Superb group tonight! Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments and questions on two very challenging steps.
Synopsis:
We continued this evening reading Step 2 on Detachment and the beginning of Step 3 on Exile. Saint John makes it very clear to us that detachment from the things of this world and seeing ourselves as living in exile are rooted not in a hatred of the world or of others but rather in our desire for the perfect love of Christ.
Our passions draw us back again and again to the sickness of our sin. Even when we have left many things behind we can feel a very tangible pull back to them. Therefore, St. John tells us that we must embrace Christ with an unconditional and absolute love and devotion; as He has given his love unconditionally and without limit.
All things begin and end with love. Our asceticism, all of our disciplines, must be rooted in this love otherwise we will find ourselves isolated from others and from God. Even the monks who embraced the deepest solitude of the desert understood that they did so as part of the body of Christ; that the embrace of deep solitude and silence brought them to a greater intimacy with every other person and allowed them to see the action of God within the world and creation.
The break from the world of which these first three steps speak is meant to allow us to run freely and swiftly toward Christ, our Beloved.
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Text of chat during the group:
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-nine Part III and Homily Sixty Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-nine Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-eight and Homily Fifty-nine Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-seven Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-seven Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-six Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-six Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-five Part II and Homily Fifty-six Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-four Part VI and Homily Fifty-five
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-four Part V
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-four Part IV
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-four Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-four Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-two Part VI, Homily 53 and Homily 54 Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-two Part V
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-two Part IV
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-two Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-two Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Fifty-two Part I
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