Season 7

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
---
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.
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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!
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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.
---
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.
---
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.
---
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!
---
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.
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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!
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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!
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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?
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIII: On Pride, Part V and Chapter XXIV: On Meekness, Part I

“We are reading to fast!”  This is typically something that we would never say about our study groups. However, as we sit at the feet of St. John Climacus, we come to the realization that we could sit with a single saying for months on end and not fail to be nourished. 
We concluded our discussion of Step 23 and the difficulty with blasphemous thoughts. The evil one in his envy will seek to distract us with blasphemous thoughts that come like a flash of lightning before the mind. Our one response should be to lay this great burden upon the Lord, to entrust it to him, knowing that it comes not from our hearts but from the malice of the evil one. 
In Step 24 Saint John begins to discuss meekness, simplicity, and guilelessness. As Saint John begins to define it for us, we suddenly experience ourselves as moving too briskly. Meekness is an “unchangeable state of mind, a rock overlooking the sea of anger”. These thoughts alone are enough to alter our view of this great virtue. In the face of the chaos of living in a fallen world or the experience of the hatred and anger of others, meekness becomes a buttress that is unshakable and keeps us from being swept away by touchiness of mind or irritability of heart. Meekness creates the desire for simplicity; to create a place where the Lord will find rest within us. It allows us to maintain dominion over our heart by the simple act of mortifying the intellect and private judgment. In the weeks to come, may we linger along with these thoughts and come to desire this great virtue.
 
---
 
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:01:31 Suzanne: Hello! Happy Feast of All Saints!!
 
00:01:39 FrDavid Abernethy: to you as well!
 
00:01:54 FrDavid Abernethy: page 175 para 47
 
00:03:02 Suzanne: Look! The West gets it! From Vespers for All Saints:
 
00:03:09 Suzanne: Choréa casta vírginum,
Et quos erémus íncolas
Transmísit astris, cǽlitum
Locáte nos in sédibus.
 
00:03:52 Suzanne: And the Antiphon from the Magnifcat:
 
00:03:58 Suzanne: Ángeli, * Archángeli, Throni et Dominatiónes, Principátus et Potestátes, Virtútes cælórum, Chérubim atque Séraphim, Patriárchæ et Prophétæ, sancti legis Doctóres, Apóstoli, omnes Christi Mártyres, sancti Confessóres, Vírgines Dómini, Anachorítæ, Sanctíque omnes, intercédite pro nobis.
 
00:04:23 Sean: I tried to find it, it's out of 'print', no luck
 
00:06:44 Rachel: ty
 
00:09:26 FrDavid Abernethy: page 175 para 47
 
00:14:59 Art: Hello TY and same to you!
 
00:25:05 Louise: In my culture of origin, in Quebec, Canada, the French-Canadians swear with the names of God and the Eucharist, even psychologists in supervision with me. I ask them to not do so, but they relapse after a while. I thus decided to offer, inwardly, my apologies to Christ when they swear. Can I do something else?
 
00:25:55 Louise: I would have to exclude them all.
 
00:28:38 David Swiderski: When I lived in Spain the same issue most swears blasphemous. I was a teacher so just joked wow you need a thesaurs and have a limited and very poor vocabulary. It seemed to work and get a laugh.
 
00:31:47 Suzanne: equanimity
 
00:33:05 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Learn of Me, for I am meek and
humble in heart. It seems, then, that depending on Christ and becoming like Christ transforms us into being humble. So, it seems like it's part of the process of theosis. Is this so?
 
00:33:37 sharonfisher: How can insecurity be transformed to meekness? I guess I’m asking how to display the strength I feel in Jesus Christ, but the body belies.
 
00:34:30 Anthony Rago: Something that helps me deal with anger -and bad thoughts - is that any bad thought against a man really reflects on the Lord,  the ne Adanm. And any bad thought against a woman really reflects on our Lady, the ideal of a woman. I don't like that so it helps keep the interior life in check, to dash the infants of evil thoughts against the rocks.
 
00:38:02 sharonfisher: Replying to "How can insecurity b..."
 
Thank you - I think my question was more self-centered (ie, not appropriate!)
 
00:38:38 David Swiderski: On my door to my room I have a quote which I see when I leave and when I go to bed- (In loving one another, God in us made flesh). I often find I fall short at night but seem more careful the next day.
 
00:40:08 sharonfisher: Reacted to "On my door to my roo..." with ❤️
 
00:40:58 Daniel Allen: This conversation about meekness makes me think of “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent carry it away” which is very much not being a doormat. So it’s a matter of that violence being directed towards biting our own tongue (or what have you) and not against another.
 
00:45:09 Suzanne: Fr. Ripperger talks about demons putting negative perspectives on things that are pure illusions, and that get us angry.
 
00:46:38 Ashley Kaschl: To Suzanne’s point, it’s the cogitative power of the brain that Fr. R talks about, which makes associations, and is why asking
the Lord to protect our faculties is so important 😁
 
00:47:06 Suzanne: Amen Ashley!
 
00:49:31 sharonfisher: There, that is what I was trying to convey — I feel peace, but the passions and fears overtake. So how to slow or reduce the effect of the physical body that reacts. Apologies if I’m not clear.
 
00:51:28 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Meekness as an unmoveable rock, is strength, and much different than the connotation of meekness as self-effacement and highly flexible that I'm used to in our society. that's helpful
 
00:53:07 Louise: To help myself not engage in frustrations, angry reactions, etc. I am at times gently reminded by God (I believe) to say, ''May Thy will be done.'' If it comes from God, it is then OK by me.
 
00:53:52 sharonfisher: Reacted to "To help myself not e..." with ❤️
 
00:54:10 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: This strength makes more sense that Moses, the leader and prophet of Israel, could be called the meekest of men.
 
00:55:48 Suzanne: The actor who played Nectarios wonderfully portrayed the strain and violence - yet tempered with real interior peace and steadfastness - experienced in the practice of the virtue of meekness. Also the deep sadness that oppresses the soul in the face of sad injustice.
 
01:02:46 Anthony Rago: Italian temper here. I've literally seen red.
 
01:02:59 Suzanne: Reacted to "Italian temper here...." with 😂
 
01:03:29 Suzanne: Eh Rago!! Romano here!!
 
01:03:47 Anthony Rago: Reacted to Eh Rago!! Romano her... with "❤️"
 
01:10:11 Ashley Kaschl: I think I could contemplate these last handful of paragraphs for months if not years! But could we say that God’s meekness is also a facet of His mercy, too? To me, there seems to be not so much a reaching out from God in meekness but a “staying of His hand”, a resoluteness to endure our infidelity. If ever there was Someone worthy of being angry at being wronged, offended, or betrayed it is God and yet He waits and endures our wretchedness while not destroying us but offering us a way back to Him.
 
01:11:08 Suzanne: Reacted to "I think I could cont..." with ❤️
 
01:11:54 Lee Graham: Reacted to "I think I could cont…" with ❤️
 
01:14:49 Louise: Have a good ''All Saints Day''! Thanks Father!
 
01:15:13 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:20 Victor Haburchak: Thanks
 
01:15:20 Suzanne: Thank you so much for all the work you do!
 
01:15:24 David Swiderski: Thank you father! Have a blessed week!
 
01:15:35 sue and mark: thank you.
 
01:15:57 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:02 S Fisher: And with your spirit!
 
01:16:04 Jeff O.: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIII: On Pride, Part IV

Pride destroys the one thing that the spiritual person should desire - the  unfailing light in the eye of the heart. The ascetic life seeks to remove every impediment to our loving God and being faithful to his will. The moment that we are filled with conceit or self-esteem, our souls, despite having the illusion of wealth, come to know the greatest poverty and darkness. What appears beautiful on the outside is often foul and rotting within. Saint John tells us that a “proud monk has no need of a devil, he has become a devil and enemy to himself.” And so for all of us: Pride undermines every virtue and makes us vulnerable to the most cruel of foes. One is exposed to blasphemous thoughts, even at the time of worship. If we are not constantly reproaching ourselves for our sin and acknowledging our poverty before God, then the enemy draws close and begins to play with the mind and the heart by placing suggestions before us. The presence of these thoughts can lead a person into great despair and make them want to give off of prayer and the participation in the holy mysteries. Therefore, John exhorts us to continue praying to the end and not give up the fight even when we feel overcome. Our prayer must become ever more constant until such thoughts cease.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:02:06 Suzanne: Ave Maria!!!
 
00:11:02 FrDavid Abernethy: 172 para 26
 
00:11:37 Suzanne: Is there a link for the readings?
 
00:24:33 Anthony Rago: This is funny. I grow pomegranates and am not great at knowing when they are ripe. The color can be deceitful to a "newbie."
 
00:26:59 Maureen Cunningham: Sounds like a sport who could be the strongest  but only spiritual
 
00:32:40 Michael Hinckley: happens to me all the time.
 
00:36:02 Maureen Cunningham: I love that movie so true
 
00:41:32 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: 77777777777777777777
 
00:41:37 sharonfisher: I think of Jimmy Carter (not an a political sense) and his acceptance of God to take him when it’s his time. He seems to feel very comfortable with his end.
 
00:42:57 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: This translation says:  The man ensnared by pride will need God's help, since man is of no use to him.
 
00:45:39 Maureen Cunningham: It the opposite of the Holy Family
 
01:04:07 Suzanne: Would kneeling be the Western counterpart to prostrations?
 
01:09:22 David Swiderski: The prostrations are common in Jewish prayer as well. Early Spanish traditions sometimes one lays face first in the form of a cross similar to priest when ordained
 
01:10:13 Suzanne: In the Eastern Catholic Church, do the faithful stand during the Liturgy?
 
01:10:30 Michael Hinckley: you see it at or in TLM parishes at confession
 
01:11:33 Maureen Cunningham: In the Orthodox Church in Hawaii you stand and they touch the floor many times
 
01:11:45 sue and mark: Depending on the Adoration Chapel, you can frequently  see people prostrating themselves
 
01:11:54 Suzanne: Very interesting, thank you!
 
01:12:20 Anonymous Sinner: The touching of the floor is a symbolic reminder that we are dust, and to dust we shall return, and that it is only by the grace of God that do so while praying Alleluia
 
01:12:53 Michael Hinckley: Reacted to "The touching of the ..." with 👍
 
01:13:02 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:06 Louise: Thanks, Fr.!
 
01:13:07 David Swiderski: Thank you Father!
 
01:13:10 sharonfisher: And with your spirit!  Thank you!
 
01:13:21 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIII: On Pride, Part III

As we pour through the sayings of Saint John Climacus about pride and overcoming pride, what we see in the Evergetinos and its teaching on humility we see now in the Ladder’s teaching on pride. We are circling around something greater than just an idea. We circle around pride and look at its many facets in order to see how subtle the temptations often are to embrace the illusion that this vice puts before us. The devil will use every means to pull us away from the truth and truthful living. Therefore, Saint John wants us to see every manifestation of the pride in order that we also might apply the remedies that the fathers put before us. What becomes clear is the need for constant vigilance. We must not allow ourselves to lose sight of God and his mercy and grace or our poverty and sin. Everything good comes to us from the hand of God, and there is nothing that we can attribute to ourselves that is enduring. Christ is truth and so we must strive throughout the course of our entire life to avoid all falsehood. We must not succumb to the father of lies and so find ourselves in his grip or being his plaything. May God be our strength and source of invincible peace.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:26:07 sharonfisher: Maybe a dumb question, but I think of deification as something we acquire (gifted) at the end times. Are we to strive for deification in this worldly life?
 
00:28:06 Victor: Some theologians speak of realized & future eschatology (now & future).
 
00:31:20 sharonfisher: Thank you!
 
00:42:18 Ashley Kaschl: Comment for paragraph #19: I think this can be really true if we aren’t discerning. For example, I’ll throw myself under the bus 😂 
 
A priest and I were talking recently about how, before bed, I’ll sometimes get “carried away” by higher, theological thoughts and inspirations. And I’ll be drawn out of rest and end up awake for hours longer than I planned, which obviously makes me tired for the responsibilities the next day. This priest said, “it sounds like a distraction or a temptation.” And I hadn’t thought about that because I didn’t think about these beautiful things or contemplation of deeper truths I didn’t have time for during the day as devils in disguise to keep me from sleep. 
 
So when I tested this, sure enough, they went away when I prayed for deliverance if these seemingly good things were actually temptations/distractions from the great good of getting enough sleep.
 
00:44:40 Art: The sacrifice of the mass is greater than the sacrifice of a martyr.
 
01:06:15 Daniel Allen: It’s kind of like Lot. He had to be dragged out of Sodom by God, and even then when told to flee to the hills he asked to flee instead to a smaller city.
 
01:07:20 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Have a good retreat again!🙂
 
01:07:56 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!! 🙏
 
01:07:56 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing Father keep you in prayer I love the quotes on face book and instagram Thanks
 
01:08:07 sharonfisher: And with your spirit! I so appreciate your ability to bring clarity to the readings!
 
01:08:48 David Swiderski: Thank you father God bless you on the retreat!
 
01:09:03 David Swiderski: Thank you father God bless you on the retreat!
 
01:09:10 David Swiderski: Thank you father God bless you on the retreat!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIII: On Pride, Part II

“An arrogant man yearns for authority; he cannot, or rather, does not wish to perish utterly.“ In many ways, this one saying sums up our reflection this evening. When pride takes hold of an individual soul, one begins to move further and further away from God. Rather than “perish utterly” - that is, die to self and sin - one drives God from the mind and heart. The capacity to love diminishes, the desire to humiliate others increases, and, finally, our perception of reality is distorted beyond measure. It is for this reason that Saint John entitles this step “On Mad Pride“.  The more that we turn away from He who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the more that we turn away from He who is Meaning, the more we lose touch with reality. We become like the one who fell from heaven, the father of lies. We are drawn into the same darkness and inability to see not only the truth about our souls but also to see the depths of God’s love and compassion.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:02:44 FrDavid Abernethy: page 170 para number 2
 
00:15:21 TFredman: Have you heard from Ren? How is she doing?
 
00:16:21 Lee Graham: You will be greatly missed next week, you will be in my prayers.
 
00:43:33 David Swiderski: John mentions Gluttony is the prince of passions but also places Pride as a key passion are they both keys of all the passions? Is one more principal.
 
01:05:04 Louise: Therefore, how to understand one's desire to become competent, as competent as can be, to do things right?
 
01:14:05 Louise: So to become competent for Christ, to serve Christ in this world.
 
01:16:27 Victor: Thanks!
 
01:18:02 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...will be praying...
 
01:18:13 Louise: Thanks, Fr. Abernethy!
 
01:18:13 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:18:18 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂Have a good retreat
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXII: On Vainglory, Part IV, and On Pride, Part I

Rarely do we acknowledge the extraordinary gift that God gave to his Church in the Desert fathers. It is precisely through their “living martyrdom” - their dying to self, to sin, and to the world, that they are able to guide us through the trials and tribulations of spiritual warfare. Their perception of our vulnerabilities as human beings was very acute. Humbled over and over again and acknowledging their sin and poverty before God, they came to see the many ways that the vices manifest themselves as well as the remedies to bring healing. The spirituality that arises out of desert monasticism is not one among many. It is “the spirituality” of the church. It is a manifestation of the deepest exercise of faith. In this the desert fathers became living icons of the gospel. For this reason, it is often acknowledged that “wherever we see renewal within the life of the church, there are the desert fathers.”  Saint John Climacus draws us into where the fiercest warfare takes place – the human ego. We often seek to place the self at the center of existence and so open ourselves up to the spirit of vainglory and pride. When these take hold of us they close the door to repentance and healing. Furthermore, St. John tells us, they lead to a kind of “madness”. They distort our perception of reality. We can no longer see God or the truth about ourselves. And we see others not as the object of our love and compassion. Rather we become pitiless inquisitors and inhuman judges. Thus, it has often been said that a prideful monk has no need to be attacked by the demons because he has become a demon himself. This is true for all of us.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:05:03 FrDavid Abernethy: page 169 paragraph 40
 
00:25:10 Louise: Could we say that pride usually prevents people to acknowledge that they are under a spell or diabolically influenced, while it is obvious to others given the incongruence of their behaviors?
 
00:37:06 Anthony: It sounds then that the bad things attributed to Vatican 2 is an example of poor formation.
 
00:44:53 Louise: Affirmation ''therapy'' is not psychotherapy, but an obligation from the
psychological boards. Otherwise, a psychologist looses his or her license.
 
00:45:37 Louise: This affirmation therapy applies to transgenderism.
 
00:46:36 sue and mark: louise, interesting.  I had not heard that.  thank you
 
00:48:31 David Swiderski: The book Orthodox Psychotherapy the science of the Fathers is very interesting on thsi subject.
 
01:04:12 David Swiderski: I loved that about Mother Teresa . A penicl in the hand of God. Not the hand not the author of what flowed through her.
 
01:10:07 Michael Hinckley: I always saw San Filippo as a precursor to Padre Pio
 
01:11:09 Anthony: When we crave entertainment like novels or movies - orvevrn news and talk radio - we open the door to the thoughts of others, to tell a story, and often the storytelling and acting makes vices into virtues. Even if it's not overt, the presentation undermines right thinking and behavior and causes future problems.
 
01:11:52 sue and mark: Reacted to "When we crave entert..." with 👍
 
01:12:22 Lee Graham: Reacted to "When we crave entert…" with 👍
 
01:13:07 Lee Graham: Reacted to "I loved that about M…" with ❤️
 
01:22:17 Rachel: That is so true!!
 
01:22:36 Rachel: Haha
 
01:23:39 Rachel: Thank you!
 
01:23:41 David Swiderski: Thank you Father
 
01:23:48 sharonfisher: And with your spirit!
 
01:23:50 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:23:52 sue and mark: good night.  thank you
 
01:23:53 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father
 
01:23:55 Michael Hinckley: Santa Notte
 
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXII: On Vainglory, Part III

One of the prophets writes: “the human heart is a treacherous thing, who can endure it!“ We begin to see the truth of this statement or more accurately the truth that is behind it. The spiritual battle that we engage in with our passions and our thoughts is often dogged by a kind of diabolical intrigue. The devil is relentless and unresting. He can manipulate us in such a way that he makes us desire to put ourselves forward, to put ourselves into the light; convincing us that to do so will draw people to greater faith. 
 
The evil one acts with a kind of patience; he will begin to work on us slowly. He begins by making us enamored with our own natural gifts and abilities. In this way he makes us unfaithful in small things; we attribute natural gifts to ourselves rather than simply being grateful for the things of God has given to us. Such infidelity grows over the course of time as well as the complexity of the evil one’s manipulation. He can begin to work on us from multiple angles, if you will. He can place scripture in our mind to do battle with the temptation of one demon, but then make us feel proud of our ability to do so. 
 
Therefore, St. John tells us that we must begin the road to freedom from vainglory by remaining silent about ourselves and our accomplishments. We must learn to love to be dishonored. To be a Christian in this world is to be mocked and held in contempt. We must set aside our tendency to wear a mask that makes us more acceptable in the eyes of the world. We may put on the appearance of virtue yet always within the limits of what our world finds acceptable.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:24:24 susan: seeing yourself as a debtor is truth
 
00:24:35 Rachel: John 4"34
 
00:30:18 Art: I recently heard in a homily: The Gospel teaches us not to be like the Pharisee who says, ‘thank you God that I’m not like the Publican’. 
But we must be careful that in our heart of hearts we’re not also saying, “Thank you God, I’m not like that Pharisee.”
Vainglory can strike from any side.
 
00:31:02 Rachel: Reacted to "I recently heard i..." with ❤️
 
00:31:42 Eric Ewanco: One method of evangelization is to share from our own experience instead of preaching what one should and should not do, since no one can argue with our experience and it's a more non-threatening way to share
 
00:31:59 Eric Ewanco: How would we evangelize with what you said in mind?
 
00:44:58 Ambrose Little, OP: The text here (#34) specifically speaks of displaying virtues. It’s akin to Christ’s exhortation to not be showy when fasting, or not be showy when giving—do not let the right hand know what the left is doing. I don’t see it speaking against witnessing what God has done for us.
 
00:47:39 Lawrence Martone: Regarding self-revelation, there’s the point that the focus should be on God and not ourselves, when it is expressed.
 
00:50:00 sharonfisher: Purity in motivations.
 
00:51:46 Anthony: There might be another vainglory....to magnify to yourself evil mental motions and temptations and fixate on What have I done? This is also pharisaical.
 
00:53:51 Lawrence Martone: “Our real business is to allow God to shed His light through us, and since the light belongs to Him, He will know where to focus it and to what extent.  Our endeavor should be to make ourselves transparent so as not to eclipse His brilliance.”
                                                                           Erasmo Leiva-Merikais on Matthew 5:14 ff.
 
 
It seems to me that humility, as was mentioned earlier in Step 22, is essential to this endeavor of making ourselves transparent.
 
01:05:17 Cindy Moran: How does what John tells us apply to being a fool for Christ...
 
01:07:09 Cindy Moran: You just answered me.
 
01:07:11 David Swiderski: The Island is a movie from 2006 that demonstrates a fool for christ
 
01:07:25 Rachel: I wonder if this movement towards simplifying is somewhere where we have to be led by our Lord. Since it is an abyss we cant know how to navigate our way through. We can ' think" we know what kinds of dishonor we can profit by but it seems we have to wait to be led by only seeking God's will and what He reveals to us
 
01:10:33 Maureen Cunningham: ThankYou
 
01:10:35 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father!
 
01:10:48 Eric Ewanco: One year anniversary of your appointment!
 
01:11:21 sharonfisher: And with your spirit!
 
01:11:22 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:11:24 Louise: Thank you!
 
01:11:25 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:11:29 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!!
 
01:11:32 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:11:33 Bonnie Lewis: Thanks be to God!  Thank you Father.
 
01:11:39 sue and mark: Thank you Fr. Abernethy!  God bless
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXII: On Vainglory, Part II

With stunning clarity, St. John Climacus begins to show us the subtlety of vainglory; how easily it draws us to focus upon the self in one fashion or another. It suggests thoughts that elevate us in our own eyes and diminishes others in our judgment. 
Through vainglory we begin the movement of placing ourselves in the position of God; placing the self at the center of the spiritual life. The battle becomes ever so fierce and dangerous because at this point the focus of the demons’ attention is on our virtues. The demons make them the object of our attention. In doing so they turn us away from God who is the beginning and end of all things. 
And with the self firmly planted at the center, we are easily driven to rage and wrath towards anyone who gets in our way.  In the end, St John will show us how this gives birth to pride and how it draws us into the very darkness of hell itself.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:31:16 Lawrence Martone: Fr. Abernethy,
 
Perhaps the opposite of this vice of vainglory and seeking prestige is the beautiful story about St. John Vianney who added his own signature to a letter of protest to the bishop from leading clerics and parishioners against his (Fr. Vianney’s) way of being a pastor.
 
00:38:42 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian, also, fled the priesthood, but eventually offered the Church an extraordinary legacy. Vainglory, would you say, attacks or tries to undermine our authentic vocations?
 
00:52:05 Anthony: Living the spiritual life is not the same as conversations in a "salon" or on a college campus.
 
00:52:06 Ren Witter: 🤣🤣🤣 My favorite Philip story
 
00:55:35 Louise: Could we say that vainglory corresponds to the ongoing self-validation or self-degradation of the ego, the ego focusing on the ego? If I were to let myself, I could become quite exasperated at this pervasive phenomenon inside my psyche. Any thoughts, Fr.?
 
00:59:35 Louise: So, we ought to not fight with our vainglory, but gently turn back to loving Jesus Christ.
 
01:02:14 Louise: Thank you, Fr.
 
01:08:30 Rachel: I think vainglory can be ever so subtle. I know someone who was told by a priest they were being scrupulous in a certain matter when they tried to confess. This brought much confusion because the person knew that the sins they attempted to confess were not " serious matter" and did not need to be confessed but in their desire to fight pride and vainglory, which was the cause of their sins. The person then had to fight vainglory in another way and thatg was not to tell the priest they knew that they were not serious sins. It was more painful to be seen as scrupulous and weak minded for the person.
 
01:09:55 Louise: I feel compassionate with people with a narcissistic disorder of the self, an arrested psychological development, who are so often stuck in vainglory and pride. What a prison!
 
01:14:15 Kevin Burke: The deeper we go into John’s Vainglory examples the more it seems the same as pride to me.  Can we recap the distinction between Vainglory and pride?
 
01:18:13 David Swiderski: Aren't a lot of the theologians presenting vainglory by arguing about angels on a pin, filoque, how one makes the sign of the cross etc. etc.  Only I can see the truth ..... all others that don't agree with me are wrong.
 
01:20:22 Anthony: That's Dante 's penultimate circle of hell if memory is correct - persons who appear alive on earth but they have confirmed themselves in hell.
 
01:23:50 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you ,  Blessing in my prayers
 
01:24:30 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:24:32 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!!
 
01:24:39 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:24:43 David Swiderski: Thank you father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXII: On Vainglory

Self-esteem . . . how the meaning of that has changed over the generations. And when it becomes abstracted from our relationship with God, when our self-identity, purpose, and meaning becomes unmoored from He who created us, self-esteem can become the most grotesque of the vices. It will not only diminish our virtues, but destroy them completely. 
When the sweat and the toil of the spiritual life is turned back on the self or when ascetical practices become ends in themselves, they lose all value. Christ himself warns us about this in the Gospel. “If you fast in order that others see that you are fasting, then you have your reward.“ In other words, we have our payment in full. We see ourselves, and others see us as self-disciplined, but that is as far as the labor takes us. In this sense we become the most pitiable of all men, because we are acting as if there is no resurrection. If the things we do in this world, including religious things, are done for ourselves and to build up our own egos then they will eventually turn to dust. The love that has been revealed to us is self-emptying. 
In our day to hold fast to such an understanding can only seem absurd for in no way does it fit with the wisdom of the world. Only by keeping our eyes fixed upon God and fixed upon Jesus Christ and him crucified do we let go of the illusion not only of being the self-made man, but the self-made Christian. Religious people are not in capable of having their own delusions. In fact, the delusion of being religious can be the greatest among them and the most difficult to overcome. It is only when the cross is firmly rooted in the mind and the heart and when we have allowed ourselves to be humbled by it do we then become free; free, not for ourselves or to serve ourselves, but free to love others and God. 
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:05:12 FrDavid Abernethy: page 165 beginning Step 22 on Vainglory
 
00:29:13 Anthony: Should we be looking at our works this way? I had thoughtbit was a heresy to believe that any thing we do, even every good thing, is infected with sin.
 
00:39:14 David Swiderski: Are the references to Fulton Sheen from Treasure in Clay?
 
00:39:44 Louise: Can we say that vain glory is present as soon as we identify with something, anything?
 
00:40:55 Louise: What inner attitude could counter vain glory? Maybe vulnerability, fortitude, and yet a complete dependency on God.
 
00:43:49 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: I suffer the vainglory of fantasizing about meeting with someone or doing something in the future that will bring someone
 
00:44:07 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: someone's conversion and blessing.
 
00:55:09 Anthony: That was a very uncomfortable movie.
 
00:59:44 Ashley Kaschl: Father, you posted something this week by Evely that has really stuck with me, “…whereas you were trying to use even your first move of confidence towards God in order not to entrust yourself truly to Him, but to try to make him enter into your plans, like a pawn, like a pawn on your chess board. It is only when you accepted to be a pawn in his hand and in his plan, that you liberated your hope and his action." 
 
I think this relates to paragraphs 6 and 11 because, in the same way, the believing idolater or the flatterer uses God, and manipulates every good, as a means to their own end, for their own glory. I’m reminded of St. John Paul II saying, to a friend who asked him why God would let him suffer an assassination attempt and being shot that, “there is nothing better than to be a tool in the hand of God.” I think the vainglorious seeks control and betrays God for human honor or a perception of strength, and would rather put on airs than be changed internally, than to be docile to the will of God.
 
01:05:17 Maureen Cunningham: What the difference between Praise and Flattery
 
01:14:32 Kate: When one looks back and sees how much one has done not for God but for self, it can be very painful realization.  Yet what is so amazing is that God in His Providence was still very much at work during those times even when we were not seeking first His Kingdom.
 
01:14:37 David Swiderski: There is a tradition in my family with my grandfather, father and I try. When someone thanks them they say - don't thank me, thank God I am able.
 
01:14:53 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "When one looks back …" with ❤️
 
01:15:10 sue and mark: Reacted to "When one looks back ..." with ❤️
 
01:15:14 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "There is a tradition…" with ❤️
 
01:15:32 sue and mark: Reacted to "There is a tradition..." with ❤️
 
01:16:17 David Swiderski: It seems to help to realize nothing is inherent in you but flows from God.
 
01:19:24 Maureen Cunningham: Blessing thank you
 
01:19:30 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father
 
01:19:31 sharonfisher: And with your spirit. Thanks!
 
01:19:32 David Swiderski: Thank you father!
 
01:19:34 Ambrose Little, OP: Gracias!
 
01:19:37 sue and mark: Thank you FR. Abernethy
 
01:19:39 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:19:43 Lorraine Green: Thank you
 
01:19:45 Ambrose Little, OP: 🙂 Thanks!

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXI: On Unmanly and Puerile Cowardice, Part I

Anxiety, it has been said, is ubiquitous. We all experience it and in its many manifestations. On a purely psychological level, one can never get to the heart or source of this feeling and its accompanying isolation. Often we find ourselves desperate to free ourselves from its grip. Therefore, we either immerse ourselves in the things of this world and maintain the illusion of security or we become paralyzed by it completely. 
The desert fathers including St. John Climacus, however, remind us that through the incarnation everything about what it is to be a human being has been assumed and embraced by our Lord, including this experience that often plagues our existence. Christ is the source of all healing and in and through our immersion in His life through the sacraments and prayer we begin to enter into the peace of the kingdom. We are commanded in the Scriptures not to have any anxiety at all. However, this is not simply a command but a promise of grace and strength. If we hold on to our faith in the Lord, if we truly hope in his promises, then all anxiety and fear will flee.  To call upon the name of Jesus is to flog our enemies; meaning not only the temptations that come to us from the demons, but the fears that they would insert into our minds and hearts. 
To mourn over one’s sin, to acknowledge the brevity of our life, is the set aside all illusion and false security. It leads us to cling to Christ who is life and love. So often we too like the disciples are foolish and slow of heart to believe. Yet in Christ even the most improbable of things becomes possible - that in the soul dedicated to God fear and cowardice disappears.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:08:02 FrDavid Abernethy: page 163 Step 21
 
00:19:55 LauraLeigh: In #2, is he saying that this "old soul" should know better than to give in to cowardice?
 
00:23:10 Eric Ewanco: Fear is a lack of trust in God
 
00:23:13 Louise: Fear arises when we read a situation as a threat, while boldness arises when we read a situation as a challenge. With Christ, maybe we should see  all situations as challenges which we can face with Him.
 
00:24:09 Cindy Moran: Pray for me I lost my wallet today Yes I am anxious.
 
00:25:22 Rebecca Thérèse: I'll pray for you Cindy
 
00:25:26 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "I'll pray for you Ci..." with 🙏
 
00:25:36 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "Pray for me I lost m..." with 🙏
 
00:28:37 Louise: Why are even Catholics so afraid of dying? I do not understand.
 
00:29:42 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "I'll pray for you Ci..." with 🙏
 
00:31:31 David Swiderski: It is interesting I lived and traveled in very insecure areas with lots of kidnappings, random shootings/killings, widespread stealing where your car often is going in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and I found people of amazing faith. Here were there is comfort and more lonleiness anxiety seems widespread.
 
00:35:45 wayne: Replying to "Pray for me I lost m..."
 
pray to St Anthony always helps, has worked for me
 
00:43:55 TFredman: Reacted to "I'll pray for you Ci..." with 🙏
 
00:45:36 maureencunningham: How did Moses come to Christ
 
00:49:28 Michael Abele: I am not afraid for my own safety, but sometimes I fear for the
people I care for and protect
 
00:51:23 LauraLeigh: I love that. "Flog your enemies with the Name of Jesus." I'm going to remember that.
 
00:53:08 Lori Hatala: I think God gave me enough sense not to purposely put myself in a harmful situation. ot avoiding all but knowing what to stay away from.
 
00:54:40 Eric Ewanco: ChatGPT summarizes his conversion thusly: Saint Moses the Black, once a violent bandit, sought refuge among desert monks in Egypt. Impressed by their peace and patience, he converted to Christianity, became a monk, and later an abbot, renowned for his deep spirituality and wisdom. He was martyred defending his monastery.
 
00:55:12 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "ChatGPT summarizes h..." with ❤️
 
00:55:37 LauraLeigh: Replying to "ChatGPT summarizes h..."
 
I believe I read that he had about 70 monks under his care by the time he died.
 
00:55:43 Eric Ewanco: Replying to "ChatGPT summarizes h..."
 
yes
 
00:57:14 Lawrence Martone: Perhaps Ignatian “agere contra” can help us deal with fear, always trusting in Christ.
 
01:04:37 Michael Abele: Meant to phrase my earlier comment as a question: can the same be said about fearing for the sake of others? I suppose that can also get out of hand if we do not trust God
 
01:08:24 Jeff O.: Are barrenness of soul and spiritual desolation as Ignatius tends to identify it somewhat the same here? Or is he getting at something else?
 
01:10:28 David Swiderski: Jacobs Ladder the movie. All I saw were demons torturing and tearing at me but then I looked again and they were angels freeing me from the attachments of life.
 
01:11:17 Ashley Kaschl: Paragraph 9 is reminding me of the recent Gospel reading of Jesus calling Peter to walk on the water. Water generally represents chaos in scripture, something unformed or in turmoil. And I think also, if we believe wholeheartedly that we are made in the image of God, and the longer we spend in His presence, the more we are revealed as ourselves in that identity, it is almost as though overcoming temporal and animalistic fear is like passing through raging waters, to be “meeked” by the grace of God so that even our fears are rightly ordered.
 
01:12:53 Ashley Kaschl: Part 2: (sorry it’s long) if then, we are filled with this grace to have such a disposition as to be unmoving and freed from other fears, then we are always being filled. St. Bernard of Clairvaux says, “The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself. Today there are many in the Church who act like canals, the reservoirs are far too rare ... You too must learn to await this fullness before pouring out your gifts, do not try to be more generous than God.”
 
01:15:17 Ambrose Little, OP: (No need to read this aloud, Father): Would appreciate your prayers for my surgery tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be minor/outpatient. The post-op recovery/adaptation period is long, though. I'm optimistic for a good result. Thanks in advance! 
🙏🏻🙏🏻
 
01:15:46 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "(No need to read thi…" with 🙏
 
01:15:52 Art: Reacted to "(No need to read thi…" with 🙏
 
01:15:54 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏
 
01:15:54 TFredman: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏
 
01:15:55 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏
 
01:16:02 Brian L: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏
 
01:16:03 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏
 
01:16:10 Jeff O.: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏
 
01:17:29 LauraLeigh: Replying to "Part 2: (sorry it’s ..."
 
Love this. Very meaningful and helpful to me right now. ❤️
 
01:19:50 sue and mark: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏
 
01:21:26 LauraLeigh: Father, just a reminder to check out Protecting Veil on YT. He's run Fr. Freeman, too.
 
01:21:44 Ambrose Little, OP: The intro to the hours of prayer is always good when feeling afraid: God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me!
 
01:22:11 Jeff O.: Reacted to "The intro to the hou..." with 👍
 
01:22:32 LauraLeigh: The only thing I stumble on is that cowardice seems to mean fear or anxiety, but I tend to think of it a little differently. Need to sit with this for a while.
 
01:22:47 Michael Abele: Don't angels usually open with "be not afraid" when they make an appearance? I always thought they'd be a little scary to encounter, in an awe inspiring way.
 
01:23:00 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Don't angels usually…" with 💯
 
01:23:08 Barbara: Do the Eastern Fathers call upon the blood of Jesus as protection or
as dissolution of fears?
 
01:23:43 Susan M: I THINK IT IS PS 70.1
 
01:23:50 Ambrose Little, OP: Replying to "Don't angels usually..."
 
Definitely as described by Ezekiel. 🙂
 
01:24:07 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "The intro to the hou…" with 👍
 
01:24:32 Ambrose Little, OP: Reacted to "I THINK IT IS PS 70...." with 👍🏻
 
01:24:32 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "Don't angels usually..." with 💯
 
01:24:40 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "I THINK IT IS PS 70.…" with 👍🏻
 
01:25:03 Audrey C. Block: Had great fears this morning; went to Sacrifice of the Mass and still great fears( poor healthx6mos plus many other challenges)sat by Jesus in the Tabernacle and begged His healp over and over, finally by 30 min fears ALL gone!
 
01:25:36 Rachel: Ou rparish is in a rough neighborhood. Two contrasting experiences...one, a while back during a parish event that ran late I entered the chapel forgetting the roughness of the neighborhood. Upon leaving I rralized that no other person, except Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament was with me.
 
01:26:14 Ambrose Little, OP: Ps 46:1-3 is good meditation for this, too.
 
01:26:18 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Had great fears this…" with ❤️
 
01:26:25 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "Had great fears this..." with ❤️
 
01:26:38 Rachel: Yet, recently the same situation, I entered the chapel alone, and even with this reading in mind, but, it took all of my strength not to look over my shoulder at every small sound in the dark!
 
01:26:55 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Ps 46:1-3 is good me…" with 🔥
 
01:27:45 Rachel: Reacted to "Had great fears th..." with ❤️
 
01:28:56 Rachel: There was no one in the chapel
 
01:29:04 Rachel: It was at night at dark
 
01:29:07 Lawrence Martone: Leiva-Merikakis has a remarkable reflection on the calming of the sea. (Mt. 8:23-27). Just one sentence: “The Savior is redeeming his disciples by making his profound serenity as God inhabit the same space as their frantic despair.”
 
01:29:16 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has …" with 😍
 
01:29:27 Ambrose Little, OP: Replying to "Ps 46:1-3 is good me..."
 
God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in time of distress: so we shall not fear though the earth should rock, though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea, even though its waters rage and foam, even though the mountains be shaken by its waves. (Abbey Psalter)
 
01:29:29 Ashley Kaschl: Replying to "Leiva-Merikakis has …"
LOVE him 🔥
 
01:29:45 Rachel: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis ha..." with ❤️
 
01:29:48 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has …" with 🔥
 
01:30:04 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has ..." with ❤️
 
01:30:10 sue and mark: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has ..." with ❤️
 
01:30:58 Cindy Moran: I am so distraught that I almost didn't log on tonight...thank you
Father & Everyone for prayers. I don't feel so overwhelmed now. Thanks be to God. Bless you all.
 
01:31:30 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "I am so distraught t..." with ❤️
 
01:31:54 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "I am so distraught t…" with ❤️
 
01:32:22 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:32:34 iPhone: Thank you.  Very helpful.
 
01:33:03 John: Thank you, Father!
 
01:33:06 sue and mark: Thank you Fr. Abernethy and God bless you.  good night.
 
01:33:07 maureencunningham: Thanks
 
01:33:08 Lorraine Green: Thank you
 
01:33:09 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:33:11 Rachel: Thank you all. Thank you
 
01:33:16 David Swiderski: Thank you father
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XX: On Bodily Vigil, Part II

All that was to be redeemed had also then to be assumed in the Incarnation. All that is human and all that is part of the human experience must be embraced by Christ in order that it might be healed by his grace. 
We are shown this in a very simple way in regards to one of our basic appetites as human beings - sleep. Like any other appetite, it must be ordered rightly; otherwise, it can end up stealing half of our life. Rather than being drawn into the rest of contemplation, we are often pulled into something much less helpful. Instead of engaging He who is Reality, Life and Love, we often seek to escape these things and enter into sleep or the myriad of ways that we can escape reality. 
Therefore, when it comes to prayer, we are often embattled. Sleep can come upon us quickly or we can be drawn to direct or attention to the work of our hands. The Evil One can stimulate the mind at just the right time to pull us away from the comfort and consolation of God into conversation, food, sleep, etc. We must understand that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. When the devil sees us engaging in spiritual warfare, when he sees us developing the discipline of prayer, he will immediately seek to afflicted us with temptations and fantasies the moment the prayer is finished. He will try to snatch away from us the first fruits of the soul. 
We can understand, then, why John tells us that bodily vigil leads to spiritual vigil or alertness. We need to be alert not to protect ourselves from the things of this world, but from the darkness that would enter into our hearts if we do not guard them.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:08:28 FrDavid Abernethy: page 162 para 10
 
00:09:06 angelo: Reacted to "page 162 para 10" with 👍
 
00:25:49 Maureen Cunningham: did they recite the Psalms as prayer
 
00:35:46 Louise: Television induces a trance in most people.
 
00:43:26 Louise: Another feature of watching television is that we become what we contemplate.
 
00:45:25 carol nypaver: Amen!🤣
 
00:46:11 Anthony: Recreation,  re-creation, takes work, and I find it's easy just to watch, but it is agitating and like Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football, it's a recurrent trap around 10pm.
 
00:47:25 Eric Ewanco: This is a general question that's been percolating for a while in my mind as I've been listening to the sessions: Sometimes the desert fathers come across like salvation is so difficult to achieve that it would tempt me to despair, if I were to give it credence. Can you comment on their perspective, and also what they believed the chances of a layperson to be saved was?
 
00:47:33 Cindy Moran: I've worked in broadcast TV for 43 years. It's the last thing I pick for relaxation.
 
00:48:10 Ren Witter: Who was it who said: “I have learned a great deal from television, because, every time it is put on, I leave the room and read a book” ? 🤣 I don’t remember, but I thought it was great at the time.
 
00:49:39 Cindy Moran: Replying to "Who was it who said:..." 
 
 Groucho Marx said this.
 
00:52:15 Bonnie's iPad (2): In fact it can be quite shocking as to how quickly this can occur.
 
00:53:01 Art: Reacted to "Who was it who said:..." with 👍
 
00:53:13 John: I seem to be especially vulnerable to attacks right after Confession - including getting stuck behind a slow driver (the most annoying thing for a New Yorker... 🙂 so I've tried to become very vigilant at that time.
 
00:55:29 Ambrose Little, OP: Reacted to "I seem to be especia..." with 😅
 
00:56:27 sue and mark: I remember hearing a priest say that "a saint is not someone who never fell, they just did not make friends with the dirt"  It is not the falling but the getting back up over and over again, according to this priest.
 
00:57:12 Bonnie's iPad (2): Reacted to "I seem to be especia…" with 👌
 
01:03:37 Ambrose Little, OP: Replying to "Who was it who said:..."
 
Say it in your head with his style of speaking—classic. 🙂
 
01:04:03 Lawrence Martone: It is hard to find a priest/confessor who really understands spiritual warfare and dealing with attacks from demons.  The demons zero in on your weakest points, especially in retaliation after times of holiness and grace.  It can result in deep despondency, or anger, with a total absence of peace.
 
01:04:27 Lee Graham: Saints fall down and get up
 
01:05:05 John: Reacted to "It is hard to find a..." with 👍
 
01:05:38 Eric Ewanco: There is an agraphon (word of Jesus not in the Gospels) recorded
in the Byzantine Anointing of the Sick service that goes "As any times as you fall, arise, and you shall be saved".
 
01:06:14 sue and mark: Reacted to "There is an agraphon..." with 👍
 
01:07:33 Anthony: Sometimes I've used Frederick Neitsche in a way to help me. Exert the will not to stay in despondency. Despite emotional feeling, maintain a deep determination to hope.
 
01:09:38 Cindy Moran: I read that EWTN has a new series on The Desert Father's starting Aug 20
 
01:09:52 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "I read that EWTN has..." with ❤️
 
01:12:51 Cindy Moran: 😄
 
01:13:13 Anthony: That's a mistake I believe the Puritans made.
 
01:14:58 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:41 John: Thank you Father!!
 
01:15:43 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
 
01:15:44 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...great session!
 
01:15:49 Krissy: Thank you Fathet
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XX: On Bodily Vigil, Part I

The healing of the soul! So often we lose sight of the meaning of the spiritual life and the disciplines that we embrace. We often look at them as being punitive or requiring us to give up something that we enjoy or take pleasure in. We can lose sight very quickly of the presence of God even in the practice of prayer. 
This came forward when we discussed this evening something such as vigils. Rarely is the practice of vigil (breaking one’s sleep to rise and pray at night) ever discussed as a valuable exercise for those not only living in a monastery. To order our appetite for sleep and to break the night for prayer is seen as nonsensical or something that could jeopardize one’s health and well-being or one’s capacity to work. 
What we find in the spiritual tradition, however, is a far different vision. Bodily vigil leads to spiritual vigil; that is, spiritual vigilance or alertness. Arising during the quiet of the night, humbled in mind and body, one is able to enter into the deep silence of prayer and receive more freely what God desires to give us. Not experiencing the impediment of worldly distractions or the distractions of a multitude of thoughts we are able to open the mind and the heart to God fully. And in doing so we can also experience the deepest healing. 
We begin to lose the desire to escape from reality in the things of this world or in sleep. The opening of the mind and the heart to God through deep prayer can bring about the repairing even of the deepest trauma caused by our own sin or the sins of others. God can pass freely into the deepest recesses of the human heart that learns how to become vulnerable to Him over time through the experience of His love and compassion. Trust emerges and with it hope.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:12:48 Nathan: (Thx Father, I'm using the Paulist Press CWS edition so that's helpful)
 
00:22:34 sharonfisher: I thought it was my dog whining! Lol
 
00:31:01 Maureen Cunningham: Page please, Thank You
 
00:31:29 Kevin Burke: 161
 
00:31:51 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you
 
00:35:59 John: Would practicing vigils have a positive effect on being subject to deceptive dreams? I've gone down numerous dead ends in the past trying to interpret dreams, or thinking that they were pre-cognitive, but most of them turned out to be mirages.
 
00:56:56 John: Sounds like vigils are a gateway to "the meat ye know not of."
 
00:58:43 Louise: Maybe the Beloved has given people insomnia (waking up in the middle of the night) so we can turn to ward Him during this quiet time.
 
01:00:56 Maureen Cunningham: sleep does not become your master,
 
01:02:20 Anthony: On vigils, prayers, rosaries,  looking at God as the other
imposing an obligation on me makes these annoying. But maybe looking at God as the Other Who gave me His image as an integral part of myself would make vigils, etc desirable.
 
01:03:19 Kate: Father, would you have any advice on how to begin the practice of vigils for someone who does not have a spiritual director who could help incorporate this practice in the interior life?
 
01:06:09 Anthony: The cell becomes hell
 
01:13:13 Anthony: The 3 Apostles slept in the Garden out of sorrow.  I'll have disordered sleep out of sorrow.
 
01:15:29 Lee Graham: Prayer changes us
 
01:18:12 Ren Witter: Yea. The “type and number” narrative about confession really makes the sacrament so transactional, and more like a bad experience with your doctor than an encounter with God.
 
01:18:15 Bonnie Lewis: Father, I had a priest say that to me in the confessional.  It did hurt and surprise me.  I've never forgotten it, obviously.
 
01:18:58 sue and mark: Reacted to "Yea. The “type and n..." with 👍
 
01:21:46 Greg C: Good comments, Ren.  We aren't a vehicle to be serviced.
 
01:21:47 Maureen Cunningham: You can not easily see a Doctor they zoom
 
01:25:56 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You ,
 
01:26:12 John: Thank you, Father!
 
01:26:15 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XIX: On Sleep, Prayer, and Psalmody with the Brotherhood

When we think of appetites or bodily desires, we rarely consider something such as sleep. Yet this evening St. John shows us that sleep is something that can disrupt that which is most important for the spiritual life; our prayer. Sleep is certainly an essential need that we have as human beings. However, there are many reasons that we can be drawn into it excessively. One of these is human nature of course. However, sleep can come upon us from an excess of food, from the temptation of demons, and also from extreme or prolonged fasting. Thus, sleeping is important for us to consider closely.  Excessive sleeping can become a long-standing habit that is difficult to cure. 
It may be difficult for us to think of demons having an impact upon us in this fashion. Yet, when the bell rings for prayer or when the alarm goes off in the morning we can hear a voice within our minds say “Wait, give yourself a little more rest.” In modern days the snooze alarm allows us to extend this indefinitely and we begin our days, perhaps lacking prayer altogether. We can also experience the sensation of severe and unusual pains in the stomach or fits of yawning or even waves of laughter over some amusing incident that comes to mind or takes place within the church. 
The same sluggishness in getting out of bed can follow us into the practice of prayer itself. We can hurry through our prayers; saying them inattentively and allowing the mind to wander. We can enter into church without the proper demeanor or making signs of devotion. When these patterns of behavior take over then the demons will certainly make sport of us. To combat this St. John encourages common prayer where we unite ourselves with others in this most essential practice of calling out to God. In this, we can call to mind Jesus’ own words, “Where two or three are gathered, there I am in their midst.“ 
Often in our day with the breakdown of Christian culture and community, those living in the world, sadly, find themselves left to pray on their own. However, we are not left to ourselves. Through the Hours or the Divine Office we were able to pray with one mind and heart with the Church throughout the world. A deep mystical Communion exist when we engage in the prayer of the Church. 
All this is meant to be a simple reminder to us about the subtle things that can distract us at the time of prayer. Therefore, St. John tells us that the practice of prayer itself purifies our hearts and increases our zeal and love for God. The more that we engage in the discipline of prayer, the greater our capacity to rout the demons!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:11:06 FrDavid Abernethy: page 160 starting Step 19
 
00:38:58 sharonfisher: Yes, agree, but we’re not taught properly. (Re:genuflecting) Our western church has cradle Orthodox attendees from time to time. The grace of this one woman’s entrance and adoration was truly beautiful. I asked how she ‘learned’, but sh said she’d just grown up  with the reverence displayed.
 
00:42:15 sharonfisher: We need a manual to get us started! lol
 
00:43:15 Anthony: The older generation was taught a kind of theology that emphasizes human community.  So I think they were misled, thinking they are doing right by having socialization in church.
 
00:48:09 Lawrence Martone: Re: solitary prayer”for the very few’”  Some Third Order members are required to pray the office daily and spend at least 30 minutes in mental prayer daily - along with other requirements (but not under the pain of sin if missed).  Only at monthly meetings can we pray lauds or vespers in community.  Basically, we have no choice but to pray in solitude for the most part.
Isn’t that true of most lay people also?
 
00:51:51 Louise: Basically, demons are trying to make us turn our attention away from the Beloved. Yet, our present culture is ferociously made up of distractions, engineered with distractions.
 
00:52:26 TFredman: Replying to "Re: solitary prayer”..."
 
We used to pray Vespers following the 5:15 p.m. Mass Mon-Sat. This was a great blessing to us lay folk. I miss it.
 
00:52:58 Barbara: Would that we would become attentive to one another!
 
00:54:07 Lori Hatala: I find it frustrating when the windows are being closed before the priest even leaves the alter.
 
00:54:10 sharonfisher: Replying to "Re: solitary prayer”..."
 
Does attending live streamed services count? (Hoping yes)
 
00:54:57 Lawrence Martone: Replying to "Re: solitary prayer”..."
 
To TFredman,
 
00:55:08 Anthony: We can thank (intentional?) city planning and the heresy of Americanism for harming ethnic Catholic identity.
 
00:55:18 Lawrence Martone: Replying to "Re: solitary prayer”..."
 
Yes, I would feel the same way.
 
00:55:29 Ambrose Little, OP: Replying to "Re: solitary prayer”..."
 
Certainly it is better to pray alone than not at all. As one such 3rd order member, I have found the Office to be a tremendous anchor to my spiritual life—even though in most cases I am alone.
 
00:55:47 Lori Hatala: I tend to go to silent prayer when someone leading  or loudly praying is rushing through it.
 
00:58:09 Ambrose Little, OP: Replying to "Re: solitary prayer”..."
 
There’s a benefit to individual prayer in that there is time to pause and meditate on things that strike you. Can’t really do that in community.
 
00:58:52 Bonnie Lewis: Reacted to "Certainly it is bett..." with ❤️
 
00:59:05 Bonnie Lewis: Reacted to "There’s a benefit to..." with ❤️
 
00:59:12 sue and mark: Reacted to "Certainly it is bett..." with ❤️
 
01:02:15 Susan M: I personally am very grateful for ZOOM
 
01:02:35 Kevin Burke: Reacted to "I personally am very…" with 👌
 
01:03:21 Rebecca Thérèse: I'm very grateful for Zoom and livestreamed prayer.
 
01:07:39 Lawrence Martone: Replying to "We can thank (intent..."
 
E. Michael Jones - “The Slaughter of Cities.”
 
01:08:09 sharonfisher: Reacted to "There’s a benefit to..." with ❤️
 
01:10:14 Susan M: Henri Nouwen was my teacher for 3 courses 1971-74. Very blessed time.
 
01:10:55 Paul Grazal: Reacted to "I find it frustratin…" with 😇
 
01:11:35 TFredman: Reacted to "I personally am very..." with 👌
 
01:11:39 carol: Reacted to "Henri Nouwen was my ..." with ❤️
 
01:11:45 TFredman: Reacted to "Henri Nouwen was my ..." with ❤️
 
01:13:52 Ambrose Little, OP: Reacted to "Henri Nouwen was my ..." with ❤️
 
01:14:22 Paul Grazal: Reacted to "I personally am very…" with ❤️
 
01:15:04 Cindy Moran: Great session, thank you Father
 
01:15:12 Rebecca Thérèse: thank you🙂
 
01:15:21 Rory: Thanks, father
 
01:15:21 Deiren Masterson: God bless Father
 
01:15:30 Courtney Wiley: Thank you Father.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XVIII: On Insensibility

Darkness, whatever its source, cannot be driven out or overcome by mere force of will or through reason. The fathers reveal to us a darkness that exists within the human heart like no other - insensibility. It is a deadening of the soul and the death of the mind before the death of the body. We all have our vulnerabilities and have experienced wounds on both spiritual and emotional levels. To address this darkness requires an even greater trust in the grace of God to guide us through it and to provide us with what is necessary for healing. Each person is unique and with certain predispositions, including the predisposition to a more melancholic or morose state of mind. Furthermore, the human mind and heart are ever so changeable. 
It is also how the evil one can use these things to distort our vision of reality. We can be engaged in the religious and spiritual life and speaking about it and yet this can mask not only a sham piety but something even darker. We can live in the dark so long that it becomes the place of comfort. To move toward the light can be painful, especially if one has experienced trauma. 
More than any of the passions the remedy for this darkness consists of relying upon the grace of God and being drawn into the tenderness of Christ’s love. When our trust has been destroyed, we must allow Him to rebuild it. Where desire has been lost, we must wait for the Beloved to come to us to stir it into flame. Where wounds are so deep that they seem irreparable, it is only He who is the Lord of Life who can re-create us.
---
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:13:51 Susan M: Thank you for introducing me to the Optina Monastery and Elders! Am buying the recommended book.
 
00:26:47 John: Are all these internal contradictions the same as hypocrisy, or is that a different malady?
 
00:39:22 sharonfisher: That’s so interesting. I find myself unwilling to be around these really negative people. I love them, but I have my own issues battling depression. It’s hard to do both at once.
 
00:50:23 Ren Witter: I wonder - would these people really appear very negative on the exterior? So much of the description involves teaching or speaking, and most often those who take up that role are very dynamic and charismatic personalities. It seems like the melancholy aspect might kind of hidden.
 
01:01:36 Kate: Fr. David, Is this also known as sloth?  Or is that a different vice?
 
01:01:41 Ren Witter: I’ve been told that this, or something very similar to it, can be caused by a traumatic event - particularly one involving the Church in some way. Are fasting and vigils still the only way to begin fighting it in that case?
 
01:06:20 Ren Witter: “He and I” is also a very good one.
 
01:06:43 carol nypaver: Can you please repeat the name of the French priest and his book?
 
01:07:21 Louise: Gaston Courtois is the name of the French priest.
 
01:07:31 carol nypaver: Thank you!
 
01:09:32 David Swiderski: My experience is this often is connected to resentment and lack of detachment. Anyone digging up wounds from the past or worrying about the future cannot help themselves from falling into despair.
 
01:13:25 Louise: In my clinical experience, it was my willingness as a psychotherapist to be there with the, to remain with them despite the intensity of their pain, which was healing - I did not abandon them as they were experiencing abandonment depression from early childhood.
 
01:17:10 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:17:10 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father
 
01:17:15 David Swiderski: Thanks father!
 
01:17:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XVI: On Avarice, Part II and Chapter XVII, On Non-Possessiveness, Part I

Freedom! We often associate this word with our own rights in this world or our capacity to do as we will and go where we want. A kind of promise is put out to us - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
Yet the image of freedom that is put before us by the saints and by Saint John in particular is attached to our willingness to be “detached” from the things of the world. God created all things good but in our sin our tendency is to idolize them. We seek our identity and happiness in the things of this world and we work ourselves to the point of exhaustion to protect these things as well as ourselves from others. We do not want to lose what we have or what we have earned. 
Yet we very quickly learn that this is no real happiness. In fact, it is the root of all evils. The deeper that root becomes, the greater our desire for the things of this world grows. It begins to produce the fruit of hatred, thefts, envy, separations, enmities, storms, remembrance of wrong, hardheartedness, and murderers. Therefore, what we hold up as having so much value for ourselves, and what seems to promise us freedom and safety eventually becomes our prison or the shackles that bind us. It is only in having tasted the things above that one begins to find joy, freedom from care, and the loss of anxiety. If we obtain this virtue, John tells us, we run the race with the swiftness of athletes of old - that is, stripped and unimpeded. 
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:11:00 Rebecca Thérèse: Yes happy birthday!
 
00:11:34 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Yes happy birthday!" with 🎂
 
00:15:23 Lawrence Martone: Fr. Abernethy,
 
00:15:50 Lawrence Martone: What is your opinion of The Noon Day Devil book?
 
00:22:32 Connor: Re: point 1 - Prayer of the Last Optina Elders:
 
O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace, help me in all things to rely upon your holy will. 
In every hour of the day reveal your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me. 
Teach me to treat all that comes to throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that your will governs all. 
In all my deeds and words, guide my thoughts and feelings. 
In unforeseen events, let me not forget that all are sent by you. 
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. 
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring. 
Direct my will, teach me to pray. 
And you, yourself, pray in me. 
Amen.
 
00:26:01 Susan M: Father, who are the last Optina Elders?
 
00:28:04 Connor: Guess I’m the quote guy today:
 
“All our peace in this sad life lieth in humble suffering rather than in not feeling adversities. He who best knoweth how to suffer shall possess the most peace; that man is conqueror of himself and lord of the world, the friend of Christ, and the inheritor of heaven.” — a Kempis (Imitation of Christ)
 
00:31:14 Eric Ewanco: Do we know the Greek for "non-possessive" (my translation uses "poor"/"poverty" but I like your translation better)?
 
00:31:52 Connor: Replying to "Father, who are the …"
“Over the course of one century—from Elder Leonid's arrival in 1829 until the Monastery's forced closure by the Communists in 1923—Optina, with its Skete of St. John the Forerunner, was at the center of a tremendous spiritual revival in Russia.”
 
https://orthochristian.com/65171.html
 
00:31:59 John: Replying to "Do we know the Greek..."
 
So does mine (archive.org).
 
00:32:39 Connor: I was responding to a question Father, no need to read it lol.
 
00:35:18 Susan M: Thank you.
 
00:37:14 Connor: Replying to "Do we know the Greek…"
ἀκτημοσύνης in response to Greek for non-possessiveness. Literally “landless.”
 
00:45:31 Anthony: To forget the Beatific Vision is to merely fight the devil mostly conscious of your own efforts.  Been there.  Done that / Doing that. Not healthy.
 
00:52:44 Connor: St. Louis de Montfort famously got into bar fights over Our Lady’s honor… even after his ordination…
 
00:57:03 Anthony: Regarding "principles" in our Anglo-American world it seems to me some of our principles have been developed and used to harden us against conscience and towards vice.
 
00:57:16 Louise: I find that it is mostly the human gesture and the smile in return that is the gift, beyond the money given; the person feels treated as a human being at this moment.
 
00:57:41 Anthony: Reacted to "I find that it is mo..." with ❤️
 
00:57:49 Anthony: Replying to "I find that it is mo..." 
 
I agree
 
01:18:40 Cindy Moran: Thank you
 
01:18:43 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XV: On Chastity, Part XI and Chapter XVI: On Avarice, Part I

The Mystery of the Human Person! 
What comes forward in the ascetical writings of the fathers is not a moralistic or legalistic view of sin. Rather, we see within them a deep understanding of the complex beauty and dignity of the human person despite often being marred by sin. Perhaps too often we emphasize the negative; rather than fostering a desire both for God and for virtue and for the freedom and joy that it brings to the human heart. 
Like so many of the fathers, Saint John describes certain passions as a disease in need of remedy. While we must be disciplined in so many ways and vigilant in our thoughts, we never want to lose sight of how God has created us; that it is through our very being that we love and give ourselves in love. We are not meant to hate ourselves but rather sin. Self-contempt can often be our demise in the spiritual life. True love of the self begins with the desire for God; not with self-indulgence or laziness that reduces and diminishes the image we have of creation and our own goodness.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:12:42 Ashley Kaschl: I was trying to say we have a diocesan hermit so if you DO want to stay, he’s got room haha
 
00:34:50 Louise: An amazing movie just came out, called 'Sound of Freedom, about combatting child sex trafficking. Being a trauma therapist myself, I can only fathom that pedophilia is due to demonic influence. These people are untreatable. What are your thoughts?
 
00:35:22 carol nypaver: It was a very informative and well-done film!
 
00:36:43 David Swiderski: Doesn't abuse of food or lust devalue these things. I know when I break a long fast water taste sweeter, food is savored and so when we truly develop love rather than just physical attraction or objectification. The diamond is often hidden by the dirt on the outside.
 
00:39:33 Louise: By the way, 2.5% of priests abuse children sexually, 5% of physicians, and 10% of school teachers, according to three studies.
 
00:44:21 Art: What do you mean Father?
 
00:55:03 Charbel & Justin: “Prefer nothing to the love of God.”
 
01:10:59 Louise: Thanks, Fr. Abernethy! I must go.
 
01:12:17 Ashley Kaschl: I am friends with many people who are constantly worried about money, about their paychecks, jobs, etc. and it prevents them from choosing to move forward in their potential vocations, so they put it off and put it off and put it off. I think some of the downsides of our culture, and even the mindset of many who come out of universities today, is this absolute concern about climbing the ladder in their jobs or this habit formed to always look for “greener grass”/better opportunities. And this demand of function over substance makes me think of a quote by CS Lewis: 
 
“In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”
 
01:16:42 John: There's an old Rod Serling movie about the corporate mindset (ladder-climbing) called "Patterns."
 
01:17:16 Monk Maximos: Good night
 
01:17:51 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you ☺️
 
01:17:53 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father
 
01:17:56 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:18:04 Art: Thank you!
 
01:18:17 Jeff O.: 🎉🎉🎉
 
01:18:22 Monk Maximos: Flying to the Holy Land on Saturday. Will be praying for you.
 
01:18:30 David Swiderski: Have a wonderful Birthday Father!
 
01:18:34 Eric Ewanco: happy birthday!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XV: On Chastity, Part X

The fathers have often been accused of having a negative anthropology; that is, a negative view of the human person and human nature. However, as we read through St. John’s teachings on chastity and purity, we begin to see that their understanding arises from a very high and exalted anthropology. Their understanding of how God has made us, the beauty that is expressed in our very nature is so high that we must respect its preciousness as a gift from God. Furthermore we must also respect the power that lies within us and that it is through this nature that we are able to love and give ourselves in love to others and serve God. 
 
Indeed, it is true that sin has darkened our vision of this truth and our will has often become weak so that we misuse our nature and the appetites associated with it. Yet, God looks upon us with mercy and compassion and gives us every aid for healing. It is the Evil One that becomes our accuser who tries through shame to draw us into despair. 
 
Part of the relentless nature of our struggle with these sins is that we are forever bound by nature to this body of ours. Yet we must remember in the struggle that the body is destined to put on immortality and incorruptibility by God’s grace. We are called all even now to make use of our body through the ascetic life to share in this incorruptibility through purity of heart.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:03:31 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: What step?
 
00:03:59 FrDavid Abernethy: Page 151 paragraph 76
 
00:20:36 Anthony: I wonder if "worm" means not the helpful compost bug, but is really the Anglo Saxon "wyrm" or dragon.
 
00:26:32 melissa kummerow: Reacted to "I wonder if "worm" m..." with 💡
 
00:27:51 Louise: Disgust and shame are useful emotions when we apply them onto our faults. Otherwise, we justify our faults. Would you say?
 
00:30:36 LauraLeigh: It seems to me that St Climacas, like other Desert Fathers, ask for a very difficult mental balance between being uber-humble while maintaining a healthy psychology. If you don't have a strong grip on your mental health, this ascetical lifestyle could trip you up or even take you down. Other than recommending a guide, like an elder, any thoughts about how we can cautiously yet profitably practice asceticism?
 
00:31:20 Anthony: I learned something,  I think from a talk by a Maronite. It can be helpful to pray Jesus Prayer in another language.  Sometimes that prevents thoughts in one's native tongue from arising in the mind.
 
00:34:39 LauraLeigh: I need to remember that the Fathers are talking to others already in the ascetical life. And then to remember to order everything toward God.
 
00:35:46 sue and mark: could it be said that simply looking for opportunities to practice self -restraint for the love of God is a good place to start.  especially in the areas of our passions.
 
00:36:06 angelo: Reacted to "could it be said tha..." with 👍
 
00:42:13 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "could it be said tha..." with ❤️
 
00:43:01 LauraLeigh: "The Way of the Ascetics"
 
00:46:46 carol nypaver: The Little Flower
 
00:52:15 Anthony: Remember: the demons don't play fair.
 
00:53:24 Cindy Moran: In the Classics of western spirituality version of the Ladder this verse translation is unclear to me
 
00:54:11 Cindy Moran: Yes.
 
00:54:40 Cindy Moran: I'm slow
 
00:56:14 Cindy Moran: Because the soul tormented by earlier sin is a burden to me I will save it from its enemies Lk 18:5
 
00:59:15 Cindy Moran: Much clearer to me now
 
01:05:31 LauraLeigh: Being proud of your sins is a sign of a darkened conscience, I think. And a sensitive and refined conscience is a great help in getting a handle on troubling or persistent sins. This is what I'm particularly working on.
 
01:06:36 angelo: Reacted to "Being proud of your ..." with 👍
 
01:08:26 Anthony: I think it also means that you've entrusted yourself to God,  He won't play legal games with that trust and so the evil thoughts are not as awful upon us as the devil wants us to think. Sure the devil is a deceiver and wants us to take full mortal sin culpability for what the demons sows.  But the struggle is evidence God loves you and takes your whole self and situation into account.
 
01:09:25 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "I think it also mean..." with ❤️
 
01:10:30 angelo: Reacted to "I think it also mean..." with 👍
 
01:10:37 Eric Ewanco: I've found it immensely consoling that empirical evidence from exorcisms establish that demons are extremely legalistic. The converse of this is that God is not. This is a great relief to me, as we often tend to see God as legalistic and looking for "gotchas"
 
01:12:08 John: After you've read Fr. Mateo's "Night Adoration in the Home," it's impossible to think of God as legalistic. He is the complete opposite!
 
01:12:21 sue and mark: Reacted to "After you've read Fr..." with ❤️
 
01:12:34 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "After you've read Fr..." with ❤️
 
01:12:50 LauraLeigh: Replying to "After you've read Fr..."
 
I have that! Thanks for the reminder!
 
01:13:05 Susan McShane: Reacted to "I've found it immens..." with ❤️
 
01:13:05 John: Replying to "After you've read Fr..."
 
👍
 
01:13:23 sue and mark: I have that too...
 
01:14:53 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:14:54 Louise: Thanks, Fr!
 
01:14:58 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...excellent session
 
01:15:02 Jeff O.: Thank you! Blessings
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XV: On Chastity, Part IX

Gustave Flaubert once wrote, “God is in the details.“ The truth of this statement is born out in this evening‘s writing from Saint John Climacus on the fathers’ understanding and description of the development of a passion within the soul. With great clarity, St. John takes us step-by-step through the inner movements of the mind and the heart. The battle begins with an assault. An image or an idea is encountered for the first time and enters into the heart. There’s no sin in this, but our response is important nonetheless. If we begin to converse with the image or idea its presence will take us a step further. We cannot allow ourselves to linger with such images even if we do not seem to be moved by them. Eventually, Saint John tells us, if we do linger we can fall into consent; the soul bends down, as it were, and begins to take delight in the temptation. Such temptations can also come upon us with force; seeking all at once to destroy any semblance of order or peace within the heart. What is important is that we struggle; that we engage in the spiritual battle and fight with equal or greater force against what seeks to afflict us. A passion develops whenever a sin nestles with persistence in the soul and forms a habit. It is then that the sins has put down deep roots and begins to guide and direct our decisions and actions. The passion is unequivocally condemned in every case.  St. John tells us, therefore, that we must seek to cut off the first assault with a single blow in order to prevent everything that might follow.
Finally, Saint John reveals to us just how humble we must be in the spiritual warfare. There are temptations that can come to us that he describes as a “flick of the mind”. They are instantaneous and inapprehensible.  There can be something in our life that triggers a memory or movement from the depths of our unconscious.  It gives rise to or stirs a passion that has not been healed, but merely buried. All of this teaches us that our desire must be directed toward God and God alone. The human heart can be a treacherous thing, and as the prophe