Tomos evoked the immunity of our Church

His Beatitude Onufry at the Divine Service in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

All that is happening now in Orthodoxy (World Orthodoxy – in the first place), can be compared with ARVI. When a person catches a virus, he is in a painful condition. Symptoms of any acute respiratory viral infection are lethargy, fatigue, fever, runny nose and so on.

What is the first thing to occur to a person in a similar situation? Take appropriate medications to quickly clear up the symptoms. However, after the symptoms have been eliminated, it is not always possible to get rid of the virus. A small provocation like a glass of cold water can bring the body back to its previous state.

In the end, when paracetamol containing medicines are no longer effective, a person begins to drink antibiotics, killing his/her internal flora and, as a result, gets an upset stomach and intestines instead of ARVI.

At the same time, everyone knows that in the situation with ARVI it is necessary not to suppress infection with paracetamol but to enable the immune system to protect the body. In this case, a person spills a few days with fever, he sweats properly and finally recovers. As the saying goes, everything bad comes out with sweat. And this is something that everyone has been able to test out repeatedly on themselves.

This is also the case with the Church. As we know, this is not just an organization, as some think. The Church is a living organism, which has everything that an ordinary person can experience in his life. And so, for the last two or three decades, the Church Body has undergone treatment, so to say. The Church drowned its immunity with pills of dispensation and injections of "closed eyes". The body was basically sound – however, the viruses of schisms, administrative and ecclesiological disputes were not completely eradicated from the body.

These viruses may not attract much attention, as they hit some individual organs, not the entire body like, for example, a common cold. One may even not pay attention to this indisposition. One may even not heal it but only "turn it off" for several hours with vasoconstrictive sprays. However, there is a risk it will gradually develop into sinusitis which involves constant headaches, inability to breathe independently and other complications, which even though do not affect the activities of other body functions but significantly complicate life.

So that's it. The Church cured itself for a while. Sprays. Tablets. Injections. Ointments. Well, I do not blame it because I understand there are diseases that cannot be cured instantly. And there are some for which there is no time at all. The only thing is that now all these drugs have lost their effect. It happened so that now the ARVI, which the Church had been healing for years, mutated and managed to overcome what was being held back. And so it is out on the surface causing pain literally everywhere. There is even a risk of surgical intervention.

Today we are pleased to see how the human resources in the treatment of ecclesiastic issues have exhausted themselves, while the Divine ones have just started to work. And I know how this will end! I know it because Christ said that "the gates of hell will not prevail against it (the Church)." I know that now all viruses, latent abscesses and other diseases will come out with high speed from the Church Body. Why? Because the Church has a completely different goal in the world and is not supposed to adapt herself to whatever infection which sometimes sticks to Her Body.

Only here the Church, as I said, is not just an office center somewhere there. The Church is a living organism. And not just a living organism but a Divine organism! And God, as is known, conquers everything that is subject to nature. We can witness this today. The Lord turned on the immunity of the Church, revealed all those secret forces having protected the Church Body for millennia.

Today we are pleased to see how the human resources in the treatment of ecclesiastic issues have exhausted themselves, while the Divine ones have just started to work. And I know how this will end! I know it because Christ said that "the gates of Hell will not prevail Her (the Church)." I know that now all viruses, latent abscesses and other diseases will come out with high speed from the Church Body. Why? Because the Church has a completely different goal in the world and is not supposed to adapt herself to whatever infection which sometimes sticks to Her Body.

The Church, according to Apostle Paul, is a community of saints! That is, it was created so that the saints lived in it. Those who prepare themselves not to fight against visible enemies and to earthly reign but to eternity. The same Apostle asks, "What way are righteousness and iniquity alike? What do the light and darkness have in common? What is the agreement between Christ and Belial? Or what is the participation of the faithful with the unfaithful? What is the consent of the temple of God with idols? Nothing filthy will enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

And although today we mourn but we must understand that this is as it should be. The Savior said, "When they drove Me away, they will also drive you away." And here He meant not a particular historical period but the whole life span of the Church on earth. He said, "Tribulation you will have in the world. But be strong for I have conquered the world."

And let no one convince himself that this can be avoided because the Satan does everything to tempt even the chosen ones! Now the time has come for all of us. Here we are, the chosen ones, and here is the devil doing everything to mislead us by deceit and cunning. Note! He does not work on atheists, pagans or anyone else. He directs his anger to the flock of Christ. One by one, infecting the chosen, he thinks that he will affect the entire Church Body.

However, the immunity has already picked up momentum.

Now the Church is in a fever stage. Now all the ulcers that hid under the skin are coming out. Now all other colors have disappeared except for white and black. True Christ and false Christs. Shepherds and wolves. Sheep and goats. And of course, this fever we are now getting through will only do us good. After this illness, we will recover to be stronger, wiser, capable of withstanding even greater difficulties that await us in the future. So do not be afraid! Do not avoid this. The Lord hardens us! And at the same time, He shows His greatness in our infirmity. The disease will pass and life will continue.

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