Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On the 2nd of this month begins the Great Fast wherein we prepare for the bright and glorious Resurrection of our Lord. The reason that we fast is so that our more frequent corporate prayer might be less distracted by our earthly needs. Lent is not a mere change of diet. By cutting back on our earthly burden, we raise our sights to things above.
If we believe that the
Fasting and the other Lenten observances and commemorations that maintain the Church’s life are part of his Apostolic commission to “observe all things” that He commanded His disciples to teach us. The Gospel selection that records His commission of the Apostles is read at every baptism. With every baptism, there is a sense of brightness and celebration. With every baptism, there is a newfound freedom, not the freedom of license, but that liberation that comes with enlightenment and renewal. Just so, through the season of the Fast, we seek to renew what we received at baptism. We want to anticipate and experience with clear eyes and clean hearts just what it is that God has done and is doing for us.
His great salvation wrought through His earthly life culminating in His death and resurrection should be kept ever in our mind’s eye. To do this, we use the Lenten observances to train our faculties to enable us to better cooperate with the words prayed every day: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
It will soon be time for spring-cleaning to refresh our houses and gardens for the new season of growth. Just so, with joyful anticipation and hope of heightened and renewed understanding and fervor informing our patience, let us as faithful Orthodox Christians move toward the “prize of our high calling,” both in this season and for our whole life.
Father George
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From 'St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Zealous Builder of Churches'
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