The pandemic lockdown can not separate us from one another
As we struggle during this pandemic, it is good to remember that we are all united as one. We find our place of silence, sequestered in our homes and apartments, but in our aloneness, we encounter God. Even in our separation from one another.
Even in our isolation from one another, as we suffer separation from the communal services in our churches, kept apart due to the Covid-19 pandemic stay at home lockdown, we are together. Even as we are unable to physically participate in the Divine Liturgy, we are united together in the Heavenly Banquet.
Each celebration of the Eucharist unites us with each other and the whole of the Church. Together we who are members of the Church Militant, are united with the Church Triumphant in heaven. Nothing can separate us from Christ, and from each other. In our suffering and loneliness, we are one with the martyrs who have gone on before us, and with the saints whose heavenly intercession we so depend.
Even as we are barred from our parish's celebration of the Divine Liturgy, forbidden, as we are, to congregate in our temples, we are together, united together in the Mystical Supper. Like the spokes of a wheel, gathered around the center, we are one with each other, through the unity of the Church, and made one flesh in Jesus Christ.
So, take heart my dear ones. We Christians have endured pandemics before, and like our forberrers, we will survive this one. Remembering that nothing is allowed by God that is without salvific benefits, we will find ourselves, once again, standing next to our friends, relatives, and fellow believers, celebrating the Divine Liturgy, perhaps even experiencing it as never before. The City of God is on a high hill, standing brightly before us, and we have reason to rejoice.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
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