A Church in Every House – Fr. Paul Megally

My beloved,

Today, the whole world lives in horror and disturbance because of the tiny Coronavirus that can’t even be seen by the human eye, and the terrible ‘pandemic’ that is spreading very fast and threatening the whole world with death. It is by far more dangerous than atomic bombs and fierce wars!

The order given by the Governor of California to stay at home is just a human effort to stop the vast spread of the virus. This decision was a great shock for everyone and particularly us, as we are deprived of the Divine Liturgies and partaking of the Holy Communion.

Satan might imagine for a second that he is winning in his war against the believers by closing the churches. But, we should remember that the Church is not just a building, but is us: the bishop, the priest, and the people. We are the living members of the Body of Christ wherever we are. In the first place, God created us to praise Him and glorify His Name. Therefore, our main task in life is to offer Him "a sacrifice of praise," coming from the heart, the mind, and the tongue, especially in this difficult time.

The history of the Church tells us that an Arab ruler in the tenth century ordered to close all the churches, thinking that this would destroy the faith in Christ. The churches were locked for years. One day, while he was wandering in the streets, hear heard the voices of prayers and hymns coming from every house on the streets! He was shocked and said, “I closed the churches, but by this, I made a church in every house!"

My beloved, let us make every house a church and start by offering a sacrifice of praise until God has mercy, lift His wrath from us and the whole world, and stop the ‘pandemic.

Let all of us pray in one accord, one spirit and one heart every day at the same time, noon, Set up the alarm of your phone and pray reciting Psalm 91.

Let us consider this period of staying at home a wonderful gift from God so that every family spends quality time together in harmony and unity. And to restore our spiritual life of prayer, deep reading the Bible and meditation and inner peace, which we lost in our busy daily life.

I admired what Vice President Pence said: “Americans should spend more time on their knees more than on the internet.” As a matter of fact, the virus of the addiction to cell phones, applications, the internet, Facebook, Instagram, etc. is more dangerous than Coronavirus. For many of these contain deadly poisons, in the hands of everyone young and old.

My beloved, rest assured that our beloved priests will never spare any effort to be at your service at all times. We lift our hearts and our supplications to God that this crisis does not last long, and we enjoy returning to our heavenly home on earth.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Fr. Paul Megally