Saturday before Cheesefare; Our Venerable Father Martinian
Romans 14:19-26; Galatians 5:22-6:2; Matthew 6:1-13; Matthew 11:27-30
Read Galatians 5:22-6:2
Do you consider yourself to be spiritual? What does this term mean? Too often these days this word is an empty vessel that can be filled with all sorts of things. When we hear someone say “I am spiritual” or “She’s a very spiritual person” this can mean anything from “I like to listen to soft music and drink herbal tea” to “I like to commune with nature as I go for my daily walk in the woods.” In other words, it is decidedly not what the Holy Apostle Paul is speaking of in today’s epistle when he writes “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Listening to soft music and going for walks in the woods are both pleasant things: they can help us to relax, to reflect, to renew our energy, but they are not spiritual. As Christians when we say that someone is spiritual, or more correctly Spiritual, we mean that they are filled with the Holy Spirit and they manifest the fruits of the Spirit’s presence: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All of us were sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit at our chrismation. The spiritual life is in many ways about freely yielding to the Holy Spirit that we have received and heeding the Spirit’s voice in our hearts so that we might bring forth these fruits.
As we embark upon this season of Great Lent, let us pray to God that through our fasting, prayer, and almsgiving He might more fully bring forth the Spirit’s fruits in our lives. Let us also ask for the grace that we might recognize these same fruits more fully in others who can be examples to us of the truly spiritual life.
May you all have a blessed Lent. Pray for me, a sinner.