February 28th, 2022
To the Reverend Clergy and Faithful of the Diocese of the West,
The purpose of Lent is not to force on us a few formal obligations, but to “soften” our heart so that it may open itself to the realities of the spirit, to experience the hidden “thirst and hunger” for communion with God.
†Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent
Dearly beloved:
In his monumental work, Great Lent, Fr. Alexander Schmemann of blessed memory shines light on the great paradox of the Fast. We spend a little more than a tithe of the year given to us by God engaged in the great effort to limit what we eat and drink, what we “consume” (which includes other things, of course, such as internet, streaming services and any other diversion which fills our minutes, hours, days and even weeks). But we deny ourselves food and drink in order to discover the true thirst and hunger that lies deep within all of us — the desire to drink deeply of the fountain of grace poured out by God and to sit at table and eat of the Body and Blood offered “on behalf of all and for all.” It is this food and drink which alone satisfies the soul and body. We cannot approach that Table in the Heaven that descends every time we come to liturgy and enter into communion with Him who created us in His image and likeness without hunger. Many saints have reminded us, “One cannot pray on a full stomach.”
The length of our effort is wisely crafted by the Church to battle the self-will and selfish desires which take deep root within each of us and cannot be uprooted in a single effort. The ascetic length of the Great Fast is, in itself, a reminder that to overcome self-will is a long and difficult battle. But in the midst of this effort, the Church actually calls us to eat even more. We cannot serve the Divine Liturgy during the weekdays of Great Lent (except for the Great and Holy Feast of the Annunciation), but we are called to receive Holy Communion not only on Sundays, but Wednesdays and Fridays in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, and Memorial Saturdays prescribe Divine Liturgies. We can go to Communion four times per week during the Fast! We eat in order to “strengthen” our hunger and direct it to the only Meal that matters.
Brothers and Sisters, one of the basic battles of Great Lent is to avoid being a pharisee. We must set a discipline of prayer, fasting, repentance, and almsgiving, knowing those are the only tools that move us closer and closer to God. But we also know that simply counting prayers, planning menus, a perfunctory confession “because its Lent,” and sending a check to a charity means nothing in and of themselves. Only when the exercise of those tools lead us away from ourselves and move us towards Him are they of value. The humility of the Publican goes a long way in cleansing our souls, hearts, minds, and bodies.
May the Great Lenten journey be a fruitful and spiritual one of each and every one of you, my beloved diocesan family. Forgive me as we enter the Fast. May we all joyfully gather at the empty tomb on that glorious First Day of the re-creation of the world filled not with the things which normally fill us, but with the presence of the Risen One, who has found a space in us created through hunger and thirst!
