Let me recall a wise custom of the ancient Holy Fathers: when greeting each other, they did not ask about health or anything else, but rather about prayer, saying "How is your prayer?" The activity of prayer was considered by them to a be a sign of the spiritual life, and they called it the breath of the spirit. If the body has breath, it lives; if breathing stops, life comes to an end. So it is with the spirit. If there is prayer, the soul lives; without prayer, there is no spiritual life.”

This past year, how many times have we either experienced or heard stories of those who have been driven to the brink of despair, shrouded in darkness, and seemingly absent of hope. As difficult as things have been for us Orthodox Christians, imagine how much more difficult it must be to those who do not have the light of Christ in their lives…who have been bumping into the proverbial “coffee tables” and searching for the “matches of meaning” where they can’t be found. It is our calling as bearers of Christ’s Light to illuminate not just our own lives, but all of those who are searching for that gentle presence of Christ in the midst of chaos.

The true meaning behind this short prayer often gets lost in English, because the word “mercy” takes on a connotation of “justice or acquittal.” This is not the tenor of the prayer that we say in the Divine Liturgy. We aren’t saying: “Lord…don’t convict me and send me to the outer darkness!”

Although we may not realize it, Jesus is always closer than we think He is. When we get caught up in the crowds and noise that surrounds us, we can sometimes have a problem seeing the Son of God and experiencing His healing touch. We become like the blind man in today’s account, hearing the commotion around us but not being able to see the reason for all the excitement. But through faithful persistence, Christ will see us first, even if He seems to be nothing more than a distant voice in the crowd.

To the surprise of so many out in the world…this is actually where St. Anthony’s struggles began. As Christians, we will never get attacked harder by Satan and his demons, then when we are trying to live a holy life. The devil ignores people who live in filth and darkness…because he knows he has them. He focuses his attention on people trying to live a Holy Life…and St. Anthony was no exception to these attacks.