The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Fr. Gregory - March 22, 2026

This Sunday, the Church places before us St. John Climacus, the author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, which presents the Christian life as a long ascent from the distorted, fallen world to participation in the very mind of Christ.After recounting the story of St. John Climacus, Fr. Gregory turns his attention to The Ladder of Divine Ascent, containing 30 rungs beginning with repentance and ending in love. Fr. Gregory explains that each step is not merely something we do, but something we become; it is a transformation of the human person. However, sometimes we fall. As St. John Climacus wrote: “Do not be surprised if you fall every day. Do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. Stand up again. Continue the climb after the demons have knocked you off the ladder.”The first steps of the ladder are the steps of struggle: repentance, prayer, and fasting by which the heart is purified. Fr. Gregory connects this struggle to today’s Gospel reading, in which a father brings his son, who is possessed by a demon, to Christ. The father asks Christ, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Christ responds, “If you can? All things are possible for the one who believes.”The question here is not Christ’s ability, but whether the human heart is ready to trust him. The problem is not only faith, but our perception of him. The Father does not yet see clearly who Christ is. Here, Fr. Gregory says, at the very beginning of the ladder, we see what the entire ascent is about: the gradual healing of how we see and understand Christ and therefore how we see and understand everything. The goal of the spiritual life is not simply to behave differently, but to acquire the mind of Christ — to learn to see the world the way Christ sees it. This transformation, Fr. Gregory reminds us, happens in the ordinary struggles of daily life, and especially in relationships.Fr. Gregory encourages us that we are not alone as we climb the ladder. Christ stands at the top, strengthening our every step. Though we stumble and fall, by repentance we may rise again and continue climbing. Every temptation, difficult relationship, act of humility, and moment of forgiveness becomes another rung on the ladder leading us to God. Fr. Gregory encourages us to make the prayer of the father in today’s Gospel reading our own, holding fast to Christ that our hearts may be purified, our minds illumined, and our vision healed. Then, we will discover that the struggles of life are not obstacles to our salvation, but the very ladder by which God raises us to himself.