The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily I, Part II

2025-03-05

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How we begin something often determines how it will develop in later stages and the fruit that it will bear. Thus, Saint Isaac tells us, that the beginning of the path of life is our immersion in the word of God and to live in poverty. This is strikingly unlike how other ascetic/mystical writers begin speaking about the discipline of virtue. Isaac immediately encourages us to take the focus off of ourselves, of our own judgment of the world as well as to remove our attachment to the things of this world. Our identity is rooted in God. We have been made in his image and likeness and we only find the fulfillment of love and life for which our hearts long in him. To exercise the mind in the words of God is not like reading a book on history. It is opening the heart to receive the fullness of what God has revealed to us and when we approach this word in faith and silence, it allows God to speak a word that is equal to himself. It allows that Divine word to be born in our hearts. This encounter is what transforms us and fills the heart with desire for what we are promised in Christ; that is, theosis, deification, being made one is with God by grace. The more this desire grows within us the less we are attached to the things of this world. We seek to simplify our lives. To become poor in the things of this world allows us to become rich in that which endures. Free from the anxiety that our attachment to the things of this world brings we are able to immerse ourselves in the eternal word of God. Lacking this, Isaac tells us, no one can draw close to God. The more occupied we are with the things of the world the more susceptible we become to the passions. When we surround ourselves with the noise of the world all of the senses are flooded and we are in a constant state of receptivity. Thus, we become less receptive to the one thing necessary and that is sanctifying. What we find in Isaac then and what makes his writing so captivating is his understanding that love is the most powerful source of motivation and transformation. It is Christ who raises us up out of the poverty of our sin and when we have Him, as St paul reminds us, everything else appears to be mere refuse.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:07:20 Una: Where is the hand button?

00:07:58 Una: Mine is a heart icon

00:10:21 Una: I feel like Isaac the way I felt when I first discovered the Bible. Total immersion

00:11:48 Una: Replying to "I feel like Isaac ..."

I have not been able to stop listening to the audiobook

00:11:53 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 113, # 4

00:11:55 Daniel Allen: i am but my camera and mic aren't working

00:11:57 Daniel Allen: yes

00:11:59 Daniel Allen: confirmed

00:12:13 Daniel Allen: on a laptop instead of ipad tonight and i can't seem to figure out zoom on this

00:12:34 Daniel Allen: not sure if you can see my typing

00:13:07 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 113, # 4

00:16:56 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 113, # 4

00:29:27 Kathleen: Rationale thought

00:34:38 Lee Graham: No

00:46:20 Maureen Cunningham: I find everyone seems so Angry these days.

00:46:40 Maureen Cunningham: Silence is the only way

00:51:16 Daniel Allen: It's hard to leave Christ for Christ, to see it as such. As a parent, sometimes the last thing you want is a kid asking you a question, or really anyone needing you. And inevitably when you try to find time to pray, that's when you're needed without fail. The natural reaction, especially after awhile, can be frustration. So to "leave Christ for Christ" is a challenging thing to actually do.

00:54:20 Joshua Sander: Forgive my question for going back a paragraph in the text, but when Isaac speaks of "the word of God," is he simply speaking of the formal canon of Scripture, or is he extending this to the holy writings of the Fathers as well?

00:56:36 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It's hard to leave C..." with ❤️

01:00:14 Anthony: If St Neri is an example, this becoming prayer comes gradually, organically. It isn't grasped at with ambition.

01:00:41 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "If St Neri is an exa..." with 👍🏼

01:07:09 Nick Bodmer: We are amusing ourselves to death

01:08:16 The Recovery Community Hub of PBC, Inc.: At our wedding our priest had this line that stuck with me, that every single struggle in marriage will ultimately lead to the cultivation of a virtue that each of the spouses needs to attain heaven

01:08:36 Alex Underwood: It seems like Isaac’s concept of “separation” here could be a direct lesson from and emulation of Jesus when he would remove himself into the wilderness or desert to pray and commune with the Father?

01:18:36 Kevin Burke: Thank You Father, this is awesome !

01:18:38 Elizabeth Richards: Thank you Father!

01:18:41 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You

01:18:44 santiagobua: Thank you Father!!

01:18:46 Nypaver Clan: Sorry to disagree with Lord Byron…If I thought “marriage was hell” I wouldn’t have stuck with it for 41 years. 🥰

01:18:47 Una: That's very tempting to do Isaac more than once a week

01:18:52 Francisco Ingham: Thank you father!

01:18:52 Una: What about Friday?

01:18:53 Daniel Allen: Thank you Father!

01:19:32 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!

01:19:35 Joe Mugo: Thank you Father.

01:19:37 Bob Čihák, AZ: Bless you, Father!