The Unprecedented Miracle!
Unprecedented, that is the word of 2020! We had an unprecedented explosion of corona virus and unprecedented deaths associated with the virus, unprecedented fires in California. We witnessed unprecedented restrictions with worship, , unprecedented lock downs and businesses closing. . During the elections we witnessed unprecedented voter turn out. We witnessed Americans storming the Capitol building, the list goes on. Websters defines unprecedented as: “something never done or known before, unparalleled, unmatched.”
When Jesus stepped into the Jordan to be baptized by St. John, the most fantastic,“unprecedented” miracle happened where the Creator of the Universe humbles Himself to enter our world, our skin, our life to lead us back to His Kingdom. This unprecedented event rocked the world forever and initiated a revolution! And we are all invited to partake of this sacred revolution of love, of truth and peace. An invitation to re-claim with God’s Grace our original beauty!
During these times with the virus-crisis and drama with the elections, we have a decision to make. We can either respond with a Christlike revolution with humility, with the fruits of the spirit or react with judgment, sarcasm, blame, defensiveness, anger, etc. I’ve seen many people being overtaken during the elections and the storming of the Capital building, reacting out of fear, anger or self-righteousness.
We’ve witnessed families literally blowing up because one member approves of the President’s responses and political stance while another family member attacks their position feeling the president had been lying to the American people. We have experienced lies and deceptions and have stamped our version of truth to these behaviors. We have relegated people to be on the left or right, conservative or liberal, on my side or their side. Last I heard is that we are on God's side, we are God’s beloved and we need to treat each other this way!
This is the ploy of the devil to divide and conquer, to disrupt the revolution all in the name of one’s self defined truth. All in the name of being Right. And the more you and I scream at each other with fear, anger and self-righteousness, the devil wins. Please know we must respond to the current challenges with a prayerful heart and clear mind. We need to respond to deception when we see it, St. Paul clearly states that we are to be careful, "see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy." Colossians 2:8
St. Paul also challenges us to redirect our energy to respond with Christ’s armor, “with the belt of truth buckled around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace!” In addition to all this, St. Paul says, “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Eph. 6: 14-17
It seems like the character and ethics of each person has been assaulted and we are reacting in ways that would not please our Lord. In fact, it says in the bible that Jesus wept, and I believe God weeps today at how we are treating each other! Families have been divided over wearing a mask or not, been divided over believing the Corona Virus is a hoax or real! We have butchered each other out of fear yelling, judging and disrespecting others. We must stop this and do our best to respond with unprecedented compassion and understanding to our current affairs with the virus and transition of presidents.
St. Porphyrios's words can melt our hearts as we invite Jesus to have the power to prayerfully respond to our challenges we will face in 2021. He says, “When you become a captive of Good, you cannot speak evil, you cannot hate, and you cannot tell lies. You are unable to, even if you want to. How can the Evil One approach to tempt you with despair, disenchantment, laziness and other such things?"
"If Divine Grace fills you, these things have no power over you. They cannot enter when your room is full of grace and filled with memory of your spiritual friends – I mean the angels, the saints, the martyrs, and above all Jesus Christ. The opposite occurs when you become captive to your fallen nature. Then you are dominated by the evil spirit and you cannot do good. Therefore, strive to become captive of all that is good."
God is watching the movie of our life, and I pray He sees us engaged in 'unprecedented' behavior of being 'captive of Good', of being filled with grace and love that reflects the image and likeness of Christ?
Blessings to you all in 2021
+fr. tom
