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Dear Parish Faithful,
Great Lent: A Season To Embrace or To Endure?
See also in this Preparing for Great Lent series:- Part 1: A Lenten Reading List
- Part 2: The Great Canon, and A Summary of Lent
- Part 4: Confession and Repentance
With the beginning of Great Lent this coming Monday, we will face the challenge of embracing the fast with a sense of expectation and spiritual "eagerness;" or of simply enduring the long six weeks with a minimal amount of lifestyle changes. In fact, we could ask ourselves: Are we going to be (or try to be) "lenten maximalists" or "lenten minimalists?" The former at least opens the door to the possibility of spiritual renewal, but the latter will leave us enclosed in the status quo. Attitude is a key factor in all of this. As Jesus taught: "But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face... " (Matt. 6:17).
Great Lent offers the possibility of emotional, psychological, and spiritual healing as we make the effort to restore/recover our relationship with God and with our neighbors. Here is the opportunity to recover our true humanity as we draw closer to our Savior Jesus Christ.
Our "neighbors," by the way, are right in our own homes, as we begin with our immediate family; extend that to our parish family; and then beyond to the human family of our everyday world and encounters. This is why we use the term the "Lenten Spring" as we thaw out our cold hearts with the warmth of the Grace of God by allowing that grace to enter into our hearts in order to transform us. Great Lent affords us the opportunity of liberating ourselves from the spiritually ossifying effects of frozen patterns of living, and even of "bad habits," so that we can recover the Gospel-oriented life that Christ promises us. This can be an initially painful process, as all change - even for the better - takes us out of our comfort zones. But as the saying has it: "No pain - no gain."
Therefore, I encourage everyone to "redeem the time" during these sacred forty days. May our many lenten practices - beginning with prayer, alsmsgiving and fasting - be the outward signs of our inward repentance as we return from a "far country" into the embrace of our loving heavenly Father.
Forgiveness Vespers
This return journey to God begins with our willingness and capacity to forgive others, as God has forgiven us. We will hear this teaching of Christ in Sunday's Gospel. Following the Liturgy and some refreshments, we return to the church for the service of Forgiveness Vespers. This is a long-standing tradition in our parish as it is in most Orthodox parishes.
What is unique and special about this service?
It is the Rite of Forgiveness that is the climax of the service, but the beginning of our lenten efforts. What does this rite entail? Starting with me as the parish priest, and then with our deacons, we basically form a line and approach one another asking for, and then extending, mutual forgiveness to one another. We do this by making a bow at the waist before one another, accompanied by the words, "forgive me," with the response "God forgives." We then exchange the "kiss of peace" - the same "three-cheek" kiss as on Pascha - and then move on to the next person. (As we are doing this, the Paschal Canon is being chanted in anticipation of our final destination for Great Lent). Before we are done, every person has come before every other person in seeking and granting mutual forgiveness.
Every face-to-face encounter with another person is always challenging. One more lenten practice that removes us from the safety of our comfort zones. It takes a certain humility and courage to participate, as we open ourselves up to the next person, hopefully with sincerity. Over the years, many parishioners remain for this important service and rite. Hopefully, that will continue this year.
I hope and pray that everyone enjoys a blessed Great Lent as we move toward the Feast of Feasts - Pascha - and our celebration of the Death and Resurrection of Christ!
