Fr. Thomas Hopko on the purpose of Lent

 

Sent to me by Mother Paula, an Orthodox nun who was once a member of our parish. + Fr. Thomas Hopko: MP’s notes from his homilies  During Great Lent we are purposely remembering paradise. Radically repenting and changing our hearts and minds. Lent is called the tithe of the year. 10% of the year (365 days) We must be merciful. Forgiveness stops the power of evil. When one really forgives, we want everyone to be saved. Remember, we have been baptized, died, raised with Him and sealed with the Holy Spirit. Our life is not our own, we belong to God, our master. It is only through truth that we are loved by God, created, saved, wounded and healed. No matter how much we fall and sin, He takes us back. He never turns his back on us. We are God’s workmanship. During the Fast all things we do are a means to an end.Prayer, fasting, almsgiving, etc. Read the daily Lenten Bible readings. Attend the Lenten Church services. Receive Lent with gladness!Pray to God to show mercy to one another, constantly forgiving. Lent is a gift from the crucified Lord. Take it and say thank you! God gives us the grace to do this. Pray, accept the gift of life during this time. Fasting and almsgiving should all be done in secret. Pray, go into your heart, your closet. Be joyful when you fast, be not dismal. Just live one day at a time. All of our problems come from thinking, analyzing, and trying to figure things out. Instead we should think of God and have an awareness of Him. Don’t look back and don’t be anxious for tomorrow.Live peacefully, calmly and patiently. Lent is a gift given to us by God for our salvation and for the glory of God. The purpose of the Great Fast is to obtain a broken, contrite and humble heart. “Come to me all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is good and my burden is light.” (Mt. 11: 28- 30)

The Place of the Body in Christian Life

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

GREAT LENT: Day One

Nostalgia for Paradise

The Sunday Before Great Lent is called Cheesefare Sunday, because we begin to fast from dairy products after this day. But another theme is the "Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise." There is a wonderful hymn from the Great Vespers that unfolds that theme with both rich imagery, "compunction" (Gk. katanuxis) and spiritual insight:

Adam was cast out of Paradise through eating the tree. Seated before the gates he wept, lamenting with a pitiful voice and saying: 'Woe is me, what have I suffered in my misery! I transgressed one commandment of the Master, and now I am deprived of every blessing. O most holy Pardise, planted for my sake and now shut up, pray to Him that made thee and fashioned me, that once more I may take pleasure in thy flowers.' Then the Savior said to him: 'I desire not the loss of the creature which I fashioned, but that he should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth; and when he comes to me I will not cast him out. 

Apostikha from Great Vespers of the Sunday Before Great Lent

The Future Life and the Body

It is perhaps most obvious during Great Lent just how much our bodies participate in the very act of worship. We will soon be making prostrations and bowing deeply at the waist; services during which we do our best to stand are somewhat longer, and so forth. Of course, that is the "outward person" and not yet the "inward person." Those very practices can be lifeless if done somewhat mechanically. Yet, the point I am trying to make her very briefly is that we need to respect our "bodily nature" as integral to our very humanity. That this is expressive of a holistic Orthodox anthropology at its most complete. These are simply a few comments which are meant to preface a passage from the book Theology of the Body by the French Orthodox theologian, Jean-Claude Larchet. His book is a very thorough examination of the many-sided approaches to the human body and its relation to the "soul" and/or "spirit" which are essential for us to understand to fully grasp our understanding and experience of human nature as created by God. The passage here is a nice summary of the over-all teaching of the Church on the body:

_____

The fact remains that original, authentic Christianity is, by its very nature, the one religion that values the body most of all. This is seen in the doctrine of creation, whereby the body too is deemed to be made in the image of God. Similarly, Christianity's portrayal of future life is one in which the body is also called to participate. Indeed, it is seen in its conception of the human person as composed inextricably of soul and body, and who thus does not simply have a body but in part is a body, marked by all its spiritual qualities. Without question, such exceptional value and significance accord the body is lined to the very basis of Christianity - namely, the incarnation. It is a consequence of the fact that the Son of God became man, assuming not simply a human soul but a human body; that in this body he experienced what we experience; that in his person he delivered it from its weaknesses and ills, making it incorruptible, granting it eternal life; and that he gave it as food to his disciples and believers, making them partakers of his divinity, and of all associated blessing.

Theology of the Body, p. 11, by Jean-Claude Larchet

Forgiveness Vespers

 

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me."

Great Lent will begin on Monday, February 23; but actually for the parish it will begin as we serve the Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday following the Liturgy. 

This is a very "special" service that inaugurates the lenten fast. The theme, together with the beginning of Great Lent, is that of forgiveness. And that is clearly at the heart of the service, which is the Rite of Forgiveness, which actually comes at the very end.

What happens is this: Everyone comes and stands before everyone else at the service - beginning with me as the parish priest and our other clergy. 

We make a full bow at the waist before each other, accompanied by the words: "Forgive me." The response is then: "God forgives," and then we move on to the next person. We will not exchange the "kiss of peace," and it is not the place to chat with each other. 

We continue to move along in this fashion to the next person, who has taken a position in the line after his/her exchange with the last person in the line, until we have gone through to the very last person. 

The point is to fulfill the Gospel command to forgive one another, as God has forgiven us. The Gospel reading for Sunday's Liturgy will be Matt. 6:14-21. 

Everyone who is there is invited to stay. And that, of course, is a matter of choice. It is a free decision. No compulsion or obligation. 

On Monday - Thursday of the First Week of Lent, there will be a unique lenten service, described in the following manner by Fr. Thomas Hopko:

"At the Compline services of the first week of lent the Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete is read. This is a long series of penitential verses based on Biblical themes, to each of which the people respond: Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me (with a bow at the waist." This canon will be repeated on the Fifth Monday of Great Lent (only this year) in a modified form.

Fragments for Friday -- Taking Lent Seriously

 

Source: pixbay.com

The gateway to divine repentance has been opened: let us enter eagerly, purified in our bodies and observing abstinence from food and passions, as obedient servants of Christ who has called the world into the heavenly Kingdom. Let us offer to the King of all a tenth part of the whole year, that we may look with love upon His Resurrection.

(Sessional Hymn, Matins of Cheese Week)

Meatfare Sunday is behind us and we are now in The Week Before Lent known as Cheese Week approaching Cheesfare Sunday. If that sounds a bit esoteric, it simply means that – prepared or not - we are approaching the beginning of Great Lent on Monday, February 23. (But we did have four weeks of pre-lenten preparation). Holy Week follows Great Lent and that leads to Pascha on April 12. (The Western Easter in on April 5 this year.  Holy Week and Pascha are at the very heart of the liturgical year and of our lives as Orthodox Christians.

Great Lent is the “school of repentance.” It is roughly equivalent to an“annual tithe” in which we offer ourselves back to God so as to be received with love as was the prodigal son. As such, Great Lent is a gift from God, guiding us toward a way of life we may be reluctant to assume on our own, suffering as we often are from spiritual apathy or a simple lack of focus. Great Lent is also goal-oriented, for it leads us on a spiritual pilgrimage of preparation toward the “night brighter than the day” of Pascha and the Risen Lord. Great Lent is “sacred” and “soul-profiting.” It is a key component in the Orthodox Way of living out the Christian life we have been committed to in holy Baptism.

During Great Lent we will recover the essential practices of prayer, almsgiving and fasting. These practices are the tools that can assist us in returning and remaining close to God. Liturgical services unique to Great Lent immerse us in a way of communal pray that is solemn and penitent; but which also lighten and unburden the soul through the mercy and grace of God so abundantly poured out upon us through these inspired services. You leave the church tired in body perhaps, but brighter inside – in the mind and heart. 

Great Lent invites us to see our neighbors as children of God and of equal value in the eyes of God, and thus deserving of our attention, patience and care. Charity can be distributed through material means or through an encouraging and warmly-spoken word. Great Lent liberates us from the excessive appetites of our bodies through the discipline of fasting. Our diet essentially becomes vegan as we seek to be less weighed down by a body overly-satiated with food and drink. This is healthy for both soul and body. The human person does not live by bread alone as the Lord taught us as He Himself fasted in the desert for forty days. We also fast from entertainment, bad habits, obsessions, useless distractions, vulgar language and the like. We try and simplify life and redeem our newfound time through more focused and virtue-creating tasks. If approached seriously, perhaps we will be able to carry some of this over into the paschal season – and beyond. 

What can we do? How do we not squander this time set aside for God? 

• Prayer - Make provision to be in church for some of the Lenten services. Start with the first week of Great Lent and the Canon of Repentance of St. Andrew of Crete. Assume or resume a regular Rule of Prayer in your home. Read the psalms and other Scripture carefully and prayerfully. Pray for others.
• Charity – Open your heart to your neighbor. If you believe that Christ dwells within you, then try and see Christ in your neighbor. Make your presence for the “other” encouraging and supportive. Restrain your “ego” for the sake of your neighbor. Help someone in a concrete manner this Great Lent. 
• Fasting – Set domestic goals about the manner in which you will observe the fast. Test yourselves. Resist minimalism. If you “break” the fast, do not get discouraged or “give up,” but start over. Assume that your Orthodox neighbor is observing the fast. Seek silence. Allow for a different atmosphere in the home.

Jesus set the example of fasting for forty days. We imitate Him for the same period of forty days. If it was hard for Him, it will be hard for us; but not as hard as it was for Him! Jesus went to the Cross following His “holy week” in Jerusalem. We follow Him in our Holy Week observance and practices. Jesus was raised from the dead following His crucifixion, death and burial. We seek the resurrection of our spiritual lives here and now as we await our own death at the appointed time and the resurrection of the dead at the end of time.

“Taking Lent seriously” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s phrase) is a concrete sign of taking God seriously. Our surrounding culture is not serious about taking anything too seriously. When serious issues arise, however, people have a difficult time dealing with them. Yet Jesus was very serious. Especially when it came to issues of life and death – and God and salvation, and so forth. Great Lent helps us to focus on these very themes, therefore making it meaningful and important for our lives.

Monday Morning Meditation -- The living God who 'does not throw away people'

 

Source: orthodoxartsjournal.org

I was thinking about the words of Christ from the incomparable Gospel teaching that we call the Discourse on The Last Judgment heard this last Sunday: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."(Matt. 25:40) In the words of Jesus, the "least" would include people who do not have enough food to eat; or enough drink to satisfy their thirst; strangers in need of hospitality; those lacking proper clothing; those sick in hospitals; or those languishing alone in prison. We like the sound of this coming from Christ: His universal love for all of humankind. His identification with those Dostoevsky called "the insulted and the injured" (or sometimes "the humiliated and the wronged"), is deeply moving. His refusal to ignore those with no status and thus with no protection awakens our Christian sense of equality and justice.

But upon further reflection our ardor for these compassionate words of Christ may cool when we attempt to further objectively identify those described as "the least" in our contemporary setting. Just who are these "least of my brethren" - and "sisters," we should add - for the sake of clarifying the inclusiveness of the Lord's embrace? Are they the "unwashed/uneducated masses?" Perhaps the "proletariats" of George Orwell's 1984? Prisoners, drug addicts and/or prostitutes? Unwed mothers with nowhere to turn? The chronically unemployed? Neglected minorities? Undocumented immigrants? Even perhaps those dismissed as the undifferentiated "riff raff" drifting along the margins of society. These are descriptive terms for those countless human beings that are both neglected and dismissed as not counting for much. Or, with a bit more respect and regard, are "the least" just "simple people" who go through life without leaving a memorable trace (this possibility might be getting uncomfortably close). 

At the same time I was recently thinking of the dedication of Sister Verna Nonna Harrison's remarkable book, God's Many Splendored Image. I frequently assigned this book while teaching at Xavier University. My students had a genuine positive experience reading this book for the simple fact that they were reading about things they have never thought about up to this point in their young lives. And that would include the notion of human beings made "in the image and likeness of God." Or that not all Christians look at human nature as debased and inherently sinful. (This book is a "must read" for Orthodox Christians, in my humble opinion).

Getting back to her heartfelt dedication, Sister Nonna writes: "This book is dedicated to all those people whom other people have thrown away. It shows that God does not throw away people." What a unique and deeply moving dedication! A good part of human history is a dreary chronicle of horrific human suffering, as the strong throw away the weak with impunity and hardly a second thought: Man is a wolf to man as it has been said. Recent history makes this terrifyingly clear: Two World Wars; the Holocaust; the Gulag; the Cultural Revolution; Cambodian genocide. Step back one more century, and we face our own unconscionable national examples of slavery and the near-genocide of native Americans. Step into the contemporary world and we see slums, massive poverty, child abuse, human trafficking and endless other examples of "people whom other people have thrown away." We live with this, just glad that we and our loved ones are not part of this discarded humanity. 

The positive side of Sister Nonna's dedication is "that God does not throw away people." Each human person is as worthy as the next in the eyes of God - and the "range" traversed is from saint to sinner. Our eschatological hope is for the great reversal when the "least of these my brethren" are embraced by the love of God, transforming their sorrow into joy, "where the voice of those who feast is unceasing, and the sweetness of those who behold the ineffable beauty of thy countenance is beyond telling." (St. Basil the Great). What a wonderful expectation! But Christ in His teaching in Matt. 25:31-46, is concerned with how we treat the "least" here and now within the context and confines of our earthly existence.

The question that looms over us is this: Are we, as Orthodox Christians and members of the Body of Christ, torn between our commitment to the Gospel, but also to an ideology - political, social or cultural - that does not leave much room in our minds and hearts for those considered "the least." Are we indifferent to our fellow human beings who are marginalized and disregarded? Even worse, do we look down on them with (unspoken) disdain or contempt? Are we open to acknowledging that each and every human person is made "in the image and likeness of God," including those "whom other people have thrown away?" Do we resent it when our hard-earned "tax dollars" that may go to supportive programs for those in need - meaning the poor, the unemployed and the homeless? How many of us troubled when our government defunded USAid, thus cutting of essential funds that were devoted to assisting the human being spoken of by the Lord in His great discourse? (Yet, are we as resentful toward the wealthy who know how to avoid paying their fair share of taxes or who are corrupt and steal the needed resources of others?). Am I troubled by childhood poverty though I live in the wealthiest country in the world? 

I maintain that these are legitimate questions in the light of Christ's teaching that we just recently heard in the great Discourse on the Last Judgment found in Matt. 25:31-46. These words are directed to us as we stand in church and hear the Gospel proclaimed. The merciful and loving God that we believe in is also the One who will judge us, or perhaps we should say who will pronounce the sentence that we have "earned" throughout the years of our earthly existence. The Gospel is not about social programs but about the heart of each of us and how we treat "the least" that are so dear to Christ. If we fail to be neighbors to those in need, it is then that we need "safety nets" coming from our religious, social and political leaders.

On a personal level, we need to help the "the least" of Christ's brothers and sisters. And we need to feel deeply in our hearts a painful recognition and sorrow for "those people whom other people have thrown away." Can we even grasp for a moment what it will mean for us to hear the words of the glorified Son of man: "Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matt. 25:34) For we worship "the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," the living God (Matt. 22:32) who "does not throw away people." I, for one, am deeply grateful to Sister Nonna Verna Harrison for bringing this to our attention through her heartfelt dedication found at the beginning of her marvelous book.