The Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas
Oops! – The Crisis of Our Age
We live in an anxious age. Young people especially are suffering—rates of anxiety, depression, and loneliness have skyrocketed.
Jonathan Haidt, in his work The Anxious Generation, has studied why this is happening. He points to the rise of technology—especially social media—and the decline of real, embodied relationships.
Instead of lives rooted in community, faith, and meaningful struggle, many are caught in a cycle of distraction, comparison, and isolation. We have unlimited access to information but no real wisdom. We have endless ways to connect, yet we are more alone than ever.
Ugh! – Why Is This a Problem?
Why does this affliction grip so many?
It’s not just that people are on their phones too much. The real issue is that we have lost our ability to be still. We no longer know how to be at peace with ourselves or with God.
When the mind is constantly stimulated—flashing screens, notifications, endless scrolling—silence becomes unbearable. And if we cannot be silent, how can we hear God? How can we come to know who we truly are?
The desert fathers warned of the logismoi—the constant stream of thoughts and temptations that war against the soul. But today, we don’t just suffer from intrusive thoughts—we welcome them, entertain them, and even seek them out!
The heart becomes fragmented, restless, and unable to experience God’s presence. This is the deeper problem: not just technology, but the condition of the human soul, scattered and unfocused, cut off from stillness, from prayer, and from God.
Aha! – The Path to True Peace
But the Gospel turns our assumptions upside down. The world tells us that peace comes through external solutions—more therapy, more self-care, more productivity.
But Christ says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). True peace is not found in escaping our problems, but in entering into the depths of the heart where Christ already dwells.
St. Gregory Palamas, whose life we celebrate today, defended a sacred tradition—the Hesychastic way of prayer. Hesychia means stillness, and it is through stillness that we come to know God.
Palamas taught that the light seen by the apostles at the Transfiguration—the uncreated light of Christ—is not something abstract. It is something that, through grace, we can participate in even now. But this requires silence. It requires prayer. It requires turning away from the distractions of the world and descending into the heart.
One of the simplest but most powerful ways to do this is the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer is not magic; it is a way of reorienting the heart toward Christ. It is a prayer that can be said anywhere, at any time. But it must be done with stillness—with an awareness that we are standing before the living God.
Let’s take a moment, right now, to say this prayer together. Take a deep breath. Inhale, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God…’ Exhale, ‘have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Again. And again.
Whee! – Experiencing the Gospel Through Prayer
Do you feel the difference? Even in just a few moments, this prayer begins to calm the heart. This is the wisdom of the Church: that we do not overcome our anxieties by thinking our way out of them, but by abiding in the presence of God.
St. Gregory Palamas tells us that when we pray in stillness, we begin to experience the grace of God in a real and tangible way. The mind stops racing. The heart begins to soften. The presence of Christ becomes more than just an idea—it becomes a reality. This is the gift of Hesychasm: not just theology, but an experience.
And this is the great reversal: The world tells us that in order to be happy, we must be constantly doing. The Gospel tells us that in order to truly live, we must learn how to be still. Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).
Yeah! – The Path Forward
So what shall we say to all this? The world will not slow down for us. But we can choose to step out of the chaos. We can choose to cultivate stillness in our daily lives.
I challenge you: Start with five minutes of the Jesus Prayer each morning. Before you check your phone, before the worries of the day take hold, sit in silence and pray.
For parents: teach your children to pray. Set an example. Teach them stillness—not just by your words, but by your presence.
For all of us: make time for silence. Put down the phone. Step away from the noise. Sit in the presence of Christ.
Because in the end, it is not the world that will save us. It is Christ. And He is not far from us. He is near—closer than we realize. We only need to be still long enough to hear Him.
Through the prayers of St. Gregory Palamas, may we enter into the stillness where Christ is found.
Amen.