Tonight we made the transition from St. John’s Step on Gluttony and its offspring to our discussion of Purity and Chastity in Step number 15. Again, as we read slowly through the text and begin to unpack it, we begin to see the larger picture; the image of humanity redeemed. We see what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God, and the experience of embracing our full dignity and identity.
What is held out to us is an incorruptible freedom and joy as our love becomes ordered toward God. We begin to see the true beauty of the things of the world, of others, and of God himself. As I’ve often mentioned, the desert fathers were the first depth psychologists; they present to us the path that brings healing of soul. They see the human person in his fullness and we see in their writings such our true dignity and destiny.
Our struggle often is found in the fact that we’ve never come to taste that freedom, the joy, the capacity to love unimpeded by our sin. The ascetic life is not about endurance, or personal health or the ordering of our life so much as it is about the desire for God, his love, and to share in the life that he makes possible for us. It has been said that “Beauty will save the world”. In the writings of the fathers, we are called to see this beauty first in the person of Christ; and in and through him the beauty of the life that is held out to us. May we desire it with all of our hearts.
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Text of chat during the group:
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XIII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis X, Part III and Hypothesis XI, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XII
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XI
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis X, Part II
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part X
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis IX, Part II and Hypothesis X, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis VIII, Part II and Hypothesis IX, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XIII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis VIII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis VI, Part II and Hypothesis VII
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XI
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis IV, Part III
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part X
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis IV, Part II and Hypothesis V
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis III, Part IV and Hypothesis IV, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part VIII
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