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Beyond Truth as We Judge It
Entering the Mercy Revealed in Christ Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Volume II Hypothesis XLV G2 and Hypothesis XLVI A These texts from the Evergetinos unsettle us because they refuse to remain within the boundaries of what feels morally tidy or intellectually manageable. They do not ask us to refine our ethical reasoning. They ask us to relinquish it. Not because truth no longer matters, but because truth in Christ is no longer possessed or deployed by us. It
Father Charbel Abernethy
16 hours ago3 min read
No Longer Ourselves
Mercy and Humility as the Revelation of Who We Have Become in Christ Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily 6 paragraphs 9-10 St. Isaac is not describing admirable behaviors. He is naming a different kind of human being. Mercy, humility, and almsgiving are not virtues added to an otherwise intact self. They are the outward signs that the old self has already begun to die. What St. Isaac exposes is not how difficult mercy is, but
Father Charbel Abernethy
6 days ago3 min read
The Hands That Lead Us Home
Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Volume II Hypothesis XL Section E There is a remarkable clarity in these sayings and stories a piercing simplicity that both unsettles and consoles. The Evergetinos places before us the most difficult and necessary truth. The evil done to us is not a detour on the spiritual path but the path itself. Wickedness does not destroy wickedness. Resentment never cures resentment. Anger never frees us from anger. Only goodness that is un
Father Charbel Abernethy
Dec 8, 20253 min read
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
Nov 24, 20253 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
Nov 21, 20253 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 17, 20253 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 16, 20258 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 12, 20253 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 10, 20252 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 4, 20252 min read
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