Mission Monthly Newsletter July 2002

...Meditate on These Things. Phillipians 4.8

"By contemplating the Holy Trinity we overcome the detestable divisions in our world."

            St. Sergius of Radonezh  

“How good it is when brothers dwell in unity” says the Psalmist.  As Pentecost arrives we celebrate the unity given in the coming of the Holy Spirit.  As believers in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, unity has a very essential and unique meaning.  The Godhead is a single unity of three distinct Persons, united in essence, will and action.  This icon of harmony is what God intended for us in His creation.  God’s act of creation was His invitation into the comm-unity of the Trinity.

     The fall of Adam instantly and almost irreparably disordered the harmony between God and His creation.  Then when mankind was punished for attempting to reach heaven on its own power by building the tower of Babel, the separation of languages further cemented the divisions in the world.  Mankind and creation suffered for centuries from the consequences of these events until God decided it was time to begin the healing process.  St. Basil tells us in his liturgy, “Thou didst not turn Thyself away forever from Thy creature, O Good One.”  The stories of the Old Testament from Noah to the New Testament account of John the Baptist and ultimately the Messiah, Jesus Christ, all point to this progress of healing given purely from God’s love for His creation.

     Jesus was certainly aware of the disharmony in the world.  Every word He spoke, every person He healed was for the purpose of reconciling mankind and creation to God, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32).  This was first accomplished in His life, death and resurrection.  It was completed in the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  On this day all walls of division are shattered by the power of God.  On this day all languages of the world are reunited in the language of the Spirit.  On this day mankind is reunited in purpose as the presence of God’s Kingdom resonates in the hearts of men who once again seek to walk with God in paradise.

     St. Sergius calls the divisions of this world “detestable.”  They are detestable because they are an open rejection of God’s fulfilled promise in the Holy Spirit.  The consequences of division are seen in so many places; in broken marriages and families; in corrupt governments and defeated peoples; in dishonest business and fraudulent gain; in environmental abuse and the senseless harvest of animals for luxury and pleasure; in human aggression and injustice; in the schisms of God’s Holy Church.  God sent His Son and His Holy Spirit into the world not so that these loathsome things would persist, but rather that through faith in Him and by His grace we would renounce this sorrowful condition.

     Yes, we need to contemplate the Holy Trinity; on the day of Pentecost and on all days.  We need to seek understanding of our apostolic calling in this world to be true witnesses to the unity found only in the Holy Spirit.  We need to believe and commit ourselves to overcome our own “detestable divisions.”  Jesus prayed in John’s Gospel (chapter 17) that His Father would keep His disciples united.  His prayer remains for us who are trying to belong to Him, but we need to be vigilant in rooting out within ourselves all manner of jealousy, fear, and selfish opinion which disrupt the unity of our families, our churches, our jobs, and leave us vulnerable to the deceit of falsehood and immorality.  We who are “sealed” in the gift of the Holy Spirit are also healed by the gift of unity.  This means that we need to strive each day of our lives to live this gift and, by God’s grace, show the world the Truth and the miracles of salvation that arise when men are truly united in faith, repentance and love.