Great!!…. another Great Lent?!?

Nineveh lent had just wrapped up a few weeks ago and now we have another Lent approaching us starting Monday, February 15th, the Great Lent.  Being an Orthodox Christian, there is so much that is expected from us. If we look strictly from a fast and Lenten perspective, with all the Wednesdays, Fridays, and the five canonical Lents of the Church sometimes it’s best to ask, when are we NOT observing lent. We find ourselves asking why we have to do this?

The biblical basis for Lent can be found in St. Matthew 4:1-2, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was hungry.” As Lent begins, we are in a mode of preparation for the greatest of all the feasts in the Church, the Resurrection of Christ. It is a period of time where we close out all the distractions of the world and allow the Holy Spirit to come into us. Of course, we are always trying to allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives, but we all struggle with different things everyday. As we continue to read this passage we see that Christ is able to tell Satan “Away with you!!” So we must also have the courage and self disciple to resist Satan.

You and I always fall short in comparison to the perfection of Christ, but if He, the One who is all-holy and the creator of the whole world who is the beginning and the end, if He fasted for 40 days then why shouldn't we? The Lenten period is a time of penitence and an opportunity for us to reconcile ourselves with God. I encourage you at some point during this lent to consider making that trip down the red carpet, not the one of glory and fame but the one of suffering that is towards the cross and fall on our knees and ask God for forgiveness in the form of confession. Christ is waiting by the gate with arms outstretched, as the father waited for the prodigal son, to receive you into the kingdom, but only if you are willing.

Remember, if you fall during the Lenten period, don't worry just stand back up, dust the dirt off yourself and turn back towards Christ and keep going! I pray that you all have a blessed Lenten Season. May God give us all strength when we fall, and may we all have the courage tell Satan “Away with you!!”  May we all press forward toward the cross and rejoice in the resurrected Lord!!