DECEMBER 2022 KOINOTIS

FATHER’S BLESSINGS AND THOUGHTS ....
The word tradition comes from the word Traditio which
means to hand down from generation to generation. So essentially,
everything handed down from one generation to the next
could be called tradition. Our Lord identifies two kinds of traditions.
Some things that are handed down from generation to generation
he calls “traditions of men” (Mark 7:8). The important
things that have been handed down from generation to generation
he calls “The commandments of God” in the same chapter. The
church fathers say that the authentic tradition of the Church is the
guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout history.
We cannot constantly look back to the 'good old days’, because
life is like driving on the highway. There are only two highways in the world that are so straight that one
could drive looking into the rearview mirror. It is good and essential to glance in the rearview mirror once
in a while but to avoid accidents and disasters on our way we need to look ahead. The Israelites had the
same challenge when traveling from Egypt to the promised land. They had to make a decision either to
look back to their life in Egypt and replicate the lifestyle they had by building idols or follow the pillar of
light that led them day and night to a new and better reality. Tradition gives us the foundation to embrace
the future with the guidance of the Life-giving Holy Spirit.
As we said, the church's tradition is the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout history. Where does
the bad history come from, then? A bad history is formed by those who turn away from God. When we are
in sin, in other words, separated from the source of the good, we automatically start producing evil. Bad
history is simply the memory of evil actions that occurred in the past. Those of us who harbor bad memory
freeze in the past and cannot move forward, like Lot’s wife who turned into a pillar of salt looking back at
sodoma and gomora. It does not matter if we or others are responsible for that negative action in the
past. If we harbor bad memories, we become part of bad history and miss the good present and possibilities
of a brighter future. This is not an easy task, but the difference between people who are in the process
of self-destruction and those who are being saved is decisiveness. Embracing a brighter future is not easy,
but if we are decisive and not doubtful, we can separate ourselves from bad history and seek the guidance
of the Holy Spirit.
Good memories inspire us to move forward.
No matter how hard life becomes, good
memories remind us that possibilities for joy and
hope remain. Better days are ahead, and all we
have to do is move forward to get out of the bad
patch, no matter how big it is. If we cannot remember
anything inspiring from the past, we
need to embrace joyful things today so that tomorrow
we will have good memories of a beautiful
yesterday. As we are finishing the renovation
of our beautiful church let us embrace and be
inspired by the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ
who came in to this world to renew it by His
Word, The Good News.
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