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

After having spoken to us about the importance of being filled with wonder at the love and mercy of God revealed to us in Christ and desiring him above all things, Saint Isaac immediately stresses that what is born from the heart must be real and concrete. It is one thing for us to use beautiful words to speak about Christ and the faith. It is another to embody the love and compassion of Christ so vitally that our actions and words transmit virtue to others. In other words, for our actions to be life-giving, they must be rooted in the experience of the living God. Otherwise, our wisdom becomes a “deposit of disgrace”. Whereas righteous activity born of the love of Christ and the experience of his mercy becomes a “treasury of hope”. How do we engage the world around us and those in it except by embodying He who is reality, love and truth.

Our temporal life passes so quickly and Isaac tells us that if we love it then our way of life is defiled or we have been deprived of knowledge. He writes: “the fear of death distresses a man with a guilty conscience, but the man with a good witness within himself longs for death as for life.“  If Christ is the center of our life then we will have no fear or anxiety. The only thing that we take out of this world is our vice or virtue. Everything passes away like a dream disappearing in the morning.

All that we have received is pure gift; coming to us through baptism and faith where we are called by the Lord - called by name - to enter into his life and to love as he loved. Indeed it is an interesting thing that Isaac begins his Ascetical Homilies by emphasizing wonder, desire, urgent longing and God‘s desire for us as well how freely He has given us everything that is good. Isaac set us upon a path that helps us keep our focus upon God and God alone. All of our spiritual disciplines must serve to help us love and give ourselves in love or they are hollow. Likewise, all that we receive must be responded to with gratitude. There is only one thing that keeps us from experiencing the richness of God’s grace and mercy. It is our failure to turn towards him through a lack of trust or appreciation for His generosity.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:08:47 Catherine Opie: Apologies I missed last weeks zoom due to being offline. What page are we on today?

00:10:29 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 118 paragraph 34

00:19:12 Catherine Opie: Things move slower down here in Australasia 🤣

00:24:50 David: I find this part so beautiful my grandmother was an artist near Lake Superior and painted in water colors I spent my summers with her and while I love her paintings I remember more the scenes , smell of the wildflowers and of course being next to her. The painting is but a pale reflection. So to with talking about love but feeling that from my family/mentors special people illuminates long after the time has past.

00:29:18 David: In the end I found Christ seeing him in my grandparents and others not the years of studying, reading the Summa. He was there next to me living through them.

00:46:06 Ren Witter: Don’t worry Father, I’ll throw myself on your grave and weep ;-)

00:46:50 paul g.: Reacted to "Don’t worry Father, …" with 😇

00:47:25 Tracey Fredman: Sometimes we find ourselves in a position ... I have thoughts! I pray for everyone's prayers - don't know how to raise my hand on the phone! lol

00:47:51 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to Don’t worry Father, ... with "😇"

00:48:13 Tracey Fredman: I can unmute

00:49:23 Tracey Fredman: (or not , lol)

00:49:36 David: I nice thing to do is to take a picture and send it to them SMS. Someone did this for me and it is really comforting in bad times to see a candle lit, a thought shared etc.

00:51:53 David: We enter this life and leave the same way - no teeth, no hair and in diapers what is important is what we share in-between was a saying from my Grandfather.

00:54:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: I've given up saying, "I can't wait to be a burden to my children." too much static.

00:57:01 David: Reacted to "I've given up saying..." with 😂

01:00:09 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: HIs advice here would also apply to those who carry trauma memories.

01:01:39 David: When my Mom was in hospice at home dying I was also raising my sons alone and commuting to Chicago (4hrs driving). I had a lot of anxiety and listed to relevant radio on the way back. Father Simon said the only honest prayer is not asking for things but - God teach me your ways. When I started doing this most of the anxiety and frustration went away. I guess letting go of pride?

01:02:23 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "When my Mom was in h..." with 👍

01:03:02 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "When my Mom was in h..." with ❤️

01:03:14 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "We enter this life a..." with ❤️

01:03:45 Anthony: A problem is that these very remedies - Bible, sacraments, real theology - have been distorted and abused and therefore look ugly and repulsive.  That blockage needs to be overcome

01:03:58 Bob Čihák, AZ: My favorite is "Thy will be done." So much so that we're planning it for our gravestone.

01:05:16 David: Reacted to "A problem is that th..." with 👍

01:05:21 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "My favorite is "Thy ..." with 🤣

01:17:39 Ryan N: Father, How does one who struggles with giving gratitude arrive to such state. Is it left to the grace of God? Do we ask God for the grace to be grateful?

01:19:45 Naina: Thank you Father 🙏✝️❤️

01:20:30 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!

01:20:30 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you!

01:20:42 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr, I will pray for you.