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Our apologies for not posting Fr Steven's meditations in a timely manner the second and third weeks of Lent. To catch up, we are providing his brief emails to the parish in two collections, and hope you enjoy these edifying reflections from both early and contemporary Orthodox fathers and mothers on our Life in Christ.
Note: Fr. Steven sometimes provides a brief comment after these "words" (shown here in italics), opening up the meaning for us a little more.
GREAT LENT - Day Eight
"So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness." - Proverbs 2:20
"It is clearly we, I say, who make rough the straight and smooth paths of the Lord with the wicked and hard rocks of our desires, who very foolishly abandon the royal road paved with apostolic and prophetic stones and made level by the footsteps of all the holy ones and of the Lord himself, and who pursue byways and brambly roads. Blinded by the seductions of present pleasures, we crawl along the dark and obstructed trails, our feet lacerated by the thorns of vice and our wedding garment in tatters, and we are not only pierced by the sharp needles of thorny bushes but also brought low by the stings of the poisonous serpents and the scorpions that lie in wait there..."
- St John Cassian
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GREAT LENT - Day Nine
"From the beginning, Christianity existed as a corporate reality, as a community. To be a Christian consisted precisely of belonging to this community. One could not be a Christian by oneself, an isolated individual. One could be a Christian only with "the brethren" (and sisters) in solidarity, in being joined together with them. "Unus Christianus - nulls Christianus" (One Christian is no Christian). Personal conviction or even a particular discipline of life did not make one a Christian. Christian existence presupposes and implies incorporation, a participation in the community."
- Fr. George Florovsky
Could Great Lent be that season that we strengthen our bonds as community - a "bond of love" - as we also try and draw closer to God on a personal basis?
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GREAT LENT - Day Ten
"Thousands of people think that necessary changes come from outside, from revolutions and change of external conditions. It is for us Christians to prove that in reality everything comes from inside - from faith and life according to faith ... "
"To take Lent seriously means then that we will consider it first of all on the deepest possible level - as a spiritual challenge which requires a response, a decision, a plan, a continuous effort."
- Fr. Alexander Schmemann
The words above from Fr. Alexander Schmemann remind of the famous words of the great novelist Dostoevsky who, through one of his memorable characters - Dmitri Karamazov - wrote that "the devil wrestles with God, and the battlefield is the human heart." If part of the lenten struggle is to uproot the passions that assail and torment us, then we need to look inward, into the mysterious depths of our being and till the soil of our hearts. The "tools," or perhaps "weapons," for this battle are faith, hope and love. And the assurance that Christ is "in our midst" as our strength and support.
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GREAT LENT - Day Twelve
"Just as treasure that is exposed loses its value, so a virtue which is known vanishes; just as wax melts when it is near fire, so the soul is destroyed by praise and loses all the results of its labor." - Amma Syncletica
This is challenging, because we are quick to praise even the most mundane acts as a sign of good manners. Nothing wrong in that, of course, but when we are over praised does it have the effect that Amma Syncletica is alluding to? In Ch. 6 of St. Matthew's Gospel, Christ speaks of those who "have their reward," if their piety is openly on display for others to to impressed.
The words above from Fr. Alexander Schmemann remind of the famous words of the great novelist Dostoevsky who, through one of his memorable characters - Dmitri Karamazov - wrote that "the devil wrestles with God, and the battlefield is the human heart." If part of the lenten struggle is to uproot the passions that assail and torment us, then we need to look inward, into the mysterious depths of our being and till the soil of our hearts. The "tools," or perhaps "weapons," for this battle are faith, hope and love. And the assurance that Christ is "in our midst" as our strength and support.
_______
GREAT LENT - Day Twelve
"Just as treasure that is exposed loses its value, so a virtue which is known vanishes; just as wax melts when it is near fire, so the soul is destroyed by praise and loses all the results of its labor." - Amma Syncletica
This is challenging, because we are quick to praise even the most mundane acts as a sign of good manners. Nothing wrong in that, of course, but when we are over praised does it have the effect that Amma Syncletica is alluding to? In Ch. 6 of St. Matthew's Gospel, Christ speaks of those who "have their reward," if their piety is openly on display for others to to impressed.
