Asceticism and the Replacement Talk
Repentance comes from the Greek word, metanoia, which means transformation of the mind. St Isaac the Syrian, one of the greatest of the hermits of the universal tradition of the Church unpacks St Paul’s word metanoia, actually the Lord used it as well, as did John the Baptist, “to be renewed in the transformation of your mind.” Repentance is not about a guilt trip. Repentance is not about feeling guilty about the tings you did or things you think you did or the attitudes or the thoughts or about anything else. Repentance is not scary. In fact Repentance is not a negative dark kind of depressing thing at all. Because repentance, true metanoia, means a transformation of mind and heart which happens by the grace of the Holy Spirit when we enter into the living flow of the grace of God which is his will. It is that living flow of communion, that synergy. (That’s also St Paul’s word; it’s not just from Silicon Valley. It’s true, just look in the Greek New Testament). That synergy is what we aim for, because precisely that synergy, that cooperation, with God in every aspect of our life is what sanctifies us, is what purifies us, it’s what deifies us. The universal trad, tradition of the Catholic church and the Orthodox: the Orthodox Church of the East, the Orthodox Church of the West, and the Orthodox Church of the further East. The universal tradition has always emphasized deification as the very essence of content of what salvation is. And that doesn’t mean that we become gods. We can become God.
It means we actualize our communion in Christ by the Holy Spirit with the Father. So that we share the Lord’s own Sonship to the Father. We share his relationship with the Father. And thus, the totality of our life is transformed, transfigured. And our life in this world simply transitions, it flows, into the life of the Kingdom. Because, here and now, we live that life of the kingdom. Here and now, that, that, life of Jesus Christ, which shines forth from his empty tomb, and was imparted to his disciples at Pentecost, is the very content of our life. It’s who we are. He is who we are. And, so, the actualization of this, of living according to one mind and the one heart, living according to one vision of life, the Gospel, living according to self-sacrificing love for one another in a relationship of obedience.
Now obedience is another really scary word, right? A lot of people are terrified when we bring up the word obedience, that you might actually have to be obedient. God forbid that you read St. Paul’s in a wedding [?]. Or children to be obedient to their parents. By this obedience it means synergy out of love and respect. It means cooperation. Father Robert [Sirico; founder of the Acton Institute –ed.] and I were talking earlier about monastic rules, and […] said in the rule of the particular great founder that he is following, that it is not simply following the word of the superior, it’s to try to anticipate the very wish of the superior. That’s what it is. Why would you do this? It’s not because you’re going to get beaten. It’s because you cooperate in love and respect. I would love for your father who loves you unconditionally and absolutely. That’s what a monastery is all about. But you know what? It’s not what monastic life is all about. It’s what Christian life is all about. It’s the potential of what the Christian life has to offer to us. A communion of love.
We can say that some of us have abbots, and some of us have abbesses. Especially those of us who are married. [Laughter] And it’s always a matter of mutual obedience. It’s always a matter of that communion in love. And that’s what we have to foster. And that’s why it’s so important. So important to truly and authentically understand what St. Paul has to teach us. Because if we are going to live as Christians in this incredibly broken culture which seems to be heading towards a precipice, and we’re going to stop it from going over that precipice – I hope that ‘s our mutual goal – we have to show the world what it means to live as Christians. Because it’s that living communion with God, that living life in which everything is sanctified, in which every action, every relationship, every aspect of how we make our money, to how we spend our money, to how we are responsible for the things God that has given us stewardship over, to live lives that are not compartmentalized. So that going to the liturgy and going to the church leads us into a deep communion with God. So does going to work or going to school. And we relate to our fellows.
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