Great Lent: A Return to God’s Fulfilling & Loving Embrace
“Let us begin the all-holy season of fasting with joy; let us shine with the bright radiance of the holy commandments of Christ our God: with the brightness of love and the splendor of prayer, the strength of good courage and the purity of holiness! So, clothed in garments of light, let us hasten to the Holy Resurrection on the third day, that shines on the world with the glory of eternal life!” ~Hymn from Orthros of Clean Monday
Dearest Spiritual ‘Ohana,
Great Lent is upon us, once again, beginning on Monday, March 18th! It is a part of the Moveable Festal Season of the year which embodies, for us, what is called a “joyful sadness.” Its objective is for us is to discover and rediscover, and renew our purpose as human beings. The journey through it, calls for hard work, from each of us, but all this work is worth it. There need not be regrets for taking on the journey through Great Lent. There is a saying, “No pain, no gain!” So are we ready to embrace and participate in the period of Great Lent, wholeheartedly?
Our purpose as human beings, who are made in God’s Image and Likeness, is to be in communion with God. This is the purpose for which we were created. Adam and Eve had all this. They were fashioned for Paradise, but threw it all away! They lived in bliss in God’s Presence, but gave it up by dis-
obeying God, eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which they were forbidden to partake of. As a consequence, they were cast out of Paradise, and the door to It was closed and guarded by the Archangel Michael who kept watch over the door, bearing and guarding It with a sword. This was a consequence Adam and Eve had to face, along with all humanity throughout the ages of our history. This was not punishment, but rather protection on God’s part for them. We see that God made this consequence into an opportunity for the reopening of Paradise to humankind, through the Logos’ Incarnation. As we pray in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, “You brought us out of nothing into being, and when we had fallen away, You raised us up again. You left nothing undone until you had led us up to heaven and granted us Your kingdom, which is to come.”
The Logos having taken on human flesh has reopened Paradise for all humankind in the Personhood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He so humbled Himself in His Love for us, that He has gone through extreme measures to redeem us from the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience which brought about the closing of the gates of Paradise.
The ultimate sin (missing the target) of Adam and Eve was to think that they could live without God. They sought to be happy without God, which is, after all, a torn existence. We, too, as humans face the same temptations that Adam and Eve experienced. We could easily live our lives seeking happiness without God’s existence in our lives. We can focus on perhaps the “American Dream,” having wealth, status, plentiful possessions, entertainment, and every pleasure imaginable. When we seek fulfillment in anything, devoid of God’s Presence, we always will be left feeling empty and in need for something more. If our focus in our lives includes everything, but God, we will be continuously and fruitlessly trying to fill a bottomless pit!
The coming Season of Great Lent is here for us to embrace, for a little more than 40 days, to help guide us to a most purposeful life fulfilled in our relationship with God. Great Lent, as I said earlier, is a “Joyful Sorrow.” It is characterized by intense fasting, self-emptying, repentance, charity, spiritual warfare in battling with the flesh, and increased prayer with the goal of our return and willfully opening our hearts to God’s Loving Embrace. For our God is a Loving God Who comes to fulfill us, as long as we are willing to accept His Presence in our hearts and in our lives. When we take on the spiritual activities of Great Lent, especially fasting, we may feel that we are giving up a lot of things, especially what we like to eat. This is the part that brings the sadness in that we missing eating what we desire. But in denying ourselves of pleasures of eating, we recognize our hunger for God. We also are able to curb our desires of the flesh and focus more on our relationship with God and those around us. The joyful part of Great Lent is the fulfilling relationship we build and kindle with God. It is this relationship that we seek in Great Lent. Having built this relationship with God, we can journey to Holy Week and Pascha, knowing His Love, Mercy and Glory embodied within us. There can be no greater joy in our lives than to know, wholeheartedly, that “God is with us” and dwells within our hearts and lives.
Have a Blessed Great Lent!
With Love in Christ,
+Fr. Alexander
Idiomela of the Triodion
Open to me the gates of repentance, O Giver of Life, for early in the morning my spirit hastens to Your holy temple, bringing the temple of my body all defiled. But as one compassionate, cleanse me, I pray, by Your loving-kindness and mercy.
When I ponder in my wretchedness on the many terrible things that I have done, I tremble for that fearful day, the Day of Judgment. But trusting in the mercy of Your compassion, like David I cry to You, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy.”
With Continued Love and Joy in Christ,
+Fr. Alexander