Fr. R. Monastics and even the saints died with this desire for sanctification which they felt they did not realize. Saint Dionysius the Areopagite said that even the angels grow in God.
M.B. So, in our earthly life we get started on the journey and then our spiritual growth continues?
Fr. R. Yes. Since God is infinite, our growing in God will never stop. "Staticism" is a disaster. We are dynamic realities. We grow, and our happiness is commensurate with our growth in God. Even in what we call "paradise," when we will be close to God, we will continue growing in God. Because God is infinite, He will always be making us like Him. We are always participating in God. His energy makes us warm and transfigures us so that we approach more and more closely to Him. Growing in God is a vast dynamic process.
There are three steps in becoming like God. The first is purification, which means to get rid of our passions; that is, to be strong enough to take yourself in hand and not be enslaved by your instincts and drives. This first step—purification—takes place by means of all the fasting periods we have in the Church calendar and by abstinence of all kinds.
Purification is not an event that we achieve once and then the process is finished. We are constantly in a dynamic process of moving towards Him Who is the center of our lives. Of course, by essence, we are different from God. He is the Creator, and we are the creatures. He has divine nature, and we have human nature. Our goal is divinization, that is, to be like Him, but not of the same essence. We are created in God's image, and this image within us, as we said before, is looking for the prototype, but it is never finished. If we stop, we will become like Lot's wife.
M.B. When she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.
Fr. R. If we stop, if there is no growth, no dynamism in the spiritual life, then we become like animals. The human condition is that God created us to be always in movement in our spiritual lives—always becoming like Him and growing in His likeness. He is unreachable and He is infinite, therefore our human condition is a constant process of growing in God. Nobody can say, "I am extremely purified now." I think it is the love of God that puts in us a feeling that we are not perfect in order to keep us humble. This feeling that we are not perfect pushes us toward perfection. Otherwise, we would be static, like rocks.
It is impossible to imagine a person who is not searching, who says, "I don't need anything more. I am perfect." That is impossible. Purification is not only being rid of some material or fleshly desires, but it also involves being purified of spiritual sins like lack of humility and lack of charity. We seek to get rid of these spiritual sins or passions through acts of purification and this is an infinite process.
Sure, some people in their work of purification must get rid of what is heavy and what enslaves them—I speak about bodily passions or perverted instincts. Our instincts are good, but if we use them in the wrong ways, then we must change and use them in good ways. However, purification does not refer only to bodily sins or only to sins related to the flesh, but also to spiritual purification from spiritually wrong inclinations. For example, we must all purify ourselves from pride, selfishness, lack of love, and lack of compassion. Through humanity's fall, the entire human nature is perverted and distorted. So, the first step in our evolution towards God is this purification.
The second step is illumination. Illumination does not mean that purification is no longer at work.
M.B. Do purification and illumination happen together?
Fr. R. Yes, they do...
One can find the full chapter by purchasing the book from the sisters at Dormition Monastery here.
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