Practicing Humility When God Feels Distant

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Let's pray. Almighty God, our help and refuge,
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fountain of wisdom and tower of strength, who
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knows that we can do nothing without your guidance
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and your help, assist us, we pray unto you, and
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direct us to divine wisdom and power that we
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may have this study and whatever else we may
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undertake to do faithfully, diligently, according
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to your will, so that they may be profitable
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to ourselves and to others, and to the glory
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of your holy name. For yours is the kingdom and
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the power and the glory of the Father and of
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the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever
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and unto eons of eons. Amen. I'm going to ask
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you to tell me if you can see what's on the screen,
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hopefully. Showing what needs to be shown. I
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see an icon to the right. To the right. Okay.
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Let's see if we can. Maybe it's more centralized
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now. In the mail that I sent earlier. I was talking
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about the greatest virtue. And in St. John Cassian
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Conference 4, Abba Daniel reveals something that
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I have found lacking in most of the negotiations
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that I've had with... corporate executives that
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maybe have an impact of 30 to 100 ,000 lives
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each in their work life at least. And I thought
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this is very important because what the world
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might not encourage, what the world might not
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reward, or it might, depending on the circumstance,
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God rewards eternally. And I'm hoping we'll go
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deep into it. And before we do, I want to especially
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talk about the one who we are about to celebrate
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tomorrow, her Dormition, because her life is
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a great example of this important virtue. Here
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we have St. Luke drawing one of the first icons
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of the Holy Theotokos, that is the God -bearer.
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as she is bearing jesus christ god in the flesh
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the theotokos was chosen before the foundation
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of the world to become the only person who would
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receive god in her flesh no one else has been
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worthy all the prophets not even moses could
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behold christ fully but she became the latter
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connecting God and humanity as she humbly bowed
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to God's will to have God incarnate dwell in
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her flesh. Her powerful attribute was revealed
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when she prayed according to God's word, saying,
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let it be done unto me according to your will,
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Lord. And tomorrow we're remembering that not
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only she lived a wonderful life, humbly unto
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God, obeying God's word, revealing Christ in
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everything. Upon her death, the angels came to
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honor the humble lady. And as you come to realize
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she is full of God's grace, I want you to also
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notice who she is, Notice the prayers that the
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church is giving so that you can be blessed with
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everyone else. And these prayers are divine illuminations
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of the Lord. Zoe, if you can mute yourself just
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to be sure. I'm going to hit it one more time.
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There we go. Thank you. So in her life, we see
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this gratefulness of God's grace. And in her
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death, the angels coming to honor the holy of
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holies who had God in herself. And she's being
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welcomed in this calling of God. We see in tomorrow's
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prayers as we're praying, please feel free to
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look up these prayers beforehand in order to
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know how important her life was and is to all
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humanity. her example being exalted before the
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lord bodily and christ came to receive her beautiful
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icons reveal much of this but jesus christ was
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fully god in her womb unfortunately satan cannot
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stand this true message that god exalted the
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most humble one the one that was chosen to have
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Christ in her. Because throughout church history,
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we've noticed various ecumenical councils having
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to be held to defend what had been passed on
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to us through oral tradition. What had been passed
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on to us by the Holy Spirit from the first century
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on was being challenged through various people,
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including sometimes bishops. and deacons and
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priests inside the church. Whether it is Arius
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openly denouncing Christ as being the eternal
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God, or more subtly, trying to say, you know
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what, maybe Jesus wasn't fully God in her womb.
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In the second council, in the fourth council,
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many, many other times, Satan wanted to attack
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this truth. about who Jesus is and about who
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Mary, his mother, was. Because if you could make
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Mary just having a human being in her, then you
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could say, you know what? He wasn't fully God.
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Now you could attack God from the back door.
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And the church rightly said, no, we're not going
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to have any of this. Satan, depart from us. We
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will fully protect what has been passed on to
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us. Later on, unfortunately, after the Roman
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Catholics went schismatic and they did not humble
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themselves to be part of the one holy Catholic
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church but became just Rome and exalted the papacy
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and exalted one man rather than humbling themselves
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to Christ as the head, they tried to make one
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person to be the head of the church. Their children
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in the Protestant papal spirit began to exalt
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themselves as little popes because they had this
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wrong phronema being passed on this wrong mindset
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and in that they finally many of them fell for
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what satan had been trying to attack the church
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in this section of the the roman catholic children
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and they began to attack who mary was but the
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church had always taught this Because of who
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Christ is, we know who the God -bearer was. And
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in this spirit, as we think of who she is, historical
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accounts that have been passed on to us, we know
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that God saw the church from the beginning as
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eternal. Many of us think that the church began
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at Pentecost. Pentecost is when we were revealed
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more fully. but the eternal church has always
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been here before all time because according to
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what had been revealed by the holy spirit the
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church the first church was the holy trinity
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the father the son and the holy spirit in perfect
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communion with one another the eternal worship
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of god present And in their perfect love for
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one another, they chose to invite all of us to
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become partakers of God's divine nature, to become
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gods by God's grace, what Christ was in his essence.
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We read about this from those including St. John,
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the Apostle John. the theologian, he had passed
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this on to his disciple, his trusted ones, and
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we read it directly in the writings of St. Irenaeus
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from the early church. We find it in the scriptures
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when it says in Ephesians 1, 4 -5, according
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as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
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of the world, that we should be holy and without
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blame before him in love. having predestined
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us unto the adoption of children by jesus christ
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to himself according to the good pleasure of
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his will before the foundation of the world in
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second timothy one nine who has saved us and
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called us with a holy calling not according to
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our works but according to his own purpose and
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his grace which was given to us in christ jesus
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before the world began. In Hebrews 12, 22 and
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23, But you are come unto Mount Zion, unto the
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city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
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to an innumerable company of the angels, to the
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general assembly and the church of the firstborn,
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which are written in heaven. It is beautiful
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how the Word of God reveals to us the eternal
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nature of the Church. In 1 Peter 1, 19 and 20,
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For with the precious blood of Christ, as of
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a lamb without blemish and without spot, who
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verily was foreordained before the foundation
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of the world, but was manifest in these last
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times for you. When the Church Fathers look at
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these verses, they speak of the Church as eternal.
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They're not suggesting that it is a creature
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alongside of God, but it is the theantropic life
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of God shared with creation. It is the uncreated
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love of the Trinity pouring forth into the assembly
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of the saints, making the Church truly What the
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scripture says is the pillar and ground of truth
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unshaken by the temporal passing of this world.
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Jesus Christ is our head. That's why it is important
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for us to fully unite with the one body of Christ.
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Christ the head, his one body, the eternal body.
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One holy Catholic Church that continues as the
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Orthodox. To leave the Orthodox Church is to
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leave Christ himself. To leave Christ is shown
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if we separate ourselves from the Orthodox Church
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in heaven and on earth. Remember in Acts 7 and
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8 and subsequently when a religious zealot named
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Saul of Tarsus, persecuted, murdered the first
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holy martyr, Stephen, and he tried to imprison
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members of the Orthodox Church. Christ met him
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in the desert with divine glory and told him,
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Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He identifies
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so much with the members of the body of Christ
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that when we are being persecuted, Christ is
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being persecuted. And he led Saul of Tarsus to
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conversion in his mercies, despite being persecuted.
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He said, I still have a word of mercy, a grace
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available to you, Saul. And he blinded him by
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grace in order that he would be humbling himself
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to receive healing sight by one of the one that
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he was planning to torture and kill. God has
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great grace for us no matter what background
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we come from. And in St. John Cassian Conference
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4, emulating the humility of God becoming man,
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the humility of the Theotokos saying, Abba Daniel
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is having a conversation with St. John Cassian
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and Saint Germanos, and he is revealed in the
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writings as a man of remarkable humility. Abba
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Paphnutios, spiritually discerned by the grace
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of God, that this young man, even though he was
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younger than many older monks, he was uniquely
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receiving incredible grace even greater than
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avapafnutius therefore he saw daniel because
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of his great humility and the great grace that
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was being poured into his life as a person that
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was worthy to be his successor he saw in daniel
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this person that he wanted to pass on the leadership,
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the baton, so that the church would continue
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well and the monastery that Abba Paphnutius was
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there and the Desert Fathers were there. So he
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exalted him despite his youth to the diaconate
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and then to the priesthood. And after his elevation,
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Abba Daniel Didn't just say, well, now that I've
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been exalted, I'm going to be puffed up with
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pride. But now, wisely, he continued in humility.
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And he showed this, one of the ways that he showed
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this was whenever Abba Paphnutius was there to
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celebrate the divine liturgy, the Holy Eucharist,
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immediately Abba Daniel would take the position
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of a deacon. The fourth conference reveals, blessing
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of this humility in Abba Daniel, but also reveals
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how we are to struggle between the desires of
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the flesh and the spirit and what is the purpose
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of spiritual dryness. We're going to primarily
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focus on the first part right now, on the humility
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and maybe some on the spiritual dryness. And
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in the second part, in about two weeks, Lord
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willing, we will go deeper into how to fight
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this spiritual struggle, how to overcome the
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various lusts and passions and what is their
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purpose and what does God have in mind for us
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in the midst of this. But in this first part,
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remember the scripture says, when pride comes,
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then comes disgrace. But with humility comes
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wisdom. The world wants you to believe. in your
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career, in your jobs, in your business, that
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is a vertical ladder. Who can I knock down in
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order to climb up the ladder and have a greater
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title? But God wants to show us that this is
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a horizontal path. Just like Daniel, just like
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the Theotokos, just like God in Christ Jesus,
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we're not climbing to become greater than someone
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else. but we are walking in order to be made
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whole in Christ. Experience anacophagiosis, that
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God wants to heal us from the womb throughout
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all our lives to make our whole being transformed
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as we are humbled to His grace and His plan.
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If you are in a management role or a leadership
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role of any kind, especially maybe in the business
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world, your greatest achievement is not a billion
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dollar contract. And I've had the privilege of
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having some of those accomplished. But all of
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them is dumb. It's nothing. It's worthless. It's
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not whether our church grows to become a mega
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church with 100 ,000 members. That would be a
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blessing for every soul. But that's not the point.
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It is the moment that I recognize my own need
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for mercy, as I see those entrusted to me, whether
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it's an employee or a member of the church, whoever
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that might be that I'm called to lead, that I
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can lead them, to guide them into that eternal
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path of grace. as if i can practice that humility
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that and only that is the virtue that the world
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calls weakness but the holy spirit through the
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fathers treats as the royal road of love the
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world will offer us various career paths those
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ladders to climb but then they will either demand
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from us through demonic voices or through people
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being deceived or deceitful extreme ambition
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of pride or total apathy of slothfulness abba
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daniel in his life is showing us the narrow road
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work hard but not for the sake of your own name
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work hard to the glory of God. Abba Moses stated
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plainly when he told us in earlier lessons, truly
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discretion, the true discretion is only secured
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by true humility. We talked about this in several
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lessons. The first proof of humility is to reserve
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everything, our thoughts, our actions, for scrutiny
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of a compassionate Orthodox Christian God, that
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Orthodox Christian God with the anointed spiritual
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elder. Without humility, even the most educated
00:20:38.710 --> 00:20:47.829
mind is blind. Obedience before God, obedience
00:20:47.829 --> 00:20:53.579
unto the Lord, that means I will obey. If someone
00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:56.319
is speaking unto the Lord, if they're trying
00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:58.740
to lead me astray, if some manager or executive
00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:03.039
is trying to lead me to pride or any path that
00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.279
is lack of virtue, I will say no. I will only
00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.759
obey unto God. If, as we read in the scriptures,
00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:15.859
if even councils try to lead us away from Christ,
00:21:16.099 --> 00:21:19.079
the humble ones will say, I would rather obey
00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:23.490
God rather than men, in Acts 4 and Acts 5. So
00:21:23.490 --> 00:21:25.789
I must have that gift of discernment in order
00:21:25.789 --> 00:21:31.289
to have true humility at all times. But I want
00:21:31.289 --> 00:21:33.490
you to also think about this. How do we apply
00:21:33.490 --> 00:21:36.390
this? It's not just to monastery. It's not just
00:21:36.390 --> 00:21:41.609
to church life. But imagine you're a business
00:21:41.609 --> 00:21:46.250
owner or you're working in a business with a
00:21:46.250 --> 00:21:47.769
business owner. You want to coach them along
00:21:47.769 --> 00:21:51.480
this line. When they want you to compromise your
00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:57.180
integrity for ESG scores or DEI demonized paths,
00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:02.839
or for greater market share even, you say, let's
00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:06.180
define our success not by return on financial
00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:13.319
investment, but by return on virtue. How might
00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:17.240
we see that? Ask yourself, how is our business?
00:22:18.569 --> 00:22:25.190
set up to treat the least of employees? Does
00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:30.650
it create a place where honesty, virtue, holiness
00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:36.930
is valued more than just financial profit? Those
00:22:36.930 --> 00:22:40.109
questions, if you think about it and answer it,
00:22:40.170 --> 00:22:43.450
and set it as your strategic goal for your organization,
00:22:43.849 --> 00:22:46.250
can help guide you to make sure you're leading.
00:22:46.910 --> 00:22:51.650
to Christ and to a greater plan for their lives.
00:22:54.529 --> 00:22:57.569
Abba Daniel shared that the conflict between
00:22:57.569 --> 00:23:02.009
our desires to succeed and our desire to be righteous
00:23:02.009 --> 00:23:06.990
is a saving struggle. We're not going to pray,
00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:10.390
Lord, take this tension away from me, but rather
00:23:10.390 --> 00:23:13.069
we're going to pray, Lord, use this tension to
00:23:13.069 --> 00:23:17.339
keep me from becoming lukewarm. which in the
00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:22.619
conference four warns us directly from the scriptures
00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:27.099
that Christ will vomit us out, spit us out from
00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:31.019
his mouth if we are lukewarm. If we only come
00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:35.779
to church in order to be religious, if we only
00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:39.680
come in order to maybe grow the church financially.
00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:44.279
like many, many, many televangelists, many leaders
00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:46.799
try to do, but maybe sometimes we can lose our
00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:48.960
way and think we got to get money in order to
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:53.200
do things and we can lose that focus. But God
00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.480
says, no, I want you to come to be hot for me,
00:23:56.579 --> 00:24:02.599
to be entering like the story of Mary and Martha,
00:24:02.779 --> 00:24:05.859
not to be as Martha, busy working, working for
00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:10.599
God, thinking that the gospel is just to evangelize.
00:24:11.130 --> 00:24:14.309
but busy as Mary, saying, I'm going to be in
00:24:14.309 --> 00:24:17.230
the presence of God when I come to divine liturgy,
00:24:17.329 --> 00:24:20.390
when I'm at home praying before the holy icons,
00:24:20.710 --> 00:24:24.829
when I'm moving my thoughts into my heart. In
00:24:24.829 --> 00:24:27.349
this state, I want to be filled with the fire
00:24:27.349 --> 00:24:31.130
of God, the divine light of God's grace, in order
00:24:31.130 --> 00:24:35.390
to humbly be transformed by the work of the Holy
00:24:35.390 --> 00:24:40.630
Spirit to partake of God's divine nature. When
00:24:40.630 --> 00:24:43.250
I come to church, I want to pray in the Lord.
00:24:44.109 --> 00:24:47.049
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. That's why
00:24:47.049 --> 00:24:50.130
we're constantly uniting in prayer. When the
00:24:50.130 --> 00:24:53.410
prayer said, Lord, have mercy, join in prayer
00:24:53.410 --> 00:24:57.049
with your whole being and say, Lord, have mercy.
00:24:57.529 --> 00:25:00.289
Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, have mercy on us.
00:25:00.710 --> 00:25:04.059
Lord, have mercy. We're praying. that your grace
00:25:04.059 --> 00:25:07.819
will be poured into our lives, applying the power
00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:11.680
of God and the grace of God so I can be transformed
00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:15.720
as I'm praying, not just in rote tradition, but
00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:19.660
in holy tradition, with the fire of God's grace
00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:26.640
to be transformed every moment. As you think
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:31.619
about this conference, I also want to ask you
00:25:31.619 --> 00:25:37.660
a question. Maybe make some people uncomfortable.
00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:40.500
I don't know. We'll see. When you experience
00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:45.779
spiritual dryness, when prayer might feel hollow,
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:48.579
when the words of the liturgy might seem to bounce
00:25:48.579 --> 00:25:53.400
off the ceiling, when God feels distant, what
00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:58.619
is your first assumption? Most of us probably
00:25:58.619 --> 00:26:03.240
would have certain assumptions such as, I immediately
00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:06.579
blame myself. I must have sinned. I'm not praying
00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:11.079
enough. I'm not worthy. Or I'm going to give
00:26:11.079 --> 00:26:14.319
up. God is so cold. I'm so cold. This is not
00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:17.420
working. Maybe this thing is not real. Maybe
00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:22.559
I'll just not cut out for this. Or I might say,
00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:25.059
I'm just going to soldier on pretending everything
00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:29.359
is fine while inside I'm quietly falling apart.
00:26:31.660 --> 00:26:34.539
If any of these tempting thoughts come to you,
00:26:34.579 --> 00:26:39.319
realize you're not alone. However, you might
00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:42.940
be completely misunderstanding what is happening
00:26:42.940 --> 00:26:48.140
to you. And Abba Daniel reveals in Conference
00:26:48.140 --> 00:26:52.400
4, says, what if the desert is not a punishment,
00:26:52.519 --> 00:27:00.960
but actually a gift to grow in God's grace? He's
00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:06.240
teaching this to John Cassian and Germanos. Something
00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:09.259
that could completely change how we experience
00:27:09.259 --> 00:27:12.799
spiritual dryness. He said there are times when
00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:18.259
God feels most absent. And St. John Cassian and
00:27:18.259 --> 00:27:20.880
Germanos were actually experiencing this in the
00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:24.259
presence of Abba Daniel. They were shocked how
00:27:24.259 --> 00:27:28.900
they could feel that coldness. wow, lukewarmness
00:27:28.900 --> 00:27:33.339
all at once, different feelings. And Abba Daniel
00:27:33.339 --> 00:27:35.940
is revealing to them, when you're feeling all
00:27:35.940 --> 00:27:40.759
of this, it could be that God is most present,
00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:44.940
not in your emotion, but in his purpose for your
00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:51.299
life. He actually tells us there are three origins
00:27:51.299 --> 00:27:58.359
of spiritual dryness. Number one, it can come
00:27:58.359 --> 00:28:01.339
through our own carelessness. Maybe we've become
00:28:01.339 --> 00:28:05.140
lazy or distracted from what matters most. Maybe
00:28:05.140 --> 00:28:07.819
we've become enveloped in what's in the world,
00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:12.680
our job, our finances, our businesses, our relationships,
00:28:13.099 --> 00:28:15.880
what we want for others, maybe what we want for
00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:19.740
our children to have more money or greater career
00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:21.880
or whatever it might be, or what we want for
00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:26.529
ourselves. It could be we have not purposefully
00:28:26.529 --> 00:28:31.490
set aside and prioritize time to move our thoughts
00:28:31.490 --> 00:28:36.049
into our heart and exalt Jesus Christ. But he
00:28:36.049 --> 00:28:39.329
also said there is a second origin of spiritual
00:28:39.329 --> 00:28:44.650
dryness, a demonic assault, when the enemy is
00:28:44.650 --> 00:28:49.009
trying to wear us down. But remember, Satan can
00:28:49.009 --> 00:28:53.109
do nothing to us unless God allows it. He can't
00:28:53.109 --> 00:28:56.009
even go into the pigs. unless he asks permission.
00:28:56.630 --> 00:29:01.769
Jesus, can we go into the pigs? He has no power
00:29:01.769 --> 00:29:07.869
unless God allows him. So when God allows it,
00:29:07.869 --> 00:29:10.230
and that's the third, God's permission, when
00:29:10.230 --> 00:29:12.970
he allows it, we say it is for our own good.
00:29:13.390 --> 00:29:18.269
God is working his plan, his will, for our eternal
00:29:18.269 --> 00:29:24.750
good. Abba Daniel says God sometimes withdraws
00:29:24.750 --> 00:29:29.829
his presence for two reasons. To prevent pride
00:29:29.829 --> 00:29:36.269
or to prove our perseverance. Think about that.
00:29:36.470 --> 00:29:39.490
Ask God to reveal to your heart. What if the
00:29:39.490 --> 00:29:43.309
reason that I am feeling spiritually dry is not
00:29:43.309 --> 00:29:46.009
because I have sinned, but because God wants
00:29:46.009 --> 00:29:49.089
to see if I'm going to seek him when I don't
00:29:49.089 --> 00:29:53.839
feel him. What if my greatest spiritual danger
00:29:53.839 --> 00:30:02.180
is not failure, but worldly success? Or even
00:30:02.180 --> 00:30:05.400
success in the church. I might seem to have certain
00:30:05.400 --> 00:30:07.599
things going for me in the church. It could have
00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:10.819
various forms, and Abba Daniel challenges all
00:30:10.819 --> 00:30:17.619
of them. Since spiritual dryness is often by
00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:20.740
God's permission and is meant to humble us and
00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:24.000
test our perseverance, when we experience this
00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.559
as workers, maybe you might feeling at work,
00:30:27.579 --> 00:30:30.559
I'm feeling stagnant, unappreciated, or stuck
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:34.799
in a rut of a job, and I feel invisible. You
00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:37.740
can apply it right then. So God has a plan for
00:30:37.740 --> 00:30:40.920
me. This is for my salvation. This is for me.
00:30:41.609 --> 00:30:44.410
to experience anacathaliosis, to become like
00:30:44.410 --> 00:30:50.170
Christ. When I'm feeling undervalued by the world,
00:30:50.250 --> 00:30:52.690
whether it's at work, at home, church, or anywhere
00:30:52.690 --> 00:30:57.509
else, I say, I'm not going to despair. Rather,
00:30:57.750 --> 00:31:02.430
I'm going to treat that environment, even whether
00:31:02.430 --> 00:31:06.710
it's work, family, home, anywhere, church, it's
00:31:06.710 --> 00:31:10.339
going to be a liturgical environment. in the
00:31:10.339 --> 00:31:15.339
midst of an ordinary life if i'm feeling spiritually
00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:18.279
or professionally hollow i'm going to recognize
00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:23.599
that this is a test from god for my growth it's
00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:25.660
not a test for failure god doesn't test us to
00:31:25.660 --> 00:31:28.079
cause us to fail and if we fail he wants to cause
00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:30.680
us to grow in order to become more like christ
00:31:31.970 --> 00:31:36.329
God is using this seeming forsaking to see if
00:31:36.329 --> 00:31:39.230
I'm going to continue to seek him like Job, and
00:31:39.230 --> 00:31:41.470
I'm going to say, though you slay me, Lord, I
00:31:41.470 --> 00:31:50.089
am going to trust you. Am I going to seek him
00:31:50.089 --> 00:31:56.349
when I'm promoted or when I'm not promoted, when
00:31:56.349 --> 00:31:59.170
I'm praised or when I'm not? It's not going to
00:31:59.170 --> 00:32:04.240
depend on external circumstances. Now here is
00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:09.380
a humility hack. Instead of complaining about
00:32:09.380 --> 00:32:12.839
being overlooked or performing my work invisibly,
00:32:12.980 --> 00:32:19.680
I'm going to offer it as a way to God to excel
00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:23.799
in Him, not for validation by my boss or by others
00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:27.880
in the church or by those in my life, but like
00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:31.359
St. Isaac the Syrian says, the solitary inner
00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:37.480
self. I'm going to say I'm building a hidden
00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:42.519
interior life that no AI or no corporate assembly
00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:47.880
line robot can touch. I am one created in God's
00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:53.059
image. And now I'm going to touch a glimpse.
00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:55.279
I'm going to touch his divine light. I'm going
00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:58.240
to have a glimpse of the Lord in the midst of
00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:01.299
this. And I'm going to pray, Lord Jesus Christ,
00:33:01.559 --> 00:33:04.900
have mercy on me. move my thoughts to my heart.
00:33:08.059 --> 00:33:11.420
He might seem to the world to make us powerless,
00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:14.299
just like when Jesus Christ allowed himself to
00:33:14.299 --> 00:33:17.259
be crucified. The world thought, we have won,
00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:20.339
we have defeated him. And the rest thought, wow,
00:33:20.420 --> 00:33:21.799
this was it? I thought you were going to come
00:33:21.799 --> 00:33:25.000
down as a king. But in reality, as he went to
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:27.759
the cross, he went victoriously. He chose that
00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:31.039
path and defeated Satan, defeated death, and
00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:33.480
saved mankind, opened the door for salvation
00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:36.660
for all mankind. The same way, I'm called to
00:33:36.660 --> 00:33:39.140
partake of his divine nature, take up my cross
00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:45.099
to follow him. If I remain humble, I'm acknowledging
00:33:45.099 --> 00:33:49.480
the truth of my limitations and not overly exaggerating
00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:59.549
my own abilities. Now, in that battle, that spiritual
00:33:59.549 --> 00:34:04.170
warfare that we're in, we want to be aware of
00:34:04.170 --> 00:34:07.710
demonic condemnation that's disguised as conscience.
00:34:09.510 --> 00:34:13.690
In the midst of this battle to abide in the grace
00:34:13.690 --> 00:34:19.190
of God humbly, it is very important now as I'm
00:34:19.190 --> 00:34:24.269
being assaulted, I must pray, God, give me understanding.
00:34:26.240 --> 00:34:30.980
Yes, we have a deceitful enemy who seems to have
00:34:30.980 --> 00:34:33.840
a certain amount of power given by God sometimes.
00:34:34.199 --> 00:34:37.900
And he wants to devour the souls of those that
00:34:37.900 --> 00:34:42.920
are creating God's image. That's why we know
00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:45.539
at that moment we say, I know I need God who
00:34:45.539 --> 00:34:51.619
is all -powerful. And I'm going to cast every
00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:53.739
thought that exalts itself above the knowledge
00:34:53.739 --> 00:35:00.280
of God. I know that in him, Satan and the legions
00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:03.960
of demons can be cast out with a word. And I
00:35:03.960 --> 00:35:07.900
want to be hiding myself in Christ in my heart.
00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:11.980
I want to be on the side of those who are praying
00:35:11.980 --> 00:35:15.460
and actively working synergistically in their
00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:21.739
life with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Abba
00:35:21.739 --> 00:35:26.099
Daniel warns us. He says, the voice that's condemning
00:35:26.099 --> 00:35:32.170
you, judging you harshly is often a demonic force
00:35:32.170 --> 00:35:40.889
disguised as conscience. So how can we apply
00:35:40.889 --> 00:35:42.769
this a little more in our lives in the midst
00:35:42.769 --> 00:35:46.989
of everything that's going on? When you think
00:35:46.989 --> 00:35:51.409
about this, when you're judging a co -worker
00:35:51.409 --> 00:35:57.239
as maybe being lazy, or slow or arrogant, whatever
00:35:57.239 --> 00:36:03.599
it might be. Assume that you're vulnerable to
00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:09.480
that very same sin. If not for the grace of God,
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:19.039
there go I. And pray humbly, Lord, instead of
00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:22.039
saying, I'm glad I'm not like that publican as
00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:26.639
the Pharisee did. I'm better than he is. I'm
00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:30.360
going to say, I am just as prone to failure as
00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:35.599
they are. Lord, help us both. This prayer will
00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:39.139
disarm the demon of judgment and replace that
00:36:39.139 --> 00:36:43.880
hostility with a grounded connection to God's
00:36:43.880 --> 00:36:53.110
mercy. Sometimes when I find myself deeply annoyed
00:36:53.110 --> 00:36:57.849
by a co -worker or an employee or a manager.
00:36:59.489 --> 00:37:03.269
In the midst of that, I'm going to say, no, I
00:37:03.269 --> 00:37:06.989
refuse to enter into judgment against anyone,
00:37:07.230 --> 00:37:10.809
against my priest, against fellow members of
00:37:10.809 --> 00:37:12.929
the body of Christ, against fellow workers, against
00:37:12.929 --> 00:37:16.710
my boss, against anyone. I am unworthy to judge
00:37:16.710 --> 00:37:21.829
anybody. Just like the merchant that was greater
00:37:21.829 --> 00:37:25.030
than St. Anthony, as people walked by his shop,
00:37:25.230 --> 00:37:28.269
he said, they're more worthy of Christ and salvation
00:37:28.269 --> 00:37:31.889
than I am, even though he was in a great position
00:37:31.889 --> 00:37:37.230
in the Lord. And this way, I disabled the demon
00:37:37.230 --> 00:37:41.909
that's trying to work his darkness in me. Instead,
00:37:42.010 --> 00:37:44.230
I said, I'm going to be diligent. I'm going to
00:37:44.230 --> 00:37:47.530
work hard. Yes, I'm going to provide financially,
00:37:47.630 --> 00:37:51.059
maybe. food for my family, and I'm going to just
00:37:51.059 --> 00:37:53.340
do everything I can to be diligent with all the
00:37:53.340 --> 00:37:56.360
talents that God has given me. I'm going to remain
00:37:56.360 --> 00:38:01.380
holy, devout, devoted to God above everything
00:38:01.380 --> 00:38:04.440
else in the midst of this. And three, I'm going
00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:08.239
to be charitable. I'm going to remember not to
00:38:08.239 --> 00:38:10.559
hoard the riches that God is pouring in my life,
00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:13.239
but I'm going to use these finances to His glory.
00:38:13.929 --> 00:38:17.170
for salvation of mankind, and I'm going to provide
00:38:17.170 --> 00:38:19.630
for my family, beyond that, provide for those
00:38:19.630 --> 00:38:23.250
in need in every way possible for the sake of
00:38:23.250 --> 00:38:33.010
the kingdom. And why? Think about the Bible verse
00:38:33.010 --> 00:38:36.610
that says, God resists the proud, but gives grace
00:38:36.610 --> 00:38:41.210
to the humble, in James 4 .6 and Proverbs 3 .34.
00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:48.139
Since God resists the proud but gives grace to
00:38:48.139 --> 00:38:52.400
the humble, and I know that he has a plan and
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:57.739
purpose for my life, and his plans are greater
00:38:57.739 --> 00:39:02.360
than any the man has, I'm going to join Abba
00:39:02.360 --> 00:39:05.059
Daniel's warning. I'm going to heed his warning
00:39:05.059 --> 00:39:09.679
and say, God sometimes withdraws his presence
00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:13.239
to prevent me from becoming puffed up by my own
00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:18.250
successes. This way, I'm going to avoid the trap
00:39:18.250 --> 00:39:25.869
of success. Or if I'm a business owner in the
00:39:25.869 --> 00:39:28.849
world or a manager, I'm going to practice this
00:39:28.849 --> 00:39:32.329
kenotic leadership where I'm emptying myself
00:39:32.329 --> 00:39:35.809
of everything in this world that I have. And
00:39:35.809 --> 00:39:38.670
I'm going to say, when a project succeeds, I'm
00:39:38.670 --> 00:39:41.070
going to intentionally shift the spotlight, better
00:39:41.070 --> 00:39:44.090
than take all the glory. I'm responsible for
00:39:44.090 --> 00:39:47.860
this success. I'm going to give glory to God
00:39:47.860 --> 00:39:52.260
and give glory to all my co -workers. If the
00:39:52.260 --> 00:39:56.179
project fails, I'm going to absorb the heat without
00:39:56.179 --> 00:40:00.940
shifting the blame to someone else. If I do that,
00:40:01.059 --> 00:40:03.699
I turn around whatever is going on in my life
00:40:03.699 --> 00:40:12.639
to become more like Christ. One way that leaders
00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:15.599
and those of us who've served in various leadership
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:19.599
roles, one way that we can grow in this grace
00:40:19.599 --> 00:40:22.659
of humility that God wants to give through humility
00:40:22.659 --> 00:40:25.780
is sometimes ask those people that maybe are
00:40:25.780 --> 00:40:29.880
direct reports, members of the church, those
00:40:29.880 --> 00:40:34.280
that maybe as husbands to wives or children or
00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:37.440
parents to children, we can say, how am I doing?
00:40:37.880 --> 00:40:41.849
Can you tell me? Just like we would ask feedback
00:40:41.849 --> 00:40:46.289
as an owner, I can ask feedback rather than giving
00:40:46.289 --> 00:40:49.190
feedback on performance to others. How am I doing
00:40:49.190 --> 00:40:52.449
in guiding you? How am I doing in helping you
00:40:52.449 --> 00:40:55.710
to use your gifts and your talents? Children,
00:40:55.849 --> 00:40:59.389
how am I doing as a parent to draw you near to
00:40:59.389 --> 00:41:03.389
Christ? Am I crushing your spirit or am I leading
00:41:03.389 --> 00:41:08.409
you to him? Am I humbly serving you as Christ
00:41:08.409 --> 00:41:14.079
to the church? Am I leading you to cheer for
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:18.880
be humble, be humble through my example, not
00:41:18.880 --> 00:41:21.780
just through my words, not just demand obedience
00:41:21.780 --> 00:41:23.760
from others, but actually I'm being obedient
00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:29.159
to God. And in this way, the world might say
00:41:29.159 --> 00:41:31.679
I'm being vulnerable, but actually desert fathers
00:41:31.679 --> 00:41:34.900
would say I'm dying to the image of the self
00:41:34.900 --> 00:41:39.800
-sufficient master. taking up my cross and following
00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:46.860
Jesus. Now, today's lesson, I want to conclude
00:41:46.860 --> 00:41:50.420
with this one shocking reality and open it up
00:41:50.420 --> 00:41:54.559
to any comments or questions from you. And this
00:41:54.559 --> 00:41:59.699
was this. God often has a plan and purpose for
00:41:59.699 --> 00:42:01.699
our lives that we might not see in this life.
00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:04.400
In fact, we might be surprised by what's going
00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:07.340
on in our lives. Maybe we've had positions of,
00:42:07.719 --> 00:42:10.260
authority and power and financial success, and
00:42:10.260 --> 00:42:13.539
now we don't. Maybe we've chosen that path purposefully
00:42:13.539 --> 00:42:17.119
and walked away from a lot of things. Or maybe
00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:20.219
we are in a place of greater financial success,
00:42:20.440 --> 00:42:24.940
no matter where we're at. We must know that God's
00:42:24.940 --> 00:42:27.699
mysterious plan is often beyond our understanding.
00:42:28.960 --> 00:42:34.159
But his plan is good. Abba Paphnutius, who was
00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:38.420
a man of incredible grace, He was filled with
00:42:38.420 --> 00:42:42.239
the Holy Spirit. And he had plans for Abba Daniel
00:42:42.239 --> 00:42:45.599
because he saw great virtue in Abba Daniel and
00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:48.820
great grace and great humility. And he had plans
00:42:48.820 --> 00:42:54.500
for him to succeed him after he left. But God
00:42:54.500 --> 00:43:00.639
hid something from Abba Paphnutius. Abba Daniel
00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:08.360
died before Abba Paphnutius. Shocked. It's like,
00:43:08.420 --> 00:43:10.719
how come I not see this? I have the grace of
00:43:10.719 --> 00:43:17.920
foresight, and yet God hid this from me. Obviously,
00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:24.000
greatly disappointing. But yet, he says, I'm
00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:28.579
going to trust the Lord. From what we read of
00:43:28.579 --> 00:43:33.159
John in the Conference 4, it seems that soon
00:43:33.159 --> 00:43:37.659
after, Abba Paphnutius also dies. Yes, he was
00:43:37.659 --> 00:43:41.619
disappointed because his plan and hope for succession
00:43:41.619 --> 00:43:48.380
had been thwarted by God. And Daniel departed
00:43:48.380 --> 00:43:50.960
this life before he could fulfill that role in
00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:54.800
this life. Obviously, greatly exalted before
00:43:54.800 --> 00:44:01.460
the Lord in the world to come. And this is just
00:44:01.460 --> 00:44:04.679
telling us that we don't really know what God's
00:44:04.679 --> 00:44:07.940
plan is for our lives. In fact, this very night,
00:44:08.139 --> 00:44:13.599
we must remember, we could be called to go to
00:44:13.599 --> 00:44:18.559
the other side. We could be called. And we must
00:44:18.559 --> 00:44:22.139
keep this before our forethought all the time.
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:27.940
Lord, this very day, I could die. I might be
00:44:27.940 --> 00:44:32.119
in a grave. No matter how young I am, like Daniel,
00:44:32.320 --> 00:44:36.000
or how old I am, Or I might live on. I don't
00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:38.639
know. God knows the plan. I'm going to live every
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:40.880
day as if it's my last, and I'm going to commit
00:44:40.880 --> 00:44:43.860
it all unto God to be as humble as I can to his
00:44:43.860 --> 00:44:46.519
plan for my life. And I'm going to cry like the
00:44:46.519 --> 00:44:50.099
Holy Theotokos, Lord, your will be done. Get
00:44:50.099 --> 00:44:55.159
me that focus. Help me, Lord, to fulfill your
00:44:55.159 --> 00:45:00.860
will. It's a powerful lesson that if Abba Paphnutius,
00:45:00.900 --> 00:45:03.340
with all the great grace he had, he couldn't...
00:45:03.769 --> 00:45:07.110
foresee this and he was overruled by God's will,
00:45:07.150 --> 00:45:15.909
how much more you and I? The only thing that
00:45:15.909 --> 00:45:19.250
will last will not be any of the world's goods,
00:45:19.349 --> 00:45:24.050
our career path, what titles we have, or anything
00:45:24.050 --> 00:45:26.429
we do in this world necessarily. The only thing
00:45:26.429 --> 00:45:29.769
that will last is what is in Christ. That's why
00:45:29.769 --> 00:45:36.420
when we have entered our hearts in prayer and
00:45:36.420 --> 00:45:40.119
join with partaking of god's divine nature when
00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:43.760
we have a divine liturgy when we have the general
00:45:43.760 --> 00:45:47.079
in god's army the holy priest ordained and anointed
00:45:47.079 --> 00:45:50.400
by god to lead us in the divine liturgy and we
00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:53.559
join with him to partake of christ's body and
00:45:53.559 --> 00:45:58.480
blood this It's a mystery of mysteries, but heaven
00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:01.000
and earth are uniting, and we're fulfilling the
00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:03.699
greatest plan of our lives. This is the way that
00:46:03.699 --> 00:46:06.380
we evangelize the world, as the saints have revealed.
00:46:06.579 --> 00:46:10.579
Grow in God's grace, in peace in you, and thousands
00:46:10.579 --> 00:46:13.920
will be drawn unto the Lord. Come to the divine
00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:16.639
liturgy. Come to vespers. Come to prayers. Join
00:46:16.639 --> 00:46:18.920
with one another, because this is how you're
00:46:18.920 --> 00:46:21.380
evangelizing the world, by becoming one with
00:46:21.380 --> 00:46:24.610
God. And then, take what you're getting. from
00:46:24.610 --> 00:46:28.489
God's grace in the church, into your life, every
00:46:28.489 --> 00:46:32.329
part, let nothing be hidden from the light of
00:46:32.329 --> 00:46:35.570
God. Bring everything, confess everything, so
00:46:35.570 --> 00:46:38.809
that in humility, we can partake of God's grace
00:46:38.809 --> 00:46:47.670
in every way possible. What are some of your
00:46:47.670 --> 00:46:52.070
thoughts or questions from tonight's study? As
00:46:52.070 --> 00:47:01.150
we enter the final minutes. Anthony. Yes. Why
00:47:01.150 --> 00:47:04.369
did you choose that last icon? Could you explain
00:47:04.369 --> 00:47:07.929
that a little bit in regard to that last screenshot
00:47:07.929 --> 00:47:15.230
with the verses about humility? I'm just not
00:47:15.230 --> 00:47:18.469
familiar with the icon and perhaps what you were.
00:47:18.590 --> 00:47:22.190
I followed along as you talked and could discern
00:47:22.190 --> 00:47:27.110
some of the obvious. implications of the icons
00:47:27.110 --> 00:47:29.469
you chose as you spoke could you speak to that
00:47:29.469 --> 00:47:34.449
last one god has his he is he has the whole world
00:47:34.449 --> 00:47:37.670
in his hands christ has the whole world in his
00:47:37.670 --> 00:47:41.269
hand he is the creator and in him all things
00:47:41.269 --> 00:47:44.250
are holding together yeah i really love that
00:47:44.250 --> 00:47:50.110
icon he is beyond time and space and everything
00:47:50.110 --> 00:47:52.469
is in his plan so that's why i chose that icon
00:47:55.690 --> 00:47:58.530
I have a similar one. Yeah. Tell me, tell us
00:47:58.530 --> 00:48:01.429
more about what you see in that. Yeah. Well,
00:48:01.570 --> 00:48:03.530
it's not the exact same, but it's basically,
00:48:03.570 --> 00:48:08.550
you know, Christ, the seven days of creation.
00:48:08.710 --> 00:48:12.710
Right. But, you know, Christ, the Logos is ordering
00:48:12.710 --> 00:48:15.369
the universe and everything in it. There's also
00:48:15.369 --> 00:48:21.710
an angel right there. And you see like scenery
00:48:21.710 --> 00:48:25.619
from Genesis, basically. yes yes yeah one of
00:48:25.619 --> 00:48:29.539
my favorite icons yes yes great question i love
00:48:29.539 --> 00:48:35.880
it thank you for asking that brianna has a question
00:48:35.880 --> 00:48:40.280
or a comment she says no one can live forever
00:48:40.280 --> 00:48:44.519
except god who was and is and is to come amen
00:48:44.519 --> 00:48:56.250
amen beautiful thank you for sharing that Out
00:48:56.250 --> 00:49:05.929
of the mouth of babes. Any other comments or
00:49:05.929 --> 00:49:09.070
questions as we enter the final minutes of today's
00:49:09.070 --> 00:49:17.429
study? I have one. Go ahead. One thing I was
00:49:17.429 --> 00:49:20.289
going to ask is, are there any specific prayers
00:49:20.289 --> 00:49:23.750
that kind of pertain to... like this topic of
00:49:23.750 --> 00:49:28.210
humility, of looking to God in all circumstances,
00:49:28.530 --> 00:49:32.750
right? And cultivating that love within, regardless
00:49:32.750 --> 00:49:38.570
of external influences. Some of the prayers that
00:49:38.570 --> 00:49:41.110
we shared today are there. Some of the prayers
00:49:41.110 --> 00:49:43.809
that in St. John Cassian Conference 4 can be
00:49:43.809 --> 00:49:45.929
found. And there are many, many other prayers.
00:49:46.050 --> 00:49:50.539
I will have to look them up. Good question. Unless
00:49:50.539 --> 00:49:52.400
Father Stephen knows it off the top of his head.
00:49:54.699 --> 00:49:57.400
Sorry, I didn't hear the question. I was busy
00:49:57.400 --> 00:50:00.800
with the baby. What was the question? Well, basically,
00:50:00.860 --> 00:50:03.199
I'm asking, like, are there prayers that kind
00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:05.739
of pertain to what we discussed here, like in
00:50:05.739 --> 00:50:08.980
terms of humility, but specifically focusing
00:50:08.980 --> 00:50:12.739
on like cultivating love for God, regardless
00:50:12.739 --> 00:50:15.880
of any external influences, cultivating that
00:50:15.880 --> 00:50:23.789
inner love. I mean, the Trisagion is that prayer.
00:50:24.190 --> 00:50:28.809
Yeah. The Jesus prayer, the Lord's prayer. I
00:50:28.809 --> 00:50:33.730
mean, those are the basic ones. I can say during
00:50:33.730 --> 00:50:36.670
Lent, the prayer of St. Ephraim, you know, Lord,
00:50:37.010 --> 00:50:39.670
master of our life, grant to me to see my own
00:50:39.670 --> 00:50:42.090
transgressions and not to judge my brother. You
00:50:42.090 --> 00:50:44.809
know, I jumped in that one. Of course, I didn't
00:50:44.809 --> 00:50:49.469
do the whole prayer, but that's the Psalms. Plenty
00:50:49.469 --> 00:50:52.389
of the Psalms, I would say Psalm 50, you know,
00:50:52.409 --> 00:50:54.929
a broken and contrite heart of God you will not
00:50:54.929 --> 00:50:58.090
despise. In fact, actually, for those who don't
00:50:58.090 --> 00:51:00.710
know this, I'll say this here, you know, you
00:51:00.710 --> 00:51:02.550
might notice this in the liturgy or hear this
00:51:02.550 --> 00:51:06.789
in the liturgy, but right before we, you know,
00:51:06.789 --> 00:51:09.630
consecrate the gifts into, you know, blessing
00:51:09.630 --> 00:51:12.050
them into making them the bread into the body
00:51:12.050 --> 00:51:15.809
and the wine into the blood, you know, you hear.
00:51:18.760 --> 00:51:21.239
you know you at the at the third i can never
00:51:21.239 --> 00:51:22.900
do it off the top of my head i can do it at liturgy
00:51:22.900 --> 00:51:25.239
off the top of my head but but you'll see you
00:51:25.239 --> 00:51:31.380
know you'll hear me say you know you it's it's
00:51:31.380 --> 00:51:34.000
been a long week but i say a prayer it's the
00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:37.079
triparian from from holy week that said and then
00:51:37.079 --> 00:51:39.719
the deacon says two of the verses from that psalm
00:51:39.719 --> 00:51:45.820
and everything um and that's it's a Similar reminder
00:51:45.820 --> 00:51:47.760
to that, to what Anthony was just saying with
00:51:47.760 --> 00:51:50.780
regards to that cultivating humility and prayer.
00:51:50.880 --> 00:51:52.199
And the same thing with your question, Evan.
00:51:53.039 --> 00:51:55.179
The other thing is you'll notice that if you
00:51:55.179 --> 00:51:57.980
pay attention, you don't hear him say it, but
00:51:57.980 --> 00:52:00.219
every time the deacon senses the church or I
00:52:00.219 --> 00:52:03.420
sense that he's not there, you say the full psalm.
00:52:03.420 --> 00:52:05.739
You say the entire psalm all the way through.
00:52:07.539 --> 00:52:11.360
And actually right after the truth of Kim, you
00:52:11.360 --> 00:52:14.179
hear the end part of that psalm again. Um, so
00:52:14.179 --> 00:52:17.539
we say that Psalm constantly throughout the liturgy
00:52:17.539 --> 00:52:20.099
and throughout the Vespers and all services.
00:52:20.639 --> 00:52:24.699
Um, and it's going to drive me nuts if I don't
00:52:24.699 --> 00:52:26.900
find that prayer because, so I'm going to look
00:52:26.900 --> 00:52:29.119
it up real quick. No, I mean, so you're talking
00:52:29.119 --> 00:52:30.380
about like the Psalm, you're talking about Psalm
00:52:30.380 --> 00:52:33.880
50 specifically. Yes. Yeah. Because I, I know
00:52:33.880 --> 00:52:36.800
one I've memorized is like, um, let's see. Oh
00:52:36.800 --> 00:52:39.440
Lord, open up my lips and my mouth shall proclaim
00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:42.579
thy praise. That's one. That's one verse I remember.
00:52:43.239 --> 00:52:51.280
uh the deacon usually says um hey father i remember
00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:54.800
the uh i remember that the trope are that you
00:52:54.800 --> 00:52:58.139
um talked about for the apoclesis it's a oh lord
00:52:58.139 --> 00:53:01.059
who did send down thy most holy spirit upon thine
00:53:01.059 --> 00:53:03.780
apostles at the third hour take him not from
00:53:03.780 --> 00:53:05.699
us a good one but renew him in us your faith
00:53:05.699 --> 00:53:08.179
to be yeah i can say that in my memory when i'm
00:53:08.179 --> 00:53:10.719
at service but for some reason i forget it when
00:53:10.719 --> 00:53:14.320
we're talking in front of you I'll have a service
00:53:14.320 --> 00:53:15.860
book in front of me, which is weird because I
00:53:15.860 --> 00:53:19.059
can do that one off the top of my head in service.
00:53:19.199 --> 00:53:21.360
But yeah, that's the prayer. And then you hear
00:53:21.360 --> 00:53:22.900
the deacon go, create me a clean heart of God
00:53:22.900 --> 00:53:25.139
and put an spirit within me where there's a Ryan
00:53:25.139 --> 00:53:28.500
held up. And I say it again. And he goes, casting
00:53:28.500 --> 00:53:30.079
that away from thy presence, take not thy Holy
00:53:30.079 --> 00:53:33.000
Spirit from me. And then he did. And then I said
00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:35.719
a prayer a third time. And I've always said to
00:53:35.719 --> 00:53:37.480
him, I always find it kind of funny that there's
00:53:37.480 --> 00:53:39.960
no response after that. It always feels like
00:53:39.960 --> 00:53:42.519
there should be a third one because in the, in
00:53:42.519 --> 00:53:46.059
the cherubic hymn, you will hear, you know, there's
00:53:46.059 --> 00:53:48.940
an exchange, right? I say, you know, let us do
00:53:48.940 --> 00:53:50.219
a mystic reference to the chair, but see the
00:53:50.219 --> 00:53:52.280
thrice holy hymn to thy great virginity. Now
00:53:52.280 --> 00:53:55.039
let us decide. Now let us decide what he cares.
00:53:55.199 --> 00:53:57.480
And he says, you know, that we receive the king
00:53:57.480 --> 00:54:00.900
of all who comes to visit us. But we do that
00:54:00.900 --> 00:54:03.719
three times. And those exchanges typically, when
00:54:03.719 --> 00:54:05.239
they happen through the service and stuff like
00:54:05.239 --> 00:54:07.760
that, there's always a response to it. That's
00:54:07.760 --> 00:54:10.500
the only time where. He only does it twice. And
00:54:10.500 --> 00:54:13.239
then the next response is then we blessing, you
00:54:13.239 --> 00:54:17.480
know, the gifts, you know, making the New Year
00:54:17.480 --> 00:54:19.380
again. Next, you know, next thing, you know,
00:54:19.380 --> 00:54:22.960
make this the bread, make the, and I say that
00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:25.860
whole prayer sequence again, memorize during
00:54:25.860 --> 00:54:28.500
service. Don't remember it when I'm out of service
00:54:28.500 --> 00:54:35.119
for some reason. Yeah. And everything. But to
00:54:35.119 --> 00:54:37.099
answer your big question about the whole thing
00:54:37.099 --> 00:54:39.619
with humility. Prayers of humility, there it
00:54:39.619 --> 00:54:42.320
is. I mean, the Psalms are the big one, but the
00:54:42.320 --> 00:54:46.760
Psalm 50 in particular, and then St. Ephraim
00:54:46.760 --> 00:54:52.179
during Lent, and the Jesus Prayer in Tushagion,
00:54:52.320 --> 00:54:58.019
all prayers of humility, of cultivating humility
00:54:58.019 --> 00:55:02.059
in ourselves. And then, of course, there's also
00:55:02.059 --> 00:55:05.980
like, I mean, there's the really simple one,
00:55:06.059 --> 00:55:09.739
St. Silvani Aponai has the whole. Um, gosh, how
00:55:09.739 --> 00:55:11.539
does it go? Something like, Lord, give me your
00:55:11.539 --> 00:55:14.000
humility or something like that. I can't remember
00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:16.460
it off the top of my head, but there's that one
00:55:16.460 --> 00:55:18.840
too. And I can find these for you and send them
00:55:18.840 --> 00:55:21.679
to you if you want. Um, yeah, that'd be great.
00:55:21.980 --> 00:55:23.940
And then, you know, of course, and you can also
00:55:23.940 --> 00:55:26.800
do the, whenever you do an Akathist, there's
00:55:26.800 --> 00:55:29.139
the, there's the main like kind of generic Akathist.
00:55:29.139 --> 00:55:30.659
I hate using the word generic, but it kind of
00:55:30.659 --> 00:55:33.119
fits in this case. You know, the, the generic
00:55:33.119 --> 00:55:36.940
glory to God for all things Akathist. Yeah. That
00:55:36.940 --> 00:55:39.659
is literally an akathis that cultivates gratitude.
00:55:40.019 --> 00:55:43.019
The whole thing is about practical ways of weakening
00:55:43.019 --> 00:55:46.019
pride and increasing a love for God and that
00:55:46.019 --> 00:55:49.619
kind of thing. Yeah. Glory to God for all things.
00:55:49.659 --> 00:55:51.980
Just like that prayer itself is already really
00:55:51.980 --> 00:55:57.340
good. Thank you very much for sharing all those
00:55:57.340 --> 00:56:02.739
great prayers. And Joe, did you have a comment
00:56:02.739 --> 00:56:07.730
that you wanted to share or a question? I had
00:56:07.730 --> 00:56:11.530
a question you were speaking about. Maybe you
00:56:11.530 --> 00:56:15.670
mentioned it as a strategy, perhaps for dealing
00:56:15.670 --> 00:56:21.610
with. A time of spiritual dryness, you said something
00:56:21.610 --> 00:56:26.030
about living, maybe living liturgically, or you
00:56:26.030 --> 00:56:30.070
said doing something liturgically as a means
00:56:30.070 --> 00:56:34.099
or strategy, or you're just speaking to. staying
00:56:34.099 --> 00:56:37.900
in the rhythm of the liturgical year? I don't
00:56:37.900 --> 00:56:41.039
know if you recall the comment. Yes, seeing everything
00:56:41.039 --> 00:56:46.679
in your life, your workplace, your home, your
00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:50.019
family, everything as a liturgical expression,
00:56:50.380 --> 00:56:53.619
seen as a place to worship God, to experience
00:56:53.619 --> 00:57:10.980
God, not just church. Are you asking me a question?
00:57:11.059 --> 00:57:14.500
I'm muted. No, no, that was just, yeah, no, that
00:57:14.500 --> 00:57:16.800
was it. There was silence and I thought I had
00:57:16.800 --> 00:57:22.980
to say something. No, silence is good. Except
00:57:22.980 --> 00:57:24.820
when we're asking for questions and comments.
00:57:24.920 --> 00:57:26.199
We got the baby crying right now, so try not
00:57:26.199 --> 00:57:33.800
to have it unmuted. The only time silence is
00:57:33.800 --> 00:57:35.420
not good when you're supposed to be commenting
00:57:35.420 --> 00:57:40.269
or questioning. which I'm really loving the interactions
00:57:40.269 --> 00:57:42.889
and the questions and some good questions in
00:57:42.889 --> 00:57:49.309
this chat where Ruth was sharing that my initial
00:57:49.309 --> 00:57:53.309
thoughts based on your email was Galatians 5
00:57:53.309 --> 00:57:56.010
gives not only all the fruits of the spirit but
00:57:56.010 --> 00:57:58.550
the lust of the flesh at first I thought when
00:57:58.550 --> 00:58:01.289
you feel that you're losing the presence of God
00:58:01.289 --> 00:58:03.409
you're associated with a litmus test of self
00:58:03.409 --> 00:58:05.829
-examination of whether you're falling short
00:58:06.510 --> 00:58:09.030
with the lust of the flesh. But in this study,
00:58:09.170 --> 00:58:12.110
pride is the lust of the flesh. This has been
00:58:12.110 --> 00:58:14.250
a shortcoming of mine in the past, and I have
00:58:14.250 --> 00:58:20.429
to continually check myself. And the other question
00:58:20.429 --> 00:58:24.449
by Jacob was, how do you receive spiritual dryness
00:58:24.449 --> 00:58:28.150
or correction in the form of failure humbly while
00:58:28.150 --> 00:58:31.570
avoiding despair? Which is a great question we're
00:58:31.570 --> 00:58:34.269
going to go deeper into in the next lesson. And
00:58:34.269 --> 00:58:36.630
I mentioned you can read St. John Cassian Conference
00:58:36.630 --> 00:58:40.650
4 in advance in order to get some of those answers.
00:58:41.309 --> 00:58:45.070
It's okay to delve into it, see what you get
00:58:45.070 --> 00:58:48.969
out of it. And then sharing it more next week,
00:58:49.030 --> 00:58:54.829
two weeks from now, I should say. So I have something
00:58:54.829 --> 00:59:01.150
to share. First of all, thank you for, once again,
00:59:01.210 --> 00:59:04.480
a great lesson. And I just have a small reflection
00:59:04.480 --> 00:59:10.679
or addition to the lesson. Once I heard on Bishop
00:59:10.679 --> 00:59:14.079
Emiliano's seminar, one of his seminars, and
00:59:14.079 --> 00:59:16.960
he asked the congregation, he said, what is the
00:59:16.960 --> 00:59:20.119
greatest virtue? And different people said different
00:59:20.119 --> 00:59:22.239
things. And some people say, well, it's love.
00:59:22.500 --> 00:59:24.980
And some other people say, well, it's humility.
00:59:25.420 --> 00:59:28.679
And some people say, well, it's honesty. And
00:59:28.679 --> 00:59:34.059
he said, it's actually, it's discernment. And
00:59:34.059 --> 00:59:39.960
earlier in my spiritual walk, I mistaken that
00:59:39.960 --> 00:59:42.860
humility means that you are humble to everybody.
00:59:43.800 --> 00:59:46.880
But then I found out that actually, before that,
00:59:46.960 --> 00:59:49.719
you have to have good discernment. Because if
00:59:49.719 --> 00:59:53.579
you offer humility to a proud person, I will
00:59:53.579 --> 00:59:58.139
make him or her a monster. And that is something
00:59:58.139 --> 01:00:04.210
that I have learned. Thank you for sharing. And
01:00:04.210 --> 01:00:06.250
for those of you who don't know, Bishop Emiliano
01:00:06.250 --> 01:00:09.869
is a disciple of St. Emiliano of Mount Athos,
01:00:10.050 --> 01:00:16.409
and he is currently in Dallas, Texas. You get
01:00:16.409 --> 01:00:19.210
to see a lot of his presentations on YouTube
01:00:19.210 --> 01:00:24.489
and other podcasts. He has a series, I think
01:00:24.489 --> 01:00:27.010
it was about, I don't know if it was 32 parts,
01:00:27.050 --> 01:00:32.000
37 parts on Nipsey, Watchfulness. That is a book
01:00:32.000 --> 01:00:36.159
by St. Emilianos in Greek. And Bishop Emilianos
01:00:36.159 --> 01:00:39.039
went through that with many, many, many, many
01:00:39.039 --> 01:00:41.739
lessons. Very rich. You get to look that up.
01:00:41.739 --> 01:00:45.440
It's beautiful to listen. I'm hoping we'll be
01:00:45.440 --> 01:00:47.500
able to get him on the podcast at some point.
01:00:47.760 --> 01:00:50.820
Oh, that would be wonderful. I'm going to try.
01:00:51.059 --> 01:00:54.960
I'm going to try. That would be great. Let me
01:00:54.960 --> 01:00:57.079
see what I could do. No promises, no guarantees.
01:00:57.420 --> 01:01:00.869
So I'm going to try. I heard he's going to be
01:01:00.869 --> 01:01:03.929
in charge of next lesson. Is that right? Yeah,
01:01:04.010 --> 01:01:06.010
he's taking over the whole class. I love it.
01:01:06.269 --> 01:01:11.969
You're off the hook, Anthony. Yay! You're all
01:01:11.969 --> 01:01:18.389
done. You can quit now. No, actually, Jacob,
01:01:18.489 --> 01:01:20.869
a former penance for all his bad dad jokes, has
01:01:20.869 --> 01:01:28.320
to take over the class now. I'm fully expecting
01:01:28.320 --> 01:01:30.739
a dad joke. I was expecting a dad joke in the
01:01:30.739 --> 01:01:36.280
chat. Anyway. Well, thank you, everyone. I want
01:01:36.280 --> 01:01:39.500
to honor your time. If you can, Father Stephen,
01:01:39.639 --> 01:01:43.519
would you like to close us in prayer? I will,
01:01:43.579 --> 01:01:45.460
and I will say one other thing. Don't forget,
01:01:45.519 --> 01:01:47.780
everybody, tomorrow morning, Divine Liturgy for
01:01:47.780 --> 01:01:52.920
Dormition, 930. Also, don't forget normal Sunday
01:01:52.920 --> 01:01:55.179
services, but there is no Vespers tomorrow night.
01:01:55.360 --> 01:01:58.139
So come tomorrow for liturgy and also come for
01:01:58.139 --> 01:02:00.519
liturgy on Sunday like normal. That's all. I
01:02:00.519 --> 01:02:02.760
already had to do the shameless plug. No, please.
01:02:02.840 --> 01:02:04.480
Thank you. Thank you for reminding everyone.
01:02:04.639 --> 01:02:09.260
Yes, 930. Wow. 930 tomorrow and 930 on Sunday.
01:02:10.039 --> 01:02:13.619
Wow. Anyway, all right. Would you like me to
01:02:13.619 --> 01:02:15.320
end it with a prayer? Please, please, please.
01:02:15.460 --> 01:02:36.800
Sure. Thank you, Father. Thank you, everyone.
01:02:37.119 --> 01:02:46.670
Great to see you, Chris. God bless. Yeah, good
01:02:46.670 --> 01:02:49.070
to see everybody. There you are. Yes. Sorry,
01:02:49.150 --> 01:02:53.929
I've been swamped. Earliest he's been home in
01:02:53.929 --> 01:02:57.389
like a week or two. Last night was almost 16.