To fail to grasp the importance of the 'cloud' or the 'overshadowing' of God in the New Testament not only deprives man of a richer understanding of how God communicates and interacts with us, but also provides for a serious loss in the understanding of an important concept in mystical theology (i.e., daily prayer). "Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John. Let us be caught up like Peter to behold the divine vision and to be transfigured by that glorious transfiguration. Let us retire from the world, stand aloof from the earth, rise above the body, detach ourselves from creatures and turn to the creator, to whom Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: Lord, it is good for us to be here" (from a sermon on the Feast of the Transfiguration by St. Anastasius of Sinai). While man coming to the light of faith is a first step, there is another intervening step toward union with God in prayer that involves a kind of darkness. That is why St. Gregory of Nyssa (an enormous figure in the history of the Church, especially for the development of mystical theology) was clear about the importance of going beyond the light, and into the total darkness of God. "For leaving behind everything that is observed, not only what sense comprehends but also what the intelligence thinks it sees, it keeps on penetrating deeper until by the intelligence's yearning for understanding it gains access to the invisible and incomprehensible, and there it sees God. This is the true knowledge of what is sought; this is the seeing that consists in not seeing, because that which is sought transcends all knowledge, being separated on all sides by incomprehensibility as by a kind of darkness" (The Life of Moses, #163). For those who have had the experience of crossing into the divide of the comingled reality of divine and human like Moses, Mary, Peter, James, and John, they too know and testify to the truth that the All-Holy Trinity is constantly reaching out toward us in that dark cloud, and inviting us into it through prayer. #StGregoryofNyssa #secretmeditation #luminousdarkness

St. Gregory of Nyssa is the father of mystical theology. He was born in 330 as the younger brother of St. Basil and St. Macrina; spent several years in secular work before entering the monastery built by his brother; and was consecrated bishop of Nyssa in 371. While St. Gregory authored and delivered numerous theological, catechetical, and Scriptural masterpieces, his most important contribution is in the area of spirituality. Among St. Gregory’s greatest works is The Life of Moses , which is an exegetical text on the book of Exodus that concentrates on the life of Moses as an allegory for the mystical journey into God. What makes this work unique is how St. Gregory uses darkness instead of light to explain the possibility of intimacy with God. To understand the juxtaposition between light and darkness in St. Gregory it is helpful to remind ourselves what Sacred Scripture says about light in John 1:1-5: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God […]. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In other words, man receives the light of God, which causes man to know that (1) God exists, (2) God is communicating with him, and (3) God is inviting him into an utterly real and intimate closeness. The next step in understanding why St. Gregory uses darkness instead of light to describe what happens as man approaches God, it is important to remind ourselves what Sacred Scripture tells us about darkness in Exodus 24:15-18: “Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. […] And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” In other words, while the darkness is a representation of the incomprehensibility of God, the cloud itself is both the manifestation of the presence of God, and the physical and spiritual place of closeness with God. "For leaving behind everything that is observed, not only what sense comprehends but also what the intelligence thinks it sees, it keeps on penetrating deeper until by the intelligence’s yearning for understanding it gains access to the invisible and incomprehensible, and there it sees God. This is the true knowledge of what is sought; this is the seeing that consists in not seeing, because that which is sought transcends all knowledge, being separated on all sides by incomprehensibility as by a kind of darkness" (The Life of Moses, #163). Thus, for St. Gregory, while the gift of light enlightens man to God’s existence and presence in the world, the gift of darkness elucidates the image and likeness of intimacy with God. This should serve as a reminder to us that prayer is far more than the words. So ask yourself: are you willing to climb the mountain as Moses did? Are you willing to step into the darkness where God can be found? Let us pray for each other so that we may all decide to live our lives in this way. #StGregoryofNyssa #SacredScripture #prayer #MysticalTheology

Fasting and perseverance are exceedingly important both to a life of deep prayer that can lead to a mystical encounter with God, and a vital component to a life lived in vocation. These ideas are highlighted in three important passages of Sacred Scripture. The first is in Luke 2:37 where Anna, a prophet, “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.” The second is in Acts 13:2-3 where the Apostles were “worshiping the Lord and fasting” then laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul. The third is in Mark when “The Spirit immediately drove [Jesus] out into the wilderness” for forty days (1:12-13) after which, Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick (v. 34). We find this same connection between fasting, prayer, and perseverance throughout the history of the Church. One example comes to us from St. Paul the Simple who lived in the fourth century. We remember him because he sought to become a monk at the age of sixty, asking the advice and intercession of St. Anthony the Abbott. The story of Paul, as Palladius heard it from men who had known St. Anthony, was as follows: Paul was a husbandman, very simple and guileless. One day, on discovering the infidelity of his wife, he set off to be a monk. He knocked at the door of St. Anthony's cell. This is the substance of the dialogue which ensued: Anthony: “What do you want?” Paul: “To be a monk.” Anthony: “It is quite impossible for you, a man of sixty. Be content with the life of a labourer, giving thanks to God.” Paul: “Whatsoever you teach me I will do.” Anthony: “If a monk you must be, go to a cenobium. I live here alone only eating once every five days.” With this St. Anthony […] set him to work […]. When it was evening he asked him if he was ready to eat […] St. Anthony produced some crusts, took one himself, and gave the old man three. Then followed a long grace […]. When each had eaten a crust Paul was told to take another. Paul: “If you do, I will; if you don't, I won’t.” Anthony: “I am a monk, and one is enough for me.” Paul: “It is enough for me, for I am going to be a monk.” Then came twelve prayers and as many Psalms, followed by a little sleep […] Finally Paul got what he wanted […] a cell for himself […] In a year's time the grace of healing and casting out devils was bestowed upon Paul. (“St. Paul the Simple,” 5 May 2015, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11591a.htm>) While most of us will not live our lives as sparse as St. Paul the Simple, fasting and perseverance are still vital to our prayer life because it brings us closer to God, enables us to defeat evil, and to live our lives according to the will of God. So ask yourself: do I fast as the Church teaches as a preparation for a life of prayer? Do I have what it takes to persevere? Let us pray for each other so that we may all decide to live our lives in this way. #StPaultheSimple #continualprayer #Monasticism

We, who rightly and firmly believe that Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity and our Lord and Savior, should firmly expect hardships because of the faith we carry. While it would be comforting, and far more popular, to think that we could live our lives unencumbered by sin (our own and others’) and unhindered by the world (including government interdiction and the actions of unbelievers), the fact remains that today, as in the times of Christ and the early Church, we face the task of living out our faith in truth and in deed in a world that rejects the salvation of Christ and the transfiguration of the Most Holy Spirit. St. Paul, who writes of such realities in his own life, recounts the specific suffering he encountered on his missionary journeys. "Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one – I am talking like a madman – with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor 11:23-28). Now, it certainly would be easy to dismiss these horrible crimes against St. Paul as punishments inflicted specifically against him and not at all what each of us must face (after all, even among the saints, St. Paul is considered great). But that is a gross misunderstanding and, dare I say, not nearly worthy of the faith that we have been given. Instead, what we ought to do is learn even more from the host of other saints who saw great hardships in their lives too. St. Athanasius, for example, was exiled five times (for a total of 17 years and two months) during his 45-year reign as bishop of Alexandria (328 to 373). Another supremely important example – partly because of his earlier involvement as one of only three witnesses to the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-2) – comes to us from among the original 12. St. James the Greater (son of Zebedee) is believed to be the first of the apostles martyred for his faith (we believe this partly because it is the only apostolic martyrdom recorded in the New Testament). “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword” (Acts 12:1-3). Now that I have recounted for you these three examples of the glories of severe hardship and martyrdom encountered because of faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I implore all of you to truly know your faith so that you may truly live your faith, and truly live your faith so that you may truly know your faith. As you intimately reacquaint yourself with Jesus and His Most Holy Spirit, you will begin to find a renewed strength and the ability to handle the trials that will necessarily befall you as one of His truly faithful here on earth. Let us pray for one another so that we may live our lives in this way. #SacredScripture #StAthanasius #obedience #Faith

The presence of God in darkness in the New Testament is vitally important to our understanding of our mystical relationship with God. "While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear . But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone" ( Matthew 17:5-8; emphasis added). " Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice , ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus" (Mark 9:7-8; emphasis added). "Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen" (Luke 9:33-36). The darkness spoken about in these passages from the Synoptic Gospels seem to come from two words: “cloud” and “overshadow” (from the Greek word επισκιάζω [episkiazw]). They set up a juxtaposition with the narrative of light so prevalent in the Transfiguration. Here's what I mean: The Transfiguration demonstrates and confirms the divinity of Jesus: (1) Jesus shines with light, (2) God the Father tells the Apostles that Jesus is His Son; (3) the experience of light foreshadows the future glory of Jesus; (4) the presence of Moses represents the importance of the law (and that Jesus surpasses those who gave it); (5) the presence of Elijah represents the importance of prophecy (and that Jesus fulfills it); and (6) the combined presence of Moses and Elijah represents the communion of saints, which glorifies Jesus unceasingly. In comparison, the narrative of “cloud” or “overshadowing” in the Transfiguration demonstrates and confirms for man that he shares in the life of the Trinity: (1) when Peter, James, and John physically see Christ illumined (along with Moses and Elijah) Peter offers to set up three tabernacles (at one level this demonstrates that man can enter into the Holy of Holies, but only after they understand that the light of God is not a purely physical thing [as Peter did]; (2) the presence of the bright cloud that overshadows Peter, James, and John indicates the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of man (the “bright cloud” occurs in Matthew 17 and is more often associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit; see St. Jerome Homily 80, et. al.); (3) Peter, James, and John hear the voice of the Father in a cloud, meaning that man was created by and invited to return to the Father who is in heaven; (4) the experience of the cloud that is not bright (in Mark 9 and Luke 9 there is no indication that it is a “bright” cloud) demonstrates that man is called to know He who is unknowable (i.e., union with the Most Holy Trinity); (5) the experience of the dark cloud also demonstrates the distance between man and God; (6) being able to see Moses in this experience not only demonstrates the importance of the law of God, but also the ascent of the spiritual life [see The Life of Moses by St. Gregory of Nyssa]; (7) being able to physically see Elijah not only reiterates the importance of the prophets of God, but also calls to mind the need for each Baptized Christian to be a herald for Christ; and (8) the presence of both Elijah and Moses is an invitation to become a saint in this world by believing in and living for Christ. After analyzing the Transfiguration texts, then, what seems to emerge is that the light refers to the divinity of Christ, the bright cloud refers to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit; and the dark cloud represents the energies of God. This analysis becomes even more interesting when one considers the Annunciation narrative as well. "And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God’" (Luke 1:35). The account we have in Luke seems to offer a similar track to that of the Transfiguration: (1) the Holy Spirit will come upon Mary (not unlike the bright cloud did in the Transfiguration for Peter, James, and John in the Matthean account); (2) the power of God the Father will overshadow Mary (not unlike the cloud that overshadows Peter, James, and John in the Markan account); and (3) Jesus, who is the Christ, is the Holy One who will bring the light of salvation to the world (not unlike the light that Peter, James, and John experienced with the illumined Jesus. It is quite interesting to note here that Mary, Peter, James, and John were all transfigured by the cloud too. So much so, in fact, that Peter’s shadow was strong enough to heal the sick. "Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured" (Acts 5:12-16). Therefore, the experience of Mary and the Apostles was not unlike what Moses experienced in Exodus: they became transfigured humans on earth. So let us pray for each other that we may have the faith and the courage to enter the cloud. #transfiguration #luminousdarkness #SacredScripture

St. Anthony the Great (ca. 251–356) is the father of all monks. While he was neither the first monk nor the author of a rule for monks, St. Anthony was remarkable not only because he literally moved into the desert to live and to pray, but also because he endured unimaginable evil. In his book titled Life of Antony , St. Athanasius explains that St. Anthony grew up in a relatively wealthy household, but decided to become a monk when he heard a passage from the Gospel According to St. Matthew: “Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’” (19:21). Later, St. Anthony decided to embrace the ascetical life when he heard the verse: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day” (Matthew 6:34). Beyond the stories of how he embraced a life of manual labor, silence, and prayer, St. Athanasius recounts how the devil repeatedly attacked St. Anthony not only in his thoughts, emotions, and prayers, but also with extreme physical violence. Here is an example: "[…] Antony departed to the tombs, which happened to be at a distance from the village; and having bid one of his acquaintances to bring him bread at intervals over many days, he entered one of the tombs, and […] remained within alone. And when the enemy could not endure it, but was even fearful that in a short time Antony would fill the desert with the discipline, coming one night with a multitude of demons, he so cut him with stripes that he lay on the ground speechless from the excessive pain. […] the torture had been so excessive that no blows inflicted by man could ever have caused him such torment. But by the Providence of God […] the next day his acquaintance came bringing him the loaves. And having opened the door and seeing him lying on the ground as though dead, he lifted him up and carried him to the church in the village, and laid him upon the ground. And many of his kinsfolk and the villagers sat around Antony as round a corpse. But about midnight he came to himself and arose, and when he saw them all asleep and his comrade alone watching, he motioned with his head for him to approach, and asked him to carry him again to the tombs without waking anybody" (Life of Antony, 8). The reason St. Anthony was able to endure such evil was that he had achieved apatheia, which is a state of purity that enables someone to not only exercise personal self-control (enkrateia), but also the total freedom from desires, fears, and all bodily and mental movements. It is the path through which someone is able to see God. As a result of this kind of spiritual depth, St. Anthony became the spiritual father of numerous monks and laymen (despite a desire for complete solitude). Since St. Athanasius published the Life of Antony, Christians over time have befitted from its apologetic, parenetic, catechetical, and demonological value. So ask yourself this: how often do you seek solitude to pray? How committed are you to any form of asceticism in your life? Do you attend to the spiritual needs of others? Are you selfless when doing so? Let us pray for each other so that we may all decide to live our lives in this way. #StAntonyofEgypt #prayer #Monasticism #SacredScripture

Saints are neither the imagined characters of fables written long ago, nor are they perfect and sinless human beings who have little or no relevance to the lives we live today. Saints are always real people who lived real lives, often filled with the very same flaws and confusion that plague all of us. But the difference between them and us is that they lived their lives in absolute surrender to God. They understood and believed with certainty that God exists; that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world; that the Holy Spirit is the one and only path to sanctification; and that they must live out the will of God for their lives or perish for eternity in death. In a similar way, saints knew all-too-well that a life lived for the one, true God is also a life filled with great tribulation. From the merely human struggle that came from those around them who did not want them to dedicate their lives to God, to the actual forces of evil physically attacking them, emotionally berating them, and spiritually causing them to doubt – the saints saw first-hand how serious and sober the struggle is between heaven and hell. Simply put, evil exists; evil surrounds us; and evil tries to influence us. And in order to become a saint, each of us must suffer through the tribulation that comes from rejecting that evil in all of its forms. As it says in the Book of Revelation: "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:14-17). Do you want to wipe every tear from your eyes? Then decide to commit each day to live a little bit more like a saint. #saints #SacredScripture #BookofRevelation

Living the Christian faith comes down to these three ways of life: prayer, humility, and obedience. No matter who you are or where you come from, if you truly want to be a committed and faithful Christian: (1) you must spend some serious time engaged in vocal prayer (both privately and with the community in divine liturgy), meditative prayer, and contemplative prayer; (2) you must become deeply humble, which means setting aside your gargantuan ego and worldly ambitions to listen to God; and (3) you must be obedient to God first and always, which means you must develop the courage to follow where He leads you. To accomplish any of these things, however, you must learn to be silent and still. #continualprayer #prayer #humility #obedience

If someone asked – what kind of person are you – what would you respond? Would you say you are law-abiding and hard-working? Would you say you are religious or prayerful? Would you say you are focused on yourself? Take a minute or two right now to think about it. Then read 1 Corinthians 2:10 through 3:4. "God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ. But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apol’los,” are you not merely men?" (1 Corinthians 2:10-3:4). Notice what St. Paul is doing here. He’s telling us that people tend to fall into three major categories: (1) the unspiritual person or simply, the ‘natural’ person, who thinks faith and spirituality (‘the divine things’) are foolish because he relies only on human or natural reasoning (instead of seeing the world with the eyes of faith); (2) the spiritual person who is filled with the Holy Spirit and is constantly maturing in his knowledge of Christ; and (3) the person of the flesh or simply, the ‘carnal’ person, who may be a part of the Church, but is focused on satisfying personal wants and desires (‘the earthly things’). All of us know people who fit into St. Paul’s three categories. But what’s harder to see, and far more humbling, is that each of us is probably living our lives in more than one of these categories at any given moment. Thus, our focus always must be on Christ who implants the Holy Spirit within us. That is why Sacred Scripture reveals time and again that what we need most as humans is prayer so that we may fit into St. Paul’s second category. And that is why Sacred Tradition encourages us to pray like Mary who is the prototype of the spiritual person. So take some time andask yourself: what kind of person am I? Do I tend to focus on human reasoning alone? Am I more comfortable when I avoid the ‘divine things’? Do I find myself going to Church but still focusing on my selfish desires? Am I fixated on my body (whether I want food, sex, exercise, or drink too much or too little)? Am I fixated on my career? Or, am I deeply religious and prayerful? Am I truly a person of the Holy Spirit? #scripture #prayer #StPaul #hesychasm

Most of us at one point or another have played the game, “What would you do if you won the lottery?” It’s really kind of fun watching people’s eyes light up as they talk about paying off bills for themselves, their families, and their friends. It’s even a little fun watching them get giddy about all the things they might buy if money were no object. But what I like the most about playing the money-is-no-object game is watching what happens when that silly smile is wiped from their mouth and that greedy glint in their eye turns to a distant stare. I like that part because that’s when it hits. That’s the moment when the person gets really serious about what they would do with all of that money. That’s the moment when they say: “You know what I would really do with that money?” In my experience, the answer to that question usually involves something like buying lots of land, inviting loved ones to live close, and doing something truly good (whether that’s feeding the hungry, building a church, funding a program, or starting a charity). Then when the conversation turns silent, that’s when I like to ask: “So why aren’t you doing those things now?” After a long pause, either the person simply looks at me with disdain for bursting their bubble, changes the subject, or gives a half-hearted response about responsibilities and “living life in the real world.” None of us is naïve enough to believe that every person would do great things with such money, not only because of what we believe about human sin, but also because there are plenty of stories about people who have won lotteries and turned to drugs, illicit sex, or some other form of moral nonsense. But I still think it’s a fair question: why don’t we live like we just won the lottery? Obviously the vast majority of us will never have those kinds of no-worries bank accounts, but the question we must ask ourselves is this: why do we live our lives thinking about some ideal moment when we’re going to have enough financial security, enough inner peace, and enough vocational clarity to give our lives completely to God? Now, don’t get me wrong, many of us do try very hard to follow God’s will. We pray and we live lives that impact others in a very positive way. But what I’m talking about here is living like many Christians lived in the early Church; I’m also talking about living as if we were literally commissioned like the Apostles in the Gospel According to Matthew (28:17-20). "And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’." So ask yourself this: do I live each day acting as if I have already won the greatest prize in all of human history? Do I live my life knowing that I too was commissioned to work for Him and Him alone? Do I pray about my own vocation? Do I pray that others recognize their vocation? Do I pray for those who live their life consecrated to the Lord? Let us pray for each other so that we may all decide to live our lives in this way. #SacredScripture #Vocation

Holiness, in the English language, is one of those words that people use but don’t quite know what it means. Some people say, “Holiness is sanctity or saintliness.” But those words don’t do any real good themselves because they’re not pointing to a better way of understanding what it means to be holy. Others imagine “holiness” to mean living a virtuous life, being just, pious, kind, charitable, caring or loving. Theologians speak of “holiness” as a kind of perfection that comes from sharing in the divinity of God. But even knowing all of that, it’s hard to say what precisely makes us “holy.” So what do we do? First, look at the Gospel of John in chapter 14 verses 15-17 where we read the following: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you.” In this passage, Christ is telling the Apostles that God will send to them (and all those who truly believe) another person of the Holy Trinity, not only to give us more knowledge of Himself, but also to be our “counselor,” our “comforter,” and our “advocate.” Think about that: God loves us so much that He didn’t stop wanting to give us Himself even after the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Instead, He decided to send us the paraclete (παράκλητος in Greek) so that He could continue to “counsel,” “comfort,” and “advocate” for us now and in our judgment. Second, look at the Acts of the Apostles in chapter 2 verses1-4 where we read the following: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” In this passage, we find out that the Apostles experienced a theophany. In other words, they experienced a manifestation of God in a sound from heaven, a rush of wind, and fire that rested upon their heads. They also developed the gift of tongues. Think about that: God loves us so much He wanted His people not only to know He would be present for them during all the days of their lives, but also that, by being faithful to Him, He would grant them further gifts in order to build up the community and convert those who do not believe. So what do these two passages tell us about holiness? First, that holiness is always connected to God. In other words, holiness is given by, developed for, and expressed in the name of God. Second, that holiness is always about serving others. Simply put, holiness is essentially an act of intercession in the name of God. Holiness is the sum total of counseling, comforting, and advocating on behalf of another in order to help them grow in closer union with God. Thus, while it is possible to say that holiness might be derived from or lead us to virtue, justice, piety, kindness, charity, caregiving, or lovingness, in itself, holiness is something distinct. Furthermore, prayer is the primary manner in which we intercede for others. So ask yourself: Do I firmly understand that holiness is something distinct from virtue? Do I understand that God intercedes for us? Do I understand that we should intercede for others? Do I pray for the intercession of the Holy Spirit before the awesome judgment seat of Christ? Do I pray for others? Let us pray for one another that we learn to live our lives in this way. #SacredScripture #holiness #Pentecost

Sacred Scripture reveals that not only are we called to communicate with God in prayer, but also that there is meaning in praying certain prayers at certain times. That is why Sacred Tradition calls us pray with the same depth as Mary, the Theotokos, who is the model of obedience to God; and to pray with the Church, which through the Holy Spirit, is the place we find our sanctification. By following this path of prayer, not only will we find ourselves connected to the human Jesus who lived and prayed the cycle of Jewish prayers, but also to the divine Christ who reveals Himself to us in those very prayers. To understand more of what this means, take a moment to understand the different types of vocal prayer and how they may properly apply to various times in liturgy and in life: Blessing – these prayers recognize that God blesses man and man blesses God in return; Adoration – these are the prayers of respectful silence that pay homage to the Lord; Petition – these are the supplicatory prayers that plead with the Lord to assist us in life; Intercession – these are prayers of mediation asking mercy from God on behalf of others; Praise – these are hymns and canticles lauding God for being; and Thanksgiving – these prayers express gratitude to God for freedom from sin and death. St. Paul demonstrated that offering prayers of thanksgiving to God are appropriate almost any time you communicate or gather with others. His letters, in fact, begin and end with thanksgiving: ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’ (1 Thess 5:18).; ‘Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving’ (Col 4:2). Perhaps, then, before sitting down to eat today, you can gather your friends and family around the table and pray Psalm 138 together: "I give thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise; I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word. On the day I called, thou didst answer me, my strength of soul thou didst increase. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, for they have heard the words of thy mouth; and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou dost preserve my life; thou dost stretch out thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and thy right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; thy steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of thy hands." #prayer #StPaul #meditation #thanksgiving