Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, the after-feast of the Meeting of the Lord as well as the beginning of the Lenten Triodion! From this day forward, the Church begins to prepare us for the beginning of Great Lent.

Today, when for the first time in many weeks we are able to once again gather together in church, we heard how two people entered the Temple to pray. One, a pharisee, did everything correctly in his life. He fasted, gave alms, and in general strived to fulfill all the commandments of the Law. The other was a publican, we could say a traitor to his nation, and a thief. The first, in his prayer, overestimated his good deeds, judged his neighbour and showed himself to be prideful and full of self-love. The second one considered himself worse than others, unworthy to enter the Temple and put his hope only in the mercy of God. In such a way, the meekness and humility of this publican was manifest to all. Our Saviour finishes His parable with the following short explanation: “Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

On this first preparatory Sunday before Great Lent, the lesson for all of us is clear: what is most important is not fasting from food or other ascetic struggles, but humility. Without humility our other struggles will not bring us any spiritual gain. A humble person, even the greatest sinner, can place his hope on God’s mercy.

It is very difficult to humble oneself. Therefore sometimes God takes pity on us and sends us difficult situations which are impossible to resolve easily. A person has a choice to either humble himself and, as much as it is possible, to calmly live with the situation at hand, or to fight it, become angry, try to find those that seem to be at fault and to judge them, etc. This year, the Lord has shown His mercy towards mankind and has offered him an opportunity to practice humility. Today, after such a prolonged absence from church and on the doorstep of the preparatory period before Lent, it would be good to answer for ourselves the following questions: throughout the difficulties of the last year, have I learned, at least a little bit, to be humble? Have I learned to hope and trust in God’s mercy and not in myself? When I fast, pray, give alms and participate in the Church Mysteries, do I do this for show or in the hope that, through these God-given rites, God’s mercy might become manifest in my life? Have I become more meek, humble and patient in the course of the last year, or more nervous, angry and impatient? Let’s pray to the Lord that this time of tribulations (both the pandemic and the coming lenten season), which is given for the correction of our sins, does not pass for nought, but brings great spiritual benefit.

priest Alexis