We like prophecy but we don’t like exercise and prayer. We want something easy and quick.
We baptize every opinion and opinion of an elder as prophecy without any criterion. That is, because someone made a geopolitical prediction and wears a robe, we immediately baptize it as God’s revelation. If we have a priest who has studied political science or international law and expresses certain opinions, we will immediately make them into prophecies. Even if someone who is a Saint says something, we don’t know if what he said was information from the Holy Trinity or was just a personal expression of things as we all chat. It takes a lot of caution.
The Saints had personal opinions, made mistakes, had shortcomings and of course had personalities. Holiness does not make you an alien the Holy Spirit does not remove your personality. On the contrary, the Fathers say that great saints had shortcomings to show human imperfection and that holiness does not go with the perfection that belongs only to God.
For example, just because a Holy Elder may have the gift of healing diseases and is a saintly person does not mean that he can tell you the numbers of the KINO, nor can he tell you geopolitical predictions for the next 10 years. Just because he can say in a conversation, “The way things are going, my child, I see this and that happening,” does not mean that this prediction is “divine information.” Whether something is “divine information” which of course can be or personal opinion is something that needs special attention. We have had and will have holy people with similar gifts but it needs attention. In these we have theology, the Councils and the Body of the Church in general. It requires attention to all this, that is, when, how, where and why a sanctified person said something. Something may be done, but it may not be done. And of course what the Saints said was said for repentance alone. We are observers in all these things without determining our lives by the words of the prophecies. For each one, the personal Second Coming is when he will stand before Christ.
Nobody said we shouldn’t have an opinion on state legislation, but we’ve gone to another level here. We are reaching points of hatred, separation from the Body of the Church and from our fellow man. One need only notice the comments under posts with church news. Hate and accusation gives and takes. Swearing at clergy, despots and threats have gone to another level. The supposed “Confessing Christian Orthodox” cannot even disagree with civility and argument. On the contrary, without having theological knowledge and without having read the Gospel and the Fathers through the Church experience, one has an opinion about everyone and everything. Particularly on soteriological issues, 666, chips, ecumenism and vaccines they all play university professors and all they know how to do is copy-paste passages and pretend to be smart. With such hatred and anger, how can you pray?? But then again, where do you find the time when you are dealing with eschatological issues 24 hours a day. I say it again there is nothing wrong with disagreeing or exchanging views, as long as there is knowledge and civility of course.
Over the years as a clergyman I have observed the following and I say it as a statement. People who are obsessed with such matters are not happy they don’t give you any comfort. You see in their face a hatred of anything. They blame everyone and everything. Priests, despots, synods, and from their mouths you won’t even hear a good word about your neighbor. Another thing I have noticed is that they rarely smile and are pleasant. They have a look ready to tear you apart if you say something that is outside their worldview.
For the spiritual level and spiritual thirst nowadays, one only has to do a little research. A prophecy post will have hundreds of likes and shares, while a prayer post of, say, Saint Joseph the Hesychastic will have 10 likes and maybe 5 shares at most. We don’t want prayer, fasting and exercise. These things disappoint us. We want terror, fear and easy solutions. This is called spiritual despair.
We are reaching the point where faith in the Synod and in the Body of the Church in general is shaken.
Pope Francis died and the cursing he received is unbelievable. We don’t even respect the dead person who is either a heretic an irreligious or an atheist. We do not excuse heresy or theological differences, but as the deceased we all go to God’s judgment. So let us leave the judgment to God and not to ourselves. We like to hear that such and such a person are going to hell. Some people get pleasure from that. And on the other hand we see Saint Silouan the Athonite who one day while walking broke a branch of a tree and cried because he thought he had damaged the creation.
Personally, I am not interested in prophecies, or when the end of the world will come. I’m interested in when my personal end comes and I’m ready to face Christ.
God with us
p. Spyridon Skoutis
