WEBVTT 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:11.400 This is the pleasant life. We often understand 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:15.640 fasting, especially the late fasting period, 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:19.100 40 days or something connected with hardship, 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:23.480 difficulties, and very often this is true. There 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:33.140 is usually not only deprivation from foods, temptations 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:37.179 there is also and this is often is because the 00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:41.740 time of the fast is also a time for us for repentance 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:45.219 but this is not a time for sadness this is the 00:00:45.219 --> 00:00:48.880 time when the church calls us to greet and the 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.159 Lord himself indeed in the gospel calls us to 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:58.460 greet fasting with joy to anoint one's head with 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:04.299 oil. And really, to make this time, the Lord 00:01:04.299 --> 00:01:08.219 makes this time, the time for promise and hope, 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:13.280 the time for our spiritual renewal. And indeed, 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:18.620 in those first few days of the fast, which are 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:22.599 maybe difficult because it's difficult to change 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.159 one's routine to change one's you know habits 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:30.939 and the church offers us the in her wisdom the 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:37.480 divine services of such incredible beauty we 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:42.140 nowhere throughout the year we have the service 00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:45.159 like such as this the service of great compliment 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:52.120 where we offer to god the words of the Psalms, 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:55.019 the words of the hymns, the words of the Holy 00:01:55.019 --> 00:01:59.140 Fathers. And in particular, our souls are so 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:02.819 richly nourished with the words of the great 00:02:02.819 --> 00:02:05.920 canon, great penitential canon of St. Andrew 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.219 of Crete. And the Church offers this beautiful 00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:15.419 work of liturgical, theological poetry to us. 00:02:15.930 --> 00:02:20.689 Because in this canon, in this hymnographic composition, 00:02:21.289 --> 00:02:25.349 of the great hymnographer, great father of the 00:02:25.349 --> 00:02:28.189 church, St. Andrew of Crete from the 7th century, 00:02:28.830 --> 00:02:33.569 offers to us the images from the Holy Scriptures. 00:02:34.050 --> 00:02:38.270 He recalls to our mind everything from the Holy 00:02:38.270 --> 00:02:41.889 Scriptures. And it tells us, the traparia of 00:02:41.889 --> 00:02:44.689 the canon, the words of the canon tells us that 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:48.400 All of these images of the scriptures is not 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.879 just a collection of stories, collection from 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:57.800 a book which we can put on a shelf and read sometimes 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:01.439 and maybe forget about. But it's the words about 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:05.080 ourselves that the scriptures speak, not just 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:09.240 about what happened to the different persons 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:12.340 that were there. Moses, when we called Moses. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.580 Hophni Phinehas and Absalom, all of these figures. 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:21.500 But all of this is the cause for us to take a 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:25.879 hard look at ourselves and our souls. Because 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:30.900 we say, when we read those words, we say that 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:36.240 it is my soul, my heart, my mind that has preferred 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:42.340 the flesh pots of Egypt over the promised land. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:47.960 It is as one word of the one of the Traparia, 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:51.599 I don't think it was today, but it says that 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:57.979 I have made myself into an idol to myself. And 00:03:57.979 --> 00:04:01.680 when we look, when we think about it, it is all 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:05.699 true. All of these words are true. That is the 00:04:05.699 --> 00:04:09.879 root of all, I mean, and it's the state of fallen 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:13.370 humanity. And fathers of the church would say 00:04:13.370 --> 00:04:18.990 that the root of all sins, not just sins, but 00:04:18.990 --> 00:04:22.750 the sinful state of mankind is the love of self, 00:04:22.949 --> 00:04:26.230 is a self -love, and that's the cause of it. 00:04:26.810 --> 00:04:31.189 But we are the great canon. You notice perhaps 00:04:31.189 --> 00:04:34.009 that when we got to the end of the canon today, 00:04:34.290 --> 00:04:39.329 the Traparia now started speaking about Christ. 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:42.100 They spoke about John the Baptist and then spoke 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:45.720 about Christ. And so because all of these images, 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:49.160 all of these figures, all of these persons that 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:52.199 are mentioned, righteous and unrighteous, holy 00:04:52.199 --> 00:05:00.740 and unholy, all of this was to tell us, to give 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:05.220 us promise and hope of fulfillment, of renewal, 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:09.689 of sanctification. transformation of our soul. 00:05:09.889 --> 00:05:14.910 And this transformation of our soul is in Christ. 00:05:15.269 --> 00:05:20.870 He is with Christ being formed in us. As St. 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:25.649 Paul says, our inward man is perishing, our outward 00:05:25.649 --> 00:05:29.610 man is perishing, sorry, but our inward man is 00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:33.649 being renewed. And this renewal is given to us 00:05:33.649 --> 00:05:38.019 in Christ. And so that is why we're given those 00:05:38.019 --> 00:05:41.680 words, we're given those texts to listen to, 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:45.040 to pay attention, to really apply to ourselves. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:49.319 And when we read scriptures, we read the scriptures 00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:53.439 also as speaking to us, speaking about ourselves, 00:05:53.740 --> 00:05:57.180 about our soul, about our own path in Christ, 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:03.300 our path toward... are being glorified by Christ 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:07.720 and only in Him. They're telling us the truth 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:14.139 that we, how much accomplished we may be in ourselves 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:19.120 or not accomplished. The point is that the truth 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:23.139 about our being, truth of our existence, the 00:06:23.139 --> 00:06:26.680 meaning of our existence is in Christ crucified 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:31.279 and risen from the dead. And this, we just started 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.600 on this 40 -something, 40 -plus day journey toward 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.060 Christ's cross and resurrection. And so this 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:42.639 journey from our being cast out of paradise last 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:49.959 Sunday to looking at the new tree of life, the 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:53.579 new tree of life where the fruit of life, Christ 00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:57.930 himself, be blossomed forth, that is. or looking 00:06:57.930 --> 00:07:03.089 at his cross and greeting Christ risen from the 00:07:03.089 --> 00:07:08.350 dead with joy, with true joy, not just because 00:07:08.350 --> 00:07:14.970 we can eat things again, but because this is 00:07:14.970 --> 00:07:22.069 a promise of our destiny, promise of our own 00:07:22.069 --> 00:07:27.100 resurrection, our own being in the kingdom. the 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:31.899 promise of paradise that is being with God. So 00:07:31.899 --> 00:07:37.300 may this fast be to all of us the time for our 00:07:37.300 --> 00:07:41.199 renewal in Christ, our time of remembrance of 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:45.360 our salvation, and the time for the renewal, 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:53.579 the rejuvenation of our souls. May you all have, 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:59.220 you and all of us, very blessed, fast, nourishing, 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:07.600 acceptable, and spiritually fulfilling. And so 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:14.000 that together we may walk as the Church on this 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.980 path toward the cross, tomb, and resurrection 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:20.360 of Christ. May the Lord bless you and keep you 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:20.980 in His love.