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When the Wronged Become Rich in God
Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Hypothesis XXXIX B-C and Hypothesis XL Section A-B The Martyrdom of St. Menas The Evergetinos gathers these stories around a single, unsettling truth: those who endure injustice with gratitude and refuse to avenge themselves become truly rich, and God Himself becomes their defender. Abba Mark says it simply and without comfort: “He who is wronged by someone, and does not seek redress, truly believes in Christ, and receives a hund
Father Charbel Abernethy
3 days ago3 min read
A Terrible Mercy
Psalm 94 - The Evergetinos and the Humiliation of Logic There is a moment when the Word of God cuts straight through every illusion we have about righteousness and justice. Psalm 94 does not soften the blow. It names the violence of a world where those who carry the sword of judgment often wield it against the innocent, where injustice hides behind the veneer of legality, where condemnation is drafted on paper but written in blood. Can judges who do evil be your friends? They
Father Charbel Abernethy
7 days ago3 min read
The Divine Ethos Beyond Justice: Reading the Evergetinos with Open Eyes
Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Hypothesis XXXVIII Paragraphs 10-13 and Hypothesis XXXIV Section A: There are moments when the Evergetinos confronts us with a vision so stark and so luminous that it seems almost uninhabitable. It is not a juridical vision of justice. It is not a measured discourse about the protection of innocents. It does not weigh competing moral claims or concerns about equity or rights. What it reveals is something else entirely. It opens b
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 173 min read
Non-Resistance, Justice, and the Peace of Christ
A Desert Reflection in Conversation with St. Thomas Aquinas In a recent reflection I wrote on the Evergetinos , I tried to name the scandal many of us feel when we read stories of monks who refuse to defend themselves, who accept theft, insult, or even violence in silence, as if it were a blessing. Everything in our Western formation cries out that this cannot be right. Someone then sent me a series of texts from St. Thomas Aquinas on peace, justice, rights, judgment, scandal
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 168 min read
The Wound That Becomes Light
The Ascetic Therapy of St. Isaac the Syrian: A Reflection on Homily 5 There is a mystery buried in the heart of suffering that few dare to face. St. Isaac the Syrian looked straight into it and saw not cruelty, not punishment, but the slow work of divine healing. What we call pain, he called mercy in disguise. The soul, he said, cannot be made whole until it is first broken. The wound must be exposed before it can be filled with light. For St. Isaac, affliction is not the mar
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 123 min read
The Royal Road: Bearing Wrong, Refusing Retaliation, Loving Enemies
Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Hypothesis Section E paragraphs 1-9: The Evergetinos sets the bar of freedom in a surprising place: anger without cause is not when we flare up over trifles, but whenever we react to any ill-treatment aimed at us. Abba Poimen sharpens the point: even if a brother were to gouge out an eye or cut off a hand, anger would still be without cause, unless he were separating us from God. In other words, the only justified “anger” is zea
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 102 min read
“I Am Your Salvation”
The heart trembles before the unknown, before its own weakness, before the hidden movements of the evil one. But when the Lord speaks, everything within becomes still. “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’” (Psalm 35:3, Grail). This single word, once heard in truth, remakes the entire landscape of the inner man. It gathers the scattered thoughts and passions into silence and fills the darkened places with the light of His presence. The Fathers teach that the remembrance of
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 42 min read
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