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On How the Hope of This Present Life Enfeebles the Thinking
A Dialogue between St. Isaac the Syrian and a Disciple The disciple came to the elder carrying an unspoken weight. He sat, then rose again, then finally remained standing as though afraid to settle. Disciple: Father, you say that the hope of this present life enfeebles the thinking. I feel this weakness in myself, yet I cannot name it clearly. I am not seeking pleasure or ease, and still my heart feels divided and tired. How does this hope weaken the mind? St. Isaac: Sit, chi
Father Charbel Abernethy
7 days ago3 min read
"What can bring us happiness?" many say
Reflection on Psalm 4 Praying the psalms again, one begins to recognize the quiet insistence with which David returns the heart to its true center. He does not deny the hunger that lives in us. He does not scold the question that rises so naturally to our lips. What can bring us happiness. He simply refuses to answer it on the terms the world demands. Again and again he redirects the desire itself, turning it away from what can be possessed and toward the One who must be rece
Father Charbel Abernethy
Dec 15, 20253 min read
Dialogue with St. Sophrony: When Despair Becomes Resurrection
Morning had not yet broken, but something in the darkness felt thinner, as if the night had been stretched to its limit. I sat where I always do, half-in shadow, half-in longing, waiting for God and not knowing why. St. Sophrony stood near, as though he had never left. ⸻ Disciple: Father, you spoke of despair as a threshold. If that is so, then what stands beyond it? What comes after the breaking of the heart? Where is resurrection found? St. Sophrony: Resurrection is never
Father Charbel Abernethy
Dec 1, 20253 min read
Before I Depart to Be No More
I have come to see with frightening clarity how brief this life is. My life is no more than a breath. Yet when I speak these words Psalm 42 rises up in me. As the deer longs for running streams so my soul longs for you my God. My days pass like mist yet something in me thirsts with a hunger that will not die. My soul thirsts for God the God of my life. Even in this brevity something eternal stirs. God’s hand has been heavy upon me. It breaks open the hardness of my heart. It
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 25, 20253 min read
Reflection: The Poor Man’s Hope
“You may mock the poor man’s hope, but his refuge is the Lord.” — Psalm 13:6 (Grail translation) There is a peculiar glory hidden in the simplicity of a soul stripped of all earthly securities. The demons, unable to bear the sight of such naked trust, mock the poor man’s hope. They hiss in the silence, suggesting that his poverty of spirit is folly, that his waiting is wasted, that Providence has turned away. Yet, it is precisely in that desolate stillness that the mystery of
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 3, 20252 min read
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