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by Fr. Stelyios Muksuris, Ph.D., Professor of Liturgical Studies and Theology
Comment in FB
An unprecedented pandemic of global proportions has altered the life of
billions of people on our planet. Many adjustments have been and are
constantly being made. Most of these adjustments, which lean on the side
of caution, seek to remind our people to exercise prudence and plain
old common sense.
One of these adjustments has been the closing
of schools and other venues where attendance in the hundreds and close
contact with others are commonplace. This has naturally brought into the
conversation houses of worship and liturgical services that are offered
on Saturdays and Sundays. Complicating matters even further is that the
entirety of the Christian world is currently immersed in Great Lent, a
solemn period which typically sees an increase in church services and
thus greater exposure to fellow worshippers who possibly may be infected
by the deadly coronavirus or other variations of this strain.
All the fear and hype in our communities, which has been magnified by
the media, has spilled over into cyberspace’s social platforms. Much
anger and disagreement over the closing or refusal to close churches has
brought about an exorbitant amount of discord and unnecessary
quarreling with words. At a time when the Church seeks to intensify its
spiritual askesis on many fronts in order to draw her people closer to
the Kingdom of God and each other, sadly, people are drifting further
apart from one another, including the leadership in our churches. This
is all in full compliance with the will of Satan, whose impudent desire
in nothing more than all people not being saved and therefore coming to
the ignorance that is bred by lies (cf. reversal of 1 Timothy 2:4). The
timing, it seems to me, was impeccably chosen.
I offer only
this one thought. We have overthought this entire situation from the
human perspective. We have struggled ourselves with trying to decide the
best route to take; that is, being faithful to God and our commitment
to Him and His Church while at the same time protecting our loved ones
and ourselves. Have we considered at all, however, God’s perspective on
this whole matter?
Now you may think that this sounds
ridiculous. After all, as humans, what other perspective can we relate
to if not only the human perspective? We are not God, so how can we know
His view? We may not be perfect gods but God did become perfect man.
This in itself allows us, methinks, to entire into the divine heart and
assess the situation from an entirely radical perspective - the God
perspective.
During Lent, temptations and discord multiply, as
they did for Christ during his own Great Fast and sojourn in the desert.
Christ’s own “salvation” during this challenge was remaining on task
during the attacks of the evil one. He remained focus, prayerful,
resilient. Of course, as God, He would never have been defeated. As Man
though, He suffered. Even in His own Passion at the end of His earthly
life, the suffering He experienced was man’s rejection of God’s love and
man’s refusal to embrace his own. Today, in a time of turmoil, we
continue to crucify the Lord Jesus daily by driving nails further into
the hearts of our fellow man and woman. Social media simply makes this
drama more visible to us.
I cannot imagine a God who does not
suffer with us in our illnesses, in our fears, and in our doubts. If we
do not attend church for the reasons stated above, even if our
intentions are pure, even if our faith is not optimal during this crisis
or at any other time during the year, will He bring destruction upon an
already difficult situation? The God Christ revealed to us in His
Person is not a God who makes us suffer but a God who suffers with us
and loves us more than we can ever begin to imagine. Our understanding
of long-suffering and love pales before His version of divine
long-suffering and love. We are the ones who notoriously place anger in
His face and punishment in His hands because, very simply, we like to
play God . . . our own frustrations and thoughts require justification
so we hide behind the effigy of Him that we have created in our own
distorted “image and likeness.”
If we do not go to the church or
we do go to church, if our churches remain closed or remain open ---
whatever the case --- we have made the decisions we feel were necessary
for us. Given these unprecedented circumstances, whatever was decided
was done so out of our love for God and our legitimate concern for our
own well-being and the well-being of our brothers and sisters. We are
all in this together; we are all seeking means to support each other and
walk through this crisis hand-in-hand with God and with each other.
It’s all good . . . but when the anathemas and accusations and hateful
venom begins to be fly in every direction, we need to push the demons of
discord away and repent. If Christ Himself does not condemn us in our
suffering, why do we? Man’s greatest folly is not his sinfulness but the
foolishness that can be avoided if we simply adopt the mind and heart
of Christ, to which the Incarnation has given us access.
Hand
sanitizer and hand washing is important at a time like this. But a
purified heart, compassionate and loving, patient and persistent, is of
infinitely greater cathartic value. May then this message of God’s love
and co-suffering with us, His grace to heal and unite, be the
“infectious truth” that goes viral the world over.
BLESSED SUNDAY AND WEEK!
~ FrDr Stel