Philokalia Ministries

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!

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🙂

We continued our discussion of prayer and the things that often become an obstacle to it. Much of the discussion this evening focused upon the things that make us lazy or weary in prayer or lead us to drowsiness. One of the important things that the fathers teach us is that sleep is an appetite that is to be ordered like any other appetite. Our life has been given to us for repentance; that is, to turn toward God and to seek to love him with all of our heart. It is this reality that should shape the way that we look at prayer, the way that we discipline ourselves - and yes - even how we sleep. Rising at night is one of the most wonderful times for prayer for a number of reasons. The mind and the body are humbled. The thoughts are often not moving so rapidly nor the world around us and its noises. Praying at night provides us with an opportunity to enter into deep silence, so as to listen to God and the word he wishes to utter in the depths of our hearts. Therefore, there are times when we will have to force ourselves in order to strengthen our will to not only bring ourselves to prayer but to remain there. Whenever we experience drowsiness, we must resist it firmly. Often we will give up a discipline when we face difficulty. It is our love for the Lord, however, that must send us out at night seeking He alone who can satisfy the longings of our heart. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:02:04 FrDavid Abernethy: we can hear you 00:02:21 FrDavid Abernethy: page 89 00:21:49 Anthony: I did that. I'd go back. It drove me nuts, playing on scrupulous feelings 00:49:25 Ann Thelen: Quick question regarding food/fasting...how do we deal with the temptation to vanity when we are attempting to fast? We know fasting has wonderful health benefits. One of those benefits is that we look better and more healthy which can feed into vanity. 01:04:22 Anthony: Menaion? 01:17:14 Lisa Smith: Thank you & God bless 01:17:56 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father! 01:17:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:18:04 Nicole Dillon: Thank you ☺️ 01:18:08 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father. Praying for you. 01:18:19 Ann Thelen: Thank you. 01:18:26 Cindy Moran: Thanks

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!

Breaking the night for prayer!! The very idea either never comes into the mind of modern Christians or it sends a shudder through the heart. The idea of limiting something like sleep for the sake of prayer, of humbling the mind and body in such a way on purpose and regularly seems to express a type of insanity. Would I not make myself sick or incapable of working the next day if such a practice were embraced in modern times. Yet, it is a constant practice throughout the spiritual tradition; to sanctify time and foster an urgent longing within the heart for God that causes the soul to rise, even in the night, to seek him. Admittedly, this may require that we simplify our lives. There is already a frenetic pace in our day-to-day lives; a busyness that is almost suffocating. Such makes the idea of adding night prayer to that seem impossible and even frightening. One can only come to know the fruit of this through experience. In the stillness of the night, impediments that often plague us throughout the course of the day fall away. Creation itself grows quiet and with it the human heart. Such a heart filled with urgent longing for the Lord will rise eagerly and with joy to taste the sweetness of his presence! --- Text of chat during the group: 00:59:01 Anthony: Perhaps a principle issue I'd reconciling the mind / interior thoughts with the heart / the noetic sentiment of affection for one's true calling. 01:02:04 Kate : Do the Fathers differentiate between vocal prayer and mental prayer, or is that a Western distinction? Is there a recommendation to the kind of prayer that would take place during a night vigil? 01:02:34 Lisa Smith: I find the setting has a huge impact on prayer/ like a noisy city compared to the quiet woods. I find it easiest to pray in a rural solitary place. With minimal distractions 01:03:31 Ann Thelen: what is the best way to discern if waking in the night to prayer is something we are called to? or are we all called to this? Maybe I am overthinking this. 01:06:22 Ann Thelen: fear of failure in this resolve seems to be the thing that immediately presents itself when thinking about rising in the night for prayer. 01:08:42 Lisa Smith: Catherine Daughtery wrote a series called Poustina. I've been meaning to read that. 01:10:38 Wayne: Replying to "Catherine Daughtery ..." I do have a copy of this book 01:10:58 Lisa Smith: Replying to "Catherine Daughtery ..." 🙏 01:10:59 Ambrose Little: I wouldn’t suggest that’s a healthy model! 😄 01:11:07 Rebecca Thérèse: Before the modern era it was common for the night to be divided into "two sleeps". It was really the industrial revolution that ended this practice. 01:11:50 Ambrose Little: Replying to "I wouldn’t suggest t..." Saying that as one who’s helped his wife stay sane through 7 kiddos. It’s not a time we want to extend or further. 01:14:47 Anthony: Another ill effect of the "reformation," particularly the English variety. 01:16:37 Anthony: Yes 01:17:15 Ann Thelen: I appreciate the analogy of nursing the baby. We have five children and the youngest is 7 now. My excuse has been that I will be tired if i get in the night to pray. That analogy shed light on my excuse. It actually spoke to my heart saying "Ann, you've done this before. Don't be afraid of it" 01:20:00 Maureen Cunningham: Susan Wesley would put an apron over her head she 12 children everyone new she was in prayer 01:23:31 Lisa Smith: Thank you Fr. God bless you.🙏 01:23:32 Maureen Cunningham: Blessing Father 01:24:09 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father! 01:24:10 Ann Thelen: Thank you 01:24:11 Dave Warner (AL): Thank you Father! 01:24:20 Steve Yu: Thanks, Father! 01:24:22 Maureen Cunningham: You are to kind of 01:24:25 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:24:43 Leilani Nemeroff: Thanks

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 fathers continue to speak to us about service and work and the disposition that we are to have in doing it. Our understanding must move from a functional understanding of labor; engaging in it in a way that is determined by private judgment or by the desire for worldly things. Everything that we do must be tied to our service of the providence of God. In other words, we are responding to the call of Love. The way that the Christian works and responds to the needs of others (as well as the one’s own needs) is tied to our relationship with the Lord. We are given the task of being the guardian of souls; our own and others’. We are to attend to our own needs, trusting that God will provide us with what is needed. We are to serve others without making excuses for our avoidance or negligence in doing so. We are to seek first the kingdom of heaven. This is what shapes everything for us. We always return to the nest of prayer, there to be nourished upon the love and the grace of God. And it is only from that nest that we step out in response to His call to love and serve others. So often we fill our life with needless tasks; more often than not to give us a sense of security and safety. Yet to do so draws us away from He who is the Lord of love and the Governor of history; the One who provides for every one of our needs. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:10:07 Ann Thelen: hello everyone. I've been listening to these podcasts for the last year or so. tonight is the first time i've been able to jump in live due to Easter Break. No children's activities. Happy and grateful to be joining you. 00:10:25 Adam Paige: Reacted to "hello everyone. I've..." with 👍 00:10:32 Ambrose Little: Southerner joining early… 00:10:37 FrDavid Abernethy: Reacted to "hello everyone. I've..." with 👍 00:10:41 Lori Hatala: Reacted to "hello everyone. I've..." with 👍 00:18:13 Dave Warner (AL): Reacted to "hello everyone. I've..." with 👍 00:22:01 Steve Yu: Social media has enhanced the spirit of rudeness. I think it has to do with interacting with others in a non physical manner. We gain a certain “freedom” from politeness and respect, in my opinion. 00:22:15 David C: Reacted to "Social media has enh..." with 👍 00:23:54 Carol Roper: Reacted to "hello everyone. I've..." with 👍 00:24:23 Steve Yu: Cultural difference? 00:40:24 Nypaver Clan: Do you think St. Philip got that imagery from St. Isaac? 00:47:28 Susanna Joy: On the previous section: The bird has to hurry back to the nest because the egg needs warmth or the baby bird is hungry and waiting...what stuck with me from the nido image is taking what gleaned from the world and hurty back to care for this tender growing "baby" life within the love Divine...the goodness received from the sheltering nest of the hand of God... 00:51:34 David C: Reacted to "On the previous sect..." with 👍 00:55:23 Erick Chastain: where are we in the evergetinos? 00:55:41 Nypaver Clan: Top of 85 01:04:49 Ann Thelen: Is there a book or something of the sorts that gives a good recommendation for what the structure of what our daily prayer life should look like as someone who is married or taking care of family. Specifically, the amount of time spent in prayer that should be non negotiable. 01:10:48 Ann Thelen: haha 01:12:47 sharonfisher: Thank you — I needed this instruction and I need to heed it. 01:13:06 Lori Hatala: Reacted to "Thank you — I needed..." with ❤️ 01:13:16 Kevin Burke: Me too.. “Prayer is a relationship” 01:13:46 Ann Thelen: Thank you. Thats very helpful 01:16:02 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father, very profound teaching tonight… 01:16:02 sharonfisher: And with your spirit!! 01:16:04 Susanna Joy: When my son was small I was at a retreat, and some were going to devotions while those of us with small ones to the children out on a hike. A community member remarked to me, too bad you cant be in worship...It occured to me that my life with my child is a devotion... 01:16:06 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:16:15...

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...

What a beautiful group! Beauty, however, is not only found in the things that are attractive or appeal to our sensibilities. What is beautiful is found in the truth – the truth that speaks to the depths of our hearts and our religiosity. Once again, the fathers speak to us and present to us the gospel in unvarnished fashion. What is the disposition that we are to have in our service of God and others? If we give ourselves over to task with obedience, then we can be assured that God will provide all the grace that is necessary. If we do these tasks poorly, if we make mistakes, these do not diminish the value of our work. What gives shape to the work is the love and the humility of Christ. There are so many things that rush to our minds as to why we cannot bear something or why we cannot do a certain work. However, the fathers show us that so often such things are excuses; that is, plausible lies. They are reasonable because they are rooted in the reality of our own weaknesses. They are lies because they do not take into account the grace and the mercy of God. So often when we take up a task we engage in the labor abstracted from Christ. However, if we simply offer that labor to Christ, if we take it up by his grace and for his glory, then it has more value than we could ever imagine. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:03:54 FrDavid Abernethy: page 78 00:04:01 FrDavid Abernethy: New Hypothesis Tonight 00:06:45 Arthur Danzi: Hi Fr David 00:07:01 Arthur Danzi: I’m fine, how are you? 00:07:06 Arthur Danzi: My internet connection is poor… 00:29:12 Rachel: yes 00:40:27 sharonfisher: Thank you for the comment that even the monks struggle. My priest, after 2.5 or 3 years, revealed that he, too, sometimes struggles to keep the prayer rule. It was helpful to me to hear that. 00:54:21 Rachel: This is a magnificent passage. It needs to be read very slowly. Finding humility, doorkeeper, etc. This is so rich and multilayered. One can only understand through experience I am sure. 00:55:08 Rachel: No,but I think it needs to be unpacked 00:55:17 sharonfisher: 😂 00:55:29 Tracey Fredman: Experiential understanding is really hard to go through, though. This discussion is really helpful to me this evening. 00:55:49 Rachel: There is more to it..when one finds humility, one finds Christ, but what happens when we become the doorkeeper, or christ becomes the doorkeeper of our heart? 00:58:16 Rachel: He speaks about finding salvation by finding humility. Either way, we learn by experience whether we want to or not. But we may not experience what Our Lord desires that we experience. We may go kicking and screaming instead of finding the humility that the desert fathers speak of. He desire that we experience Himself 00:58:21 Liz D: It is consoling that you have shared this Father, about persecition with the Church, thank you. It can difficult to trust people in the Church when one experienced being persecured from within the Church. Also, to remember to go to Christ first-because sometimes I realize I go to God last for some areas of my life. As if in some things I subconsciously believe I am expected (by God) to go it alone--only turning to Jesus for help when things become nearly unbearable 00:58:39 sharonfisher: Reacted to "He speaks about find..." with ❤️ 00:59:56 sharonfisher: Reacted to "It is consoling that..." with ❤️ 01:00:06 Keith Abraham: Reacted to "It is consoling that…" with ❤️ 01:00:56 Rachel: Oh we can trust them alright! trust them to be very human like ourselves lol 01:01:31 Lisa Smith: My favorite verse is where Christ speaks of faith as a grain of mustard seed. 01:01:56 Rachel: I'm too melancholic for my own good, sorry i will be quiet again. 01:02:13 Rachel: lol 01:04:11 Lisa Smith: lol Amen on the doorkeeper, Fr 01:04:23 Adam Paige: Saint Brother André was a porter 01:05:11 Lisa Smith: not for the socially anxious. 01:07:23 Steve Yu: I love the parable of the mustard seed because Jesus starts by comparing the Kingdom to...

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

We are drawn ever deeper into the subtle manifestations of Avarice and how the demons make use of this passion to draw us into other sins. Indeed, it is a fearsome vice. The evil one can convince us that our identity is dependent on our having a certain objects or money and the security that it seems to offer us. Once we have given ourselves over to this thought, it gradually oppresses the mind and heart of the individual. Our incapacity to discern the truth of avarice’s grip upon us, we lose the ability can see what has enduring value. Such oppression undermines our commitment to God, others, and the pursuit of the path of sanctification he has set us upon. Suddenly we can no longer see what is good about a godly life and fidelity. We begin to see the weaknesses of others and the failure of a community to reach the ideal. We become hyper-critical. This the Evil One uses psychologically to make our exit from our vocation more acceptable to the mind. He first makes us despise what we once loved. What we once entered into with zeal, we now turn away from with cowardice. When given over to avarice we find ourselves falling under the control of the demons who continue to torment us; making us more vulnerable to the darkness of other passions. In this particular vice, we see the truth that “sin is its own punishment”. The more we grasp for the things of this world, the more we descend into darkness and ingratitude. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:12:18 FrDavid Abernethy: page 69 00:12:30 FrDavid Abernethy: midway down the page. second para 00:13:05 Keith Abraham: Thank you very much! 00:23:09 Anthony: This sounds like what happened in the hundred years prior to the reformation. The vices preceded an explosion leaving the Church and the religious life. 00:46:23 Alexandra: Can avarice be wanting to have control. Control of Knowing everyone's business? 00:50:10 Anthony: This story is funny. Dragons are associated with the avaricious guarding of gold. The serpent is like a mirror for his avaricious state. 01:24:31 Rachel: No career changes according to one's whims 01:30:40 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father! 01:30:42 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 😊 01:30:44 Rachel: Thank you Father and everyone 01:30:51 Dave Warner (AL): Thank you! 01:30:57 Lisa Smith: Thank you Fr 01:30:57 Troy Amaro: Thank You 01:31:12 Kevin Burke: Thank you !

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...

We take up this evening a new hypothesis (VI) dealing with the ownership of property. At the heart of it, however, is the temptation to avarice and the impact that it has upon the spiritual life and upon our commitments to God and others. The monks relinquishment of property, their embrace of a life of poverty and simplicity, highlights for us the subtle temptations that are involved in our attachment to the things of the world. Where lust and gluttony perhaps fail to satisfy - avarice often step in to test us. It can become something insatiable. The more we amass the more we desire. Our attachment to things can begin on a very small level. Yet unchecked, it can affect the way that we enter into our relationship with God. We slowly begin to seek our security and identity in things. This, in turn, can make us ever so vulnerable to the demons attack against our commitments. The possession of things can make it seem more plausible to change and alter our life; to pursue another path of salvation, for ourselves, that does not require hardship or that offers more satisfaction. It gives room for our internal instability to drive us away from what challenges us internally to overcome the ego. What begins with a small attachment eventually can develop to the point where a demon tells us that “if stay where we are we the place our salvation in jeopardy. It is better to take what we have, and to create something better in our own judgment.” In this, we often place our own judgment above God’s. It creates an atmosphere of infidelity and strips us of long-suffering. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:11:21 FrDavid Abernethy: page 64 00:23:46 Eric Ewanco: 2nd maccabees 00:28:24 Eric Ewanco: Replying to "2nd maccabees" 12:39-45 00:41:56 Michael Hinckley: I know I’m that way about books. Desire for more 00:42:38 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "I know I’m that way ..." with ❤️ 00:48:28 Eric Ewanco: Replying to "I know I’m that way ..." There is a Japanese term, "tsundoku" (積ん読). This word describes the habit of acquiring books and letting them pile up, without reading them. 00:52:21 John I.: Replying to "I know I’m that way ..." I used to think that reading a lot of good Catholic books would make me very virtuous.... 00:54:39 Eric Ewanco: I can see those worries about the future being very real 00:56:33 Lori Hatala: I have always feared thinking "I deserve". I probably would not like getting what I deserve. 00:57:13 Kate : As an aside, we have a daughter who is a Carmelite nun. When she received the holy habit, all of her hair was cut off. We were given this hair to keep as a momento. She had a beautiful head of hair, but she gave it up with great joy. And now, I think there is more beauty in her Carmelite veil and all it signifies than in her hair. 00:57:21 Tracey Fredman: There's an emotional type of attachment to un-needful things - why is that? Not necessarily security - things like … I don't know, teacups - are hard to part with for some people. I'm very much aware of this in myself and I trying to declutter - it's really hard. 00:58:34 Vanessa: Reacted to "As an aside, we have..." with ❤️ 00:58:51 Jacqulyn: Reacted to As an aside, we have... with "❤️" 01:00:42 Eric Ewanco: There is a tradition, I think in the Romanian churches maybe, at the wedding of the priest saying "You are now each other's crosses" 01:27:51 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you,🙂 sorry I was late. I'm in the UK and forgot about daylight saving time. 01:28:32 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father! 01:28:38 Sophia: 🙏 01:28:45 Kenneth: thank you Father

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...

Sometimes in the simplest teachings is found the greatest wisdom. Such is true in tonight‘s readings from The Evergetinos. The focus is on work, how we engage in it and also how we engage others with whom we work. What becomes evident is that the Christian works in a distinctive fashion. Above all charity is to guide the manner in which we work, our diligence, and also the way we treat others. Whether they are good workers or not, we do not compare ourselves to them or the quality of our labor. Nor do we hold up the weakness or defects of people for others to see and so diminish their character. It is for this reason that our spiritual work must always take precedence over and shape the work that we do within the world. We take up all things from the hand of God. And in doing, so we keep before our eyes the dignity of the other. There is nothing that we could produce within this world and nothing that we could accomplish that has more value than our own soul or that of others. Love and humility in all things! --- Text of chat during the group: 00:06:16 Tracey Fredman: I've been thinking a lot about the question "How is your prayer life?" - what would be a proper response? 00:09:48 sharonfisher: I would respond that it’s in fits and starts — frequent during the day but not very structured. I need to do better. 00:25:39 Steve Yu: Is the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles another title for the Didache? 00:28:46 Anthony: I think the Constitutions are on librivox app 00:28:54 Steve Yu: Reacted to "I think the Constitu…" with 👍 00:29:00 Steve Yu: Replying to "I think the Constitu…" Thanks! 00:29:03 Adam Paige: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Constitutions 00:29:09 Steve Yu: Reacted to "https://en.m.wikiped…" with 👍 00:29:10 Anthony: Also latin and slavonic 00:29:33 Steve Yu: Replying to "https://en.m.wikiped…" Thanks! 00:30:07 Kevin Burke: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1493752200?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 00:36:50 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thanks!" with 👍 00:37:26 Rachel: Whoah 00:37:49 Steve Yu: Reacted to "https://www.amazon.c…" with 👍 00:38:01 Steve Yu: Replying to "https://www.amazon.c…" Thanks much! 00:39:00 Rachel: So, I would have trouble having a poker face in that situation. I love the grace I have seen in others who handle these things, even great things in stride. The humility it takes to cover anothers faults and mistakes 00:46:22 Rachel: I do lol 00:52:28 Anthony: These men have complete freedom but choose to discipline their lives for the vision of something better than a "Batchelor life." 00:52:45 Vanessa: Reacted to "These men have compl..." with 👍 01:00:55 Anthony: An interesting book: "Catholicism, Protestantism and Capitalism" by Amintore Fanfani 01:01:29 Rachel: Some nuns who gave a talk to a prayer group a talk spoke about guarding oneself from touching in a layperson's life as well. It seems strange on the surface to the world. There are naturally affectionate people who want always to hug others. As an introvert I have admires the way in which the nuns held themselves. When we are not intruding on another's space, in charity or not, it is a way in which we can respect the image of God in the other. In the context of the talk, which was given about friendships and the life of prayer, I could see how there are many behaviors that on the surface seem charitable but are subtly self serving. The actions lack true humility and charity. 01:04:10 Liz D: Are there any prerequisites to praying the Prayer of the Heart, also known as the "Jesus Prayer.” mentioned as a way to pray in the morning? Also, can we pray this way during work times? I read an admonition from one of the Fathers that it can be ill-advised to pray this prayer if one is not ready for it. Perhaps it had to do with certain breathing while praying. I’m sorry I don’t recall the exact quote or admonition. How may I discern if ready to try this prayer as a non-monastic Catholic? I’d like to pray the "Jesus Prayer" in the morning as...

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

Everything about what it is to be a human being should be touched and shaped by the grace of God. Our identity and purpose comes through Christ. When we lose sight of this, a kind of disorder and imbalance enters into the way that we work, the kind of work that we take up, and the time that we spend engaged in it. This evening we were given one story after another about the nature of the work the desert monks did. Their focus was on manual labor that allowed them to be attentive to God while engaged in it. They also worked enough to provide for themselves modestly but always with an eye towards the needs of others. We do not work for ourselves. Nor do we work and labor to the extent that it reveals we want to reach a point where we will no longer have to bear that burden. Work prevents us from falling into idleness, but also allows us to provide for others in their needs. When Christ is absent from this part of our life, then “our toil shall be great, our path unsteady, our grief inconsolable, and our lives care-worn.” The one who is focused upon Christ and seeks him first will labor temperately and freely. In the absence of Christ, however, one is driven by agitation and fear. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:21:26 Amale Obeid: How do hermits balance the solitude with the duty to serve others? 00:28:13 Anthony: We Americans have the farce of the Puritan work ethic, though. We are people, not human resources. That is a point of resistance for me. 00:37:50 Rebecca Thérèse: A siev is a strainer 00:38:02 Rebecca Thérèse: sieve 00:39:25 Anthony: As a matter of historical note, in the middle ages, cloth was the first commodity, and a source of wealth. Weavers were treated poorly, like the way treat robots. The heresy of Waldensianism spread among weavers, perhaps during to their social condition. 00:42:07 Lilly: Saint Francis of Assisi, comes to mind. He left his dad's linen business to live a monastic life :) 00:43:19 Anthony: Reacted to Saint Francis of Ass... with "👍" 00:59:29 Amale Obeid: How much work is “enough” to not be slothful or idle? Secular life does not let you step down or slow down. It feels more and more like it’s an all or nothing choice 01:09:33 Anthony: On the neglect of the most important things when work is too long or too heavy: St John Bosco & St Frances Cabrini looked after children whose families were forced to work to the neglect of children....and the boys themselves who worked so much but neglected their souls. 01:10:54 Vanessa: Reacted to "On the neglect of th..." with 👍 01:11:17 Anthony: Thank God Pope Francis preaches on the evil of usury / debt culture. 01:15:53 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father David 01:15:56 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:16:37 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father! 01:16:43 Rachel: Thank you 01:16:47 Nick Bodmer: Thanks!

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!

We continued our discussion from The Evergetinos on idleness. What begins to emerge from the wisdom of the fathers is that everything that is part of our life as human beings is filled with meaning and touched by grace. God has ordained that we provide for ourselves by the work of our hands. Furthermore, by this very same work, we are attentive to the needs of others. Work allows us to show charity to others in their needs. Avoiding idleness not only allows us to engage in fruitful labor but helps us to remain focused in our thoughts and avoid temptation. The fathers also understood that when our work is taken up as from the hand of God, as an act of obedient love, we give ourselves over to it with zeal and attention. We are prevented from falling into laziness. Such an understanding also allows us to engage in work in such a way that others see what motivates us. The intentions of the heart are often revealed in the simple way that we engage in our day-to-day labors. When we love, we take up that work diligently and joyfully. We do not complain or fall into resentment. Nor do we compare our work with others. When we take up our work from God, it frees us from the pitfalls that often plague us on a daily basis. A balance emerges in our life. When our identity is rooted in God then we take up our labor from him and knowing that it is completed by his grace. Work is not what gives meaning to our life. It is love in our hearts that shapes that work. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:15:59 Suzanne: Father, I'm just popping in to let you know I am going offline for Lent. I'll see you after Easter. 00:16:20 FrDavid Abernethy: Replying to "Father, I'm just pop..." ok. God bless 00:16:21 Suzanne: Thank you!!! 00:16:44 FrDavid Abernethy: page 52 top paragraph 00:21:32 Amale Obeid: The toil when working with the mind seems paradoxically heavier than the toil of working with the hands. How might we think about the difference between working the corporate grind versus what the monks consider work? 00:34:45 Louise: A beautiful book about being with God inwardly and with the world outwardly is The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. 00:35:48 Maureen Cunningham: Yes a wonderful book 00:35:50 Anthony: Read it. Supposedly it was a Carthusian work. Very good. 00:56:26 Alexandra K: This is the issue I have while working remote. I really really really don't like it. Need to remember that I should work for God. 00:57:41 Amale Obeid: Reacted to "A beautiful book abo..." with ❤️ 01:16:20 Maureen Cunningham: Do you think they were so hard on Monks because they understood Spiritual Warfare 01:19:44 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:19:49 Maureen Cunningham: thank you many Blessings 01:19:53 Amale Obeid: Thank you 01:20:29 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father! 01:20:36 Sophia: Thank you, Fr 01:20:38 Alexandra K: Thank you for doing this Father! I'll pray for you

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