As if my previous post was not long enough...now that I have a few more minutes...
Asceticism then is expecting and working toward your own crucifixion, which might be lived daily.
Asceticism should be sought after in everyones life each day. Not many today have the strength to go against the strength of the world in its pursuit, which is why so many don't want anything to do with it. The world hates a true ascetic.
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you". John 15:18
This is not a hate because you do good things for people, or because you have acheived poverty, or because you love your brother; as Christ did all of these things too! The world will hate you for the same reasons it hated Him. It will hate you because you are a witness against their evil, because you will not walk in step with them, because you upset the comfort of their lives and can penetrate every veil and sharade in which they wish to hide themselves. It will hate you because you represent a destruction of everything they have tried to turn Christianity into. Just like the Pharisees.
). I just wanted to say thank you, and there have been some things brought up that were very thought provoking. 