DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

St. Luke 6:17-23    Gospel for Holy Monks: Anthony the Great, Euthymios the Great, et. al.(1/17)

 

The Blessings of Ascesis: St. Luke 6:17-23, especially vs. 20: “Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: ‘Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”  Among the Saints of God, St. Anthony is a shining example of the blessings of asceticism.  He was born of well-to-do, Christian parents in Egypt, yet from his youth he displayed an unusual and singular desire to devote himself completely to the Lord Jesus.  Whenever he heard the Scriptures read in Church, he immediately applied the teachings to himself in the most direct, practical manner - a good plan!

When he was twenty, his parents died and he inherited the family fortune.  Hearing in Church the Gospel of the rich, young ruler (Lk. 18:18-30), St. Anthony gave away his worldly possessions and fully embraced the ascetic disciplines.  Through twenty years of struggle, he defeated every temptation.  He reduced his diet to bread, salt and water, eating no more than once a day, sometimes only every other day, frequently even less often.  He lived in absolute solitude all those years, maintaining unceasing prayer and overcoming every imaginable demonic wile.

By the grace of God, the ascetic blessings manifested in St. Anthony ignited, within the Church, the monastic movement - a permanent, visible witness to the value of utter self-surrender to the Lord.  Today, the Church’s monastics continue to demonstrate that blessings can come to you from embracing poverty, hunger, tears, and austerity.  These consecrated souls provide living models of what our Lord teaches in this passage (Lk. 6:20-23).  Read these verses with care, for they reveal how to attain the riches of the life in Christ through ascetic practice instead of blindly embracing the fleeting pleasures of the consumerist environment so ready to sell you “the real thing.”

Consider the Lord’s teaching.  On the one hand, those who choose poverty are blessed with the Kingdom of God (vs. 20).  Quite to the opposite, secular society promotes convenience and comfort through abundance.  Television and the other media repeatedly emphasize your “need” for things to fulfill your life.  How blessed you are with the reminder in the funeral Liturgy that “all things are vanity and exist not after death.  Riches endure not, neither doth glory accompany on the way: for when death cometh, all these things vanish utterly.”

Admittedly, in the “climate” of consumerism, without the monastic influence, can you  imagine finding a blessing in poverty as did St. Anthony?  But you can embrace the blessings of ascesis amidst the swirl of consumerism!  Surely, there is nothing to prevent cutting back on conveniences, simplifying your lifestyles, and doing with less that you may give to the poor.

Also, the Lord teaches the blessing of hunger (vs. 21).  The Holy Fathers of the Church similarly insist on the necessity of fasting, and not by monastics only, but by all the Faithful.  Beloved, how blessed we are: our Orthodox Faith has not sold-out to the modern, cultivated palate.  The Church still teaches discipline for the stomach as the birthright of every Christian.  Actually, is it really difficult for you to fast from fish, meat, dairy products, wine and oil on Wednesdays and Fridays and the four seasonal fasts?  God promises spiritual blessings if you will faithfully and diligently keep the fasting disciplines and train your appetite in preparation for serving Him.

Finally, Christ teaches you to “weep now” in repentance (vs. 21), that you may join in the rejoicing of the widow of Nain, of Jairus, of the woman with the precious ointment, and of the friends of Tabitha.  Weep now that you may know joy and healing from our Savior.  Let your Pastors guide you in self-examination, confession, and unleashing the tears of cleansing.  Devote regular time to prayer and the struggle against the demons who aim to disrupt and mislead you.

O Christ our God, implant in me the fear of Thy blessed commandments that I may trample down all carnal desires, and enter upon a spiritual manner of living.

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