Philokalia Ministries The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily VII, Part I
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Matthew 6:33
St. Isaac places hope after the first labor of virtue for a reason.
A man must first discover that his virtues cannot save him.
He fasts.
He keeps vigil.
He disciplines the body.
He restrains the passions.
He learns obedience to the commandments.
Yet even after these labors something remains uncertain within him. The heart still trembles before the future. The mind still calculates. The soul still tries to secure itself.
Virtue alone does not destroy fear.
Because fear is rooted in the illusion that life depends upon us.
So Isaac begins to speak about hope.
Not optimism.
Not religious comfort.
Not the quiet belief that God will make things easier.
Divine hope is something far more terrible.
Divine hope appears when a man finally believes the words of Christ.
“Make no provision for the flesh.”
The man who hopes in God no longer arranges his life around survival. He arranges it around God.
This is why Isaac describes the man who ceases to give thought to worldly provision. Such a man has not become careless. He has become free.
He has discovered something the world does not understand.
God is not an idea that accompanies life.
God is life.
The world trains us to think first about preservation. Food. Clothing. Shelter. Security. Reputation. Position. The future.
Even religious men often organize their spiritual life around these concerns. They seek God but only after they have secured themselves.
Christ reverses this order.
Seek first the Kingdom.
Not second.
Not after your plans are settled.
Not after the future is secured.
First.
When this commandment is believed, everything changes.
Afflictions no longer appear as threats.
Loss no longer appears as catastrophe.
Uncertainty no longer produces panic.
The man who hopes in God has already placed his life in God’s hands.
Nothing remains to defend.
This is why the saints could live with such strange freedom.
They possessed little.
They planned little.
They secured little.
Yet they lacked nothing.
The world itself began to serve them.
Not because they controlled the world but because they had already abandoned it.
Divine hope therefore exposes the false hope that governs most lives.
False hope says God will protect the life I am building.
True hope says God Himself is my life.
False hope clings to stability.
True hope walks where Christ walks.
Into uncertainty.
Into poverty.
Into the wilderness.
Into the Cross.
And yet the man who walks there does not despair.
Because he has discovered something greater than safety.
He has discovered the faithfulness of God.
This is why Isaac places hope after the discipline of virtue.
Virtue trains the body.
Hope gives the heart to God.
Without hope the ascetic life becomes anxiety dressed in religious clothing.
With hope the man becomes light.
He lives before God without calculation.
He labors.
He prays.
He stands watch over the heart.
And he entrusts everything else to the mercy of God.
Such a man has begun to believe the Gospel.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:38:12 Janine: Happy are you poor
00:40:55 Jessica McHale: I feel as though the money, savings, job, housing I have is all a gift from God. My life has been a little complicated and I see these material things as passing--I don't have hope in them at all--but I feel blessed at what's He's given me. My job allows me to say the Hours and attend Divine Liturgy or Mass daily. If I lose all material things, it's no loss. God will provide. Living simply, even though I have security in "savings etc" makes me really see how unimportant material things are. I don't need most things the average person needs. I have a long way to holiness though, :). But this helps me to try to focus on God throughout the day and become more "ascetic" in the modern world. Praise God.
00:45:46 Nypaver Clan: Page # ?
00:45:50 Anthony: There are people Our Lord did not call to follow Him in the evangelical counsels. The Gadarene demonic. The man blind from birth. Even Nicodemus. Maybe I'm trying to justify myself, but I wonder if the evangelical counsels are for some people but not others
00:45:59 Andrew Adams: Replying to "Page # ?"
182
00:46:02 Eleana Urrego: 182
00:46:09 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "182" with 👍
00:46:15 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "182" with 👍
00:47:25 Julie: Today’s reading was similar to this ,Luke 16:19-31
00:48:28 Eleana Urrego: I have joy in poverty because I can see the divine providence in action ❤️
00:53:43 David Swiderski, WI: This makes me think about a popular book called the "Secret" which seems like self worship and strange but I have met a lot of people who feel this is their truth. It seems empty and controlling eliminating a focus on God, family, empathy a lot of what makes life worth living. It has also been recommended to some friends by psychologist and some businesses. I have seen Presidents and VPs of large multinationals spending time before days or meetings speaking to mirrors with positive statements on how great they are, how they are winners which almost seems like prayers and worship to the ego.
00:54:31 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This makes me think ..." with 👍
00:54:47 Eleana Urrego: Demonic
00:55:02 Kevin Burke: Reacted to "Demonic" with 👌
00:55:15 David Swiderski, WI: The new generation uses their phones not mirrors anymore. :)
00:55:38 Robert Iaropoli: Father, am I being asked to embrace hopelessness in self? I was embarresed and resistant of taking such a view for a long time bc I really wanted to be seen as and feel that I am a competant, powerful, self relient man, and I dont like ducking out of a fight, but experience tells me that that attitude just leads me to getting the snot kicked out of me.
01:01:25 Joan Chakonas: If you talk to God throughout the day He brings you where you need to be in that very moment. Like he brought me to the philokalia ministeries through my friend Janine. Monday night was a seismic wake up to stop my idle internet browsing because I chose to take the guidance of the fathers seriously. I expect to fail often but I will keep trying and believe I will succeed with His help. Just a thought
01:06:56 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "If you talk to God t..." with ❤️
01:11:15 Jesssica Imanaka: The footnote on trust and confidence on p. 181 seems important in terms of understanding what hope really means.
01:15:27 Gwen’s iPhone: Fr Freeman’s book “Everywhere Present” has life changing for me.
01:16:57 David Swiderski, WI: My Grandfather explained hope to me with this saying: We all fall, we all have times we are on knees but the person with faith and hope can be seen because he always have their arm outstretched trying to reach God. And sometimes our fingertips feel his presence.