When a person has God in his soul he is careful not to speak ill of anyone, not to sadden anyone. This is the Grace of God. It stays with you, it protects you so you don’t sadden your brother, so you don’t embitter him, treat him badly, or speak unkindly to him. The Grace of God does all this. It sweetens the soul, making it delicate as air, filling it with kindness, good manners, and good behavior.
Every day, as we awake – starting from today – we need to make a new beginning to do what must be done, to do that which avid desires. Every time we fall, we will get up, we will fall again and we will get up again. Let us not lose our hope and our faith in God.
“Every rest is followed by hardship, and every hardship endured for God is followed by rest.”
We have walked almost one week in this time of the great abstinence for Orthodox Christians. Coming from a family that is not Orthodox and having many friends outside the faith, I have often been asked, why this mindless rote mechanical endeavor?” Many outside the Faith question the validity of fasting for spiritual purposes – yet embrace it for health, beauty, weight loss and the like.
My answer is, why not come, taste and see what is the Fast. I assure you that the answer is no – it is not mindless endeavor but rather the most mindful one.
Fasting is hearts seeking the God seeking our hearts.
Our fast begins with a feast of forgiveness where we literally ask forgiveness of our brothers and sisters.
The Church sets aside the fast In the understanding that life is so interrupted frenzied and discombobulated and we are easily distracted and need a time set aside for this very purpose.
Why fast? Because what nourishes the soul is just as important as what nourishes the body. I was reminded that fasting gives us greater awareness of our spiritual situation but only when balanced by prayer. The purpose of that awareness is healing – reconciliation – wholeness – ultimately Confession.
And so, we are fortified and sustained not on the little we omit but on the abundance we add.
We increase our devotion to Scripture : nourishing on the Word of God.
We add greater Almsgiving : charity nourishing the heart of the giver and feeding heart and body of the receiver.
We make every effort to immerse ourselves in the Lenten cycle of services – and expecting to be tired – we receive the healing Grace poured into our hearts expressed in the poetic hymnody of the Church and the Mysteries of the Sacraments.
Great Lent is laying aside our earthly cares. It is placing God first – where He belongs and jealously longs to be.
+
never condemn anyone
do not even try to judge whether
a person is good or bad
but keep your eyes on that one
evil person whom you must give account for
—>yourself<—
+
saint ignatius brianchaninov
+
Repentance is the door through which we enter Lent, the starting point of our journey to Pascha.
+
Metropolitan Kallistos
gladsomelife.com 