In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today is Cheese-fare Sunday. That means that traditionally when we go home, we will fill ourselves up with bliny and all sorts of cheese and really enjoy this last day before Great Lent begins. Tomorrow we begin our journey towards Pascha in a serious way. As much as we may enjoy the bliny on the last day of dairy products before Great Lent, we have to remember the fundamental lessons that are being taught by the Gospel today.
Tomorrow, we begin to fast. What are we supposed to be about when we are fasting ? Why are we fasting anyway ? The Lord warns us against fasting as the Pharisees did. The Pharisees fasted in order to let everyone know that they were fasting and how hard it was for them to do this. They showed that there was so much pain and that their stomachs were in agony ; they did not clean themselves, and they did not wash ; they threw dust on themselves to show everyone what good fasters they were. When we fast nowadays we do not do these sorts of things. However, what do we do that is like the Pharisees ? We may be at someone’s house and be offered food that is not lenten and we may say : “Oh, no ! I cannot possibly eat that because it is Great Lent”. However, hospitality is very important, and if the host has made a mistake, it is not our job to beat him over the head with the mistake. However, even worse than that, we could be looking around to see how other people are eating in Lent. For instance, if someone is weaker for some reason or other, it is rude enough to go up to someone and ask why he or she is eating non-lenten food. However, the very worst thing that we can do is to gossip about it, and tell the whole parish how terrible it is that n is eating fish on a non-fish day in Lent, for example. What we are called to do is to be sensitive to each other in Great Lent.
Why do we fast ? We fast because we are remembering Eden, as Adam is remembering Eden. Today, we are celebrating the memory of Adam and Eve being expelled from Eden. In the hymns last night, Adam was sitting down and remembering all the beautiful flowers in Eden. He was moaning because he had been exiled from the beautiful garden, his true home. We are remembering those days, ourselves, and we try not to eat anything except vegetables in memory of those days. More important than that, we fast in order to make certain that our bodies are our servants and that we are not the servants of our bodies. We discipline our bodies in the fasting days so that our bodies co-operate with our spirits in every way to help us live in the Kingdom. It is not a negative thing at all ; it is a positive thing. It is not something that we should hate to do, but rather something that we should enjoy, because we do it in order to draw ourselves closer to the Lord. We try not to waste time cooking elaborate dishes but we simply eat some boiled vegetables that do not take a long time to prepare. We do not worry too much about it so that we can spend extra time praying. Fasting is absolutely no good unless it is accompanied by prayer. Fasting and praying go together. Without prayer, fasting is completely useless. We might as well follow the “Weight Watcher’s diet”, or something of that sort. We are fasting in order to draw ourselves closer to the Lord, and we try to spend more time in prayer during fasting-time for that purpose.
Besides drawing near to the Lord, the most important demand is drawing near to each other. These fasting-times are intended to help us to grow in being more loving and more sensitive to each other. All the readings in the New Testament that have prepared us for Great Lent have to do precisely with this sensitivity to each other. They prepare us to pay more attention to the weaknesses of each other – not so that we can gossip about them, but so that we can help each other be stronger by praying for each other. The important thing is to recognise that each one of us is a sinner. There is no-one who lives and does not sin (see 1 John 1:8). We sing that all the time in our Panikhidas and it is absolutely true. There is no-one on this earth who is not a sinner. If we think that we are so good that we are not sinners, then we are on our way to the hot place fast. Every last one of us is a sinner.
Remembering all these details, let us ask the Lord to keep us mindful not only about what fasting truly is, but also what is the true and correct spirit which motivates it. Fasting is not a diet. Fasting is also not eating nothing all day and then feasting all night. Fasting is spiritual athletics (see 2 Timothy 2:5) which strengthen us so that with God’s help we may know and love the Lord more deeply. As CBC’s Friendly Giant always said : “Let us look up. Let us look 'way up”, and thus keep our hearts and minds in the Lord and nurtured in His love.
In doing so, may our whole lives during this coming Lent become more transparent with the Lord’s love. Thus, when we come to celebrate our Saviour’s Resurrection, the joy of that great feast will carry us all the way through to the next Pascha. May our whole lives glorify the all-holy Trinity : Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.