Author: seraphimholland

Cheesefare Wednesday Feb 9/22 2012 Joel 2.12-16; Joel 3.12-21

The time of Great Lent should be a period or repentance and change. This reading from Joel sums it up quite well: “Now therefore saith the Lord: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning. 13 And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil.” (Vs 12,13)

This explains the purpose of fasting ? to be converted. Fasting helps us to “turn to the Lord God”, for various physical and spiritual reasons. Of course, fasting must be coupled with prayer and repentance, or else the faster will only be hungry. Try fasting with seriousness and vigor, and you will understand….

This explains the purpose of fasting ? to be converted. Fasting helps us to ?turn to the Lord ? God?, for various physical and spiritual reasons. Of course, fasting must be coupled with prayer and repentance, or else the faster will only be hungry. Try fasting with seriousness and vigor, and you will understand….

Cheesefare Tuesday Feb 8/21 2012 Jude .1-10 Luke 22.39-42, 45-23.1

Here is an excerpt from the most recent prison ministry letter (http://www.orthodox.net/prison-ministry/prison-ministry-pastoral-letter-2012-02-14+readings-for-cheesefare-and-clean-week.doc which I sent out last week. I try to comment a little bit about the daily scriptures. Please read them. The commentary today is on Jude 1-10 and Luke 22.39-42, 45-23.1.

Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meatfare Sunday). Our Father will come to us in our repentance, and He will question us about our changes.

The Sunday of the Last Judgment gives the 3rd piece of important information to us in our preparation for Great Lent. We have learned that to be saved one must not judge others, and feel the weight of personal sins and ask God for mercy. We have seen the process of repentance, from the onset of sin, its destructive affects, self-realization of sin, and the importance process to "arise and go" to our Father, and the critical detail, without which we would never complete our repentance and be saved – our Father will go to us, as we are trying to change, and comfort us and empower us to complete the good work we have started. Today’s Gospel about the last judgment shows the end result of true repentance, and also the "flip side" – the outcome for those who do not repent. It is a frightening spectacle, and not a pleasant one to meditate upon, but absolute necessary for us to remember. Lets us talk about how Jesus Christ came the first time, how His second coming will be, and what we must do to hear the blessed words: " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world".

“Meat commendeth us not to God” exegesis of epistle reading for Meatfare Sunday.

Perhaps one of the best remembered scriptures among those who do not fast and do not read the scripture much is the well known phrase of Saint Paul: “But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.” We look at the context of this true statement, and its application to our day. The entire passage is about sensitivity to our brother’s weakness, and how the phrase “when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ” is quite similar to the one in today’ Gospel: ” ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” We also discuss why we fast – it is a natural requirement of our human nature, and is an easy and readily available way to train ourselves in self-control. Without self-control, we cannot make any progress in the spiritual life.

The Apostle of Love’s teaching on love, being born of God and the commandments. Today’s Epistle 1 John 4:20-5:21

This selection from the end of the First Letter of St John the Theologian, the “Apostle of Love” contains many important passages, and we discuss some of them in detail: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not;” St John teaches that the becoming “born of God” is a process, and is only completed when we reach perfection, that is when we no longer sin. He also teaches us the way to learn to love God – love our neighbor. He also teaches the Christian understanding of the commandments of God, which is not well known, or understood: we follow the commandments out of love for God, and not because of fear of punishment.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son teaches us 2 very important things in the process of repentance.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is part of a 4 week preparation period for Great Lent. We discuss the purpose and main teaching of the 4 Sundays, and then do a somewhat quick survey of the parable, mentioning all the lush symbolism and metaphor, and concentrating on the most important part – the core of the parable – that we must learn. It consists of two things. We must “come our ourselves” – this is not a one time epiphany as described in the parable, but a daily process, that changes over time, and as we are in the process of “arising and going”, we must be ever aware of how our Father is always with us and will help us, even when we feel abandoned, fruitless, or our resolve to change falters. We also look briefly at the older son, who teaches us a very important lesson regarding self-knowledge. This is important stuff!

The simple meaning of the parable of the Publican and Pharisee and the Jesus prayer.

This is really two homilies. The first is about the simple meaning of the parable of the Publican and Pharisee. It is that we will not be saved if we are proud and judge others. We discuss some of its nuances. We also discuss the prayer of the publican “God be mercy to be a sinner”, and the Jesus prayer. There is a lot of practical detail. This is really important stuff.

Teaching of Vespers on the Publican and Pharisee, exegesis of Timothy

The first 3 hymns of Vespers from the Triodion teach us the meaning of the Publican & Pharisee parable. We also examine the epistle for this day, and tremble regarding our example to others. We look at the expectation of persecution that a Christian must have and example from the current news of how “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” is being fulfilled in our day. Also the power of scripture and the necessity of reading it.