There are certain moments while reading the fathers when one trembles. The truth expressed is so vivid and pierces so deeply that the experience of it is visceral. One is shaken. This is not easy to endure, and perhaps there are moments when reading such texts becomes a stumbling block for our minds and our hearts. However, when they speak the truth of Christ and when they reveal the depth of love that we are called to in Him, ultimately these words are healing. The fathers, in so many ways, are spiritual physicians. Their words cut like a scalpel and cut deeply. But they cut out the “rot” as John describes it. The remembrance of wrongs, which is the offspring of anger, is not something that we can remove on our own. Untreated it spreads like a cancer. The fact, John tells us it has no offspring because it poisons the soul so completely that it makes us incapable of love.
May God give us the grace to listen with humility and gratitude. We are given such loving fathers who desire nothing but our healing. When we begin to trust that, then their words become as bright and illuminating as the sun.
---
Text of chat during the group:
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XL, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent- Chapter XIV: On Gluttony, Part III
Behold His Face: They Shall Look On Him Whom They Have Pierced
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XIV: On Gluttony, Part II
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XXXIX, Part I
City a Desert Lecture Series, Lecture Three: Interiorized Monasticism Part III: Chastity and Obedience
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XIV: On Gluttony, Part I
The Evergetinos, Hypothesis XXXVIII
City a Desert Lecture Series, Lecture Two: Interiorized Monasticism Part II: Fundamental Principles
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XIII: On Despondency
The Evergetinos, Hypothesis XXXVII
Repentance
City a Desert Lecture Series, Lecture One: Introduction to Interiorized Monasticism
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XII: On Lying
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XXXV, Part II and Hypothesis XXXVI
To Love Fasting
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XI: On Talkativeness and Silence
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XXXV, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter X: On Slander or Calumny, Part II
The Evergetinos - Hypothesis XXXIV
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Hello Heaven Podcast
Devoted To Prayer
Cast The Word
Let Me Be Frank | Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Podcast | Diocese of Bridgeport, CT
Rudolf Steiner Audio
Conspirituality