Thursday, July 22, 2004
Mary Magdalene, Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles
Kellia: 1 Maccabees 1:41-53 Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:28-11:7 Gospel: St. Matthew 16:24-28
1 Maccabees 1:41-53, especially vs. 52: "Many of the people, every one who
forsook the Law joined them, and they did evil in the land...." Programs and policies designed to impose values of human
invention have a long, sordid history. The Inquisition, the French Revolution, the Communist Internationale, and the Nazi
endeavor at world domination are now seen to have been only additions to earlier efforts like those of the Seleucid Kings
and the early Roman Emperors to eliminate the beliefs, practices, and the way of life revealed by God for His People and
for all mankind. At times the forces of conformity have been indirect, implemented through social pressure, advertisement,
and propaganda. At other times, the full concentration of the State power, or the threat of such, have been brought to bear
so that "whoever [would] not obey the command of the king [should] die" (vs. 50). Do we not live in a time when the
media and other indirect powers are being applied to our Holy Faith?
Indeed, Beloved of God, the tide of conformity against the truth of God is flooding in, and the pressures against Life are
swelling. No sooner has the bankruptcy of Marxism and National Socialism been exposed and checked, than the
proponents of secularism and humanism now are working to advance other agenda opposed to the revealed truth of God.
Now is our turn to stand faithfully against the success of a new cultural 'cold war,' with its use of low-level and indirect
force. We may forsake the Truth of God and join them in doing "evil in the land," or go "into hiding" (vss. 52,53) or we
may wake up, take a stand, and oppose the falsehood.
Discernment surely is required of us. Without the Light of Christ and His Gospel that the Holy Orthodox Faith sheds upon
those who truly believe in Christ Jesus as King and God, one is open and vulnerable to the winds of the media that blow the
latest lies of the 'politically correct' into the mind and heart. It is not enough to attend Liturgy on Sunday and rely upon
that alone to assure us that we are Orthodox. The Faith must be lived in our decisions about tuning in or tuning out the
media. So little is innocent anymore on TV, over the radio, in newspapers, in magazines, and in the circulars and mailers
that flood our homes.
The present situation among the Faithful is critical at this moment. Few are entirely free of the polluting lies that are
sweeping in on us. Lord, O Lord, "help us, save and have mercy upon us, and keep us, O God by Thy grace." Help us
choose not to stay at home on week nights and watch and listen to the lies, but to rise up and attend the Church's teaching
and worship at midweek events and services. Give us grace to tune out the popular media and to read the Holy Scriptures,
the wonderful works of the ancient and contemporary Fathers of the Church, and other material profitable for the mind and
heart. Help us to spend time with our children preparing them to make God-pleasing decisions about sex, drugs and
alcohol, the other lies that fill their classrooms, and the fads and trends that invite them to rebel against God's truth.
Forgive us O God for even considering that we "should give up [the] customs" (vs. 42) which the Church received from
Thee and continues to teach. Forgive us for accepting lies that sound good, but subtly erode Orthodox truth. Forgive us for
all the times in which we have "gladly adopted [false] religion" and ideas and "sacrificed" to the idols of social acceptance
and popularity and thereby have "profaned the sabbath" (vs. 43) and service of God in our daily lives.
Let us be "politically incorrect" and confess: abortion and euthanasia are abominations, and same-sex unions are defiling.
Marriage between a man and a woman is God's holy creation. I believe, O Lord, and I confess that Thou art truly the
Christ, the Son of the living God, Who didst come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
