The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily V, Part VI

St Isaac reveals a truth that is both luminous and frightening. He tells us plainly that nothing shapes the soul more profoundly than the afflictions God allows. In prosperity, the heart drifts. It forgets that it is a creature, and begins to imagine that the strength of its own hand has gained these things. In comfort, the soul becomes dull. In praise, it becomes intoxicated. And in success it begins, slowly, almost imperceptibly, to enthrone itself.

So God, in His mercy, disrupts this illusion.

He sends the tutors of grief and the teachers of fear. Not because He delights in suffering, but because He knows what the soul becomes without it. St Isaac speaks with severity because he has seen the madness of those who, having tasted power, wealth, or health, forgot the One who gave them breath and dared to call themselves gods. Nothing is more lethal to the spiritual life than a life free from the memory of God.

Thus God places the soul in the crucible of adversity so that remembrance might be rekindled. He stirs us with the fear of things hostile, not to crush us, but to drive us toward the gate of His mercy. And when He delivers us, His deliverance becomes a seed of love. When He comforts us, His comfort becomes a memory of His providence. When He saves us, His salvation becomes the ground of gratitude.

This is the strange and paradoxical path St Isaac sets before us:
afflictions become the birthplace of divine sonship.
Within their furnace the soul learns who God is, learns how He cares, learns how to love and to give thanks.

But St Isaac pushes further. Affliction alone is insufficient if the soul does not respond with remembrance. Forgetfulness is the true death, the soul’s quiet apostasy. Thus he commands:
Seat yourself before the Lord continually.
Do not let your heart wander into trivial anxieties lest, when the hour of trial comes, you find yourself unable to speak boldly before the One you barely remember. Intimacy with God is born of continual conversing with Him. Forgetting Him is not merely a lapse but a rupture in the bond of trust.

And then he reveals the fruit: from long abiding in this remembrance, the soul is drawn into wonder. The heart that seeks the Lord begins to rejoice. The condemned become strengthened. The repentant become purified by the brightness of His face.

Finally, St Isaac places before us the two paths, both simple and searching.
The sinner who returns will not stumble over his sins; the Lord will not remember them.
The righteous man who falls and persists in his sin cannot rely on his former virtues; he will die in the darkness he has chosen.

Everything depends on the present turning of the heart.

St Isaac’s words strike with the clarity of desert fire. Affliction is not the enemy but the womb of remembrance. Suffering is not punishment but invitation. Every grief becomes a gate. And the soul that accepts the discipline of remembrance, that seats itself continually before God, finds that even the darkest circumstances become a field where the seeds of divine love take root and flower.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:03:23 Sam: Hi Fr. Greetings from hot and humid oz. Could you please let me know your email address. I'll reach out and let you know of my schedule as keen to travel to Pittsburg. Thanks Sam

00:03:57 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: philokaliaministries@gmail.com

00:04:04 Sam: Thanks

00:12:07 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 162 paragraph 24

00:12:28 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: philokaliaministries.org/blog

00:14:50 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/blog

00:14:52 Thomas: Good

00:14:59 Thomas: In library for study tables so can’t talk

00:15:17 Thomas: Fall season is over but we’ve got lifts and conditions now

00:15:29 Thomas: Yeah it’s not great

00:16:05 Thomas: That has happened a couple times

00:16:42 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/blog

00:16:43 susan: how is laurie recovering?

00:33:56 Maureen Cunningham: Brother Lawrence

00:36:59 Maureen Cunningham: What is the difference between affliction verse oppression

00:39:02 Vanessa Nunez: Every Friday I do my vigil adoration time and what you say is what I felt the Lord was saying last Friday in my time of silence and prayer. 

“For all the sufferings you’ve endured shall be made into glory and bare many fruit.”

00:40:29 David Swiderski, WI: A spiritual director I had living overseas mentioned God's voice is like a whisper on the wind and the devil an annoying scratching irritation. I am not sure if I do the breathing correctly but an orthodox friend mentioned to breath in and say Lord Jesus Christ son of God and exhale saying have mercy on me a sinner. Breathing in I constantly think of the whisper of the holy name as inhaling is always quieter like a whisper and exhaling is stronger and forceful in voice. And repetition calms the mind to hear better not only the quiet but the hope is clarity from God.

00:40:51 Vanessa Nunez: Reacted to "A spiritual director…" with ❤️

00:42:00 Elizabeth Richards: Reacted to "A spiritual director..." with ❤️

00:42:52 Ryan Ngeve: Father how does one keep that awareness of the grace of God and not reliance on one’s own strength

00:43:03 samuel: Reacted to Father how does one ... with "👏"

00:44:47 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Reacted to "A spiritual director..." with ❤️

00:54:48 David Swiderski, WI: Where you spend your time is where you find your treasure and your God. Still looking in laundry and chores but he is there somewhere.

00:57:13 Anthony: Catholic elementary school is a big reason I left the faith.

00:58:13 Anthony: But, that mistake was used for my benefit.

01:22:52 Eleana Urrego: I like it

01:24:22 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You

01:24:23 Elizabeth Richards: Grace can flow through the most surprising places <3

01:24:54 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

01:24:58 Jessica McHale: Many graces and blessings and prayers!

01:25:16 David Swiderski, WI: Thank you father God bless you and your mother (and dogs). :)

01:25:24 Jonathan Grobler: Thank you father, God bless ❤️

01:25:26 Janine: May God bless you Father!

01:25:43 Janine: Yes….will pray for Lori..