Εβρ 6:13-20

Ἀδελφοί, τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ Θεός, ἐπεὶ κατ' οὐδενὸς εἶχε μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσε καθ' ἑαυτοῦ, λέγων· ἦ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ σε· καὶ οὕτω μακροθυμήσας ἐπέτυχε τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. Ἄνθρωποι μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος ὀμνύουσι, καὶ πάσης αὐτοῖς ἀντιλογίας πέρας εἰς βεβαίωσιν ὁ ὅρκος· ἐν ᾧ περισσότερον βουλόμενος ὁ Θεὸς ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς κληρονόμοις τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ, ἐμεσίτευσεν ὅρκῳ, ἵνα διὰ δύο πραγμάτων ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι Θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν οἱ καταφυγόντες κρατῆσαι τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπίδος· ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν καὶ εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος, ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς, κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ, Ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

 Μαρ θʹ 17 - 31

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἄνθρωπός τις προσῆλθε τῷ Ἰησοῦ γονυπετῶν αὐτῷ καὶ λέγων· Διδάσκαλε, ἤνεγκα τὸν υἱόν μου πρὸς σέ, ἔχοντα πνεῦμα ἄλαλον. καὶ ὅπου ἂν αὐτὸν καταλάβῃ, ῥήσσει αὐτόν, καὶ ἀφρίζει καὶ τρίζει τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ξηραίνεται· καὶ εἶπον τοῖς μαθηταῖς σου ἵνα αὐτὸ ἐκβάλωσι, καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν. ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτῷ λέγει· Ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος, ἕως πότε πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔσομαι; ἕως πότε ἀνέξομαι ὑμῶν; φέρετε αὐτὸν πρός με. καὶ ἤνεγκαν αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτόν. καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν εὐθέως τὸ πνεῦμα ἐσπάραξεν αὐτόν, καὶ πεσὼν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκυλίετο ἀφρίζων. καὶ ἐπηρώτησε τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ· Πόσος χρόνος ἐστὶν ὡς τοῦτο γέγονεν αὐτῷ; ὁ δὲ εἶπε· Παιδιόθεν. καὶ πολλάκις αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς πῦρ ἔβαλε καὶ εἰς ὕδατα, ἵνα ἀπολέσῃ αὐτόν· ἀλλ' εἴ τι δύνασαι, βοήθησον ἡμῖν σπλαγχνισθεὶς ἐφ' ἡμᾶς. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι, πάντα δυνατὰ τῷ πιστεύοντι. καὶ εὐθέως κράξας ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ παιδίου μετὰ δακρύων ἔλεγε· Πιστεύω, Κύριε· βοήθει μου τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἐπισυντρέχει ὄχλος ἐπετίμησε τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ λέγων αὐτῷ· Τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἄλαλον καὶ κωφὸν, ἐγὼ σοι ἐπιτάσσω, ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ μηκέτι εἰσέλθῃς εἰς αὐτόν. καὶ κράξαν καὶ πολλὰ σπαράξαν αὐτόν ἐξῆλθε, καὶ ἐγένετο ὡσεὶ νεκρός, ὥστε πολλοὺς λέγειν ὅτι ἀπέθανεν. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς κρατήσας αὐτὸν τῆς χειρὸς ἤγειρεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀνέστη. Καὶ εἰσελθόντα αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπηρώτων αὐτόν κατ' ἰδίαν, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτό. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τοῦτο τὸ γένος ἐν οὐδενὶ δύναται ἐξελθεῖν εἰ μὴ ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ νηστείᾳ. Καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντες παρεπορεύοντο διὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἵνα τις γνῷ· ἐδίδασκε γὰρ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι Ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀποκτανθεὶς τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστήσεται.

My beloved friends in the Lord:

             In the Divine Liturgy, prior to the Great Entrance, the choir chants the Cherubic Hymn. It is a most solemn moment when the Holy Gifts are brought before the people and we hear the words, “Let us, who mystically represent the Cherubim and who sing the thrice-holy hymn to the life-creating Trinity, now lay aside every worldly care. So that we may receive the King of all Who is invisibly escorted by the angelic hosts.” These are words that we hear at every liturgy. As we traverse the Great Lent, we should all take these words to heart. For indeed, Great Lent is a time when we are called to “lay aside every worldly care” so that we may receive the Risen Lord into our hearts.

             The worldly cares that surround us are easy to identify for they are the vanities of life that constantly occupy our thoughts. We are concerned with our relationships, our health, our finances, our jobs, our homes and our possessions. We pursue personal pleasure, only to lament that once we have reached our heart’s desire we still feel unfulfilled. We faithfully text and post as though virtual relationships were preferable to personal contact.

             Then, as winter seems at its most dreary and spring appears so far away, our Orthodox Christian Faith makes one of its most exacting demands. Great Lent is a time when we are all called to fulfill the command of the Cherubic Hymn and lay aside our worldly cares. Perhaps this is the best invitation to fasting. And why do we fast? We fast not to punish ourselves, but rather to put ourselves in a right relationship with God. We fast not to deprive ourselves of pleasure, but rather to restore a sense of balance in our lives. We fast so that we may drown out the noise that prevents us from hearing the word of God calling out to us.

             Fasting is more than the simple, formulaic avoidance of specific foods. We fast to lighten our bodies so that our souls might ascend to God. Our dietary fast is not an end in and of itself, but rather it is the first step in a greater fast – a fast from physical and spiritual appetites and avoidance of those things that are impediments to our salvation. With this type of fast we refrain from hateful speech, we resist covetousness and we renounce our selfish desires. When we engage in this type of fast we will find ourselves able to focus on the weightier matters of life. While there are a myriad of vanities to vex us, the weightier matters of life are only two in number. They are our relationship with God and with each other.

             In terms of our relationship with God, our fasting must always be associated with prayer. During the Great Lent the sacred services are multiplied and our prayer life intensified – for fasting without prayer is simply a diet. The Holy Church encourages us to pray both as individuals and as members of a supportive, devoted community. Prayer without the focus of true fasting from the cares of the world is ineffective.

             Regarding our relationship with each other, our fasting is always associated with philanthropy. In Great Lent, and throughout the year, we are called to put flesh and blood on the bones of our fasting. Our fasting is a sacrifice that we are called to offer on the altar of those who have encountered the shipwreck of distress. It is only when we set aside the cares of life that we can see those who need our assistance.

             To summarize, fasting is a means to an end. That end is our relationship with God and each other. In the Church we have a name for these two relationships and it is called “communion.” The Great Lent, therefore, is a great spiritual exercise in which we come into communion with God and with each other. When we fast we must always remember that the fast is more than dietary proscriptions. In a true fast, we engage in the work of the angels. In a true fast, we abstain from the vanities of life. In a true fast, we lay aside every worldly care so that we may receive the Risen Lord into our hearts, not only at the Great Paschal Feast, but also throughout every day of our lives.

             Praying that we faithfully traverse the journey of the Great Lent so that it may lead us to a greater level of spiritual awareness and closeness with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I humbly remain, 

With paternal love and blessings in Christ,

 +Protopresbyter Panagiotis

The following services will be celebrated in April and for Holy Week

* Friday, April 2nd – 7:00pm 3rd Salutations to the Holy Theotokos