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The Light Given for This Day
A Prayer for an Undivided Heart “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” — Matthew 6:34 O Lord my God, at times the weight of what I do not know becomes heavier than what You have actually placed before me. My mind wanders toward what may come, toward consequences I cannot foresee, toward those whom my response to Your call may affect, toward paths that have not yet opened and sorrows that have not yet been given. Gather me again. Do not allow fear of tomorrow to become a
Father Charbel Abernethy
10 hours ago2 min read
Ask for the Ancient Paths
The good way may not be another path forward, but the ancient poverty of standing before God without needing to become anything “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” — Jeremiah 6:16 There is something easily overlooked in Jeremiah’s words. Before the walking comes the standing. Stand by the roads, and look. We are often too frightened to do this. When one road ends, we immediately se
Father Charbel Abernethy
Oct 35 min read
Where Is Peace?
Abba Arsenius and the disciple “Learn where there is wisdom, where there is strength, where there is understanding; that you may know also where there is length of days and life, where there is light of the eyes and peace.” — Baruch 3:14 A brother came to Abba Arsenius and said: Disciple: Abba, I have come seeking wisdom. Arsenius: Why? Disciple: So that I may know what to do. The old man was silent. The brother waited. He had walked many days to hear a word from Arsenius, an
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 284 min read
When There Is Nothing Left to Hope For
The hope that does not depend upon what happens next “This hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” — Romans 5:5 There is a hope that belongs to this world. We hope that circumstances will improve. That illness will pass. That those we love will remain with us. That misunderstandings will be resolved. That doors will open. That the future will eventually reveal some hidden coherence and allow us to say, Now I un
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 275 min read
Built Upon the Rock
The mercy of being prepared for temptation “My son, come to the service of God. Stand fast in fear and in righteousness, and prepare your soul for temptation.” — St. Augustine, On Pastors There is a kindness that comforts us by telling us that the storm will pass. There is another kindness that teaches us how to stand when it does not. Saint Augustine speaks with the severity of one who knows the difference. The negligent shepherd, he tells us, does not necessarily abandon th
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 185 min read
What Is Lacking
To love with the love by which Christ loves “In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body.” — Colossians 1:24 There are sentences in Scripture before which one should become silent. This is one of them. “I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” Nothing is lacking in the Cross. Nothing can be added to the sacrifice of Christ as though His offering were incomplete. “It is finished.” The Fathers never tire of returning us to
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 156 min read
Sons of Light
The Cross and the Becoming of the Heart “While you still have the light, believe in the light, and you will become sons of light.” — John 12:36 There is a difference between seeing the light and becoming light. We can spend much of our lives standing near holy things without allowing them to change us. We can speak of Christ, defend Christ, teach Christ, even suffer in the name of Christ, while still guarding some hidden territory of the heart from Him. But the Gospel speaks
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 145 min read
The Heart That Must Be Guarded
Watchfulness, Divine Mercy, and the Love That Never Fails “As long as you are in the body, do not leave your heart unguarded.” — Abba Isaiah Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Volume III Hypothesis IX Section B 8-12 There is something almost relentless about the teaching of the Fathers on watchfulness. They will not allow us to imagine that there comes a point in the spiritual life when vigilance is no longer necessary. Age does not free us from it. Knowledge does
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 176 min read
When Love Becomes Our Only Certainty
Abiding in God When Everything in Us Wants to Secure the Way “Charity never faileth but beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” — The Evergetinos, citing 1 Corinthians 13:7 There comes a point in the spiritual life when even our desire to be faithful must be purified. At first we imagine that fidelity means finding the right path and then walking it courageously. We seek clarity. We discern. We make decisions. We try to arrange our l
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 175 min read
Where Does the Soul Live?
The Desire That Already Belongs to Eternity “The soul from love of the Lord has lost her wits, as it were.” — St. Silouan the Athonite Where do we live our lives? The question seems simple until we allow it to expose us. We can live in the world without the world being the place where our heart dwells. We can inhabit a house, fulfill our responsibilities, care for those entrusted to us, endure uncertainty, carry grief, answer the demands of each day, and yet inwardly live som
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 167 min read
The First Test of Abiding
The struggle to remain with the Lord is often fiercest precisely when we have resolved to seek nothing but Him. “Abide in me, and I in you.” — John 15:4 There are moments when the spiritual life seems suddenly to become very simple. Not easy, but simple. After years of trying to understand circumstances, discern paths, resolve questions, and discover where everything is leading, the heart hears again the one word that was there from the beginning: Remain. Abide in Me. There c
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 165 min read
Hated for the Name
When the Name of Jesus Becomes the Place Where the Heart Abides “You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake; but he who endures to the end will be saved.” — Matthew 10:22 There is something almost frightening in the simplicity with which the Lord speaks these words. He does not tell His disciples that they will be misunderstood because they have failed to explain themselves adequately. He does not suggest that hostility will disappear if they become sufficiently winsome,
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 107 min read
The Name
“Those who know your name will trust you: you will never forsake those who seek you.” Psalm 9 The Name of Jesus is not decoration. It is not atmosphere. It is not spiritual mood. It is a blade. When everything else fails you your discipline your clarity your sense of being good your feeling of being held the Name remains. You discover very quickly what you truly trust. When anxiety rises when shame burns when loneliness howls when the mind will not be still say the Name. Not
Father Charbel Abernethy
Mar 21 min read
Seek First the Kingdom
Dust in the Hands, Fire in the Heart “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” “One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.” — Matthew 6:33; Psalm 84 We say it with our lips. Seek first. But our eyes betray us. We wake and immediately measure ourselves against the world. Who notices me. Who affirms me. Who rejects me. What security do I have. What future can I secure with my own hands. We seek reassurance in reputation, in ministry, in relatio
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 263 min read
Whom Have I in Heaven but You
Abiding Without Illusion “Whom have I in heaven but you? Apart from you, nothing on earth can please me. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73 Grail Translation There comes a moment when the soul grows tired of feeding on dust. We chase worth in a thousand subtle ways. Not always in gross sin. Often in religious labor. In being needed. In being seen as faithful. In holding together an image of goodness that we quietl
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 263 min read
Uninterrupted Hope
When the Eyes Fail from Straining Toward Grace “From my hoping in my God, mine eyes have failed me.” Psalm 69:3 Grail Translation There is a kind of religious life that is all motion and no rest. Words poured out in abundance. Projects multiplied. Teachings given. Psalms recited with the lips while the heart feeds quietly on its own thoughts. I know that life well. It can look like devotion and even bear fruit for others. But beneath it there can remain a subtle reliance upon
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 254 min read
Abiding in the Dry Land
When the Soul Refuses All but God “O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water.” — Psalm 63 There are seasons when the soul knows with terrifying clarity that nothing in this world can quench its thirst. Not ministry. Not reputation. Not affection. Not even the sweetness of prayer when it is sought for consolation rather than for God Himself. The earth cracks beneath our feet and we discover t
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 253 min read
St. Philip Neri and the Wound We Cannot Leave
Abiding in the Open Side “Let us concentrate ourselves so completely in the divine love, and enter so far into the living fountain of wisdom, through the wounded Side of our Incarnate God, that we may deny ourselves and our self-love, and so be unable to find our way out of that Wound again.” — St. Philip Neri Philip tells us to enter the Wound and lose the way back out. It is not a metaphor meant to stir passing devotion but a command to relocate the whole of our life. Conce
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 253 min read
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