In looking back on the previous 12 months, one would have to be out of touch with reality to not realize that many catastrophic events have occurred. Two wars have been raging where Orthodox Christians live: Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Gaza. Many other news reports describe crimes and slaughter on a daily basis.

Violent occurrences are not new to the Church. From the “Slaughter of the Holy Innocents” by King Herod until recent times, faithful Orthodox Christians have suffered persecution. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, His mother Mary witnessed what was happening but was powerless to stop it. It was part of our Father’s plan to enable us to enter His heavenly Kingdom. Jesus portrayed His mother as someone who pondered God’s Word and kept it. She could not intervene in the murderous actions done against her Son but she prayed tirelessly in order to help Him through the agony.

It is tempting, when one hears about atrocities, especially if they directly affect those whom we love, to want to intervene or, at the very least, to express our opinion. This is not what Jesus did while He hung in excruciating pain on the cross. He asked His Father to forgive those who crucified Him. He also invited the repentant thief on His right to join Him in Paradise.

When we are confronted with painful news or a hurtful memory, we must strive to pray with a spirit of humility and repentance for compassion for everyone involved. Just as Jesus had compassion on the people, we must strive to stay focused on the Kingdom of God and say intercessory prayers for everyone who may have played a part in our suffering or our sadness, including those whom we see as the cause of the affliction.

Many of us, because of medical reasons, have undergone physical sufferings. On my 75th birthday about a month ago, I had to undergo surgery. That night was the most excruciatingly painful night of my life. I kept calling for the nurses to help ease the pain but initially, no one came. I began to shiver and have muscle spasms. I did my best to repeat the Jesus Prayer amidst the pain. I thought of the acute pain that Jesus must have suffered from the scourging, the crown of thorns and the piercing nails … and I at least could identify in some measure with His ordeal by experiencing what I was going through. Then I thought of the countless martyrs who endured far worse pain than I because they refused to disavow their belief in Christ.

The nurses eventually came and realized how serious my condition was. The pain was too much, and I vomited as a result. Like Saint Simon of Cyrene, who relieved Jesus of the burden of carrying His cross, the nurses attended to me and gave me pain medicine. My ordeal lasted about six hours and I eventually dozed off in the early morning from exhaustion. The muscle spasms and intense pain continued for several more days, even after I returned home.

The Orthodox Church teaches that we are subject to the ravages of nature and pain because of the great tragedy of the sin of Adam and Eve. Even Jesus Himself, who created the tree that He was impaled upon, was subject to the consequences of fallen nature. Despite this plight, Christ has taught His Body, the Church, how to turn the pain of the fallen created world into something that can be brought to the divine and be sanctified.

In the Book of Genesis, we are told that creation is fundamentally good (Gen. 1:4) and should be respected. God told Adam and Eve to have dominion over creation (Gen. 1:28), to name creation (Gen. 2:19) ... and, as good stewards (Gen. 1:28), to care for creation (Gen. 2:15) and not abuse it.

Tragically, the sin of Adam and Eve clouded the mission just described, almost to the point of obscuring it. Our ability to relate personally to God (our image) is still there but our ability to behave like Him (our likeness) has been largely, though not completely, destroyed. It was to release us from this plight that Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross.

What this means for us is that each day we must strive to prevent our God-given appetites from becoming sinful passions. Our bodies are still inclined to sin. This is why Jesus, when He first announced His mission to the Jewish people, proclaimed: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” He then taught them many things, for example: through His parables, the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt., Chapters 5-7) and the Last Judgment discourse (Mt. 25:31-46). He commanded that we must be born again (Jn. 3:3) through Water and the Spirit, and He gave through His Mystical Body, the Church, the mysteries of Baptism and Chrismation. Jesus also taught that we must eat His Body and drink His Blood to gain eternal life (Jn. 6:53). Thus, He gave us the mystery of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper (Mk. 14:22-25).

Baptism not only brings us into Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church; it also gives us the ability to intercede and pray for the very creation that can give us many blessings but now groans (Rom. 8:22) and causes us pain. Our mission from Genesis remains to pray for all of creation and not just for our personal hardships. If we pray with a spirit of humility and repentance, we not only do what our heavenly Father has called us to do, but we know that He will hear such prayers.

Orthodox architecture, iconography and liturgical prayers also connect us to creation. The living faith of the Church points us back to creation. We should never lose sight of creation when we pray. When we pray with a proper understanding of our role as stewards of creation, we unify heaven and earth. We transform the cosmos from the profane to the sacred.

As you know, during the liturgical seasons, especially Great Lent, the Church calls us to use the tools of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. When we strive to use these ascetical tools, we realize that the Holy Spirit transforms our response into something far greater than the sin of Adam and Eve or, for that matter, the sin of any single person such as a King Herod or a Lenin. In contrast, our ability from our baptism to raise up intercessory prayers like incense is our unique function and responsibility in the cosmos!

Almost all of us will endure suffering during our earthly lives. The Church does not teach us to seek suffering for its own sake, but what the Church does teach is that when suffering comes our way, we are called to use it to sanctify our own lives and the lives of those to whom we may be connected. The great examples of this are the martyrs. Not only did they bear witness to the Faith of Christ, but their own blood sanctified the earth into which it spilled. This is precisely what Jesus’ own salvific death did! It is in moments of intense pain and loss that we must turn to Christ and ask Him for the gifts of His Holy Spirit in order to endure and sanctify our suffering. This is how suffering becomes transformative, not only for us but indeed for the whole of creation.

I have spoken in previous articles about how to be good stewards in order to fulfill our God-given responsibilities to care for His creation, so I will not dwell on them here. What needs to be said, however, is that we must not fall into the temptation of thinking that everything is right with the world. It is not. The world, and we, are fallen. The concerns of global warming, rising sea levels and pollution are real, but there are powerful political and business interests which claim that such concerns are controversial.

In contrast, there are many scriptural references which show that we cannot sit on the fence when it comes to respecting God’s creation. We either constantly pray for creation, or we set ourselves against its goodness. The latter choice aligns us with the forces of chaos (Ps. 103:7; Ps. 73:13ff.; Ps. 88:11ff.; Ps. 105:25-29; Job 40:11-14; and Isaiah 27:1).

Thus, in every prayer we recite, we should pray for God’s creation which He gave us.

-- Archpriest Terence Baz, D. Min.
   Holy Assumption Orthodox Church
   Clifton NJ