Redeeming The Time

This Sunday we are celebrating All Saints of Russia as we always do on the second Sunday after Pentecost. The end of the troparion says: “By their prayers keep the Church and the world in profound peace.“ Russia and the world are not peaceful and never have been. What is this peace that we are asking for? It is the same peace that it is in the heart of every saint. We look at the first two Beatitudes (poverty of spirit and mourning) to see how to achieve this peace in the midst of the world that is ever becoming less peaceful.