Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to the Father, and
to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. You heard
the epistle. Those are sort of our walking orders
for Lent. I don't need to go into that. And you
heard the gospel, which on the one hand is frightening,
and the other hand is absolutely consoling. I'd
say it's frightening because the Lord, having
just told his disciples how to pray, he gave
them the Lord's prayer. This is chapter 6, the
Gospel of Matthew. And then he says to expand
on the Lord's prayer. Give us this day our daily
bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us. Forgive us our
debts. as we forgive those who are debtors to
us. He expands on that. He says, if you forgive
men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will
forgive you. It's important to understand. I'm
going to say more about this later at the Vespers.
I hope, I'm expecting, all of you will stay for
that. That's not a request, by the way. I'll
say more about forgiveness later. No, it's an
act. When the Lord forgave from the cross, it
wasn't about feeling ready or warm towards those
who had offended. So it's an absolute must we
must do. We have to do it. But what's consoling,
and we have a hard time, but what's consoling
about this gospel is that the Lord says when
you fast, do it in a joyful way. When you pray,
do it secretly. And your Heavenly Father will
reward you openly. How? With grace that's shared
with others. With love. With the ability to actually
forgive from your heart. We start with an act.
Maybe someday the heart will follow. But here's
today what I really want to say to you. Today
is Forgiveness Sunday. Also known as Cheese Fair
Sunday. We're going to stop eating dairy products
after today. I say we. We are going to stop doing
that as a parish. Last week we heard the gospel
of the last judgment. It was not just as a warning.
Of course, you heard the answers for the final
exam. They're clear, are they not? Judgment means
to put things right, to put things in order,
to make things as they should be. The parable
of the sheep and the goats that we heard last
week, told of the end of the age, the consummation
of everything, the judgment and the resurrection.
Now the church is pointing our direction towards
Pascha. Let's orient ourself. So today, having
heard last week about the end, the church says,
well, let's go back to the beginning. Today is
known as the commemoration of the expulsion of
Adam and Eve from paradise. So the church says,
let's talk about that, let's meditate on that,
let's sing about that, return to the beginning
at the creation and the fall from paradise, the
fall from beauty and glory. closeness to God,
so that we can begin Lent with a realistic idea
of where we're really at. So we start with Adam
and Eve in the garden, or rather, outside of
the garden. Here's the hymn from last night.
It pains my heart so much to hear this. Adam
sat before paradise, and lamenting his nakedness,
he wept. Woe is me, by evil deceit I was persuaded
and led astray. And now I am in exile from glory.
Woe is me. He's weeping there. He was persuaded.
He gave his will, just as we do. We do it. Can't
blame Adam. We certainly know about the tragedy,
the grief, the suffering, the sin, all the brokenness
that has come. But what exactly has been lost?
We know what we have. We live with it every day.
What's supposed to be normal for God and for
humans? So what can we say about paradise as
we are thinking about the resurrection? Paradise,
say the Holy Fathers. I'm just going to give
you some quotes here. It's the kingdom of God.
At the resurrection, when we shall rise from
the dead, when our bodies will be restored and
renewed and become what was corruptible, incorruptible.
What was mortal becomes immortal. What was broken
is restored. When that happens, We will have,
we will know, we will experience the kingdom
of God in its fullness. St. Gregory the theologian
says the kingdom of heaven is nothing but encountering
of the supreme purity and perfection of the life
of God. The closeness to God. To behold him.
the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the whole
company of heaven in the light of his glory,
which will be revealed to us in its fullness,
and we will never be filled, and we will always
desire more. We will see Christ then no longer
as in a mirror, in an indirect and dim matter,
but face to face, says St. Paul, face to face.
I shall, he says, I shall know just as I also
know. am known. We shall know God as God knows
us. We will be in his presence. We will live
with him forever. A divine and truly eternal
life. The Lord said, as you, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.
and the glory which thou gavest me I have given
them, that they may be one just as we are one,
and I in them, and thou in me. This is beyond
comprehension, but we have to say it. St. Paul
says it's beyond whatever eye has seen, ear has
heard. It's beyond whatever has entered into
the heart of man. We will be in the presence
of God and live with him forever, a divine and
truly eternal life. The liturgy tells us in its
prayers this communion with God and the kingdom
is this. Grant that we may more perfectly partake
of thee in the never -ending day of thy kingdom,
in paradise, in the resurrection. We too will
shine with divine light, uncreated light and
glory, be united with our Savior, the Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. Then the righteous will shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of heaven, says
the scriptures, and will partake of God's glory.
Your joy, says the Lord, no one will take from
you. We don't live with that joy now. But then,
no one will take it from you, and we will be
deified. Oh, precious paradise, says a hymn,
unsurpassed in beauty, tabernacle built by God,
unending gladness and dwelling of the saints.
This, what I've just given you, can just be as...
the talking heads talking about politics say
now, a word salad. If we don't orient ourselves
toward the scriptures and towards the life of
the age to come, we, to make an understatement,
we don't live in paradise. So let's not think
for a moment the life we live in this world is
normal existence. What I've read to you, That's
normal existence. Yes, it seems distant from
us. But where does it start? It starts with the
change of heart. We can't actually forgive anybody
truly unless it comes from the heart which has
been changed by the grace of God and by the crucifixion
of the old man, the old Adam, who disobeyed God.
He has to die. In a little while, Just before
communion, we're going to hear the psalm by the
waters of Babylon. There we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion. How can we sing the
Lord's song in a strange land? This psalm presents
the raw emotion, including revenge also. But
for us, it represents the spiritual sorrow which
the church says, you! Brothers and sisters, you
know about it. Don't ignore it. Meditate on that
sorrow and that tragedy that we all experience
in the light, not by itself, in the light of
the kingdom of God, the paradise to come. By
the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and
wept when we remembered Zion. To lose our home,
to lose paradise, that's tragic. But worse, our
current problem isn't just thinking back. It's
that we don't think back. It's that we forget
it. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right
hand wither, says the psalm. When we forget something
holy in us and precious in us dies, to be a Christian
is to love Christ above everything else and to
examine our life. In the light of his kingdom.
To love everything else. After Christ. Everything.
And that means to behold the beauty of Christ.
And to struggle to behold the beauty of Christ.
To pray. To struggle through prayer. To set Jerusalem.
The kingdom of God. Above all others. As at the
head of my joy. Make paradise in your heart by
God's grace. That's what Lent is pointing us
to. It's not just a series of services, liturgical
rites and rituals, remembering this, that, and
the other thing. No, it's as the hymn which we're
going to sing on the Sunday of the veneration
of the cross, it says to us, to the whole congregation,
return again to paradise. That's what Lent's
about, to acquire the peace that passes all understanding
who is Christ. Then we can forgive. Then we can
bless. Then we can do all that we need to do
as servants of God in this world and make little
paradise around us because Christ will be our
peace and our heart will remember and long for
and weep for what was lost. but be joyful what
we are heading towards. I've prepared a little
booklet for you. It's a limited amount. I guess
I can make more. It's a 2024 Lenten calendar
and service guide. You know Lent is going to
involve works of mercy. You know it's going to
involve prayer. At home. It's going to involve
more fasting. Shutting off social media. And
television. And all that stuff. But what I want
to say one thing to end with today. It involves
church services. Let me suggest. Let me challenge.
At least make a plan. What you are going to do
this coming week. Canada St. Andrew in the evening.
If you can come to Mass in the morning, pre -sanctified,
etc. But as a baseline, as a goal, whether you
can meet it or not, here's what I would suggest.
Every Wednesday, pre -sanctified. Because if
you only come on Sunday, the only thing different
about Lent is going to be you're going to see
purple. Mostly. Come every Saturday. Because
you're going to hear the wonderful hymns. You'll
have been nourished on Wednesday after fasting,
spiritually, and Saturday evening, you're going
to hear the hymns of what we're celebrating.
You'll understand what the content of Lent is,
what the church is saying. Pay attention. You're
here. Let's do this. And don't miss Sunday. These
are the three things. Of course, you'll want
to go to confession at least once during Lent.
At Pascha, you hear this amazing... Sermon of
St. John Chrysostom, which is built on the parable
of the vineyard workers. And St. John is saying
everyone's welcome, third, sixth, eleventh hour,
whatever you come. The doors are open, the table
is richly laden, feast all sumptuously. But brothers
and sisters, that's for those that don't know.
Do not come for confession at the eleventh hour.
For your own spiritual growth. And, you know,
to save the priests a little bit, too. To be
honest. The moment your conscience tells you
something, come confess. Leave that stand over
there with a clean conscience. and a heart that
is ready to receive the peace of God that passes
all understanding. So please take a look at this
guidebook and make a plan. And may we all, brothers
and sisters, have a blessed and wonderful and
edifying fast. Amen.