We take up this evening a new hypothesis (VI) dealing with the ownership of property. At the heart of it, however, is the temptation to avarice and the impact that it has upon the spiritual life and upon our commitments to God and others.
The monks relinquishment of property, their embrace of a life of poverty and simplicity, highlights for us the subtle temptations that are involved in our attachment to the things of the world. Where lust and gluttony perhaps fail to satisfy - avarice often step in to test us. It can become something insatiable. The more we amass the more we desire.
Our attachment to things can begin on a very small level. Yet unchecked, it can affect the way that we enter into our relationship with God. We slowly begin to seek our security and identity in things. This, in turn, can make us ever so vulnerable to the demons attack against our commitments. The possession of things can make it seem more plausible to change and alter our life; to pursue another path of salvation, for ourselves, that does not require hardship or that offers more satisfaction. It gives room for our internal instability to drive us away from what challenges us internally to overcome the ego. What begins with a small attachment eventually can develop to the point where a demon tells us that “if stay where we are we the place our salvation in jeopardy. It is better to take what we have, and to create something better in our own judgment.” In this, we often place our own judgment above God’s. It creates an atmosphere of infidelity and strips us of long-suffering.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:11:21 FrDavid Abernethy: page 64
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Two On Nocturnal Illusions Part IV and Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part I
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Two On Nocturnal Illusions Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Two On Nocturnal Illusions Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Two On Nocturnal Illusions
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty One On the Relaxation at Pentecost Part V
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty One On the Relaxation at Pentecost Part IV
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty One On the Relaxation at Pentecost Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty One On the Relaxation at Pentecost Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty One On the Relaxation at Pentecost Part I
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty On the End of Repentance and on the Mark of Reparation Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty On the End of Repentance and on the Mark of Reparation Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty On the End of Repentance and on the Mark of Reparation Part I
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part IV
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part I
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part V
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part IV
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part II
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