Bonus Roundtable: On Discernment: Three Approaches

Bonus Roundtable: On Discernment: Three Approaches

Author: Exodus 90 June 13, 2025 Duration: 42:39

Have a question for Bishop Erik Varden?

Bonus Roundtable Discussion - On Discernment: Three Approaches

Join us for a special bonus roundtable discussion in Desert Fathers in a Year with host Jamie Baxter from Exodus 90, alongside Adam, Doyle, and Jared. In this episode, we dive into Abba Anthony’s profound teaching on the three bodily movements related to lust: natural, fueled by overindulgence, and demonic. The panel unpacks the Desert Fathers’ timeless wisdom, exploring how these distinctions reveal the battle for chastity, the role of technology in amplifying temptation, and the power of discernment in fatherhood and faith. Discover practical ways to guard your environment and live virtuously.

Key Topics Covered:

  • Abba Anthony’s three bodily movements: natural, overindulgence-driven, and demonic
  • The psychological and spiritual insights of the Desert Fathers on human sexuality
  • How demons exploit disordered desires to break communion and fruitfulness
  • The role of fasting and asceticism in combating addiction, backed by modern science
  • Practical discernment for fathers to guide sons toward virtuous manhood
  • Overcoming modern temptations by guarding your environment and media consumption

Why Listen?

This dynamic discussion offers deep insights into battling lust and living freely in Christ, perfect for men and women seeking spiritual growth, practical faith, or guidance from the Desert Fathers. Learn how to apply Anthony’s wisdom to modern challenges like technology and fatherhood.

Announcements:

  • Submit your questions for Bishop Erik Varden’s upcoming Q&A in July at desertfathers.com or email hello@desertfathers.com.
  • Join the Kings of Summer Challenge on the Exodus 90 app, meditating on King David and Christian kings to embrace your baptismal call.

Subscribe for weekly episodes and share this podcast to explore the Desert Fathers’ wisdom with Bishop Erik Varden!

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We owe a special thanks to our partners. Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden is...


• 🦉...written by Bishop Erik Varden. You can follow Bishop Varden on his blog, coramfratribus.com.


• 🎥 ...produced by EWTN


• 🧡...and brought to you by Exodus 90, download the Exodus 90 app today


There’s a particular kind of stillness that feels almost impossible to find now, a quiet where you might actually hear something other than the next notification. Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden is built around that search for quiet, drawing direct lines between our fragmented modern experience and the ancient, radical journey of the early Christian monastics. This isn’t a history lesson, though you’ll certainly learn. Instead, Bishop Varden, with the Exodus 90 community, acts as a guide through a year-long exploration, starting at the new year. Each episode becomes a point of reflection, using the stark wisdom of those who went into the literal desert to find God as a mirror for our own crowded lives. You’ll hear their stories and sayings unpacked not as relics, but as surprisingly urgent counsel for anyone feeling parched by the pace and pressure of today’s culture. The rhythm of this podcast is intentional-meant to be absorbed slowly, creating space to consider how their pursuit of essential truth challenges our own attachments and distractions. It’s an invitation to see your own daily landscape, with all its demands and digital noise, as a place where that same transformative silence can be cultivated.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 78

Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden
Podcast Episodes
Episode 53: Reflection Upon the Desert Journey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:00
In episode 53, join Jamie Baxter of Exodus 90 and Bishop Erik Varden for a conversation all about filming Desert Fathers, what they learned, how the writings of the Desert Fathers have impacted them, and more.__________T…
Episode 52: The World in a Ray of Sun [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:40
In the dark of night, while the monastery slept, St. Benedict kept vigil.Standing at his window, he watched a light descend from heaven, brighter than the day itself.And in that light, he saw something extraordinary.For…
Episode 51: Thunderstruck [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:14
Imagine a voice that shakes the heavens. A light that makes you radiant from within.That’s what St. Benedict wants us to experience.This week, we hear about the divine thunder and deifying light that rouses us into the f…
Episode 50: Facing the City, Leaving It [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:06
St. Benedict saw the world differently. Others pursued knowledge, pleasure, prestige. He wanted more.Once he grew up and could make his own decisions, he sought only what would last: God.In this week’s episode, we reflec…
Episode 49: From Egypt to Italy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:01
Imagine a narrow cave. A little bell to signal a visitor. A rope lowered to bring food.Alone, fasting, praying… Benedict spent three years here preparing for his sacred mission.In this episode, we visit the very cave whe…
Episode 48: Endure Your Mind [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:28
What should we do with intrusive, impure thoughts?The more we try to push them away, the harder they seem to stick.If only we had a mental delete button. It’s exhausting to feel like our own minds are working against us.…
Episode 47: Modes of Combat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:03
Abba Netras thrived in the desert. Life was simple. His soul was at peace.Then the Church called him to be a bishop in the city. Suddenly his quiet life was over.How did Bishop Netras respond?This week, we see that true…
Episode 46: No Angel [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:00
Work can seem dull at times. Didn't God create us to praise Him, instead? That seems much preferred to work. Practical life, it can seem, gets in the way of the spiritual life. If only we could live like the angels in a…
Episode 45: Legitimate Rest [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:38
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden articulates the importance that rest plays in our lives—particularly our spiritual lives. He discusses the monastic idea of "holy leisure," also called "recreation,"…
Episode 44: To Gain a Brother [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:42
When a friend or relative has been living in sin, how should we respond? Do we confront him and risk pushing him away? Or do we stay silent and thereby condone the sin?In this episode of Desert Fathers, we find a middle…