God's Light Continues to Shine

by Metropolitan ISAIAH

Truly the Holy Spirit Who presides over the Church on earth has opened a refreshing and inspirational opportunity for our young people in colleges and universities.  He has beckoned them during their semester breaks to do the work of our Lord Jesus Christ in giving a helping hand of needed assistance to those who are neglected and even forgotten.  The holy hierarchs of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas have seen and appreciated the dedication of these students and all pious Orthodox students and have recently designated the Sunday following the celebration of the Universal Elevation of the Holy Cross each September as College Student Sunday.

Initially this recognition of Orthodox Christian students in schools of higher learning is for the purpose of keeping all of them under the protection and guidance of the Church.  However, it cannot be denied that when an increasing number of our students participate in the program, Real Break, it allows all of our people everywhere to give thanks to God because these young people are using their time wisely.

The participating students of Real Break are shining their light in the darkness of this sinful world.  They are given insights regarding places and people in need with the cooperation of IOCC and OCMC.  They have become the Orthodox Christian equivalent of Habitat for Humanity which our former president, Jimmy Carter, oversees.  They are not missionaries; but they are inspiring those who will become missionaries for our holy Orthodox Church in the days and years ahead.  Their Real Break experience is brief, but it is nothing less than quality time of great value.  These Orthodox students are truly God's instruments who give hope to the hopeless and joy to the downtrodden.

Yes, we are living in a sinful world as the holy Apostle Paul reminds us in his epistles.  He tells us to redeem the time we have on our hands because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).  Our college students involved in Real Break are doing just that.  By their good works in the name of the Lord, even though sin abounds in the world, they verify the fact that where sin abounds, the grace of God abounds even more (Romans 5:20).

Good works are not the monopoly of structured agencies and organizations.  Good works are the manifestation of God's children who do not need to premeditate or to structure the good things they do.  They are the spontaneous expression of God's love which is in their hearts and which becomes reality in their actions.

As this new academic year unfolds, may it be filled with God's grace and love upon all of our Orthodox students in all of the colleges and universities throughout our land, and may those students who participate in Real Break continue to inspire the rest of us, knowing that God's love abounds upon those who seek it and who keep God in their hearts.