Protocol 114S
THE HOLY ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF SEATTLE
His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Seattle
2007 ENCYCLICAL for GREAT LENT
of
His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Seattle
We have very recently celebrated the great mystery of the Epiphany or appearance of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. The revelation of the Holy Trinity was made manifest, and now, because we celebrate an early Pascha this year, we are already at the portals of Great Lent and from afar we espy the Feast of feasts, the mystery of the death and resurrection of God Incarnate. How do we, men and women of the 21st century approach this mystery?
We live in a country that is confused with certain notions about what it is to be a Christian and how Christians live the spiritual life. The dominate religion in America, modernist Protestantism, carries with it the idea that the Church is personality based and entertainment oriented. The witness of Church history demonstrates that Orthodox Christianity is neither. We cannot allow ourselves to be influenced by these later day false notions, but we must nurture our souls from the wellsprings of authentic Holy Tradition in both doctrine and way of life.
One cannot separate the Christian life and spirituality from what the Russians call podvig (which means spiritual labor). There is a passage in the writings of Saint Isaac the Syrian that illustrates this point wherein he says, “Prayer without bodily labor is a miscarriage.”
We all understand the concept of physical therapy. We should all understand that, for the sake of our own spiritual therapy, it is essential for us to struggle according to our own capacity throughout our life and especially during this time of Great Lent.
I am reminded of the words of a commentator on the life of Saint Athanasius the Great, “It was not as a theologian, but as a believing soul in need of a Saviour, that Athanasius approached the mystery of Christ.” –That is, as a soul in need of saving therapy in Christ. The writer of this quote made a wise observation concerning Saint Athanasius, but what was lost on him is that this is precisely how all true theologians throughout the history of the Church approached the mystery of Christ. Neither theology or the spiritual life are exercises in abstract speculation. One must come to spiritual health in order to attain to knowledge of God.
Great Lent is a time of great opportunity. We should see the fast as a time Christians set aside for spiritual cleansing, a time to “come to ourselves” and return to the knowledge of God. We simplify our lives in order to prepare for Holy Week, so that we come to a deeper understanding of the voluntary death and resurrection of the God-Man, Jesus Christ.
Which brings us to the theme of the Second Sunday of the Triodion, the parable of the Prodigal Son. In this parable we have depicted for us the path of error and separation from God and again the path of knowledge and return unto God.
We are shown a young man who was led astray by his own wayward desires and the suggestions of the evil one, which lead him to separation from his father’s house. Because of this separation, from wealth he fell into poverty through seeking fulfillment in riotous living. This poverty was so profound that it left him completely empty spiritually. The husks of his coarse life could not fill his belly, that is, dissipation could not satisfy the inner man. Yet -- the pain of this emptiness had a positive effect on this young man and at long last he “came to himself.” When he saw how far he had fallen he did not remain there but he determined within himself to change.
His first act of change was to humble himself and begin the first four steps of repentance that are found in the Beatitudes. He became poor in spirit, he mourned, he became meek and he hungered and thirsted to once again be in his Fathers house. Through this spiritual activity he found some comfort and hope for his journey. Next, he rose up and took the long and arduous labor of the return to his Father’s house.
Along the way he rehearsed to himself exactly what he would say to his Father. “I am not worthy to be called your son. Receive me as one of your hired servants.”
Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky comments on this gospel passage in his book on Confession, giving us an insight into the process of genuine repentance. Metropolitan exhorts the priest confessor:
It will be useful to remind the penitent of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and ask him: "Why was the father of the lost youth so convinced of his amendment that he prepared a feast with singing, dancing and, of course, wine, without being afraid that it would start his son on another binge after his involuntary hunger and sobriety?"
"Because," you must answer, "in the first place, the Prodigal Son punished himself: he sentenced himself to the position of a hired servant, expressed his intention to become a slave instead of a master. Secondly, in order to fulfill this good resolution, he had undertaken the podvig of a long and difficult journey and the podvig of abasing himself and supplicating his father, although previously he had found it burdensome to live with his father in plenty and kindness, as he had a self-willed and unsubmissive soul.
In exactly the same way, if the Lord expressed Himself so confidently about Zaccheus — "Now is salvation come unto this house" — it was precisely because Zaccheus of his own accord, and without waiting for any demands to be made, sentenced himself to a complete mortification of his passion. He promised to perform a feat very difficult for a lover of possessions — to give away half his property and repay fourfold those he had defrauded.
Metropolitan Antony was a physician of souls and he understood the human condition quite well. Self centeredness and self-love are a barriers to repentance. Self justification and laziness springs from this destructive form of self love. How easy it is for us to simply say, “I have repented” and do nothing of any real significance towards our own spiritual healing. How easy it is to deceive ourselves into thinking we are repenting when that is not the case at all.
Repentance is not a noun, it is a verb. Repentance requires action. We can measure our repentance if we compare our actions to the actions of this repentant prodigal or Zaccheus.
The young man in the parable recognized that he misused his inheritance and the authority that came with it through dissipation and that the only way to return unto his Father was to do violence to himself and humble himself and as Metropolitan Antony put it, “become a slave instead of a master.” To put it another way, genuine repentance is demonstrated only when we recognize wherein we have sinned, take ownership for the sin and responsibility for the effects of sin and resolve to do something about it that is directly contrary to the sin. Anything less is not repentance.
But this young man did indeed repent and as it is written, “… But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
It is written in the scriptures that ‘a man is entangled in the chords of his own sins.’ If we seek healing from sin, we must begin by cutting the chords of our former actions by humbling ourselves and forcing ourselves to an opposite virtuous action with the sure hope that our heavenly Father will be there to receive us.
And what came next? As Metropolitan Antony pointed out, the erring son made himself a slave instead of a master and said, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”
And through this, the son was fully restored, as it is written in the Gospel, “But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the first robe, and put it on him (signifying the restoration of the baptismal robe); and put a ring on his hand (signifying the gift of Holy Spirit), and sandals on his feet, (to enable him to tread upon the evil one): and bring hither the fatted calf, and slay it; and let us eat, and be merry, (signifying the Mystical Banquet of Holy Communion): for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.
We all have gone astray and wandered from God to one degree or another. Now is the time, during the Great Lent to “come to ourselves” and set our mental gaze upon the Fathers house.
It is only by entering this house that we partake of the mystery of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Nothing is more important than this! Let us begin our return through humbling ourselves. Let us prepare for that Holiest of weeks wherein we encounter our Savior’s voluntary Passion and Death for us. Let us prepare to stand at the foot of the Cross, awestruck at the mystery of our Savior’s self-sacrificing, co-suffering love for us. Let us prepare to encounter Resurrection and Life springing forth from the tomb.
May God grant you all spiritual increase and may you all have a soul profiting Great Lent and a radiant Pascha, through the grace and love for man of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ and of the Father and Holy Spirit. Amen.