Living the Divine Calendar The path to Christ-likeness (Part I)

Do you want to enter into ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ (Ephesians 3:8),  and the ‘abundant redemption’ (Psalm 130:7) and ‘eternal redemption’ (Hebrews 9:12) that the Bible tells us about? Do you want to understand what apostle Paul calls ‘the mystery of Christ’ (Ephesians 3:4)?

The Bible speaks about the salvation of Christ calling it, ‘wells of salvation’ (Isaiah 12:3), and ‘so great a salvation’ (Hebrews 2:3).

Why then do many Christians today live a weak spiritual life, not tasting or experiencing the greatness of salvation and the abundant redemption?

The problem is that we do not know how to continually receive from this well of salvation. It is an infinite well. We often limit the salvific work of Christ to the cross, yet what about His incarnation, resurrection, ascension, and the pouring of the Holy Spirit? Aren’t these also acts of Christ’s salvation? 

We also need to understand the manifold graces which we can receive from each of these acts of salvation, how to receive them, and how to continue to receive from them to the fullness, not only once.

The problem of Christians today is that we want quick and instantaneous results for everything. We want to pray, and then be immediately transformed. We want to ask for His salvation, and then immediately experience it to its fullness. Though everything has been granted to us freely in Christ, we need to know the way to receive it.  Imagine a person who has much credit in the bank, but does not know how to draw from this credit, hence lives in poverty. We often do the same in our spiritual life.

Apostle Paul emphasises the importance of working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). What does this mean, and how can we achieve this?

The divine calendar or the seasons of salvation, which the early fathers of the Church established based on God’s mind that is revealed in the Scriptures is one of the powerful tools of experiencing this great salvation, abundant redemption, the unsearchable riches of Christ, the mystery of Christ, and knowing the way to draw from all these precious gifts that are stored for us, awaiting us to receive them. 

What is the divine calendar?

The idea of a calendar originates from the book of Genesis, which tells us about the units of day and night, and the other books of Moses which tell us about the feasts that were celebrated daily, monthly, and annually. The early fathers of the Church arranged it through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and on the basis of the mind of God revealed in the books of Scripture (Exodus 12:2). It is centred around the salvific acts of Christ. It is a spiritual journey that has purposeful stations, a journey of the seasons: fasts, feasts, and purposes.

The divine calendar allows us to take from the fullness of Christ’s salvation by receiving manifold graces from all His redemptive acts, year after year.