Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as the day of the Forefathers (i. e. all the Old Testament saints) and the great ascetic and missionary, the monk Herman of Alaska!

Today we heard the Gospel reading about the parable of the great supper. In it we read how a certain Person, that is God, made a great supper and sent His Servant, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to invite the guests, i. e. the Jews. They were all busy with their own worldly cares and refused to attend, and therefore the Lord bid His Servant to gather the ill and poor, i. e. the pagans, to fill the dining room – the Church or the Kingdom of Heaven.

These words are always read on the penultimate Sunday of Advent, and therefore hearing upon them, we must endeavour to understand them in the context of the Lenten season. Our Lord and God, the head of our Church, at the beginning of Advent invited us to a great spiritual festival, the celebration of the Nativity of His only Son. To come to this festival is not the simplest of tasks, because we must leave behind our customary worldly cares and dedicate at least a sliver of our time to the spiritual side of our life. We need to redouble our prayers, fast, attend church more frequently, repent from the heart and confess our sins, commune of Christ’s Holy Mysteries, read the Gospel and spiritual literature, and distribute alms, i. e. help someone in one way or another. In such a way, we heal ourselves of our spiritual ailments, leave behind poverty, acquire heavenly treasures, and become worthy to be present at the birth of the Saviour.

It seems to me that you all understand this. Today, having heard such a Gospel excerpt, let each of us take heed of his conscience and pinpoint how he spent the first part of the Nativity Fast. If well and in a God-pleasing manner, glory to God; there remain but two weeks of struggle before we meet the feast. If we have spent these days poorly, there is nothing to fear; there is still time to correct things so as to worthily prepare before the Nativity. Through the prayers of St. Herman and all the Old Testament saints, may our Lord help us!

priest Alexis