Yesterday finished the last service of Lent. Today begins the first service of Holy Week. Lazarus Saturday liturgy is not celebrated in purple, but in gold. It is an anticipation of the Paschal service of next week. We need the strength of Lazarus Saturday to remind us that the end is coming, for we are about to begin a week replete with services, and with a final round of fasting.
Nevertheless, for those who have been fasting, and have now come to the end of the Lenten period and are about to enter Holy Week, perhaps it might be wise to take stock of the results of your fasting. Below is a quote from St. John Chrysostom by which you can examine yourself:
Do not say to me, I fasted for so many days. I did not eat this or I did not eat that. I did not drink wine, that I endured want. Instead, show me if thou, from an angry man, has become instead gentle. If from a cruel man, thou hast become benevolent. If thou art filled with anger, why oppress thy flesh? If hatred and avarice are within thee, of what benefit is it that thou drinkest water instead of wine? Do not show forth a useless fast, for fasting alone does not ascend to heaven.
Catch again the difference between the way so many approach Lent and fasting and the way in which the saints approach fasting. All too often, the tendency in Christianity is to talk about what one is giving up for God during Lent. What a poor emphasis that is! It is as though we are bargaining with God and expecting a quid pro quo for our fasting and prayers. And now, look again at the saints. In an earlier post, I quoted from Saint John Chrysostom who talked about giving to the poor, the needy, and helping the oppressed. A fast which ignores those, ignores God. But now, look at the quote above.
In the quote above, Saint John calls us to examine ourselves. What has been the result of our fast? And notice what the signposts are. Has your cruelty decreased? Has your anger decreased? Has your hatred and avarice decreased? If there are no changes towards holiness in your life–and notice that Saint John is emphasizing practical changes, not simply head knowledge–why then your fast has benefited you no more than a good diet plan. According to Saint John, a fast that has no practical outcome, in giving to the poor, etc., and in inner changes, has not been an effective fast. An effective fast is one of God’s training exercises to improve your spiritual health. If it has not, then you have done something wrong. It is that simple, according to Saint John.
So, let us examine ourselves as the Lenten fast has finished and the Holy Week fast is about to begin. We still have the opportunity for a fruitful last week. Examine yourself and see whether you have merely avoided food, or whether you have grown in your understanding of what God desires of you.
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