Let us begin the Fast with joy!
Watch a short video from Fr. Tim here as he encourages you to have a joyous Fast.
We find ourselves, once again, near the beginning of the Great Fast. With the celebration of Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday at 5:00pm we will be students in the School of Repentance. Let us not only begin the Fast with joy as we will sing on Sunday, but let us also begin it with the desire to learn more about 1) God and His mercy, and 2) ourselves.
Bishop Kallistos (Ware), in his essay about "The True Nature of Fasting" in the "Lenten Triodion" writes:
"What do we find, then, in this book of preparation that we term the Lenten Triodion? It can most briefly be described as the book of the fast. Just as the children of Israel ate the 'bread of affliction' (Deuteronomy 16:3) in preparation for the Passover, so Christians prepare themselves for the celebration of the New Passover by observing a fast. But what is meant by this word 'fast'? Here the utmost care is needed, so as to preserve a proper balance between the outward and the inward. On the outward level fasting involves physical abstinence from food and drink, and without such exterior abstinence a full and true fast cannot be kept; yet the rules about eating and drinking must never be treated as an end in themselves, for ascetic fasting has always an inward and unseen purpose. Man is a unity of body and soul, 'a living creature fashioned from natures visible and invisible', in the words of the Triodion; and our ascetic fasting should therefore involve these natures at once. The tendency to over-emphasize external rules about food in a legalistic way, and the opposite tendency to scorn these rules as outdated and unnecessary, are both alike to be deplored as a betrayal of true Orthodoxy. In both cases the proper balance between the outward and the inward has been impaired."
Bishop Kallistos goes on to remind us:
"The primary aim of fasting is to make us conscious of our dependence upon God. If practiced seriously, the Lenten abstinence from food--particularly in the opening days--involves a considerable measure of real hunger, and also a feeling of tiredness and physical exhaustion. The purpose of this is to lead us in turn to a sense of inward brokenness and contrition; to bring us, that is, to the point where we appreciate the full force of Christ's statement, 'Without Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5). If we always take our fill of food and drink, we easily grow over-confident in our own abilities, acquiring a false sense of autonomy and self-sufficiency. The observance of a physical fast undermines this sinful complacency. Stripping from us the specious assurance of the Pharisee--who fasted, it is true, but not in the right spirit--Lenten abstinence gives us the self-dissatisfaction of the Publican (Luke 18:10-13). Such is the function of the hunger and the tiredness: to make us 'poor in spirit', aware of our helplessness and of our dependence on God's aid. Yet it would be misleading to speak only of this element of weariness and hunger. Abstinence leads, not merely to this, but also to a sense of lightness, wakefulness, freedom and joy. Even if the fast proves debilitating at first, afterwards we find that it enables us to sleep less, to think more clearly, and to work more decisively. As many doctors acknowledge, periodical fasts contribute to bodily hygiene. While involving genuine self-denial, fasting does not seek to do violence to our body but rather to restore it to health and equilibrium."
May this be a spiritually profitable fast as we learn more about God's love and the things each of us can correct in our own personal lives.
With love in Christ,
Fr. Timothy Sawchak
Watch a short video from Fr. Tim here as he encourages you to have a joyous Fast.
We find ourselves, once again, near the beginning of the Great Fast. With the celebration of Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday at 5:00pm we will be students in the School of Repentance. Let us not only begin the Fast with joy as we will sing on Sunday, but let us also begin it with the desire to learn more about 1) God and His mercy, and 2) ourselves.
Bishop Kallistos (Ware), in his essay about "The True Nature of Fasting" in the "Lenten Triodion" writes:
"What do we find, then, in this book of preparation that we term the Lenten Triodion? It can most briefly be described as the book of the fast. Just as the children of Israel ate the 'bread of affliction' (Deuteronomy 16:3) in preparation for the Passover, so Christians prepare themselves for the celebration of the New Passover by observing a fast. But what is meant by this word 'fast'? Here the utmost care is needed, so as to preserve a proper balance between the outward and the inward. On the outward level fasting involves physical abstinence from food and drink, and without such exterior abstinence a full and true fast cannot be kept; yet the rules about eating and drinking must never be treated as an end in themselves, for ascetic fasting has always an inward and unseen purpose. Man is a unity of body and soul, 'a living creature fashioned from natures visible and invisible', in the words of the Triodion; and our ascetic fasting should therefore involve these natures at once. The tendency to over-emphasize external rules about food in a legalistic way, and the opposite tendency to scorn these rules as outdated and unnecessary, are both alike to be deplored as a betrayal of true Orthodoxy. In both cases the proper balance between the outward and the inward has been impaired."
Bishop Kallistos goes on to remind us:
"The primary aim of fasting is to make us conscious of our dependence upon God. If practiced seriously, the Lenten abstinence from food--particularly in the opening days--involves a considerable measure of real hunger, and also a feeling of tiredness and physical exhaustion. The purpose of this is to lead us in turn to a sense of inward brokenness and contrition; to bring us, that is, to the point where we appreciate the full force of Christ's statement, 'Without Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5). If we always take our fill of food and drink, we easily grow over-confident in our own abilities, acquiring a false sense of autonomy and self-sufficiency. The observance of a physical fast undermines this sinful complacency. Stripping from us the specious assurance of the Pharisee--who fasted, it is true, but not in the right spirit--Lenten abstinence gives us the self-dissatisfaction of the Publican (Luke 18:10-13). Such is the function of the hunger and the tiredness: to make us 'poor in spirit', aware of our helplessness and of our dependence on God's aid. Yet it would be misleading to speak only of this element of weariness and hunger. Abstinence leads, not merely to this, but also to a sense of lightness, wakefulness, freedom and joy. Even if the fast proves debilitating at first, afterwards we find that it enables us to sleep less, to think more clearly, and to work more decisively. As many doctors acknowledge, periodical fasts contribute to bodily hygiene. While involving genuine self-denial, fasting does not seek to do violence to our body but rather to restore it to health and equilibrium."
May this be a spiritually profitable fast as we learn more about God's love and the things each of us can correct in our own personal lives.
With love in Christ,
Fr. Timothy Sawchak
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