Tag: hope

Hope In God’s Mercy

· Fr. Michael Gillis 3 Leave a Comment on %s
Experiences of God’s mercy increase our hope.  However in the midst of difficult times, we don’t remember these experiences.  We don’t remember the times in the past when God saved us out of difficult circumstances.  Or worse yet, we have come to remember past deliverance from difficult or dangerous circumstances as luck, as accidental coincidence.  Or worst of all, we have come to remember past deliverance as examples of our own prudence,…

St. Isaac, Gehenna and Hope

· Fr. Michael Gillis 6 Leave a Comment on %s
Probably the most controversial teaching of St. Isaac the Syrian is his teaching on Gehenna, or hell.  Homily 27 begins with the following statement and explanation of St. Isaac’s thoughts on sin, Gehenna and death: Sin, Gehenna and death do not exist at all with God, for they are effects [or acts], not substances.  Sin is the fruit of the will; there was a time when sin did not exist, and there…

Dark Belief

· Fr. Michael Gillis 3 Leave a Comment on %s
If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about what someone has called the dark belief. When God turns out not to be who we thought he was, particularly because the circumstances of our life are more painful than the God whom we had imagined would have allowed, cynicism and atheism (or agnosticism, her sister)seem appropriate coping mechanisms. Initially, there is a perverse joy in attributing to others the worst possible motives…