Monday, February 23, 2004
Lenten Fast
Pure Monday: Hieromartyr Polycarp
6th Hour: Isaiah 1:1-20 LXX 1st Vespers: Genesis 1:1-13 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 1:1-20
Isaiah 1:1-20 LXX, especially vss. 14, 16, "Your fasting,
and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts My soul hates: you have become
loathsome to Me; I will no more pardon your sins....Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities
from your souls before My eyes; cease from your iniquities." What a sobering lesson to read as
Great Lent begins! What of our Lenten observances, our fasting, our incense, our prayers? Are
they similarly unacceptable to God? The Lord's words are severe; they unsettle the soul.
The message is not hopeless, yet a fatal mistake would be to say, "This message was given
centuries ago to ancient Israel; and the words do not apply to us. We are Orthodox Christians."
Wrong! Beloved, the vision of Isaiah is an indictment against all people who are godless (vs. 3),
who flout God's laws (vs. 2), who are morally unsound (vs. 6), and who have abandoned their
God-given, spiritual and cultural foundation and adopted alien ideas and practices (vs. 7).
Isaiah's portrait is a strikingly accurate description of many 'Christians.' During an interview,
two Christians, American and French, were discussing the spiritual condition of their respective
countries. The American said, "In the sixties, when St. John [Maximovitch] was in the U. S.,
young Americans were all interested in spiritual life...but now they are concentrating much harder
on career goals and business....In France," said the other, "they are like little animals... in a
jungle, only money, a position, and a boyfriend or girlfriend."
However, the Lord continues His appeal: "come let us reason together" (vs. 18). He still expects
Orthodox Christians "to learn to do well" (vs. 17). He is open to us "if [we] are willing and
hearken to Him" (vs. 19). The Lord's indictment calls for honest self-examination and real
efforts at correction. Written eight centuries before the birth of Christ, the Lord's judgment
remains eternally true, even today, two thousand years after the Lord walked this earth in the
flesh. We are God's People in this new century struggling against rampant individualism.
Happily, there is evidence that the Orthodox Church, unlike other Churches in America, is
holding on to Holy Tradition, resisting the permissive trends of the age. But, let us not delude
ourselves. The forces of self-indulgence described in the interview are powerful. Too many
among the Orthodox Faithful have been taken in by the smooth words of those who favor the
direction in which the culture is moving. Some even support the downward moral trend, and feel
no responsibility for the degradation, nor for arresting its advance. Some push for greater
acceptance of the current godless values - even within their parishes, work places, and families.
Beloved of the Lord, if we wish, we may take the solemn journey of Great Lent beginning this
day. Indeed, let us examine our commitment to follow the road to Pascha. Each one can seek out
those places in thought, word, and deed where he is rebelling or resisting (vs. 2), where he does
not regard God as Master (vs. 3), where he forsakes Him (vs. 4). Who has not made fatal
compromises and selfish adjustments? Who is not "pained and sad" (vs. 5)? Let our tears wash
away our iniquities, our confession stop them (vs. 16). Listen to St. John Chrysostom: "nothing
so weighs upon the soul, and presses her down, as consciousness of sin; nothing so much gives it
wings, and raises it on high as the attainment of righteousness and virtue." St. Nikolai of Zica
encourages us to take action, to step out onto the Paschal road : "The Lord approves and
commends all our labor. He desires that we wash our souls in tears, wring them out with
repentance, press them with compunction of conscience and clothe them with good works."
O Lord, Who art slow to anger, look mercifully upon us before the hour of Thy wrath on the
Dreadful Day. (St. Nikolai of Zica)
