father! lol
 
00:49:11 Callie Eisenbrandt: haha thank you
 
00:51:00 Susanna Joy: A cruise / retreat would be good...count me in!
 
00:52:25 Anthony: In my experience, the torrents of unwelcome thoughts are a military maneuver to draw one's attention to the head and away from a still heart.
 
00:53:23 susan: for the sake of the 10 good men   God saved the city
 
00:54:22 Susanna Joy: Ok!
 
00:54:59 Susanna Joy: Mountains in Maine and prayerful company😊
 
00:55:08 Leilani Nemeroff: Agree about being trapped on a boat!
 
01:03:45 Susanna Joy: Crucible
 
01:12:44 Una: What chapter are we in?
 
01:13:10 Una: Thanks. I'm new
 
01:13:32 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thanks. I'm new"
 
P. 230
 
01:13:44 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thanks. I'm new"
 
#67
 
01:14:11 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thanks. I'm new"
 
😇
 
01:18:33 Nypaver Clan: God bless you on your Feast Day, Fr. Charbel!  🙏🏼
 
01:18:41 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:19:29 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:19:30 Jeff O.: Thank you Father, great to be with you all.
 
01:19:47 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father, wonderful session.
 
01:19:49 Ann’s iPad: God Bless you Father
 
01:19:56 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you! Happy name day!
 
01:20:03 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Book title?
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VI

St. John Climacus once again gives us powerful images to help us understand the meaning of stillness and how it is to be protected. One such image is that of an eyelash that falls into the eye and creates irritation. The enemy of stillness is agitation; we are often driven to distraction by a concern for our physical and emotional well-being. Fear can create within us a kind of hypochondria. We become hypersensitive to our health and well-being. Unchecked, this fear can be become so excessive that it creates a massive neurosis that prevent us from trusting in the providence and promises of God. We no longer feel ourselves being drawn along by love or seeking to remain in that stillness in order that we might know intimacy with the beloved. Rather, we desperately push forward, driving ourselves to the point of exhaustion, seeking a worldly peace and security. 
However, in this we deprive ourselves of a childlike sense of wonder at the life and love the God has made possible for us. Therefore, as Christ tells us, we may not experience the kingdom even though it dwells within us because we are focused upon controlling our life and shaping our own identity. Once the simplicity is lost, it can lead to a kind of quiet desperation. Our hearts long for love from others and from God, but in the complexity that we have created and the thick hedge of responsibilities with which we surround ourselves, we lose faith and hope that such freedom can ever be ours again.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:03:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 228, #48
 
00:26:14 Anthony: Another issue is for one in involuntary solitude, having a desire for companionship goes out to fill the void
 
00:27:33 Anthony: This is a reason for excessive social media or tv or radio, and God's gifts are dissipated
 
00:30:57 Bob Cihak, AZ: The stutters are because you're reflecting as we go.
 
00:36:19 Anthony: Not to analyze the thoughts.  I've been surprised by horrid thoughts, and thereafter been so concerned about them, that concern brings them to mind.
 
00:47:15 Kate : It’s almost as if we don’t trust the grace of God.  We don’t trust the Providence of God and His Presence within the soul.
 
00:55:09 Susanna Joy: So true...believing the promise of God's everlasting goodness is key. Elizabeth said to Mary: Blessed is she who believed that the promise made by God would be fulfilled.
And it is true for all of us.
 
00:57:32 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Covid was a curse *and* a blessing, it brought Fr Abernethy to my life...I am so grateful 🙏
 
00:57:51 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a..." with 🥰
 
00:57:57 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a…" with 🥰
 
00:58:40 Kevin Burke: Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a…" with 👌
 
01:03:55 Susanna Joy: Yes...wonder!
 
01:04:13 Greg C: It was a blessing to me as I began to read scripture much more deeply, and understand the Divine Liturgy with so much more love.
 
01:04:26 Susanna Joy: Reacted to It was a blessing to... with "❤️"
 
01:04:36 Susanna Joy: Reacted to Covid was a curse *a... with "❤️"
 
01:04:46 Greg C: Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a..." with ❤️
 
01:16:49 Susanna Joy: Jesus did say, unless you become like little children you cannot enter the kingdom of God.
 
01:19:21 Susanna Joy: Trust and Wonder.💗
 
01:19:58 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:20:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:08 Cindy Moran: My birthday is July 8...I will be thinking of you!
 
01:21:18 Sharon: Thank you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part V

There is a beautiful movement created in the heart by St. John’s writing; it is almost a dance. We move back-and-forth with St. John by simultaneously reflecting upon the beauty of silence and stillness and the intimacy that we experience with God through it - while also being shown what the loss of the silence does to us.
The silence of which St. John speaks is not just the absence of noise, but rather the presence of a love and life that transcends our understanding. It can only be experienced. Therefore, St. John holds out before us the intimacy for which our our hearts long and that can be found in the silence while also warning us of the dangers and the pitfalls that allow this great gift to slip through our fingers.
The more we become attentive to the interior life, the more we realize how easily we can be distracted; how our thoughts and feelings can be manipulated either by our own appetites or by demonic provocation. It has been said that “Hurry destroys both poets and Saints“. The frenetic activity that surrounds us agitates and fragments the mind and the heart. To live in such a state for a long period of time dulls one’s sensibilities not only to the finer things of life but to God himself. 
Thus, the preliminary task John tell us is disengagement from all affairs, whether reasonable or senseless. Both can be equally distracting to us. In fact, it’s often easier for us to recognize the inane things to which we direct our attention then it is to see how the responsibilities and demands that we have set for ourselves places us on a never-ending treadmill of activity of mind and body. 
And so let us simplify our lives. It does not take long for us to realize the gains of doing so. We begin to taste, perhaps for the first time, the sweetness of those things that endure.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:04:54 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 227, #41
 
00:37:54 David: OBS software?
 
00:40:41 Leilani Nemeroff: True, I stopped watching tv. It’s amazing how annoying it is when you’re exposed.
 
00:41:22 Cindy Moran: Most major movie trailers will have a cut every second.
 
00:43:15 Callie Eisenbrandt: Father- sometimes I feel guilty turning to the Jesus prayer when I'm feeling distracted or off track, like my mind isn't where it needs to be to be saying the prayer
 
00:44:16 Leilani Nemeroff: Yes, pronounced correctly!
 
00:44:26 Cindy Moran: The term for what you describe is called "jump cut"
 
00:44:41 Dave Warner (AL): Reacted to "The term for what yo..." with 👍
 
00:45:28 David: Something interest on OBS. We do educational conferences and if more than 15 seconds of silence passes we loose 15-20% of attendants. AHAD apparently has become a norm
 
00:45:32 Rebecca Thérèse: People are advised that their film clips should be no longer than 3 seconds otherwise people lose attention
 
00:50:11 Anthony: There's an Orthodox priest, Fr. Barnabas Powell, who says "you are not your thoughts." That really good when thoughts waylay a person like hoodlums.
 
00:50:38 David: I was taught to see it as waves coming in from the shore for the Jesus Prayer which really helps. It does have a soothing repetition that is similiar.
 
00:55:35 Maureen Cunningham: Human doing not being
 
00:55:37 Lori Hatala: Sometimes when saying the Jesus prayer I must say it slowly and loudly when having distracting thoughts until they subside.
 
00:57:31 Dave Warner (AL): Silence is also the domain of software programmers.
 
00:58:23 Anthony: In Lercara Friddi, Sicily the town was so silent in siesta that I could hear the pigeons cooing.
 
01:05:34 Jennifer Ahearn: Ineffable ‘internal journey’
 
01:07:34 David: God calls us by name the devil by our sin. We are not defined by our faults
 
01:08:43 Cindy Moran: I wrote in my Bible when I was 15 yrs old: "Even in my biggest mistake, I am not a mistake"
 
01:12:28 Kate : I find that the time I am most vulnerable to distraction is after receiving Holy Communion.  Sometimes the Jesus Prayer is the only thing I can grasp hold of, so as not to be swept away by the distractions.  It is quite a battle sometimes.
 
01:18:59 Rebecca Thérèse: Sometimes the parking lot is more conducive to prayer after communion than the church
 
01:19:09 Jacqulyn: Wow! 15 minutes... bring it on! :-)
 
01:19:23 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing keep you in prayer Amen
 
01:19:37 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:19:38 Jennifer Ahearn: Thank you
 
01:19:38 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father very inspiring session!
 
01:19:41 David: Thank you father!
 
01:19:51 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you
 
01:19:51 Dave Warner (AL): Thank you Father - what a Blessing!
 
01:19:54 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part IV

In pursuing life in Christ, the experience of reality is often turned on its head. Our perception of the world around us and the interior world is shaped and formed by so many forces and influences. In a counterintuitive fashion, we have to move in opposing directions to the things that satisfy our ego or the desires of the flesh. 
Needless to say this can be disconcerting. We may see ourselves as understanding the faith or as having grown in certain virtues only to have it dispersed in an instant by the light of God’s truth. Whether it is something small or great, we can see how far we are from the stillness of mind and body of which Saint John speaks. Indeed, St. John tells us that many of these things the common run of men will find quite alien to themselves.
We are often cast about on the sea of our emotions or blown like a reed in the wind. We struggle with a certain aberration of mind; that is, we are ever so inconstant and changeable in the way that we live our lives. If one does not acknowledge this and struggle throughout the years to purify the heart, then to enter into the life of solitude and stillness can only lead to derangement. 
If what guides us is not the humble love and desire to give ourselves over completely to Christ then we are going to be fragmented internally by the most fierce passions. Anger will increase and even the memories of past wounds within the mind can fuel our resentment and drive us to the brink of madness. The person who enters into stillness well is completely unruffled by the chaos that exist in our world and becomes abstracted from the things that take hold of other peoples imagination as having great value. For the hesychast, however, there is only Christ!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:06:08 Greg C: Father, is that still Step 27?  I missed last week.
 
00:06:16 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: page 226 paragraph 32
 
00:06:24 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: yes.  Step 27
 
00:06:33 Greg C: Thank you!
 
00:09:50 Bob Cihak, AZ: Will our next book be Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian, by Holy Transfiguration Monastery?
 
00:10:14 Adam Paige: Reacted to "                    …" with ☦️
 
00:25:08 Art: Where can a lay person obtain a basic rule to follow, to grow with, and progress in?
 
00:27:19 Adam Paige: https://store.melkite.org/product/publicans-prayer-book/
 
00:27:49 Art: Reacted to "https://store.melkit..." with 👍
 
00:40:04 Cindy Moran: also " to make sublime "
 
00:56:28 Fr Marty, AZ: Being with people who push my buttons, seems to me, to be one of God’s most common ways of showing me what He wants to heal in me. Metropolitan Vlachos, with his priests in mind, once wrote a book on the healing found in the Desert Fathers. He admitted that they had a good academic study of theology, but he lamented that they did not know how to lead their flocks into healing because they had not gone down the path to their own healing. His remark in the book was, “Theology…is the fruit of a man’s healing.”
 
01:01:20 Ren Witter: That day, I might have gotten a message from Fr. Charbel saying he was going into permanent seclusion 😂
 
01:01:57 Julie’s iPad: St Diadochos taught:  “ Just as, when the doors of the baths are left continually open,the heat inside is quickly driven out,so also the soul, when it wishes to say many things, even though everything that it says may be good, disperses its concentration through the door of the voice”.
 
01:12:45 David: 😀
 
01:13:00 Greg C: 😁
 
01:13:13 Fr Marty, AZ: :)
 
01:13:26 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...excellent session.
 
01:13:27 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:13:32 David: Thank you father!
 
01:13:33 Lorraine Green: Thank you
 
01:13:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part III

What possibly could hesychasm or the life of hesychasts - those who live in perpetual stillness and prayer -  mean for those who living in the world; for all of those surrounded by a constant stream of noise and distraction?The answer is everything! Though few are called to this manner of life, all are destined to experience the fullness of its joy and sweetness in Christ in the kingdom. We have been made sons and daughters of God and the very Spirit of Love dwells within our hearts. 
What moves us to emulate the fathers in their discipline, to seek what they seek, must be the same desire. Our experience of Christ, our drawing close to him through prayer, the sacraments, and the scriptures must kindle within us an urgent longing for what He alone can provide. 
Those who love the things of the world do not see the pursuit of them as being extreme. Why is it when it comes to seeking the One who offers us perfect Life and Love that we become self-conscious; that we begin to worry about what others may think of us or how they might treat us? Why is this true even though Christ tells us that we should expect to be hated all by all because of His name? The Hesychast becomes the image of one who adds fire to fire. Having tasted the sweetness of Divine Love, he is willing to sell all to possess it. Gradually he becomes prayer and his life - a sacrifice of praise. In this he becomes like unto the angels.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:29:15 Michael Hinckley: what you are talking about reminds me of St Thomas' straw comment.
 
00:32:04 Nick Bodmer: I believe it was Sartre
 
00:32:20 Michael Hinckley: "other people" came from that play no exxt?
 
00:32:25 Michael Hinckley: exit
 
00:32:32 Nick Bodmer: Yes, No Exit
 
00:32:47 Susan M: YES IT WAS SARTRE
 
00:32:56 Michael Hinckley: On the feast of St. Nicholas [in 1273, Aquinas] was celebrating Mass when he received a revelation that so affected him that he wrote and dictated no more, leaving his great work the Summa Theologiae unfinished. To Brother Reginald’s (his secretary and friend) expostulations he replied, “The end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.” When later asked by Reginald to return to writing, Aquinas said, “I can write no more. I have seen things that make my writings like straw.”
 
00:55:18 Rebecca Thérèse: It made a big difference to me when I was talking to a Catholic priest and I realised that he really believed what he was saying. That was one of the main things that informed my decision to become Catholic having previously been Anglican.
 
00:57:13 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "It made a big differ..." with 🥰
 
01:01:20 Michael Hinckley: need to drop This Holy Priest is living much of what is mentioned here. He is part time hermit and fun to watch https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIcePO_eJb28EWIw68kBQMew0vMZydwj1
 
01:07:28 Kate : It seems like he is giving us an examination of conscience when he lists the different places on the ladder.
 
01:08:11 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "It seems like he is ..." with 👍🏼
 
01:11:41 Andres Oropeza: What if you suffer from despondency but the common life isn’t an
option and yet the battle rages around you, or even if you aren’t alone but the people with you can’t offer what’s needed? Should we not pursue stillness by cutting out distractions, focus on prayer and fasting etc. or temper it in some way?
 
01:19:58 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:20:05 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Great to be with you all.
 
01:20:09 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part II

It’s hard to imagine ourselves as being nourished upon stillness and silence. Yet, this is exactly what the fathers and St. John Climacus seek to teach us. Stillness allows us to have an experiential knowledge of intimacy with God - an encounter with Mystery.  When we have shut the door to the senses, when we stilled our mouth from constant chatter and when we have shut the gate of the heart to demonic powers, it is then that we become prayer and gaze upon the Lord face-to-face. Our petitions, our needs and sorrows are written with love and zeal. 
We are to become an earthly image of an angel, whose prayer has not only been freed from sloth and negligence, but even from a kind of self-consciousness. The heart is ever ready for the Lord and His approach; and even if the body should sleep, the heart is awake and awaiting the beloved. 
Therefore, stillness is not only about being quiet, but rather it is a path to intimacy. The greater one’s love grows, the more passionate one becomes in their desire for God - everything on the periphery fades away and we see only our Lord.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:09:13 Fr. Charbel: page 223 no 11
 
00:24:18 Kate : “What more do you want, 0 soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness, and kingdom - your Beloved whom you desire and seek? Be joyful and gladdened in your interior recollection with Him, for you have Him so close to you. Desire Him there, adore Him there. Do not go in pursuit of Him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find Him, nor enjoy Him more securely, nor sooner, nor more intimately than by seeking Him within you.” St John of the Cross
 
00:30:42 Rebecca Thérèse: Can the Holy Spirit shine light on the soul directly, for example if there is no suitable spiritual director or if there are people actively trying to corrupt and mislead the soul?
 
00:39:08 Nypaver Clan: Is it healthy to have a spiritual director who becomes ones “best friend”?  Where are the boundaries to be set for a spiritual director?
 
00:41:54 Rachel: Yes, it jeopardizes their capacity to love, purely. As we cannot love purely with a gaze directed towards self or creatures
 
00:43:40 Rachel: it reduces the capacity to see God in the other and the only way a priest can help another or lay people help another is to first know God, to seek God and the ultimatele friendship in God, " I call you friends"
 
01:08:00 Fr Marty, AZ: I wanted to add to spiritual direction discussion. Everything that was said about spiritual directors is important. Boundaries and confidentiality are needful and we’re also meant to grow in detachment; that’s part of hesychasm. Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean without care and affection. I’ve been close to spiritual directors, especially after ten or fifteen years of direction. And I’ve also became good friends of their other spiritual children. In a detached way, we had joy, love, and openness, but still my spiritual directors were not friends.  And boundaries were still maintained. And when we’ve buried them, the other spiritual children fondly remembered their care for us. On the other hand, I once asked a friend who is an exceptional spiritual director to be mine but it didn’t work out.
 
01:10:09 Eric Ewanco: I observe that stillness and silence plays a central role in the desert fathers, but I don't recall it being discussed in Scripture. Is this based on experience and tradition, or is it rooted in something in Scripture?
 
01:13:31 Greg C: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:44 Jennifer Ahearn: Thank you.
 
01:13:48 Lori Hatala: Happy Birthday
 
01:14:27 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father.
 
01:14:35 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 
01:14:38 Nypaver Clan: A blessed birthday, Mrs. A.!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part I

St. John Climacus brings us now to discuss the fruits of the ascetic life. We picked up this evening with Step 27 on “stillness of mind and body”. John is very hesitant to approach such a subject. He does not want to distract the warrior from the task at hand; that is, those who are engaged in the spiritual warfare against the passions and the provocations of the evil one.  He only relents because he understands how important it is to see the goal of the spiritual life so that it might increase our desire for God and our detachment from the things of the world. 
Holy stillness emerges when the Nous, the eye of the heart, has become impenetrable and undistracted by the noise of the world. The disordered passions have now become a purified and single passion or desire for God. The love of and immersion in silence deepens because it is there that God speaks a Word that is equal to Himself. The language of Love, beyond words, begins to well up from within - united to the Spirit that cries out with groans that are beyond our understanding. 
St. John acknowledges that many will not perceive or grasp the holy violence of the Hesychast; that is, the radical turning away from the things of the world in order to turn completely toward God. This turning toward God, however, does not limit our vision or comprehension as those who are worldly often believe. Rather, it opens us up to an experience of infinite mystery of God himself; everlasting Life and Love.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:06:16 FrDavid Abernethy: page 221
 
00:06:30 FrDavid Abernethy: Sept 27 On Holy Stillness
 
00:36:18 Anthony: How do we relate, then to people like I have met, pagan Hindus and a Muslim, who also appeared to me to have this spirit of peace?
 
00:41:16 Rachel: Yes!!
 
00:41:32 Rachel: Saint Charles de Foucald
 
00:41:55 Rachel: Algeria
 
00:42:05 Rachel: same as St. Charles De Foucald
 
00:43:55 David: O Gods and Men is the movie
 
00:44:25 David: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588337/
 
00:45:06 David: The original is French Des Hommes et des dieux
 
00:47:14 Jeff O.: When I was Nepal, the Christians would, instead of greeting with “namaste” greet with the phrase “J’amasee” - “I honor Christ (and his work) in you.” I thought that was a beautiful way to greet people with the honor and love of seeing Christ in the other…
 
00:49:17 Rachel: This happens in iconography as well/
 
00:49:31 Anthony: Reacted to This happens in icon... with "👍"
 
00:49:41 Rachel: Or I should say, sacred art as opposed to iconogrpahy
 
00:53:09 Rachel: I am not criticizing either but making a distinction when someone thinks that" abstraction" in iconography is simplified, yet, it is the overly realistic and naturalistic emphasis on every line that detracts from the mystery that is being revealed before us.
 
00:58:22 Rachel: Oh my goodness. That is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
 
01:00:03 Anthony: Reacted to When I was Nepal, th... with "👍"
 
01:01:09 Maureen Cunningham: Did Father Damion who lived among the leaders in Hawaii
 
01:01:27 Anthony: Replying to "I am not criticizing..." 
 
 Compare the "naive" ...
 
01:02:17 Maureen Cunningham: He would go on a boat to and yell his confessions. I was told
 
01:02:44 David: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165196/
 
01:11:26 David: Theology without practice is the theology of demons- Maximus the Confessor
 
01:14:34 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
 
01:15:02 David: Thank you father!
 
01:15:02 Jennifer Ahearn: Thank you
 
01:15:05 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:15:05 Jeff O.: thank you!
 
01:15:19 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank yu
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX

We come to the end of Step 26 on Discernment and in doing so we begin to see, or at least get a glimpse of, its importance for the spiritual life. So often sin distorts are perception of reality. It prevents us from seeing with clarity both the dignity and the blessings that come from being a son or daughter of God, baptized into Christ - as well as preventing us from seeing the darkness of sin. 
Christ tells us in the gospel that when the eye has been darkened completely, how great is the darkness! When the eye of the heart, the eye of the soul is darkened by sin then all that we see is the world before us in its most basic form. We see it as an object of consumption or we covet the things that we do not possess. 
In this we can become more like beasts who walk on all fours with their eyes cast down to the earth. It is discernment that allows us to see the glory of God in Christ Jesus. In the end, discernment gives rise to the acquisition of love - that is to say, the perfect dwelling of God.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:13:56 David: Father Mike Schmidt and neuroplasticity as well say with defects to right out the story or triggers. What leads to what and one often fines one needs to focus on the triggers and write a different story.
 
00:16:18 David: Like a dog returning to vomit. Can't get that out of my head now
 
00:27:38 Wayne: Very timely as suicide is being offered as an option if one finds their suffering overwhelming.
 
00:29:07 David: In one of my darkest times and despair I realized I had belief but no faith
which is tied with hope. Now I just think what am I to learn from this situation and it will pass.
 
00:34:33 Anthony: There is a particularly horrible thought: curse God and die
 
00:35:00 Anthony: That cuts at rather suffering soul's very hope
 
00:48:47 Anthony: Father, remember cooking and baking are arts, to be done well...like the Cathdral of Monreale.  😉  but yeah, I get you. 😀
 
00:52:27 Maureen Cunningham: Christ dwell with in us when we gather we bring  the body of Christ together
 
00:52:48 David: I think it got worse after COVID few shake hands and it seems there is little small talk.
 
00:57:58 Anthony: I've studied heresies and heretics for years. I observe that along with with religious differences  - maybe preceding them - is a break in communion or a lack of peace: nationalism or personal trauma
 
01:10:51 Susanna Joy: My heart is still back at the dog and the priest...
 
01:10:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:11:00 Andrew Adams: Great class tonight! Thank you, Father!
 
01:11:02 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
 
01:11:46 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...excellent session!
 
01:11:48 David: God Bless thank you Father David!
 
01:11:49 Art: Thank you
 
01:11:50 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:11:58 Sheila Applegate: Thanks Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XIII

Every week it is as if we are diving into living waters that renew and refresh the soul. This is particularly true of step 26 on Discernment and St. John’s summary towards its conclusion. So often as is true with the Fathers, St. John makes use of concrete and colorful imagery to capture for us the nature of the spiritual life and in this case discernment. 
What one gathers in so many of the teachings is that Faith involves seeing; a pulling back of the veil that allows us to see with perfect clarity the love and the mercy of God. St. John describes the many things that hobble us in that regard: Avarice, pride, attachment to our appetites and desire for the things of this world. It also describes the things that sharpen that vision and open us up to receive the gift of faith. Our pursuit of the virtues, and of the truth in our life lays the foundation to receive the greater gift of eternal Truth. This kind of seeing is not passive but rather involves the whole self. The deepest part of ourselves, the Nous, must be purified by Grace and asceticism so no impediment prevents us from moving toward God. The Nous becomes the “helmsman” then to lead us through the rough waters of this world.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:12:54 FrDavid Abernethy: page 219 number 42
 
00:49:30 Lisa Smith: It reminds me of the verse where Christ asked if there would be faith in the end time.
 
00:51:43 Wayne: How do you respond to the remark I am spiritual but not religious?
 
00:58:48 Lisa Smith: Thoughts on church attendance? I'm struggling with this presently. I'm not Catholic, but I'm interested in this faith. Thank you Fr.
 
01:00:34 Lisa Smith: 🙏 Thank you
 
01:03:14 Cindy Moran: Teilhard de Chardin comes to my mind as an example.
 
01:03:40 Cindy Moran: Too complicated
 
01:15:07 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:10 sprou: did you see that a blind woman Dafne Gutierrez was healed by St
Charbel?
 
01:15:12 Lisa Smith: God bless you Fr. Thanks for sharing
 
01:15:51 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:02 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XII

As St. John draws us forward with these simple sayings about discernment and its fruit, we begin to see the immeasurable beauty of the ascetic life and the action of God’s grace. The life that God calls us to is not one of frenetic activity but rather the cultivation of purity of heart and humility in order that He might act within us. We do not seek simply freedom from sin but rather the life of the kingdom. It is the love, the virtue, the goodness of Christ that transforms the world. It is our entrance into the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of the spiritual life (with and in Christ), that makes the love of the kingdom present to the world. 
The life of the hesychasts, the ascetics who set all aside for Christ, is at the very heart of the church. When we lose sight of their love and desire for God, the church grows cold.  It is in the spirituality of the desert that the church will find renewal; when the minds and the hearts of men and women are open to the beauty of the life that God has called us to by His Grace.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:37:24 Anthony: In a way, some of the response to church scandal has been like an ill- guided peasants crusade.
 
00:39:35 Anthony: The peasants crusade led to harm for thr peasants
 
00:54:23 sprou: does solitude equal spiritual warfare?
 
00:55:33 David: I liked what Bishop Barron said about love being willing the good of the other. (St. John Paul) but first one needs to know what the good is and what is truth.
 
00:56:03 Vanessa: Reacted to "I liked what Bishop ..." with 👍
 
00:56:58 Jeff O.: I’ve often wondered about the connection between the cultivation of
hesychia and Paul’s admonition to stand in Ephesians 6…it seems there’s some sort of relationship there as it relates to warfare
 
00:57:01 David: This was in response to a lot of virtue signaling and some of the strange things in our culture.
 
01:04:43 Kate : A priest told me that hesychia is a form of quietism.  His comment confused me, and I did not know how to reply.
 
01:06:47 Anthony: Uh oh, Palmas vs Barlaam again..... 😉
 
01:08:39 David: In Latin America it is common with quasi liberation theology priest and lay
people to call them navel gazers but this is just seeing the outside aspect not understanding what is being developed. I always call the fathers the intranauts boldly going to the root of our condition.
 
01:13:18 David: Holiness attracts and people seek what they feel and see in joy and peace of others. N
 
01:13:32 Vanessa: Reacted to "Holiness attracts an..." with ❤️
 
01:13:51 Vanessa: Really enjoying class tonight. Lots of good discussion.
 
01:14:25 Kate : Father, prior to listening to these classes and discovering the Fathers, my ladder was propped against the wrong wall for years…as you stated earlier.  These classes and the Fathers have so transformed my interior life.   I have only begun to understand the love of God.
 
01:15:04 Nick Bodmer: Jesus even rebuked Martha because she was discontent that Mary was not being "worldly enough" in her eyes.  The spiritual life was established even while Jesus was still with us.
 
01:21:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:51 cmoran: Thank you, Father!
 
01:21:53 Lisa Smith: Thank you God bless you
 
01:22:29 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father! Praying for you!
 
01:22:33 Jeff O.: Thank you! Blessing to be with you all.
 
01:22:41 David: Thank you father will pray for you!
 
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XI

We continued with St. John’s summary of discernment and its particular fruit in the spiritual life. However, it does not read like a summary. Each saying opens us up to a divine reality and a participation in the life of Christ that comes to us by grace and the ascetic life. One cannot help but be captivated by the beauty of what St. John describes. It becomes evident that what we are being drawn into is the very beauty of Christ and that of the kingdom. Grace has the capacity to transform even the darkest of things within us and to illuminate the mind and the heart to see clearly what has eternal value. With the reading of each saying one begins to experience a holy desire growing within the heart. Thanks be to God!
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Text of chat during the group:
00:06:34 FrDavid Abernethy: page 217 page 14
 
00:25:57 Anthony: He says this while I'm making dinner....
 
00:31:19 David: Despair is suffering without meaning- Victor Frankl
 
00:49:34 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "Κλίμαξ αγίου Ιωάννου.LadderClimatuspdf" with ❤️
 
00:49:43 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "TheLadderofDivineAscent.pdf" with 👍
 
00:50:29 Lisa Smith: Reacted to "TheLadderofDivineAscent.pdf" with 🙏
 
00:57:24 David: The gate also opens like Grace and one needs to be drawn to the opening in the fence.
 
01:02:59 Anthony: If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts....
 
01:20:11 David: They are finding so much in neuroplasticity that the fathers described ages ago. One the pathways are established it becomes a cycle. Lots of talk about "rewiring the mind". I think fasting might actually help with rewiring because you are not rewarding a undesired behavior.
 
01:20:36 Rachel: That was in relation to the other discussion
 
01:21:56 David: No money in fasting
 
01:22:10 Rebecca Thérèse: Fasting literally rewires the brain because the body starts to generate new neurons after 48 hours of fasting.
 
01:22:24 Vanessa: Reacted to "Fasting literally re..." with 👍
 
01:22:30 David: Autophagy as well
 
01:23:28 Rebecca Thérèse: Reacted to "Autophagy as well" with 👍
 
01:25:14 Rebecca Thérèse: Autophagy is where the cells start to digest damaged parts of the body and damage interior to cells
 
01:26:04 Bob Cihak: Autophagy is also known as apoptosis. I call it cellular recycling.
 
01:26:32 Rebecca Thérèse: Fasting stimulates growth hormone which os useful in repairing damage and is also useful if you're a body builder
 
01:26:49 Susanna Joy: Love this clas🙏🏻💖
 
01:26:59 Lisa Smith: Too Fast. Thank you Fr
 
01:27:41 Sophia: God bless you fr.Abernethy!
 
01:27:42 Susanna Joy: Thank you, Father.
 
01:27:42 Art: Thank you Father!
 
01:27:43 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:27:43 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father
 
01:27:43 David: Thank you father !
 
01:27:51 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part X

As we come toward the end of Step 26 on Discernment, St. John begins to offer us a summary of all that we have considered in the previous pages. In doing this, he alters his typical way of writing. One may speculate that he does this because of the importance of the virtue of discernment; both in fostering it and in protecting it.  Using brief sayings, very much like those found in the Philokalia, St. John begins to lay out for us the path to perfecting this virtue as well as to speak of the fruits of it in our lives. 
Our capacity to see spiritual realities in an unimpeded fashion allows us to be attentive to all of the vices as well as the remedies that the fathers set before us for overcoming them. In summarizing the step in this fashion, St. John presents us with the truth very much in the way that we receive it from the gospel. It overturns the worldly way of viewing things. It allows us to experience the discomfort of having our sensibilities challenged in regards to our patterns of thought and our most basic desires. It compels us to ask ourselves, “For whom  do I live? Who do I love above all things?”
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:02:46 FrDavid Abernethy: page 215
 
00:02:51 FrDavid Abernethy: number 85
 
00:03:29 FrDavid Abernethy: number 185
 
00:08:47 Tracey Fredman: Thank you, Fr. David for referencing the book "Toward God" by Michael Casey. It's amazing!
 
00:08:57 FrDavid Abernethy: great!!
 
00:09:11 FrDavid Abernethy: he’s a wonderful writer
 
00:09:40 Kate : I am reading it too!  It is wonderful.   Like nothing I have read before.
 
00:09:41 FrDavid Abernethy: his book on lectio divina called Sacred reading is great too
 
00:26:15 Anthony: Do you have any comments on discerning the origin of thoughts without playing with the thoughts?
 
00:43:12 Anthony: That makes sense since Eros is a seeking, inquisitive movement.
 
00:51:38 David Swiderski: Especially prayer with gratitude.
 
00:52:19 Andy Nguyen: Replying to "Especially prayer wi..." 
 
 Yup
 
00:52:21 Wayne: Reacted to "Especially prayer wi..." with 👍
 
00:58:03 Lisa Smith: I just read this today.
 
01:01:41 Andy Nguyen: Social media in general is an addiction
 
01:02:00 Rod Castillo: I go on to Facebook every day to see what you
have posted, Father
 
01:02:36 Lee Graham: I go to X
 
01:03:05 Susanna Joy: Reacted to I go on to Facebook ... with "❤️"
 
01:03:35 Lisa Smith: Yeah, there was a time I would turn the internet off totally. It was easier to pray more fully then. I struggle with that these days.
 
01:03:44 Susanna Joy: Replying to "I go on to Facebook ..." 
 
 I do too...you often...
 
01:04:26 Lisa Smith: But on the flip side I discovered Eastern Christianity online.
 
01:04:40 Art iPhone: Reacted to "But on the flip side…" with 👌
 
01:04:46 Art iPhone: Reacted to "I go on to Facebook …" with 👌
 
01:05:45 Art iPhone: Your posts Have real value Father.
 
01:05:49 BRIAN L: Your posting of On the Passion of the Saviour became part of my daily Lenten prayer so thank you 😃
 
01:09:17 David Swiderski: I have read this before with the Fathers I think Issac and I don't understand the relation between deer and snakes. Deer seem like fragile creatures and I grew up always being close to them. Destroyers of roses and alfalfa yes.
 
01:11:14 Jeffrey Fitzgerald: Father, what is the next book after Climacus?
 
01:11:24 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Prayers, Father!
 
01:11:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂. Have a good retreat🙏
 
01:11:39 Jeff O.: Many blessings on your time there!!
 
01:11:49 Lori Hatala: and i will be guilty of jealousy
 
01:11:53 Susanna Joy: Praying for you.🙏🏻
 
01:11:55 Wayne: Replying to "Father, what is the ..."
 
good question
 
01:11:56 Art iPhone: Prayers!!
 
01:12:35 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father! Have a blessed retreat!!
 
01:12:37 David Swiderski: Safe travels and God Bless you father!
 
01:12:39 Jeff O.: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX

With each passing week, as we read St. John’s thoughts on discernment, we begin to see how it touches every aspect of our life. So often we confuse this gift with intellectually analyzing the circumstances around us or internal experiences and feelings or our perception of others’ actions. 
Yet discernment is not rooted in our private judgment. Rather, it arises out of union and communion with He who is Truth and Love. We engage in the ascetic life and seek purity of heart in order that we comprehend the truth unimpeded, to see things as God sees them and to see and respond to what he wants us to perceive.
Anything less than this leaves us completely vulnerable. St. John says, “let us watch and see which demon uplift us, which cast us down, which harden, which comfort, which darken, which pretend to communicate enlightenment to us, which make us slothful, which make us cunning, which make us sad, and which cheerful.”  It is only in Christ that we have the capacity to see these things. Strength and virtue of any kind comes not from climbing up a ladder of virtue on our own, but rather having Christ live within us. His virtue must become our virtue and his strength must becomes our strength. This is a difficult thing because it means letting go completely of the illusion that we can see the truth of the spiritual realities outside of our relationship with Him. It means being humble.
---
00:02:32 FrDavid Abernethy: page 214 number 172
 
00:26:36 David Swiderski: I struggled with discernment most of my life and got far too intellectual analyizing everything. A  wise friend made a comment that helped me- you only need to think of two things- does this lead us closer to God or away from God.
 
00:27:10 Lisa Smith: Reacted to "I struggled with dis..." with 👍
 
00:30:31 David Swiderski: My grandfather always said wisdom is absorbed slowly over time while being intellectual is something to grasp.
 
00:32:37 Jeff O.: julian of norwich seems to say the same thing about affliction going so far as to say to actually pray for it as it is one of the greatest graces of God.
 
00:36:27 Lisa Smith: Sufficient is the evil of today, Is that what Christ said?
 
01:02:47 Johnny Ross: God forgives seven times seventy-so long as the will is there
 
01:03:12 Vanessa: Reacted to "God forgives seven t..." with ❤️
 
01:12:15 Kate : At what point and in what circumstances can we make a judgement about a situation?
 
01:14:50 David Swiderski: Everytime I see arguments on how to make the sign of the cross or taking communion in the hand or on the tongue I feel like both sides want to be right rather than acknowledge each is seeking to get close to God.
 
01:16:11 David Swiderski: The focus falls to Pride as you mentioned before.
 
01:19:11 Tracey Fredman: Most recently, Romans 15:1-6 has been quite helpful for me - it's not about pleasing myself, but for building up others and letting go of what I think they should do: St. Paul wrote "... let each of us please our neighbor for the good , for building up. For Christ did not please himself …"
 
01:23:55 Rebecca Thérèse: God is often presented to us by people who want to control us.
 
01:24:06 Ambrose Little: Avoid “Catholic” Twitter/X. Social media in general.
 
01:24:27 sheri: Thanks Father.  Gotta go...
 
01:24:52 Kevin Burke: Thank You Father!
 
01:25:30 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:25:36 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:25:36 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:25:43 David Swiderski: Thank you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XIII

Discernment, St. John tells us, arises out of humility. It also allows us to see the value of humility in the spiritual life. It is the virtue above all virtues, that we must cling to in the spiritual battle. The enemy will seek to confuse us in one way or another; by flattery or by seemingly knowing our thoughts and placing ideas before us which then make us fear their control over us. However, discernment and humility, both protect our capacity to live in He who is the truth. 
It also allows us to see the truth about ourselves as human beings and our dignity. We are not created with the passions. They rise out of our sin and the distortion of the desire that God has placed in us naturally. It is desire that makes us long for him and the life of virtue and it is anger that allows us to fight the good fight of faith and strike down the evil one and the temptations that are placed before us.  
We also find, over the course of time, that discernment allows us to let go of our judgment and what gives us security in the spiritual life and to trust wholly in God. Therefore, when life seems to crumble around us and all seems to be wrapped in darkness, discernment allows us to step forward with trust in God and his love. While it keeps us from acting in rash way it also protects us from false prudence that hides cowardice and lack of courage. 
What we begin to see is that any struggle in the spiritual life to overcome the passions, any sacrifice that we make to follow the Lord, promises what is beyond imagination. Even to lose all in this world is to lose nothing if we have Christ.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:06:22 Rachel: Hello everyone
 
00:11:11 Rachel: lol
 
00:12:42 Rachel: No one will take me😭 I guess trying to convince people what sinners they are and so need to go to the Holy Annointing as well as drive me was not a good stategy
 
00:13:28 Rachel: I have been but I went to Mass at noon, and others have other obligations
 
00:13:42 Rachel: When Rory gets home, Ill try to convince him. LOL
 
00:14:08 Rachel: He will gladly go. He loves the Byzantine Liturgies
 
00:17:48 Ambrose Little: I resemble that.
 
00:31:21 David: Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.-St. Leo the Great
 
00:33:09 David C: Reacted to "Virtue is nothing wi..." with ❤️
 
00:34:12 mhinckley: incisive anger: I always struggle with being just with it
 
00:34:36 David C: Reacted to "incisive anger: I al..." with 👍
 
00:34:39 mhinckley: not to mention charitable
 
00:40:01 mhinckley: I have always appreciated the use of "thorn" with sin. You never intentionally grasp for a thorn, only things that thorns surround.
 
00:40:51 David C: Reacted to "I have always apprec..." with 👍
 
00:42:58 Rachel: no. he is frozen
 
00:43:03 Lisa Smith: Same here.
 
00:43:04 Bob Cihak: Me too.
 
00:43:08 David C: Yeah he was frozen on my screen as well
 
00:43:29 Rachel: I only have Rens screen
 
00:43:38 Bob Cihak: Rising from the Frozen!
 
00:43:43 sprou: Reacted to "Rising from the Froz..." with 👍
 
00:43:46 David C: Reacted to "Rising from the Froz..." with 👍
 
00:47:29 David: I always try to remember what Mother Teresa said - I am a little pencil in the hand of God. At least when good flows through me however I often need frequent sharpening and a good eraser when I write :)
 
00:48:11 David C: Reacted to "I always try to reme..." with 👍
 
00:49:53 mhinckley: Reacted to "I always try to reme..." with 👍
 
00:53:40 Bob Cihak: What about St. Paul? "You have fought the good fight."
 
00:57:29 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Examples??
 
00:59:26 David: Would this be something like instead of dwelling on a temptation and agonizing vs. simply casting the thought from our minds in the beginning?
 
01:00:26 David: Evargius a good example
 
01:15:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:16:13 Bob Cihak: Blessings to you, Fr.
 
01:16:20 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:21 David: Thank your Father!
 
01:16:24 Rachel: thank y ou
 
01:16:25 Jeff O.: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:25 mhinckley: buona pasqua tutti!
 
01:16:31 Semai: Oh i joined late 😭
 
01:16:38 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Blessed Easter!
 
01:16:41 Mitch: Thanks!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XII

Discernment is so much more than our analyzing the realities and circumstances around us by the use of intellect and reason. These faculties, as wonderful as they are, have inherent limitations. They are not infinite, nor can they speak of God as he is in himself. 
What God begins to show us in the spiritual life is that the more that we enter his love and truth, the more we are drawn into a mystery that is beyond us. Faith is described by many of the Saints as a “dark obscure knowing”. It is God‘s light, his divine light, that pierces through the darkness, and reveals to us the beauty of his love. It reveals (draws back the veil) and shows us that this love is worth everything to pursue and attain. “Love never ends”, the scriptures tell us. Discernment opens the door to that reality and allows us to step towards the beloved who desires to give us all. Our destiny is to move from glory to glory in the never-ending love of God.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:07:32 FrDavid Abernethy: page 209 para 139
 
00:40:44 Daniel Allen: Is the inverse then true?
 
00:42:28 Amale: What can the demons see or not see within us?
 
00:46:21 Rachel: The Elder would also know that in turn.. they could merit by true charity towards each other
 
00:47:33 Rachel: Where despite the feelings of animosity that arose, the monks would then more purely offer charity in the only way they can due to their limited capacity to love purely without unholy attachments
 
00:47:55 Maureen Cunningham: Father can demons reproduce? i was just wonderfing
 
00:48:00 Maureen Cunningham: Wondering
 
00:48:49 Kate : Can the demons hear our confessions to a priest within the context of the sacrament?
 
00:49:19 Maureen Cunningham: Best News
 
00:49:25 Jeff O.: Cassian seems to say in his conferences that they cannot reproduce
 
00:50:23 Amale: Do any souls who go to hell end up becoming demons?
00:51:10 Vanessa: Replying to "Do any souls who go ..."
 
I thought demons were the 1/3 of heavenly beings who went with Lucifer.
 
00:51:17 Jeff O.: He talks about it in the eighth conference on the principalities
 
00:51:24 David: In organization studies clicks can start which can create toxic results for teams.
 
00:51:53 Rachel: It is like the story of the Desert Father who, as soon as he instructed his Spiritual son would quickly leave him
 
00:52:39 David: We becomes us and them
 
00:52:51 Rachel: I suppose that was not for the community but purity of heart
 
01:00:58 David: I have heard a critism of the western church that we try to explain everything while the east embraces mysteries to be contemplated more. When I was younger I wanted the answers the older I get the more I love contemplating mysteries more.
 
01:01:15 Vanessa: Reacted to "I have heard a criti..." with ❤️
 
01:01:28 Jeff O.: Reacted to "I have heard a criti..." with 👍
 
01:01:57 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "I have heard a criti..." with ❤️
 
01:04:08 Daniel Allen: That’s an interesting comment (re poetry), because oftentimes poetry can calm my thoughts, and give me a jumping off point for prayer
 
01:04:42 Vanessa: Replying to "That’s an interestin..."
 
Psalms
 
01:05:30 David: The Syrian fathers write most things through poetry as well.
 
01:05:55 Cindy Moran: This relates to the need for formative spirituality.
 
01:06:20 Rachel: Gregory Narek
 
01:06:30 Daniel Allen: Reacted to "Gregory Narek" with ❤️
 
01:06:35 Rachel: Pope Francis
 
01:11:25 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you ☺️
 
01:11:40 Rachel: yes
 
01:11:41 Cindy Moran: Yes
 
01:11:46 Jacqulyn Dudasko: Thank you!
 
01:12:24 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:12:27 Rachel: thank you
 
01:12:29 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:12:29 Cindy Moran: Thank you
 
01:12:31 Arthur Danzi: Thank you Father
 
01:12:32 David: Thank you father! May God bless you
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XI

This evening we continued our discussion of discernment;in particular, developing an awareness of the action of the demons and their attempts to lead us astray. However, John also seeks to make us aware of the fact that it is not only the demons that we have to be aware of but our human nature in its fallen state. We are often weak of will and changeable in our mind. We are filled with contradictions and will often choose that which offers nothing over the love and the mercy of God. We have within certain destructive tendencies that are beyond reason. St. John would not have us over analyze these things but be aware of them so to avoid them and turn more radically toward God when we see them arise within our hearts.
What is most striking in this section of the Ladder is that divine light shines through John‘s own words. The open up reality for us and we see on the horizon our dignity and destiny in Christ so brilliantly that one can only gasp. It creates within the heart an urgent longing to run to the Beloved. It reveals in a fraction of the moment the entire meaning of the ascetical life. It is not about self-perfection or endurance, but rather about Love. It is about acknowledging that what has been fashioned from clay has now been placed and seated upon the very throne of God. Joy!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:03:27 Carolus: Good evening Father.
 
00:03:34 FrDavid Abernethy: good evening
 
00:13:08 Genesius B: Father Michael of the Eparchy of Parma can only grow a goatee
 
00:13:36 Genesius B: we still love him though
 
00:19:18 David: Is this related to as one gets closer to God sometimes the attacks of the demons become stronger and often in different ways?
 
00:23:46 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: this translations says "greedy and grubby flesh" not corpulence
 
00:28:18 Genesius B: How can such inquisitiveness lead us to pride? Surely trying to understand Divine Providence can only reveal our own wretchedness? Is it that merely trying to understand is itself beyond us and thus an act of hubris?
 
00:28:25 Genesius B: and self assetion?
 
00:34:30 Genesius B: then when gifts are given should we seek to hide them, lest we become prideful in them. I see this in many saints but how does this not violate the Divine command to not hide our light?
 
00:35:58 Carolus B: Replying to "then when gifts are ..."
 
Or to not burry our talents.
 
00:55:58 Kate : St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, a French Carmelite saint, wrote, “Let yourself be loved by God.”  I often ponder this quote.  Why do I run from this love?  We do I not allow myself to be loved by God?
 
00:59:50 Ren Witter: I don’t think, though, that we run from the love of God when it feels like love. I can’t even imagine doing that, honestly.  I think we run from what we are taught is the mysterious love of God, because more often than not it feels like something terrifying, or threatening, or even wounding.
 
01:00:05 Ren Witter: We are told to trust that these things are manifestations of the love of God.
 
01:02:02 Daniel Allen: Christ says, “everyone when he is fully taught will be like his teacher.” Imitating Christ, and the saints in deed teaches us little by little until we our not like our fallen selves but like Christ.
 
01:03:41 David: When I used to teach catechism I heard many comments when discussing the saints saying they are not like that or it is not reachable from teens and even my sons. It seems helpful to discuss the whole lives of the saints like the difficulties and sinful past of St. Ignatius. Most writings seem to focus on them being perfect and so special rather than the journey.
 
01:06:55 Rebecca Thérèse: I find that reading what the saints wrote themselves is very helpful because they're very honest about their struggles and that makes them more relatable to me.
 
01:08:28 Rachel: Yes, this is true.We are all starving. For Christ.
 
01:12:55 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: One's image of God is so important - a distorted one gets in the way of living faith truly. This needs to be examined and renovated many times in one's life. Important to see self in God not outside of Trinity/grace.
 
01:14:30 Andrew Adams: Reacted to " One's image of God ..." with ❤️
 
01:16:11 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:11 Cindy Moran: Excellent session...thank you Father!
 
01:16:12 Jeff O.: Thank you Father!! Good to be with you all.
 
01:16:13 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:16:13 David: Thank you Father David!
 
01:16:14 sue and mark: good night
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part X

As we read St. John Climacus, we begin to see discernment as rooted in our relationship with God; a relationship that is founded upon the revelation of God‘s love and the desire that it stirs within the human heart to respond in kind. If we love God, then it is not going to seem to be a burden to us to take every thought captive and bring it before God for his blessing or judgment. Nor is waiting upon the Lord going to be a point of frustration. 
Rather, when we love God, we understand that he is going to desire what is best for us. This desire leads him to test our intentions so as to purify them. What God looks for is humility and a spirit of repentance. Faced with our own weakness, and the darkness that sin brings into our life and into the world, we must cling to God and allow him to guide us with his light.  Often only one step ahead is illuminated for us. We must be at peace with this if we have faith in him and trust in his love. 
Part of what this requires from us is an honest heart; one that avoids distractions and holds fast to innocence. Often our sensibilities can become hardened through our experience of the world, and we lose the capacity not only to be vulnerable to others but to God himself. It has been said that “haste destroys the poet and the saint”.  In the face of the frenetic pace of the world, let us hold on to simplicity and silence in order that we might hear the Beloved when he speaks to us.
---
 
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:08:06 FrDavid Abernethy: page 206 number 114
 
00:16:33 Susanna Joy: It can be years and years...
 
00:16:56 Susanna Joy: ...one must have the patience of Job.
 
00:27:28 Susanna Joy: I have a friend who says, "Set all your thoughts, words, and actions as flowers at the feet of the Lord."  Then whatever the result, the intention is right.
 
00:28:10 Paul G.: Reacted to "I have a friend who …" with ❤️
 
00:30:37 Rebecca Thérèse: Therese thought of herself as a plaything of the infant Jesus so sometimes he would discard her in order to play with something else.
 
00:32:09 Genesius B.: Would it be imprudent to treat everything as beyond us, or perhaps prudent so we might never overreach?
 
00:33:35 Susanna Joy: Replying to "Would it be impruden..." 
 
 There is the riddle ...
 
00:34:50 Susanna Joy: Replying to "Would it be impruden..." 
 
 ...we must do our be...
 
00:42:31 sharonfisher: But how do we deal with the ‘warped souls’ in life as we encounter them and recognize them as too familiar to our circumstances? It seems scary.
 
00:43:00 Kate : Father, Could you offer any guidance on finding the balance between overreaching in the spiritual life versus not pushing oneself enough?  I find it very hard to get the right balance.  It is a long, hard struggle.
 
00:46:23 Anthony: 1. Thanks for explaining the unforgivable sin. 
2. No need to fall I to scrupulousity over this sin because concern about it indicates one has not confused good and evil.
3. I like a sentiment by St Paisios you shared on Facebook about keeping a calm soul so the devils can't cast their lines in our soul.
 
00:51:18 Susanna Joy: Replying to "1. Thanks for explai..." 
 
 That is such a great...
 
00:52:20 Susanna Joy: Replying to "1. Thanks for explai..." 
 
 Fish are tempted to ...
 
00:52:30 Susanna Joy: Reacted to 1. Thanks for explai... with "❤️"
 
00:53:10 Carolus B: Replying to "1. Thanks for explai..."
 
Should we avoid holding personal goals, instead endeavoring to only hold the single goal which is the desire of God, regardless of how we feel about the outcome?
 
00:53:52 Anthony: Hahaha. Yes he might
 
00:54:07 Paul G.: Reacted to "Hahaha. Yes he might" with 😇
 
00:54:16 sharonfisher: This is an aside that you may or may not want to read re: what we deign to touch or interact with. I was crossing, on foot, an intersection to the metro station and my luggage got all sideways. This homeless-type fellow ran out and collected my stuff for me and handed it to me on the other side. I gathered a few dollars to give him. I didn’t realize what I was doing when I went to grab the bag handles, but he did — he asked, pointedly, if I was afraid to touch his hand. Apparently, I had avoided contact with him, even after his assistance. I’m ashamed to this day. And I have another story equally shameful. Won’t bore you with it. Point, I think, is to be aware of our own actions, and how others perceive them.
 
00:55:14 Genesius B.: how do we discern when one malevolently disputes with us, vs one who disputes due to a misplaced but genuine and fervent care for the soul?
 
00:55:20 Carolus B: Should we avoid holding personal goals, instead endeavoring to only hold the single goal which is the desire of God, regardless of how we feel about the outcome?
 
01:07:33 Rebecca Thérèse: People admire athletes who train physically from dawn to dusk but if people want to "train" spiritually people think they're mentally disturbed!
 
01:07:37 sharonfisher: Not sure if Eastern Church recognizes Alfred and Briget and other English saints prior to Great Schism (other than Patrick, perhaps)?
 
01:07:38 David: I always loved a tradition in northern spain. They celebrate "Tu Santo" or saints day which often is more important or more celebrated than a birthday. These celebration's always explain about the life of the saint.
 
01:08:24 Art iPhone: Looking forward to the Frances Cabrini movie coming soon.
 
01:08:33 sharonfisher: Reacted to "People admire athlet..." with ❤️
 
01:09:03 Cindy Moran: Teresa of Avila & her young brother tried to run away from home to become martyrs.
 
01:09:13 sharonfisher: Reacted to "Looking forward to t..." with ❤️
 
01:09:18 Joseph Chiappetta: Reacted to "Teresa of Avila & he..." with ❤️
 
01:10:16 Carolus B: Replying to "Teresa of Avila & he..."
 
When asked by her parents why she ran away she answered: "I want to see God, and you have to die first."
 
01:10:38 Anthony: The serious troubles caused by religious nuts make us wary of asceticism
 
01:11:03 sharonfisher: Fasting could bring one to extremes.
 
01:11:04 Ren Witter: When I was little I heard the story of a martyr who died being boiled in oil. I used to pray that that would be the one way I wouldn’t be martyred.
 
01:11:07 Genesius B.: can we go back to 124 briefly
 
01:11:15 Rebecca Thérèse: A lot of trouble is caused by atheists!
 
01:11:43 Kate : Who was it who said “I could be a martyr if they kill me real quick?”
 
01:11:58 Anthony: Replying to "Who was it who said ..." 
 
 St Thomas more?
 
01:12:00 Genesius B.: Replying to "can we go back to 12..."
 
how do we ensure our kids have an appropriate upbringing which would best instill these virtues beyond the mere basics
 
01:14:22 Genesius B.: Replying to "can we go back to 12..."
 
i.e. how do we instill a proper spirit of mortification and humility in our children?
 
01:14:43 Alice Hirsch: By saying the 12 year St. Bridget prayers, a person can become martyr like.  The promise is stated as follows:  “The soul who prays them will be accepted among the Martyrs, as though he had spilled his blood for his faith.”
 
01:14:58 Genesius B.: Replying to "can we go back to 12..."
 
w/o simultaneously being too harsh
 
01:15:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:13 Lee Graham: This was a most informative and spiritually strengthening teaching. So glad I attended even though I was not well. Thank you and bless you.
 
01:15:21 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "By saying the 12 yea..." with 🥰
 
01:15:45 Lori Hatala: feel better Lee
 
01:16:20 sue and mark: Reacted to "feel better Lee" with 🙏
 
01:16:25 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:28 David: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:28 sue and mark: Reacted to "This was a most info..." with 🙏
 
01:16:28 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:16:31 sharonfisher: And with your spirt!!
 
01:16:31 Genesius B.: Thank you father
 
01:16:33 sue and mark: good night
 
01:16:38 Kevin Burke: Thanks you Father!
 
01:16:41 Cindy Moran: Thanks Father's
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX

Discernment, as we have said, is the fruit of humility. Having removed the impediment of pride and having purified the heart of the passions, one comes to comprehend the things of the kingdom and the will of God. St. John gives us one example after another of how discernment helps us to perceive the things that lead us to God and that teach us to embrace that which endures.
 
As one progresses in the spiritual life, however, discernment is not simply the ability to know God‘s will, but rather also the ability to fulfill it in the way that God desires. In this, a soul can begin to trust in the action of the Spirit within the mind and heart. Therefore, although spiritual guides may be lacking one is not abandoned by God. Rather, God makes all things work for the good of those who love him.
 
In fact, the more one lays side ones will and turns to God in prayer and fasting, the more one lets go of the need to be driven by creativity, productivity, and one’s own intentions as a whole. The deeper the communion becomes with God, the more one finds joy in being drawn along whatever path He desires.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:08:12 FrDavid Abernethy: page 204 number 105
 
00:46:02 Rebecca Thérèse: I think Teresa preferred the priest to be learned rather than just intelligent because she thought that even holy priests could be misled. A learned priest wuld be better able to communicate the infallible teaching of the Church, in her view.
 
00:50:33 Michael Hinckley: Re: lack of elders… we miss not having enough monks & nuns available in communities.
 
01:00:37 Susanna Joy: This is so similar to a practice I learned from muslim friends, where one fasts and prays 3 days begore taking decision, that God may clarify what action one should take...The fast is called istakharra...means the right path. :)
 
01:03:21 Susanna Joy: It is so good to rest in God's wisdom before taking action.
 
01:06:32 Michael Hinckley: Modernity and technology have much to blame since many things can be created ex nihilo. Tempts thinking “ye shall be like Gods"
 
01:10:48 Anthony: Yes
 
01:10:50 Rachel: Id love to see that
 
01:11:38 David: I volunteered for catechism but was surprised there was no assignment with a spiritual director and it seemed to become more of a quasi entraining push by those who were the directors by the parish. The focus was keeping the kids coming back and making faith "fun". It seemed so different from my experience here an in Spain.
 
01:13:42 Susanna Joy: https://youtu.be/LOcCXt1n-fI?si=EGIJbH3UquEgdU0C
 
01:13:43 Michael Hinckley: Replying to "I volunteered for ca..."
 
Precisely the problem.
 
01:14:40 Susanna Joy: Here is a beautiful song for you all. "Who puts his trust in God most Just"
 
01:14:41 Anthony: Pierogi making brings my parish together
 
01:14:58 Michael Hinckley: TLM communities also see the young coming b/c of lack of “fun” things
 
01:15:08 Ambrose Little: I’m not “young” and feel more or less that way.
 
01:15:25 Adam Paige: You’re young at heart, Ambrose !
 
01:15:31 Ambrose Little: Reacted to "You’re young at hear..." with 😅
 
01:15:35 Jeff O.: Reacted to "You’re young at hear..." with 😆
 
01:15:46 Jeff O.: Reacted to "I’m not “young” and ..." with 👍
 
01:16:08 Susanna Joy: Reacted to Pierogi making bring... with "❤️"
 
01:16:17 Michael Hinckley: Gnocchi are pierogis
 
01:16:20 Rachel: haha I need to go to PA
 
01:16:54 Rachel: Can activism be another way of intellectualizing the faith?
 
01:17:08 Susanna Joy: Thank you so much, Father. God bless you.🙏🏻💗
 
01:17:09 Anthony: Reacted to Gnocchi are pierogis with "😂"
 
01:17:13 Rebecca Thérèse: thank you🙂
 
01:17:50 Sophia: Thank you so much fr.Abernethy. God bless you!
 
01:17:51 Louise: Thanks, Fr. Abernethy!
 
01:17:55 Jeff O.: Amen, thank you!
 
01:17:56 David: Thank you father!
 
01:18:01 Rachel: Thank you Father Thank you evryone
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part VIII

In St. John’s discussion of discernment, he reveals to us the beauty of a human being transformed by the grace of God and living in communion with Christ by removing every impediment within the heart and by constantly crying out to him in prayer. At the very center of this reality is the “eye of the soul”. It is extremely beautiful, St. John explains, and next to the angels it surpasses all things. The angels constantly gaze upon God and the purified eye of the soul, the nous, allows us to contemplate the beauty of God‘s love.
There is also a freedom that comes to the soul through this purification. Our capacity to discern spiritual realities enables us to engage in the warfare with the demons more diligently and to avoid the pitfalls that are set for us. Furthermore, it allows us to understand that there is no such thing as a small sin. If neglected, it can consume the entire person. Likewise, there is no part of our life that we are to take for granted. The eye of the soul allows us to see that each moment is an opportunity for us to respond to God and to others with love; an opportunity embraced or lost. Thus, it is a very high view of the human person that is set before us; a view that allows us to understand the radical communion that exists between each of us and to see our destiny in Christ. Beautiful indeed!
 
---
 
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:29:50 sprou: virtue beyond our ability?
 
00:50:31 Nypaver Clan: “Familiarity breeds contempt.” My Mom used to say this if we spent too much time with friends.
 
00:50:54 Vanessa: Replying to "“Familiarity breeds ..."
 
My mom used to say that too lol
 
00:52:59 Anthony: St Paul, 1 Cor 7 (?) Talks about spouses separating for a bit.
 
00:53:38 Marypaz Mencos: I’ve been listening to your podcasts for a year, this is the first time I’m able to be in real time with y’all. It’s so good to put faces to all of your voices. 
God bless you Father, this podcasts have been a blessing to my spiritual life.
 
00:54:08 Vanessa: Reacted to "I’ve been listening ..." with ❤️
 
00:55:16 Amale Obeid: Replying to "St Paul, 1 Cor 7 (?)..."
 
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.” Gibran Khalil Gibran (Lebanese poet)
 
00:56:14 Susan M: Reacted to "I’ve been listening ..." with ❤️
 
01:05:40 Vanessa: Enjoying this very much tonight.
 
01:07:43 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Yet St. Basil came back from the desert saying the complete Gospel calls us to include service of others in one's authentic spiritual life...
 
01:13:27 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Sacrificial intercessory prayer for others is also service of the Body of Christ
 
01:13:52 Amale Obeid: Reacted to "Sacrificial interces..." with ❤️
 
01:18:37 Anthony: That kind of sounds superstitious, like an augury.
 
01:19:27 Anthony: Morning offering....yes. but there's repentance to a bad start and a possible bad end to a good start.
 
01:26:08 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you Father from Maureen & Kenneth
 
01:26:11 Arthur Danzi: That was wonderful. Thank you, Father!
 
01:26:14 Louise: Thanks, Fr. Abernethy!
 
01:26:18 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:26:21 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:26:21 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:26:24 David: Thanks Father!
 
01:26:34 Alexandra K: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part VII

As we have discussed, the fruit of humility is discernment. But what is that? Is it simply private judgment, a human wisdom that has deepened over the course of the years? 
St. John gradually begins to reveal to us that it is a freedom that emerges from the removal of the impediments of our passions. A sole passion, the desire for God, begins to direct and guide our lives as well as reveal to us the truth about our actions and the realities around us. 
Yet, it is humility that must continue to guide and direct this gift of discernment. It is to see things as God sees them only because we are allowing ourselves to trust in His providence in the warp and woof of day-to-day life. Whether we are embattled or at peace, whether we are called to be obedient or to guide others, we must rely upon the grace of God. It is His love, the love of He who is the truth that allows us to comprehend the realities of this world and the world come. Thus, St. John shows us, we can never think of ourselves or the gifts that we experience abstracted from a deep intimacy with the Lord. It is only in Him and through Him that we can live the life to which he has called us and through Him that we who were blind can see!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:18:44 Arthur Danzi: I'm sorry, what chapter are we reading?
 
00:19:53 Barbara: lost sound
 
00:19:59 Rebecca Thérèse: no audio
 
00:30:48 Anthony: Maybe another example is the miser who wears shabby clothes, just to save money?
 
00:45:18 Cindy Moran: Would oriental catholics call this yin-yang?
 
00:55:50 Cindy Moran: Replying to "Would oriental catho..." 
 
 ...
01:03:06 Anthony: Another thing to be careful of is to try observing what is a true state of affairs but to stop short of having unholy judgment or even feelings or inclination to hound something bad out or to resent something.
 
01:08:23 Carol Roper: Beware the leaven of the pharisees
 
01:09:21 David Swiderski: I used to waste a lot of time thinking and rethinking about decisions and people. Even doing this I often made bad decisions and was taken advantage by or attacked by people. I now simply concentrate on - does this lead me closer to God or further away from God. I also pay attention to the mood, other things around me much more.
 
01:11:42 Cindy Moran: Would oriental catholics call this yin-yang? My ? maybe not seen?? My relatives say that all religion is the same...
 
01:13:03 sam: I think he (John Climacus) also says elsewhere that vainglory has no birthdate but with pride is the mother of all vices. Humility he also says is one of the destroyers of its fruit and source.
 
01:16:05 Cindy Moran: It's  always a struggle for me . They are new age.
 
01:18:12 sam: Could we say that the all religions are equal idea is from a vainglorious attempt to please everyone and avoid real arguments about ascetical struggle?
 
01:20:41 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:10 Maureen Cunningham: Blessing
 
01:21:20 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father
 
01:21:27 David Swiderski: Thank you Father!!!
 
01:21:29 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:21:29 Jeff O.: Thank you Father!
 
01:21:34 Art iPhone: Thank you Father!
 
01:21:36 Arthur Danzi: Thank you father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part VI

Where are we in the spiritual battle? Do we understand the virtues that are generally most necessary in the pursuit of virtue? So often in our day, we approach the spiritual life in a piecemeal fashion, gleaning from the writing of saints things that speak to our own particular sensibilities. But are any of these things going to help us address the dominant passions that we struggle with? 
We cannot be lazy in the labors of the spiritual life. We are blessed to be able to sit at the feet of the great elders and those who speak from experience. And yet, as with so many things in our day, we would have things come in our own time and in the way that we desire. Christianity overturns our perception of reality. What it means to love, what is truth, all comes into view only through the person of Christ. The shape of the Christian life is cruciform – always involving a dying to self and sin, and rising to new life in Christ. We must cast off the old man in order to put on the mind of Christ. Lacking discernment we may find ourselves being guided by the demons and settling into mediocrity or the embrace of selfishness and sin that merely is an aping of virtue.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:14 David Swiderski: Father do you know any good books on vigils?
00:15:56 Sharon Fisher: Would it be instructions for a home vigil service?
 
00:17:50 Anthony: For the bibliography, cookbooks are important such as
"From a Monastery Kitchen" by Bro. Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette.
 
00:19:52 Eric Ewanco: With Great Lent on our heels, do you have suggestions for overcoming gluttony and sustaining our fasts?
 
00:29:26 Andrew Adams: How does one practice the life of obedience as a layperson?
 
00:30:23 Suzanne: Isaac the Syrian is great on not putting the cart of contemplation before the horse of purification.
 
00:32:54 Maureen Cunningham: The  Monks on Mt Athose are very healthy a Doctor did a study.
 
00:35:24 Suzanne: Greek food ain't no penace for me! 😄
 
00:35:38 Vanessa: Reacted to "Greek food ain't no ..." with 😂
 
00:39:16 Anthony: Our hypochondria is driven by our societal messaging; our avarice is driven by our capitalist presuppositions wealth, usury, over-emphasis on private property.
 
00:42:54 Maureen Cunningham: I was told that Christ suffers in the broken .
 
00:43:30 Anthony: And it's hard to go against presuppositions because it feels like you're doing something wrong.
 
00:47:02 Suzanne: I quit a part time job because of the filthy language and sick behavior of my fellow employees. I did it to protect my soul.
 
00:54:04 Jeff O.: I’m reminded of a quote from a Benedictine book - “Personal Prayer” - “Our hope is at its greatest when we have absolutely no other means to provide for ourselves than to beg God for help.” When our hope is rooted deeply in our full understanding of our poverty it’s at its strongest/fullest
 
00:54:20 David Swiderski: I have found hardship to be helpful in gaining detachment from many things and faults. A saint used to say-gold is purifiied in the crucible of life.
 
00:54:21 Lee Graham: What does “recklessly despised their torture”?
 
00:55:27 Eric Ewanco: My translation @Lee Graham has "It was this marvelous grace that enabled the souls of the martyrs to rise superior to their torments."
 
00:56:29 Vanessa: St. Teresa of Calcutta always said we have to see Christ himself in the poor, broken, and suffering.  Re-aligns our focus to see the humanity in them.
 
01:07:40 sprou: is that the language of silence?
 
01:09:26 Eric Ewanco: Is ignoring the demons an option open to
everyone, or does this indicate that one is in a better spiritual position so to speak if one can do this?
 
01:11:19 Adam Paige: One of the tools of good works in the rule of Saint Benedict is “To dash at once against Christ the evil thoughts which rise in one’s heart.”
 
01:11:26 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:11:30 Louise: Thanks, Fr. Abernethey!
 
01:11:42 Suzanne: God bless you all!
 
01:11:46 Lorraine Green: God bless, thank you
 
01:12:19 Barbara: Blessed Great Fast!!
 
01:12:22 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:12:23 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:12:24 Sharon Fisher: And with your spirit!
 
01:12:36 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part V

Extraordinary and beautiful! We are currently reading Step 26 from The Ladder on discernment. As St. John begins to unpack things for us, that is, what discernment allows us to perceive about our intentions, our dispositions, how virtue and vice often get mixed together, why prayers sometimes go unanswered, and why demons often will cease their attack for a period of time - - St John also shows us the beauty and the mystery of the human person in relationship to God and as created by God. 
God‘s loving care for us, when seen with the clarity of the fathers’ wisdom and experience is enough to make one weep for joy. And this joy fosters a desire for God that, if inflamed, can not only purify us of the passions but transform us in such a fashion that we are drawn into the life of the very Holy Trinity. May God grant us this desire!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:49 Carol Roper: St. Anne's?
 
00:31:05 Cindy Moran: I remember a few times the night before a huge exam I slept w the school book under my pillow LOL
 
00:43:18 maureencunningham: What is the time frame , if one thinks of this as a long journey or one could be discourage
 
00:48:24 Kate : There are some spiritual writings that take the form of a colloquy…Fr. Gaston Courtois, for example.  How does this fit with the dark knowing of faith, that you mentioned?  The writers seem to have such a tangible intimacy with Our Lord.
 
00:56:29 Susanna Joy: When the Lord Speaks to Your Heart: Daily Devotions (English and French Edition) https://a.co/d/4ZRzjVi
 
00:56:46 Vanessa: Replying to "When the Lord Speaks..."
 
Thank you:)
 
00:57:02 Susanna Joy: Divine Intimacy https://a.co/d/2WqoJ5e
 
00:57:43 Susanna Joy: The links are Amazon links to the books mentioned
 
01:00:46 Cindy Moran: Are the other 4 kinds of dispassion in this chapter?
 
01:01:18 Jacqulyn: An excerpt from Pauline Books... https://paulinestore.com/media/productattach/1/7/172412-compressed.pdf
 
01:02:05 Susanna Joy: Reacted to An excerpt from Paul... with "👍"
 
01:04:51 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "An excerpt from Paul..." with 🥰
 
01:06:09 Rachel: yes
 
01:09:24 Michael Hinckley: Leave Christ for Christ... is the Filippo Neri?
 
01:09:35 Michael Hinckley: that ...
 
01:10:04 Adam Paige: Reacted to "that ..." with 👍
 
01:11:58 Rachel: Our Lord was did not have passions
 
01:14:18 David Swiderski: I have been reviewing some courses for work on Emotional Intelligence and it is interesting some of the information on nueroplastisity. I keep thinking how this research could learn so much from the desert fathers. In nueroplasticity they often talk about the trigger leading to emotion leading to and action and reptitivity creating behavior.
 
01:14:50 Adam Paige: Reacted to "I have been reviewin..." with ❤️
 
01:20:22 Suzanne: Thank you!
 
01:21:57 Art: Reacted to "I have been reviewin..." with 👍
 
01:22:37 Suzanne: To Rachel, passions in the Roman Church are not disordered in themselves, but part of human nature. Our Lord had no disorder in His Body and Soul. But He had human nature.
 
01:23:06 Lorraine Green: God bless you, thank you Father
 
01:23:24 maureencunningham: Thank You Father Dave , My husband said thank you too.
 
01:23:44 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:23:45 Louise: Thanks, Fr.  Abernethy!
 
01:23:47 Cindy Moran: Excellent session... thank you Father
 
01:23:52 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:23:53 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:24:01 David Swiderski: Thank you father!
 
01:24:08 Rachel: LOL thank you
 
01:24:09 Kevin Burke: Thanks you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IV

When reading The Ladder of Divine Ascent, we begin to see that discernment is quite different from what we imagine. It is not simply the use of our reason and judgment to look at the realities around us, to dissect them, and so understand them. Discernment, as described by the fathers, is rooted in the virtue of humility. It is only when we live in He who is Truth that we come to understand the truth about ourselves, the world, and the kingdom. 
St. John in particular gives us a multiple examples of how discernment reveals to us the specific qualities of vices, how they manifest themselves and how they are to be remedied. It is curious that we often use our intellectual abilities to avoid reality or to create a certain perception of reality in our minds. It is only humility that allows us to be vulnerable; to expose the deepest part of ourselves to the light of truth. It is this vulnerability and our trust in God and his love that allows us not only to see the truth but to experience the light of it as a healing balm.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:07:17 Sr. Simeon: I hate camera!
 
00:07:35 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "I hate camera!" with 😂
 
00:08:23 Adam Paige: Reacted to "I hate camera!" with 📷
 
00:15:31 Adam Paige: Paragraph 43 - How should one admonish a brother given to talkativeness ?
 
00:21:25 Barbara: Gabriel Bunge?
 
00:21:32 Jeff O.: Reacted to "Gabriel Bunge?" with 👍
 
00:24:36 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Gabriel Bunge?" with 👍
 
00:24:47 Adam Paige: Gabriel Bunge?
Yup ! https://a.co/d/8t9PLU5
 
00:26:48 Barbara: This translations says "malice" in place of guile.
 
00:32:55 Anthony: I believe this humility is a reason the Sunday after publican and Pharisee is fast free....so as not to be proud in fasting.
 
00:43:46 Suzanne: My dilemma has to do with fiducia supplicans.
 
00:48:53 Suzanne: Much to consider. Thank you!
 
00:51:26 Barbara: Replying to "I believe this humil..."
 
Actually, in the Eastern Christian tradition, the week after the Gospel of the Publican and Pharisee is a week without fasting so we cannot be proud about our fasting.
 
00:52:02 Louise: In a psychology experiment, participants had to do nothing for 15 minutes. However, they could prick themselves to create pain if they wanted. One-third of women pricked themselves versus two-thirds of men. These people preferred physical pain to the pain induced by silence.
 
00:59:58 Celine Fournier: How does one take on an affliction.
 
01:00:34 Anthony: Perhaps we attribute afflictions to sin as a way of justifying why we will never have afflictions....I'm not a sinner, etc.
 
01:00:57 Celine Fournier: Yes
 
01:04:43 Adam Paige: Replying to "In a psychology expe..."
 
In a psychology experiment, participants had to do nothing for 15 minutes. However, they could prick themselves to create pain if they wanted. One-third of women pricked themselves versus two-thirds of men. These people preferred physical pain to the pain induced by silence.
https://dtg.sites.fas.harvard.edu/WILSON%20ET%20AL%202014.pdf
 
01:05:56 Louise: When I gave courses to professionals across the US, I told participants that there are two main taboos in psychotherapy: love and suffering. Participants remained silent as though they knew that they DO avoid experiencing love or suffering while providing psychotherapy. Amazing and sad!
 
01:08:09 Kate : There’s a growing area of health and medicine that focuses on longevity and slowing the aging process.  While this may seem good on the surface, I wonder if this is not good for the soul.
 
01:11:53 Suzanne: Thank you!
 
01:12:14 Lorraine Green: God bless you, thank you
 
01:12:19 Sharon Fisher: Thank you all!
 
01:12:24 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:12:25 Louise: Thanks, Fr.!
 
01:12:25 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:12:31 Jeff O.: Amen! Thank you!
 
01:12:32 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part III

Sometimes we are unaware of the treasure that we possess in and through the gift of faith; and also in the living witness and writing of the Saints. As St. John speaks of discernment this treasure is magnified for us and we begin to see how precious their teachings are and the life that God has called us to embrace. Our ability to see the preciousness of these gifts allows us to enter into the life with heartfelt perception. We cannot live with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom. Our minds and our hearts must belong to God and we must seek Him above all things.
In great detail, St. John begins to speak to us about the gift of discernment. It is especially important and valuable for  those who have the care of souls. To be a skilled physician one must have the experience necessary to apply the appropriate medicine and that which will be healing. It is also for this reason that monastic life has been so important for the life of the church. “Angels are a light for monks, and the monastic life is a light for all men.”  They show us how important it is to learn divine truth by toil and sweat. We must give our hearts over to the ascetic life and not squander the treasure. 
How quickly one begins to see that we would be wandering blindly without the guidance of the spiritual fathers. Let show our gratitude by our imitation of their zeal.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:31 FrDavid Abernethy: page 194 number 23
 
00:33:20 David Swiderski: The devil speaks with a scratching, loud and gnarling voice and calls you by your sin. God calls you by name and his voice like a whisper on the wind. Only with peace and quite can we hear the whisper. - Not who wrote this but heard this from a priest in Spain on a retreat in the Pyrennes.
 
00:43:43 Sharon Fisher: Fr, please repeat the title of the second book you ref’d? I have the Eastern Monasticism and Future of the Church, but couldn’t write fast enough to get the next one. Thank you!
 
00:44:30 Anthony: That prejudice for the active life goes back to the "reformation" - I think as a way to justify the reformation.   It saw a revival in "josephism" of the 1700s and 1800s
 
01:05:38 David Swiderski: Where would resentment be placed I have seen despondency and also pride in being a victim.
 
01:06:58 Sharon Fisher: Just fyi to participants: The level of detail we get w/ Fr. David in discussions about the Fathers’ writings is not found in very many places. I’ll put a plug in for a guided book study on You Tube: St Silouan the Athonite Guided Book Study with Isaac Lampart, written by Archimandrite Sophrony.  The videos are hosted by Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church Lancaster, PA. It’s very good; but it’s hard to find the actual book. It took me a few months of monitoring used book sites to get a copy.
 
01:07:01 mhinckley: that;s virtue signaling, no. Just the other side of the vaingflory coin, no?
 
01:08:04 mhinckley: despondency and also pride in being a victim.
01:10:16 Sean: Replying to "Just fyi to particip..."
 
I really long for this sort of content now but it's non existent AFIK😢
 
01:12:40 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You many Blessing
 
01:12:44 Jeff O.: thank you!
 
01:13:16 Lorraine Green: Thank you, wonderful retreat!
 
01:13:23 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:13:27 Rachel: Thank you.
 
01:13:27 mflory: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:29 Louise: Ha ve good retreat, Fr. !
 
01:13:33 David Swiderski: Thank you father! Have a great retreat!
 
01:13:35 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...we'll be praying for you
 
01:13:35 Art: Thank you safe travels
 
01:13:38 Sharon Fisher: And with your spirit!! Thank you!
 
01:13:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:41 sue and mark: yjank you God bless good retreat
 
01:13:42 Kevin Burke: Thanks
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part II

A glimmer of light begins to shine through the writing of St. John in regards to the perfection of virtue. John starts by putting before us list of those things that we should focus upon as beginners in the spiritual life or those who have reached an intermediate level. He also puts before us the resolution of those who are advanced; that is, the virtues that one possesses at this level and that they must protect. John is trying to paint with broad strokes the image of life in Christ. As one begins to share in that reality more deeply Christ image begins to manifest itself and we become imitators of Him.
As John unpacks for us the nature of discernment he shows us the things that it allows us to perceive. One of the valuable teachings he offers us is our responsiveness to the grace of God in times of illness. In our infirmity the demons will seek to afflict us on spiritual level.  Yet John also shows us that our minds and hearts can be purified at such times and that Christ can cleanse “clay by clay”. In the severity of our illness we can be delivered from certain passions.
These last steps of the Ladder of Divine Ascent must be read closely and slowly. It is solid food upon which we are being fed and a deep wisdom that is being set before us. Glory to God!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:07:41 FrDavid Abernethy: page 192 para 17
 
00:09:03 Rachel: :(
 
00:26:12 Anthony Rago: Sounds familiar
 
00:32:19 Sam: Need for fasting particularly during the many periods of discernment has helped many saints and Christians not only tame their passions but clear their minds from any attachments and thus take the path God wants of them. Could it be due to the humble stripping of self from earthly things and abandonment to God's grace, wisdom and mercy? Yes
 
00:38:12 Michael Hinckley: didn't Augustine say "you pray the most when you say the least and pray the least when you say the most."
 
00:43:13 Rory: Let, God's grace shine upon my silent faith within my temple of the Holy Spirit revealing your  Divine Providence
 
00:43:31 Vanessa: Reacted to "Let, God's grace shi..." with ❤️
 
00:57:35 Maureen Cunningham: Sound like addiction the first part
 
00:57:59 Anthony Rago: I think it's important for a weakened person to discern what is his weakness versus what is actually a sin or wrong.  The devil wears disguises and blames you for it.
 
01:09:08 Sean: I assume clay is man, but what is the clay that cleanses him?
 
01:11:49 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: A personal "testimony": a half dozen years ago, I was too sick to get out of bed for several weeks. The consolations and spiritual awareness at this time was so profound for me that I thought I was arriving at a  level of illumination that I would never leave. A couple of weeks after recovery, however, I found myself struggling with the same sin. I had not advanced as I thought. But I'm grateful for the consolation.
 
01:14:28 Rebecca Thérèse: Is it because illness brings us closer to death that we may experience a greater closeness to the eternal?
 
01:15:45 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father
 
01:16:09 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Reacted to "Is it because illnes..." with ❤️
 
01:16:30 sue and mark: thank you.
 
01:16:39 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:40 mflory: Thank you, Father!
 
01:16:41 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:16:44 David Swiderski: Thank you father!
 
01:16:44 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:16:47 kevin: Thanks
 
01:16:48 Louise: Thanks, Father!
 
01:16:50 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:16:56 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Blessed Feast
 
01:17:02 Kevin Burke: Thanks you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part I

The fruit of humility is the emergence of discernment. For beginners, it is a true knowledge of themselves. For intermediate souls, it is a spiritual sense that distinguishes what is truly good from what is of nature or opposed to it. For the perfect it is knowledge that one comes by through divine illumination. God illuminates the darkness within by his grace. 
St. John begins to define for us the nature of this gift. However, what follows is quite different from how we in modern times think of discernment. So often it does not rise above private judgment or the natural virtue of distinguishing between the nature of things in accord with our intellect. Yet, as mentioned, discernment is a divine gift for which one prepares to receive through the grace of God and the ascetic life. 
We must seek to remove every impediment to our having a well formed conscience. Furthermore, we must avoid the traps that the evil one sets for us to draw us back in darkness. We must continue toiling in this fashion until the very fire of God enters the sanctuary of the human heart and renders our proclivity for sin powerless and consumes every fever of lust and movement of passion within us. Knowing that the demons seek to extinguish this light, we must constantly press on in the struggle. We must not believe ourselves incapable of engaging in the spiritual battle but always trust in the action of God‘s grace. 
Once St. John defined discernment for us, he begins to lay out the path of education in the spiritual life that is needed. He warns us not to stop with the beginner’s lessons but rather to press on and strive to advance in our understanding. What we must come to value above all things is the science of sciences and the art of arts – that is the wisdom of the fathers. In comparison to our worldly formation, how deeply do we penetrate the treasure of their teachings?
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:08:59 FrDavid Abernethy: Step 26 page 190
 
00:09:18 FrDavid Abernethy: On discernment of thoughts, passions and virtues
 
00:14:54 Sean: Isaac's awesome.
 
00:15:02 Art: Isaac the Syrian or Life of Repentance and Purity
 
00:15:32 Vanessa: Replying to "Isaac's awesome."
 
Agreed!
 
00:16:19 Sean: Replying to "Isaac's awesome."
 
I'm reading it a second time right now, slowly and listening to the old podcast.
 
00:25:21 Sean: #4. Why would one fall into disbelief upon seeing the supernatural? I would think it would lead one to believe in something more than oneself.
 
00:25:46 Vanessa: Reacted to "I'm reading it a sec..." with 👍
 
00:44:59 Sean: It's interesting that he links soul and mind in #11, which he also does in #8. These two are usually seen as separate or at least distinct, with the soul being pure. It's like the mind reflects the soul and the soul can go toward either good or bad.
 
01:00:22 Sean: pleasures = mud in the story, I would think.
 
01:18:43 Greg Chura: Thank you, Father!
 
01:19:52 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:19:53 mflory: Thank you, Father!
 
01:19:54 Jeff O.: thank you!
 
01:20:26 Jeff O.: Palamas!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXV: On Humility, Part V

Tonight we concluded our reading of step 25 on humility. I have no other way to describe my experience of reading this step other than the fact that it makes something within the heart leap for joy. For over the past months, what we have been shown is that humility is not simply a virtue that one strives to attain but rather a kind of truthful living that acknowledges God as the source of all. 
Beyond that, however, we are shown that humility is part of the very essence of God that has been revealed to us through the incarnation.  God shows himself as Holy Humility.  In loving us, God comes down to us and takes our life, our identity, our burden upon himself. The sense of lack and incompleteness at the very heart of our lives is filled by the God who comes to us and gives himself to us. 
Humility is so often presented to us as a kind of self hatred; whereas, in reality, it allows us to see not simply our weakness and our sin but the love of God with perfect clarity. Above all, St. John tells, us we should strive for humility. It is the narrow way. One must acknowledge one’s smallness in order to receive and participate in the greatness of the love of the one who created us. What better means do we have to do so than the Feast of the Nativity - unto us and child is born!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:56:01 Sharon Fisher: Backing up a bit — the fasts can be harmful, physically. I’ve experienced and know of others who had negative physical effects trying to do the prescribed thing. Yet, I haven’t had a priest directly suggest that it can be modified as necessary — but they say it’s not to be taken legalistically.
 
01:04:12 Ambrose Little, OP: Transfers liquid from one container to another
 
01:04:38 Ambrose Little, OP: Sucks you up into heaven. 🙂
 
01:04:40 Art: carries a liquid from a higher level up and over a barrier and then down to a lower level
 
01:04:49 Mitch: “Waterspout” in the translation in front of me
 
01:04:52 Sean: I thought of it as like a tornado sucking one up to heavan
 
01:10:14 Victor: Reacted to "I thought of it as l…" with 👍
 
01:11:06 Victor: Thanks, Father. Merry Christmas to all! 🎄💐
 
01:11:11 Daniel Allen: What’s interesting to me is that it seems all other virtues do not by nature exclude pride, a type of natural perfection, only humility excludes pride and why it’s the only virtue that cannot be imitated by the demons as John said. But the difference is that all other virtues can be beautifully acquired, while humility is only received by acknowledgment of our own lack. Our own lack of other virtues even. Does that make sense? If so, while humility may be the God like virtue it is also terrifying.
 
01:11:25 Brian L: Reacted to I thought of it as l... with "👍"
 
01:11:46 Jeff O.: Reacted to "What’s interesting t..." with 👍
 
01:11:48 Vanessa: Reacted to "What’s interesting t..." with 👍
 
01:15:42 Art: Merry Christmas everyone!!
 
01:15:43 Lorraine Green: Merry Christmas!  Thank you Father
 
01:15:45 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Happy Christmas everyone🙂
 
01:15:48 Ambrose Little, OP: 🎄
 
01:15:48 mflory: Thank you, Father! Merry Christmas!
 
01:15:48 Jeff O.: Merry Christmas! Thank you
 
01:15:49 TFredman: Thank you, Merry Christmas everyone!
 
01:15:51 Deiren: Merry Christmas father and everyone!
 
01:15:58 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Blessed Christmas!
 
01:16:01 Mitch: Merry Christmas!! Thankyou very much
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis II, Part II

The stories of the humility of the Saints and monks described in The Evergetinos can be hard to stomach. But if we consume them with the spirit of faith and the desire for God, they will nourish us to everlasting life. 
All of them point us to Christ himself - the prototype and standard of all virtue. We are ever so fortunate. It is amazing when you slow down and hear the story, read out loud how impactful it can be. When we can let go of our own critical spirit, when we can suspend judgment and simply allow ourselves to listen with faith then often we come to understand something astounding. 
As is so often the case in The Evergetinos, we see that embodying the virtue of Christ, living the gospel concretely, has the capacity to work miracles, to raise the dead, and to give enliven faith within the hearts of others. May the gift of these stories take root in our hearts and produce fruit that is pleasing to God!
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Text of chat during the group:
00:09:30 FrDavid Abernethy: page 23 letter B
 
00:27:30 sharonfisher: Was he relieved of the obligation to tithe or was his tired refused? I don’t think I understand.
 
00:27:51 sharonfisher: *Or was his tithe refused
 
00:36:25 Louise: Could we say that, to be made humble, Peter was made to renounce Jesus Christ 3 times as predicted by Our Lord? The proud Peter humiliated himself tremendously by doing so.
 
00:37:53 Steve Yu: Reacted to "Could we say that, t…" with 👍
 
00:52:35 Sean: Interesting how the one knew about the scheme by 'spiritual insight'. Isaac the Syrian calls that teoria or basically the soul's knowing, in other words he got this info not by hearing or the body's senses.
 
01:04:31 Steve Yu: It seems so ironic to me that humiliation can bring us closer to God, and yet (speaking for myself), something that I try to avoid by instinct. It’s as if some of my instincts are programmed against growing closer to Him.
 
01:05:15 Sheila Applegate: I love this story. The humility to say, "yes, I am a corrupt, sinful person" but, "no, I do not reject God." Even in that horrid weakness of soul.
 
01:11:30 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father, good night
 
01:11:43 mflory: Wonderful! Thank you, Father!
 
01:11:44 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXV: On Humility, Part IV

It is impossible to capture in words the joy that sweeps over the heart when one comes to understand what St. John Climacus is revealing to us about the nature of humility. In this step, he strips away all of our limited, false, or distorted perceptions of humility and reveals it for what it is: a gift of God‘s own self. 
After reading Step 25 our understanding of humility is forever changed. We are shown that God reveals the nature of humility by revealing himself to us in his Son. “Humility is Christ’s spiritual doctrine,” St. John tells us.  “It is introduced into the inner chamber of the soul by those who are counted worthy of it. It cannot be defined by perceptible words.”  Rather, by the grace of God, the heart is purified of the passions and all impediments are removed to our receiving God’s gifts. One of the greatest of those gifts is humility. 
This virtue is a participation in the life of God. Whatever we might lose of honor or dignity in the world is nothing in comparison to the joy that Christ offers us through this virtue.  “He who humbles himself will be exalted”.  We may feel that we are falling into an abyss and losing our identity as we let go of our attachment to the things of this world. However, what we are falling into is actually the abyss of God‘s love. We are letting go of the false self in order that we might be immersed in He who is meaning, He who is truth, He who is reality! 
What joy should be ours, St. John tells us: “By this shall all men know that we are God’s disciples, not because the devils are subject to us, but because our names are written in the Heaven of Humility.”
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Text of chat during the group:
00:08:00 FrDavid Abernethy: page 185 number 32
 
00:12:50 Anthony Rago: Fr Christopher Zugger 2 Vol History of Byzantine Catholic Church published by Byzantine Seminary Press
 
00:34:18 Anthony Rago: This is where nietzche's emphasis of will is important for us
 
00:35:31 Louise: I resonate with this definition of humility - we owe everything to God. I resonate see less to humility as defined in the Evergetinos as a self-deprecation. The former focuses about God, while the latter focuses on self.
 
00:40:39 Daniel Allen: How does this conversation about self a basement and not hatred factor in with John talking about the prison
earlier?
 
00:50:50 Anthony Rago: Oh, so to grasp at humility - to be avaricious for it - is masochism?  For all good things are actually gifts,  not seized upon like a miser?
 
00:53:37 Jacqulyn: Amen!
 
00:57:22 Suzanne: According to this understanding, humility, like contemplation, requires that we wait for God. “Expect the Lord, do manfully, let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.”
 
01:00:09 Sean: Are views, the like button and thumbs up the modern methods of mass vainglory?
 
01:03:27 mflory: I think the story about Symeon is from the Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers. In the translation that I have, he is called Simon.
 
01:03:44 Suzanne: Replying to "Are views, the like ..."
 
Yes!
 
01:03:58 Cindy Moran: I studied 3 yrs with Fr Van Kaam &  Dr susan Muto
 
01:05:40 Nypaver Clan: Is it open to the public now?
 
01:06:51 Cindy Moran: This is so exciting!!
 
01:07:04 Jeff O.: Reacted to "I think the story ab..." with 👍
 
01:13:18 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:30 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
 
01:13:31 Lorraine Green: God bless you, thank you Father
 
01:13:31 Louise: Thanks, Fr.!
 
01:13:38 Suzanne: Thank you
 
01:13:54 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father!
 
01:14:03 Victor Haburchak: Thanks
 
01:14:07 Cindy Moran: Great session!! Thank you Father!
 
01:14:11 Leilani Nemeroff: Thanks!
 
01:14:13 mflory: Thank you, Father
 
01:14:15 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXV: On Humility, Part III

The language that St. John Climacus uses to describe humility and its qualities is striking. In fact, in some ways it becomes unsettling. Unsettling - - because we often approach humility in an abstract fashion; as thinking little of ourselves, acknowledging our poverty and our sin. 
What we discover in John’s writing is that humility is of the very essence of God and how God has revealed himself to us. To grow in this virtue is to find ourselves entering into the abyss of God‘s love. As we fall in our own estimation, we are in reality falling into the love and mercy of God. St. John describes humility as the “door to the kingdom”. It is the same way that Christ describes himself. “I am the door.“ Christ is humility and to be conformed to him, to enter into a union of love with him, is to pass into the very pasture of paradise. 
Thus, to enter into the monastic life or the Christian life through any other door is to make ourselves thieves and robbers of our own life. In other words, it is to seek to seize for ourselves what only comes to us as a gift from God. While we were still enemies of God, he took our flesh and its burden upon himself, he humbled himself and became obedient in order that we might share in the fullness of his life. As those so redeemed, what other path could we dare travel?
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Text of chat during the group:
00:06:42 FrDavid Abernethy: page 182
 
00:11:55 Suzanne: Amore, Amore!!!
 
00:28:12 Anthony Rago: Didn't St Paul say he didn't even judge himself?
 
00:35:38 Suzanne: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore him.
 
00:36:17 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: The idea of humility of heart will be on the lips, reminds me that it seems to me when I say she or he or you "made me" angry, etc., it's not so much about the other but God shining the light on where He wants to work with me on humility or other aspects of theosis. No one made me but merely revealed where I need God's touch of humility or healing.
 
00:37:38 Jeff O.: Reacted to "The idea of humility..." with 👍
 
00:38:05 Suzanne: Reacted to "The idea of humility..." with ❤️
 
00:44:53 Suzanne: My take home from what I’ve studied with you so far, is that humility is a great grace, and a participation of God, and not something we can attain solely by our own effort. We do best to work to dispose ourselves to receive it.
 
00:47:03 Cindy Moran: How would St John Climacus advise us to ask for a raise?...Or just don't do it.
 
00:47:23 Rebecca Thérèse: The chasm between the holiness of God and fallen humanity is so great, it's impossible not to be humble once someone has perceived it
 
00:49:20 Suzanne: Reacted to "How would St John Cl..." with 😂
 
00:49:53 Cindy Moran: Yes I'm serious
 
00:49:55 Suzanne: Reacted to "The chasm between th..." with 👍
 
00:58:16 Anthony Rago: I believe a post Communion prayer by St Basil the Great, in the Teal Ruthenian Book, asks God that the Holy Body and Blood be for the healing of our feelings or emotions.
 
01:03:31 Sean: from St.Basil's post communion Prayer: O Lord who love us all, you died and rose for our sake; and you have given us these awesome and life-creating mysteries for the benefit and sanctification of our souls and bodies. Grant that they may bring about the healing of my soul and body; the defeat of every enemy; the enlightenment of the eyes of my heart; the calming of my thoughts and emotions; a faith that cannot be confounded; a love that does not pretend; a wisdom that overflows; the full observance of your commandments; the increase of your divine grace; and citizenship in your kingdom. Being preserved in your holiness by them, I will remember your love at all times.
 
01:05:09 Anthony Rago: Reacted to from St.Basil's post... with "❤️"
 
01:05:20 Sean: yes
 
01:05:33 Daniel Allen: I get seeing the good in others and not seeking to lift oneself up in comparison to others, but if we examine ourselves constantly or even too often, how do we avoid become neurotic? How do we examine ourselves constantly and remain gentle tand patient to ourselves?
 
01:06:03 Suzanne: I wonder if a sign of growing humility is the subsiding of hair trigger emotional reactions to things people say.
 
01:13:12 Ambrose Little, OP: From Unseen Warfare: ‘If a man does not rely on himself but puts his trust in God, when he falls he is not greatly surprised and is not overcome with excessive grief, for he knows that it is the result of his own impotence, and, above all, of the weakness of his trust in God. So his downfall increases his distrust of himself and makes him try all the harder to increase and deepen his humble trust in God.’
 
Seems like part of not getting down on ourselves and anxious/neurotic is accepting that we are weak and allowing God to fill our weakness with His power.
 
01:14:34 Suzanne: Reacted to "From Unseen Warfare:..." with ❤️
 
01:15:37 Cindy Moran: My apologies if my question seemed flippant about asking for a raise. I suppose that everyone knows now that I've never been able to do it in 60 years of my profession.
 
01:15:58 Jeff O.: Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain too
 
01:16:38 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father
 
01:18:09 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father
 
01:18:16 Suzanne: Thank you, Father, for your help!
 
01:18:56 Cindy Moran: Good night to all.
 
01:18:59 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:19:00 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:19:06 mflory: Beautiful! Thank you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXV: On Humility, Part II

It is a curious thing to be humbled by hearing a saint speak about humility. Yet, this is what happens. In and of itself, it reveals to us how far the human heart can be from grasping not only the nature of the virtue but what God has revealed to us in his only begotten Son. 
The Incarnation manifests to us this virtue in its full glory. The word of God, through whom all things have been created, becomes an infant, (infans), that is, “wordless one”. God draws back the veil in order that we might see and comprehend for ourselves the depth of His love and also the life and virtue that we are to embrace as those made in his image and likeness. To embrace Holy Humility, the very life of God, means to let go of our attachment to the things of this world or good deeds accomplished by our own hands. We begin to comprehend with greater clarity and firmness that all is Grace. 
To acknowledge this is to die to self and sin; it is, as John describes it, “reposing securely in the casket of modesty”. The humble heart becomes impervious and unmovable to the demons. As a quality of the Divine, it is not something that we can gauge in its perfection. John, however, works to help us understand its distinguishing characteristics.  One is struck by the fact that the humility of beginners is as different and distinct from the humility of the perfect as yeast and flour are from bread.  Purified by the fire of God‘s love it is freed from all of pride. This is something only God can reveal to us. 
God reveals himself to us in and through the gift of faith. We cannot approach him or the truth that he reveals with a consumerists mentality or seek to dissect these realities as we do with so many things in this world.  It is His light that reveals the depths of the human heart and it is His Spirit of Truth that draws us in the very depths of God.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:05:33 FrDavid Abernethy: page 181 number 4
 
00:09:25 David Swiderski: Have you heard about the Holy Resurrection Monestary in Wisconsin. They offer retreats but I just was wondering if they are worthwhile?
 
00:10:17 Jake: I was there for 3 days, it was a great retreat
 
00:14:07 Cindy Moran: Antiochian village?
 
00:36:57 Sharon Fisher: How does one try to take this step if a spouse or close friend doesn’t welcome the transformation we intend to make? You can’t just cut them off; you can be sincere in faith and not burden them with it until they see the (positive) change?
 
00:37:40 Carol: this discussion reminds me of Isadora from Evergetinos
 
00:38:32 Carol: and the indignities she embraced
 
00:38:58 Daniel Allen: It’s startling that the beginning is acceptance of indignity, I tend to see that as the end - or the perfected state. Yet, John says it is the first property. And that’s something.
 
00:39:52 Suzanne: Why is it that as long as we are alone with God at home, we maintain peace of soul and continuous prayer, but as soon as we get into conversations with others, our restraint goes out the window? For example, I got sucked into a discussion about politics earlier today, and I was unable to detect and prevent anger from arising inside me - ultimately my words took on an angry tone, and I said words I now regret. It’s like all I accomplished this morning with God was stolen from me. Basically, when tested, I fail.
 
00:40:38 Jeff O.: Reacted to "It’s startling that ..." with 👍
 
00:43:14 Suzanne: Replying to "It’s startling that ..."
 
Interesting.
 
00:43:29 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: It seems that within humility there is recognizing that God loves me, in a breathless way. When I'm around someone who genuinely loves me, I tend to love myself more when I'm with them. Feeling loved and loving myself without condemnation. it seems, helps me accept my weakness and need for God. Humility, then, becomes a natural honesty that helps me put down my defenses of my ego and let God do whatever is necessary to make me like Him and united to Him. Then, denying myself and carrying the cross I recognize to be therapeutic and seems to be the most reasonable and honest thing to do.
 
00:44:54 Sharon Fisher: Replying to "Why is it that as lo..."
 
Same here. Just recently, too. And frequently, too . . .
 
00:45:23 Anthony Rago: Replying to "Why is it that as lo..." 
 
 Suzanne, my studies ...
 
00:45:28 Daniel Allen: I haven’t read her diary but the diary of Elizabeth Liseur may be a good concrete example of what it looks like for one to be trying to live the faith while another one isn’t at all, and how to do that faithfully.
 
00:46:14 Suzanne: Reacted to "Same here. Just rece..." with ❤️
 
00:46:36 Suzanne: Reacted to "Suzanne, my studies ..." with ❤️
 
00:46:51 Anthony Rago: Replying to "Why is it that as lo..." 
 
 Suzanne I wouldn't t...
 
00:48:02 Suzanne: Replying to "Why is it that as lo..."
 
Fall, and get back up. Never stop.
 
00:52:04 Sharon Fisher: Replying to "Why is it that as lo..."
 
Proverbs 24:16!
 
00:55:28 Sharon Fisher: Reacted to "Suzanne, my studies ..." with ❤️
 
00:55:37 Kevin Burke: Reacted to "Suzanne, my studies …" with ❤️
 
00:57:57 Suzanne: Reacted to "Proverbs 24:16!" with ❤️
 
00:59:18 Sharon Fisher: Replying to "How does one try to ..."
 
Followup to the discussion: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).
 
01:06:45 Sean: Stephen Hawking: "If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason—for then we would know the mind of God." That always struck me as hubris.
 
01:07:15 Anthony Rago: Also in regard to not prying into mysteries, does this apply to the errors of heretics? And does it apply to the orthodox whose censures might have caused more harm than good (ex. The way we used anathema which had the effect of alienating whole peoples)?
 
01:09:51 Patrick Caruso: In step 25:7, he says the highest degree includes 'a constant desire to learn'. However in Step 24:29 he says 'If knowledge puffs up most people, simplicity and a lack of learning can perhaps in the same measure humble them.' Is he saying that the path of knowledge is to first learn to be simple through perhaps a lack of learning to bring about true knowledge via humility and only then will we be capable of a purified desire to learn?
 
01:12:53 Suzanne: I’ve been putting into practice lately, taking all my thoughts to God. It’s really powerful, and it’s leading me to actually speak with Him quietly and intimately about past sins. I sense that there is a deep pride that causes us to withdraw from His gaze, and refuse to reflect upon our sins in His holy sight. Yet He has shown me that He is ardently ready and willing to discuss my sin with me, and make me understand His Providence. This, I think, is going to lead to humility in my soul.
 
01:15:33 Anthony Rago: Reacted to I’ve been putting in... with "❤️"
 
01:15:50 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Reacted to "I’ve been putting in..." with ❤️
 
01:17:06 Suzanne: I so appreciate your help!
 
01:17:59 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father excellent session
 
01:18:03 Sean: prayers and gratitude Father
 
01:18:04 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father, good night
 
01:18:05 mflory: Thank you!
 
01:18:06 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:18:14 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:18:28 Sharon Fisher: And with your spirit!
 
01:18:29 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father!
 
01:18:31 David Swiderski: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIV: On Meekness, Part IV and XXV: On Humility, Part I

Elder Porphyrios wrote “whoever wants to be a Christian must first become a poet”.  I mention this because the truth of it plays out in St. John’s writing tonight on humility. One indeed must become a poet - one who has the capacity to capture the deepest of mysteries with a few words. 
However, what we see in St. John’s writings is that even this capacity fails us when we begin to speak about “Holy Humility” - our call to participate in the very life and virtue of God;  “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”We must become docile; that is, teachable in the most radical fashion. There must be a willingness on our part to let go of all conceit, prudence, and cunning. What is being spoken of is not simply a natural virtue, but a participation in the divine. It is that which can only be understood through experience. 
Such a path will always be challenging because it means letting go of our perception of reality, even religious reality. As God draws us into greater intimacy with himself, we are called to walk along the dark and obscure path of faith. This faith is a kind of knowing, but it is dark and obscure because it is beyond the limitations of intellect, reason, and imagination. To experience God “as he is in himself” means to let go of the boundaries, the foot holds, and the crutches that we have used to move forward in our understanding. It can be a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God: Fearful, precisely, because it means letting go of reality as we have known it. 
We can feel as though we are being brought to the edge of insanity and so St. John warns us that we must let go of prudence and its delusion. Prudence often masks a lack of courage. It is a human wisdom that tells us, warns us, not to go to extremes. In this sense, it is good. Yet, it can also be deadly to true faith. It can cripple us with fear and make us choose the path of safety, rather than entrusting ourselves wholly to God.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:25 FrDavid Abernethy: Step 24 number 27 page 179
 
00:15:25 Suzanne: Moment of silence for that pie! Yum!!
 
00:15:32 Sean: home made cranberry is killer
 
00:15:44 Suzanne: Replying to "home made cranberry ..."
 
Just made mine!
 
00:31:20 Anthony Rago: The submission of Christians and Muslims who lost children recently in the Holy Land is a concrete example of carrying a cross.
 
00:32:13 Anthony Rago: They take it so graciously
 
00:40:34 Sharon Fisher: Could it be like being wishy-washy,  choosing no path?
 
00:41:02 Cindy Moran: My version reads "cleverness" instead of prudence
 
00:43:35 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: The reading on our calendar for today was to leave 99 to find one. That doesn't seem prudent
 
00:44:33 Carol: the widow with the 2 mites is imprudent too
 
00:57:50 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Over the years, I have at times imitated humility, but never acquired it. I depend on God to grant me humility as His gift and I hope asceticism and prayer helps me recognize and receive it.
 
01:00:48 Suzanne: Reacted to "Over the years, I ha..." with ❤️
 
01:01:10 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Sounds like you're saying becoming humble is becoming like Christ. Part of theosis.
 
01:01:13 Santiago Bua: Before humillity is a decision is a prayer for. Greetings from Argentina
 
01:01:16 Louise: Humility baffles me. Maybe humility is something like ''I do not know.
Only God knows.'' In contrast, pride would be ''I know better than God.''
 
01:02:48 Sam: This also reminds me of the need for humility acceptance of spiritual direction as many have fallen along the path to asceticism where pride cones and destroys the child like humility needed through spiritual direction and discernment  of guidance or advice
 
01:04:57 Sean: I practise humility e.g. stepping aside on a narrow walkng path, allowing the other to pass easily or waiting patiently in line saying the Jesus praayer and avoiding the thoughts of 'I'm in a hurry, come on'. I don't know if that makes me humble or making just faking it til i make it.
 
01:05:03 Alexandra K: You recognize your own pride when you are not looking for humility and it comes to you right in your face.
 
01:06:59 Christian Corulli: Are there some points in the spiritual life where we need a spiritual director to grow in humility further?
 
01:08:09 Louise: I am concerned about the diabolic trap of euthanasia offered to people in Canada. Individuals choosing ''medical assistance in dying'' or MAIDS, as part of the ''human dignity to chose,'' are basically saying to God, ''I decide when I die, not You! I chose not to suffer.'' I am afraid that they can only end up in hell. What would the Desert Fathers say?
 
01:13:49 Anthony Rago: I enjoy a particular craft. To really know it, I have to stop reading, stop being distracted by other crafts, and just work, interacting with the metal and tools. In experiencing this vocation it's an analogy to discovering God. You just have to quit the inaction, focus, and do it....and you grow without fixation on laws, on control, on growing.  You just do, and the beauty (& truth & goodness) comes.
 
01:16:53 Suzanne: Thank you, Father, and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
 
01:17:00 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: Reacted to "Thank you, Father, a..." with 🙏🏼
 
01:17:08 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father
 
01:17:21 sue and mark: Thank you.  Happy Thanksgiving.
 
01:17:41 mflory: Thank you!
 
01:17:42 Art: Happy Thanksgiving to all!
 
01:17:46 Sharon Fisher: And to your spirit! Thank you!!
 
01:17:55 Cindy Moran: Happy Thanksgiving Father! Thank you for great session
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIV: On Meekness, Part III

Guile.  It is rarely a word that is used in our day; nor one which we use to examine our own minds and hearts. Yet, as St. John describes it, guile has an impact upon our vision of life, God, ourselves, and others. Our vision becomes wholly distorted and perverted. While guile is a kind of intelligence - it is sly and cunning. Understanding, then, is used to manipulate others and circumstances for one’s own benefit. This in turn creates an aversion to humility and repentance. The pretense of religion and religiosity begins to prevail in a person’s life. Reverence and piety becomes a sham.  One becomes diabolical, and they use what is good in order to commit evil. It creates within the human heart a love of sin and so makes an individual the companion of the devil. 
We are to live upright lives; that is, we are stand upright with our eyes fixed forward toward the life that God has made possible for us. How often we choose the path of beasts; our eyes directed downwards towards the things of this world and the satisfaction of our own appetites. The mind and the heart become sick and incapable of seeing the truth - so deeply have they sunk into the abyss of this unholy cunning.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:17:26 Celine Fournier: Hello I am new to the zoom.
 
00:18:12 FrDavid Abernethy: page 178 para 20
 
00:18:44 Walter Viola: First time attending. Been following via YouTube for a year.
 
00:29:39 David Swiderski: Wouldnt this be what we call today sociopaths? Often highly intelligent but are only able to see this benefits me now and this does not. There is no empathy or concept of a right and wrong. Working with excecutives in several pulbic companies I am convinced this is abnormally high in that group.
 
00:30:46 Louise: Guile seems to be the modus vivendi of psychopaths, or people I call satanic souls.
 
00:30:59 Kevin Burke: What is meant by “hindrance to resurrection?”
 
00:31:19 sue and mark: how would gaslighters come into play with this?
 
00:31:20 Anthony Rago: Yesterdays Gospel mentioned guile. Christ addresses Nathaniel as an Israelite in whom is no guile, is that to show he was outstanding in a crowd of people with guile? Or is it that he is an excellent specimen of a crowd of honest people? And what does that have to do with sitting under the fig tree?
 
00:32:38 Louise: If you meet one, go away, leave the scene ASAP.
 
00:36:02 Louise: Could we say that the ones are the bad seeds, the weeds?
 
00:36:49 Louise: ''he guile ones''
 
00:38:17 Carol: do you think guile can exist more subtly in the hearts of all of us
 
00:39:38 Maureen Cunningham: Guile is when you plan to hurt another soul.
 
00:44:01 Daniel Allen: Not to change texts but this makes me think of the wisdom of St Isaac, “above all things love silence”. I tend to regret my words more than biting my tongue
 
00:44:37 Anthony Rago: This is why Jansenism was so serious. Pure as angels; Proud as devils
 
00:46:47 Maureen Cunningham: I did see that movie
 
00:47:06 Cindy Moran: Love that movie
 
00:48:32 Louise: What is the name again?
 
00:48:38 Cindy Moran: Jennifer Jones
 
00:48:40 Rod Castillo: Jennifer Jones
 
00:48:52 Rod Castillo: Song of Bernadette
 
01:00:30 Louise: Father, we lost you.
 
01:00:36 Cindy Moran: Frozen
 
01:03:09 David Swiderski: A priest in Spain explained this well to me. All churches are filled with stainglass windows of the saints who let the light of God enter into our lives. By struggling we slowly clean our own windows and dark stains to let the light of God to enter into this world and our communities.
 
01:17:26 Maureen Cunningham: If we are always looking at what is bad in us ? In the same way can gaze at how far we have come closer to Him
 
01:20:59 Cindy Moran: Fun fact: Jennifer Jones was married to movie mogul studio film executive David O. Selznick [Gone With the Wind] who was born here in Pittsburgh
 
01:21:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:28 Lorraine Green: Thank you very much, Father
 
01:21:37 sue and mark: Thank you
 
01:21:40 Celine Fournier: Thank you
 
01:21:49 Louise: Thanks, Fr.
 
01:22:23 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father
 
01:22:24 mflory: Thanks you very much, Father!
 
01:22:31 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:22:41 David Swiderski: May God bless you father! Thank you.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIV: On Meekness, Part II

To be simple, guileless, and meek are described by St. John as a habit of soul. Habits form deeply over the course of time and those that we form through negligence in our relationship with God are often very difficult to change. In fact, it would be better to say that they are changed only by the grace of God. 
What would our life look like if our speech was unpremeditated? What would our relationships look like if we were free from ulterior motives? To look upon others only with love and to live in the truth through humility is to reshape our experience and vision of reality. Suddenly we begin to see things (and more importantly others) as God sees them. We can look upon the other and be blind to their natural faults or defects as well as their sins. We return to a kind of holy innocence and purity of heart were we never lose sight of the beauty of God’s creation and most especially the beauty of the human person. To give oneself to God is to find within the capacity to give oneself to others, to love without measure, to serve without calculation. May God make it so!
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Text of chat during the group:
00:11:21 FrDavid Abernethy: page 177 para 10
 
00:19:16 Victor Haburchak: Jesus was often angry with the Pharisees & scribes.
 
00:36:58 Kate : I find that my attempts at simplicity of life can become rather complex in trying to let go of things in my life.  I am flooded with distractions that “seem” necessary at the time but later I realize it was a temptation away from simplicity.  I find it hard to navigate towards simplicity.  The complexity of simplicity!
 
00:41:10 Lee Graham: Reacted to "I find that my attem…" with ❤️
 
00:43:48 Daniel Allen: That’s me I always want another book and read say 7 at a time. Then I read from St Isaac today that not every good book is beneficial for stillness (or simplicity). Even the good things, in this case a quest for knowledge and understanding, can actually be a distraction.
 
00:45:55 Kate : Thank you, Father!  You cut through the complexity for me.  Union with God.
 
00:46:07 Anthony Rago: Some of it you learn by experience
 
00:46:17 Jeff O.: Reacted to "That’s me I always w..." with 👍
 
00:46:34 Rory: Reacted to That’s me I always w... with "👍"
 
00:46:46 Rory: Reacted to Some of it you learn... with "👍"
 
00:47:34 Victor Haburchak: Reacted to "That’s me I always w…" with 👍
 
00:59:04 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: I've often been struck by this saying: It was said of Abba Macarius the Great that he became, according
to the writings, a god on earth, because in the way God protects the world, so Abba Macarius would hide the faults he saw as though he had not seen them, and the faults he heard about as though he had not heard of them.
Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Macari us the Egyptian 3 2 (PG 6 5 ,
273)
 
01:01:55 Daniel Allen: That’s strikingly beautiful
 
01:03:50 Victor Haburchak: Replying to "I've often been stru…"
Like the Seal of Confession
 
01:05:05 Victor Haburchak: My pastor often speaks about respecting boundaries
 
01:06:22 Jeff O.: Reacted to "I've often been stru..." with 💙
 
01:08:55 Victor Haburchak: Reacted to "I've often been stru…" with 💙
 
01:11:31 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:11:38 Victor Haburchak: Thanks!
 
01:11:44 Art: Thank you.
 
01:11:50 sue and mark: Thank you.
 
01:12:07 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father!
 
01:12:19 Maureen Cunningham: Blessings Praying  for all
 
01:12:24 Louise: Thanks, Fr. Abernathy!
 
01:12:28 Jeff O.: thank you!!
 
01:12:28 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father
 
01:12:39 David Swiderski: Thank you father!