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When the Greatest Becomes Small
John the Baptist and the terrible freedom of decreasing “He must increase, but I must decrease.” — John 3:30 There is something almost unbearable about where we find John the Baptist in this Gospel. The man of the wilderness is no longer in the wilderness. The voice that once cried out beside the Jordan is confined behind walls. The crowds are elsewhere now. Another is preaching. Another is healing. Another is gathering disciples. John cannot even go to Jesus himself. He must
Father Charbel Abernethy
Oct 86 min read
The Life We Cannot Save
The Cross, the loss of the false self, and the Kingdom already breaking into the world “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” — Mark 8:35 There comes a moment in the spiritual life when Christ no longer permits us merely to admire Him. He says: Follow Me. And the road upon which He walks is unmistakable. It is the road of relinquishment. “Let him deny himself and take up his cross.” These words can sound severe until we begin to understand what Ch
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 204 min read
When Nothing of Us Remains
Death, the Vanity of Great Works, and the One Thing That Endures “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 3:11 There is something almost merciless about death. Not because death tells us that life has no meaning, but because it reveals how much of what we believed gave our life meaning cannot endure. A person may labor for decades. He may build institutions, establish ministries, raise money, construct churches,
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 267 min read
The Sweetness of Those Who Breathe the Same Air
Not Information, but Communion “Take for yourself the remedy of life from the table of those who fast, keep vigil, and labor in the Lord, and so raise up the dead man in your soul. For the Beloved reclines in their midst, bestowing sanctification.” — St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 15 Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on the Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian Homily 15 paragraphs 14-17 There are passages in St. Isaac that seem less like theology and more like glimpses through
Father Charbel Abernethy
Jun 173 min read
The Country Within
On the Hidden Homeland of the Heart “The true servant of God acknowledges no other country but heaven.” — St. Philip Neri There is a terrible loneliness that comes when a person begins to realize that he no longer fully belongs anywhere in this world. Not politically. Not culturally. Not ideologically. Not even psychologically. Something within him has begun turning toward another country. The fathers speak of this with great sobriety because they know that most human beings
Father Charbel Abernethy
May 274 min read
THE EARTHQUAKE OF THE MONK
Repentance as the Rupture That Makes Room for the New Creation “Repentance is not a moral correction but an ontological event.” — Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou ⸻ I. The Earthquake Is Not an Image. It Is a Death. Archimandrite Zacharias writes: “Monasticism is an earthquake. It shakes the very foundations of fallen human existence and makes room for the new creation.” He does not mean emotion. He does not mean enthusiasm. He does not mean intensity of religious feeling. He
Father Charbel Abernethy
Mar 98 min read
The Ascetic in an Age of War
On the refusal to let hatred enter the heart “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Matthew 26:52 The world is loud with the language of justification. Every nation speaks of necessity. Every army speaks of defense. Every leader speaks of protection. Violence is wrapped in reason. Blood is explained. Fear becomes policy. Men argue about borders, history, rights, security. Each side believes itself correct. Each side invokes
Father Charbel Abernethy
Mar 63 min read
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