Awareness through the Jesus Prayer
Sermon preached by Dr. Ioana Popa on Sunday, March 16, 2025
Second Sunday of Lent — St. Gregory Palamas
“The Lenten Journey," focusing on the themes of forgiveness, almsgiving, prayer, fasting, and steadfastness and hope
(Epistle: Hebrews 1:10–14; 2:1–3, Gospel: Mark 2:1–12)
Picture this: during the presidential elections for the last three elections, from my office as a spiritual care life coach and psychiatrist, things seem to unfold predictably. Client after client shared their stories, thoughts, and emotions, and I supported them. But wait — this was only on the surface, as there was a strange twist. No matter which presidential candidate won, half of my clients rejoiced and jumped for joy, while the other half was in tears and some even in despair. How could anyone in my situation sit with presence and compassion?
I am sure you, too, encounter challenging times as you go about your day, fulfilling your God-given mission in life. And imagine what is possible: you give and serve to others and find a way to come back to your soul, to God and the center of your being. Those holding opposite beliefs than yours share their experiences, ask questions, and even challenge you, but you stay centered and compassionate, holding the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV). This is truly a pathway to “not neglect our salvation,” as we heard in today’s epistle in Hebrews 2:1–3, to “we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away”.
No matter the example of conflict, stressors, or challenging times, the universal question remains: How do we listen with compassion and stay grounded like Christ as we face opposite reactions and opinions from people, no matter how upsetting the encounter? Is it even possible? What does our tradition say about achieving this compassion and love without compromising our beliefs or allowing our blood pressure to rise beyond safety? Is there a simple practice to use daily that can support us? And what do science and psychology have to share about this?
This month, during our Lenten Journey, we heard beautiful homilies from women in our community on the themes of forgiveness and almsgiving. Today’s theme is Prayer, especially as we celebrate St. Gregory Palamas, who is well known for his practice of Jesus Prayer and God’s essence and energies, among other important theological topics.
Interestingly enough, the Jesus Prayer is exactly one pathway in achieving an authentic compassionate presence, toward the union of God, Theosis, in the midst of polarized opinions which we all face today in our country and the world.
The practice is simple but not always easy: in the shorter version of the prayer, we say the words “Oh Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The first prayer of this kind we hear in the Bible is in Luke 18:35–38 — with the story of the Blind Man receiving his sight: “Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
St. Gregory of Palamas went beyond encouraging us to say it here and there (which can be so beneficial); he actually defended the repetition of this prayer as a mystical practice, and I would add, not just as a spiritual growth practice but a psychological one.
Centuries later this practice can be seen as a pathway to accessing our deeper sense of awareness at our soul level. The Jesus prayer itself is not the goal tough. Being one with God, Theosis, is the goal. The repetition of this prayer is like a key, a portal that allows us to connect to what is already inside of us: the presence of God, the ‘luminous darkness’ at the awareness level.
You might ask: what is awareness? According to the APA American Psychological Association, awareness is the perception or knowledge of something. In a broader sense, I like to explain it as an experience of who you are at the core, beyond thoughts, beyond emotions, beyond body sensations, beyond your past and future, and beyond roles. It is a psychological function that is subtle but, nonetheless, profound.
It is at this level that the union with God already exists. We do not need to search for it; it is more of removing the veils to reveal God, who is already there. This is consistent with what we hear in 2 Corinthians 3:16–-18 (NKJV): “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
The reason why Saint Gregory of Palamas was adamant about protecting the transmission of the Jesus prayer, is because it is a practice that, when done on a regular basis, it allows us to tap into our awareness, which is beyond our thoughts, emotions, and body sensations, which is peaceful, good, whole, and abundant, with integrity and dignity, all gifts from God.
It is at this level that we just are; no wonder that one of God’s names is: “I am who I am,” as God shared with Moses in Exodus 3:14 (NKJV). At this level, there's a sense that we are untouched, unharmed, that we exist in a continuous now, and we can sense that we are born for eternity, which is Jesus' promise and the great news, as He conquered death by death.
In psychology, this is called the true self, and in Internal Family Systems (IFS), which is an evidence-based psychological methodology, there are eight qualities for the true self: compassion, curiosity, calmness, clarity, courage, confidence, creativity, and connectedness.
For us as Christians, these are the fruits of the spirit as shared in Galatians 5:22–23 (NKJV): “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law.”
As we practice the Jesus Prayer daily, we move past the words we are saying, our posture, the prayer rope, and body sensations, and we tap into the space of awareness: our soul, our true self. This is where we experience the energies of God and move toward union with God, Theosis, one moment at a time.
What do I mean by God’s energies? As transmitted through our Orthodox Theology and shared by Gregory Palamas, there are two important concepts (among many) about God’s nature and how He relates with us: the first one, God’s essence, is outside of our awareness, perceptions and reach, and secondly, God's energies are everywhere, extending to us constantly, and without judgment: “for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”. Mathew 5:45 (NKJV).
Like radio frequencies that are already present, God’s energies are already inside and outside of us, filling all things, meaning the entire cosmos. We just need to tune our ‘antenna’ of our awareness to ‘receive’ these frequencies, God’s energies. The process is not one of striving and addition; the process is one of removing layers and veils over and over.
This is how the Jesus prayer practice helps us: we tune in and re-tune our awareness ‘antenna’ and come back over and over to God, through our awareness, and in time, we train our subconscious to do this automatically.
This is supported by science and psychology. When we tap into the deeper sense of awareness, we engage our ‘slow’ brain, our subconscious, which is different from our ‘fast’ logical brain. We have what is called the dual-processing brain, where we can logically think of a topic with the fast brain, while the slow brain works and hums in the background.
By practicing the Jesus Prayer daily (among other methodologies), it is thus possible to pray nonstop, as St. Paul invites us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV to “pray without ceasing.” This is not multitasking. I repeat: We are not called to multitask, as this is impossible and could be detrimental. We are actually training our brain to stay in the presence of God at all times, which is the ultimate goal of the Jesus prayer.
When our conscious and subconscious minds are aligned, we can move mountains as in Matthew 17:20 (NKJV) “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” This includes staying present, curious, and compassionate in the face of adversities and polarities.
It is from this space of awareness and true self, which we cultivate through the Jesus Prayer, that we can be present, calm, and compassionate with others who hold opposite beliefs and in difficult and challenging situations.
And if we really believe that God is everywhere, filling all things, and that all human beings are in the ‘image and likeness of God, it follows that every human being has the same core of true self, of soul, of goodness, no matter how extreme their views and actions are. It is through prayer and, especially through the Jesus Prayer practice, that we connect soul-to-soul with everyone!
It is through our awareness when we encounter God, and Jesus Prayer is a wonderful practice to help us in this sacred process.
There is so much more to share about it, and we will unpack this in the upcoming St. Mary Retreat in mid-May, so make sure you join us then.
Amen.