As the Coronavirus (COVID19) continues to wreak havoc throughout our nation and world, the Orthodox Church continues to stand faithful to Christ. She offers words of peace and comfort amidst so many unknowns as health officials continue to learn more each day. Church throughout the world, and here in America, have decided either to close completely or at minimum reduce schedules.

The past few days have been eye-opening for me in regard to the attitude of the society in general toward the Orthodox Church. Attempting to remind our Orthodox Christian faithful of the safety of Holy Communion, our host parish became the recipient of viral (no pun intended) attacks on social media. These attacks ranged from mild name-calling to accusations of trying to kill our parishioners. So after nearly 100,000 views with hundreds of such comments, I decided to remove the post.

I’m taking a break, sort of, from Great Lent to talk about the increased situation in regard to Coronavirus (COVID19). I maintain that Holy Communion is safe and faithful have no need to fear any illness being transmitted through Holy Communion. Maybe a bit of compassion and love will serve to draw others closer to Christ rather than away from Him.

Yesterday I wrote about starting over after we sin. Adam and Eve started over after they were removed from the Garden. Cain started over after killing his brother. We are encouraged to start over when we sin, not to pretend our sin had no effect, but to recall that God loves us and continues to give us a new chance.

When we come to our senses after having committed sin, we tend to pick ourselves up and start over on our journey to God. The same has been true for every human being since our first ancestors. Life goes on and we must go on with it, and it ultimately ends with calling on the Name of the Lord.

Today is week 2, day 2, and you might be wondering by now, if not sooner, and definitely later, why are you doing this whole Great Lenten Journey? Is it worth the struggle? Shouldn’t you be building your immune system for the COVID19 virus? As we continue our self-reflection on the Scripture readings this week, take a moment and read today’s reading from Proverbs. What encouragement does it offer to you for your Great Lenten Journey?

One of the beauties of the Orthodox Christian Way of Life is flow of time through seasons. Right now we are in the holy season known as Great Lent, but even within Great Lent, there are visible changes, like the light and dark I wrote about last week in “How Does it Feel?” where I featured the color, light and fasting changes in the Church each week.

Today is the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Great Lent, the day on which the Church commemorates the restoration of Holy Icons after centuries of battle with iconoclasts. Today is the day we declare the Orthodox Christianity is the “faith which has established the universe” as we process with our Holy Icons. Why is this so important?

A Robust Faith

Today the Church commemorates a miracle of robust faith nearly 1700 years ago. It was the first week of Great Lent, and the faithful were fasting, as was their tradition. In an attempt to kill the faithful Christians, the pagans poisoned all the food sources, but God rescued them through the miracle of the Kollyva and Saint Theodore. Through a vision, Saint Theodore learned of the pagan plot and told the people to make kollyva rather than purchase food from the market. Thus, they were saved from the pagans.