How can the light shine in our lives? St Augustine prays, “since your Spirit moved over the waters, your mercy did not abandon us in our misery. You said, ‘Let there be light.’ You also said, ‘Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ You told us to repent. You commanded light to be made.” So, to St Augustine, repentance is light. […]
We can say definitely that the Prayer of St Francis was not actually written by St Francis, it first appeared in the December 1912 issue of the French Catholic publication, La Clochette. Quite likely it was penned by the founding editor, Father Esther Bouquerel. Around 1918, it was printed without attribution on the back side of a holy card with a painting of St Francis. Someone then reprinted it in an English translation in 1927, innocently misattributing it to St Francis. Archbishop Francis Spellman printed millions of copies of the prayer during World War II, and it was read into the Congressional Record. […]
A recurring theme is the Ladder of Divine Ascent is the climb is not a one-time conversion vaulting us to the top of the ladder, but is rather a process, a changing of habits, that we practice for the rest of our lives, ever climbing, until we reach the great IMAX theater in the sky with screens forty feet wide and forty feet tall that replays the major events in our lives at the end of days.
Step 8.23. “The beginning of blessed patience is to accept dishonor with sorrow and bitterness of soul. The middle stage is to be free from pain in the midst of these things. But perfection, if it is possible, is to regard dishonor as praise. Let the first rejoice; let the second be strong; blessed is the third, for he exults in the Lord.” […]
St John Climacus continues:
Step 6.3. “Fear of death” “comes from disobedience, but trembling at death is a sign of unrepented sins.” Those who fear death the most are the disobedient who live only to party, who live for today, who live for themselves, and do not live for others, they are the unrepentant who tremble at death’s gates. Even “Christ fears death, but does not tremble,” so He can show us that he is both God and man.
Step 6.24. “It is impossible, someone says, impossible to spend the present day devoutly unless we regard it as the last of our whole life.” […]
The original Pinocchio was very different from the happy-go-lucky Disney and Jordan Peterson Pinocchio. Although the Disney movie included the most memorable most memorable stories of the original, the short length of the movie fails to render the deeply penitential tone of the original, which emphasizes how daily struggle is needed to replace bad habit with good habits, how salvation and spiritual growth is never instantaneous but is rather a life long-term process, where for every two steps forward we take one step backwards. The original rebellious Pinocchio was much more of a rogue than the pleasant Disney, he is a juvenile delinquent from the moment he has been carved. […]
Obedience precedes repentance in the Ladder of Divine Ascent. Without obedience, there is no repentance. With repentance comes obedience. When we sinned, we did not obey; now we repent, and obey. It is interesting that in the Decalogue the commandment of honor our father and our mother, and all those in authority, connects the commands to Love God with all our heart and with all of our soul and with all of our everything to the commands to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Step 4.3 As John Climacus teaches us, in obedience we renounce our desires, what we want, what we need: “Obedience is unquestioning movement, voluntary death, a life free of curiosity, carefree danger, unprepared defense before God, fearlessness of death, a safe voyage, a sleeper’s progress. Obedience is the tomb of the will and the resurrection of humility.” […]
Repentance is not merely a quick apology to St John Climacus. Repentance is not quick in the Ladder of Divine Ascent. The first four rungs, where we renounce the world, detach ourselves from worldly things, become an exile and pilgrim from the affairs of the world, and with daily discipline internalize God’s will in holy obedience, these first four rungs prepare us for the rung of repentance. Repentance is more an attitude and a process than an event. An attitude of humility and repentance will prepare us for the slow ascent up the remaining twenty-five steps of the Ladder of Divine Ascent. Without daily heartfelt repentance we cannot continue the climb to a godly life. […]
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