Sunday, April 10, 2005 Lenten Fast (Tone 4)
John of the Ladder; Fourth of Great Lent
Kellia: Wisdom 1:16-2:23 Epistle: Hebrews 6:13-20 Gospel: St. Mark 9:17-31
St. Mark 9:17-31, especially vss. 28, 29: "...His disciples asked Him privately, 'Why could we not cast it
out?' So He said to them, 'This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.'" Today's reading is not simply
another account of a healing by the Lord. It is an instructive "action report" from the battlefield of spiritual warfare. A
father and his son are being overrun by the enemy (vss. 17,18). The disciples skirmish with an unclean spirit but cannot
dislodge it (vs. 18). Then, Jesus, the Lord, enters what is becoming a rout. He defeats the foe (vss. 19-27). Afterwards, the
victorious Commander uses the events of the day to teach His initiates how certain crucial weapons must be used in
spiritual battle (vss. 28-29). As the lesson closes, the Lord announces His own approaching spiritual battle and victory
(vss. 30-31). This reading is for every one of the Faithful, because we are constantly engaged in spiritual warfare.
The Christian warrior should pair this reading from St. Mark with a passage from the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians
(Eph. 6:10-18), for both contain the primary rules of engaging in spiritual combat. The Epistle reveals that our strength
will come solely from the Lord (Eph 6:10), that we must use all the armor that God provides (Eph 6:11,13), that we should
never be without the essential defensive armor of spiritual warfare (Eph 6:14-16), and that we have at our disposal the basic
weapons of spiritual warfare: Holy Scripture, prayer, the Holy Mysteries and watchfulness (Eph. 6:10,17-18). The only
offensive weapon St. Paul happens not to mention in Ephesians is fasting, but the Lord reminds us of that in today's
Gospel.
Blessed Theophylact speaks of the relationship between fasting and prayer: "Both are necessary. Good sense dictates
that...one...must not only fast, but also pray; and he must not only pray, but also fast, for true prayer is rendered when it is
yoked to fasting." Why? It is as St. John Chrysostom observes: "He that fasts is light, and winged, and prays with
wakefulness, and quenches his wicked lusts, and propitiates God, and humbles his soul when lifted up." Let us, then,
review the five basic weapons essential for the spiritual attacks we face constantly.
Holy Scriptures, the life-giving words of God, are essential for discerning the Lord's will and truth in the myriad of
conflicts we face. As the inner core of Orthodox Tradition, Scripture provides God's Light for cutting through the "smoke-screen" of lies from the enemy.
Prayer is the Christian's second essential weapon and ought always to be drawn from Holy Scripture. In fact, disciples
should become adept at using the language of Scripture to form the words of prayer. The Divine Liturgy, "soaked" in
Scripture, richly demonstrates this method.
The Holy Mysteries are the third weapon of all embattled disciples, moving us, as St. Basil the Great says, to
"boldness...increase of virtue...[and] keeping of [God's} commandments," for they mold and shape our live to make them
firm in Christ.
Fasting, as the Church designs, sharpens one's spiritual awareness in the world and heightens the perception of what is
happening within us. Let us observe the days, seasons, and times of fasting along with the detailed directions which
Orthodox practice gives for fasting.
Watchfulness is the hallmark of the Christian warrior at all times and in all circumstances. Orthodox Christians are
blessed in this, having the Jesus Prayer to aid us in the struggle against "the evil imaginations, wicked deeds and work of
the devil" that oppose us.
O Lord of mercies, enlighten the eyes of our understanding by Thy Holy Scriptures, enable us by Thy Spirit to pray as we
ought to pray, strengthen our wretched souls and bodies as we partake of Thy Holy Gifts, help us to subject our flesh by
abstinence and blameless fasting, and awaken us to cultivate watchfulness zealously that we may be victors in the invisible
battle.
