Our Holy Father Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea (270-75); Passing into Eternal Life (1947) of Blessed Josaphat Kotsylovsky, Bishop of Peremyshl and Martyr
2 Thessalonians 1:10-2:2; Luke 12:42-48
Nativity Fast.
Read 2 Thessalonians 1:10-2:2
St. Seraphim of Sarov, a great 19th-century starets (elder), famously said, “Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will be saved.” Inner peace is one of those individual states that are attractive to the observer for what the observer sees is someone who, no matter what occurs, does not become troubled or shaken to the extent that inner peace is lost or broken.
This pandemic, at various times, may have shaken our inner peace. Many of the ways we have had to adapt to the circumstances of this pandemic may have troubled us or shaken this inner peace. I, myself, in the midst of returning to public worship, was shaken and troubled by the extent of the guidelines and protocols necessary in order to safely re-open our churches.
Just as St. Paul implores the Thessalonians to not be shaken or troubled by those who falsely claim that the Lord has returned, he implores us to not be shaken or troubled by the circumstances of our lives and of the world we live in. Rather, we should place our hope and trust in God, not allowing the circumstances to dictate our inner peace. Rather, our inner peace should remind us that God can turn any circumstance or challenge into an opportunity for further love for and trust in Him.