Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as the coming days of Great Lent!

During the Divine Liturgy, we heard a very beautiful and understandable Epistle reading. First we heard that the night has already passed and that the bright day has begun; therefore it’s time to rise from sleep, that is from a sinful life, and put on good deeds and make our way towards Christ, towards salvation. Secondly, we heard that we should not forget that we are servants of God, and therefore there is no need to judge our neighbours regarding how they keep or don’t keep the fast. The Lord Himself will deal with all of this.

Today these words can appear to be empty, even naive, for what type of day is coming? Around us there is but night. War between two, at first glance, Orthodox countries, a very divided society here in Canada. Death, suffering, anxiety, and we can do nothing to change the situation or to help those who are suffering. Much time is spent on the news on the internet, on different conversations, and then, naturally, a tense and nervous frame of mind descends on us. Finding ourselves in such a state, it becomes difficult to concentrate on that which is most necessary. It seems to be not just night, but a nightmare.

Tomorrow Great Lent begins. We all know what an important role Lent plays in our spiritual growth. Abstinence from food, television and the internet, and from needless conversation, as we know from our own personal experience, illumine the mind and spirit, and give us new strength to focus on prayer and the reading of Holy Scripture and spiritual literature, as well as other ascetic struggles. Frequent church services, with their joyous texts which from the very first day mention Pascha, can only help us focus on was is most important and give us hope. Repentance and reconciliation between ourselves and God and our neighbours, which happens throughout the days of Lent, prefigure the future world.

Indeed, on the streets there is the darkness of night, but here, within the walls of the church building, in our homes, and in our hearts, we can already feel the coming morning dawn. Let’s use the grace-filled time of Lent for our own personal spiritual growth, as well as to gather our roaming thoughts to prayer for the peace of the whole world, especially in Ukraine, and the union of all in Christ.

priest Alexis