We hear all kinds of stories and statistics being shared in our country about how faith, in particular Christianity, is slowly dying out. Sadly, taking its place is the “religion of self”, where everyone looks after either themselves or those who they consider close to them.

This is an incredible story from the life of St. John, that gives us two important lessons to remember when it comes to our children.

1.) The way to show love and honor to the gift of children that we have been given by God Himself, is by having them grow up and instructed by God Himself in the Church. It is here where they learn what Love is…what Truth is…and what community looks like. If we ignore this calling and don’t bring up our children in the Church, it is the world that will teach them. When they eventually fall away, how much more difficult it will be for them to come back?

2.) If and when the faith of our children waivers by the temptations of the world, chase after them dear ones! We show our love for them, even when they are running away from us, in order to remind them of the love that they once had in the embrace of Christ and His Church.

This feast day is one that is unknown to many in the modern Christian world, because you will not find it anywhere in Holy Scripture. It is found rather through Holy Tradition, in the history books, and in the hymnography and poetry of the Ancient Church.

These miracles that we have the ability to see with our own eyes, and feel in our own hearts, are like our Lord calling out to us in the midst of the sea of life, reaching His hands out to us. Are our minds clear enough? Are our hearts pure enough to have the strength and the clarity of vision, given to us through the sacraments and the services, to grasp onto Him? May we take these moments of inspiration that our Lord (through His Church) offers us in order to move from sinking in the waves to being wrapped in the arms of True Salvation!

St. Paisios, who is one of my favorite saints of all time, once wrote about how reading and learning from the lives of the Saints is like taking our “Spiritual Vitamins”! When we want to build up our immune system to fight diseases, we take vitamins and eat healthy things. We have to do this exact same thing in our spiritual lives as well! In reading the lives of the Saints, we learn from their examples! We have conversations with them through their writings and journals. These are the things that strengthen our immune system against the world, so that we can gain a healthy spiritual understanding of our existence and our purpose in this life.