Sunday of Cheesefare – Sunday of Forgiveness; The Repose of Our Venerable Father Constantine the Philosopher, in the Monastic Life, Cyril, Teacher of the Slavs (869); and our Venerable Father Auxentius (457-74); and the Venerable Maron the Wonderworker and Hermit
Romans 13:11-14:4; Hebrews 7:26-8:2; Matthew 6:14-21; John 10:9-16
Polyeleos Feast
Read Romans 13:11-14:4
Have you ever needed surgery and been “put under” general anastatic? One moment you are laying down awaiting surgery and the next thing you know; you are groggy and trying to find your bearings when you wake up in “recovery.” It usually takes a little while to return completely to a state of being fully-awake after being put to sleep.
St. Paul implores the Christians in Rome, and us today through our reading, to “wake up” to how we live. The night has passed, and the workday of salvation has started and our behaviour as Christians must reflect that. Our work, after all, has eternal consequences for ourselves and the world. We can’t afford to live the life described in the Primitive Radio Gods song released when I was young where the singer asks: “If die before I learn to speak, can money pay for all the days I lived awake but half asleep?”
Some of our habits serve to keep us less engaged in our Christian life and distant from the Lord. In other words, they work against us waking up. The Great and Holy Fast is a time of identifying these anaesthetics and working to overcome them. Fasting reorients our relationship with food, prayer reorients our relationship with time and almsgiving reorients our relationship to our neighbour. As we begin this journey to the Pascha together, take a look at your habits and identify what is keeping you asleep in this world. Ask the Lord to guide you in waking fully, that you might become fully awake to behold His glorious Resurrection!