The one theme which stands out above all during Great Lent as
we approach Easter is how much God loves us. “For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may
not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him” (John 3:16-17). God loves us
infinitely more than we can imagine, and this is why He also gave us the Holy
Spirit to be our comforter, and as He said, “I
will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). This is the focus of
our faith. We believe that God became man, so that by dying on the cross,
Christ can save us, and by rising from the dead, He can offer us eternal life.
Christ’s love for us draws us to Him. Why would anyone want to resist such a
love?
According to John,
“the whole world lies under the sway of
the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). That is a powerful force, which comes
against us. The “wicked one” only knows how to lie, hate and destroy. This
means that we need to be able to discern truth from among all the world’s lies.
The truth is that Jesus is God and He loves each and every one of us. When we
fully understand that truth, we cannot help but be in awe of what God has done
through His Son. Christ was not just some man who happened to be executed
because He wanted to be King of the Jews. Jesus was the only human who was
perfect, never having sinned even once. He was pure goodness and love. Christ
demonstrated His divine power through amazing miracles, including raising
people from the dead. He often performed these miracles with thousands of
witnesses present. Christ was God, who humbled Himself and willingly accepted
crucifixion because He loves each and every one of us and wants us to be with
Him for eternity.
As Christians, it
is our responsibility to develop our spiritual maturity by cultivating a
relationship with Christ. The best way to do that is through prayer, or in
other words, just talk to Jesus. Prayer is the most available means to
cultivate our relationship because it is always accessible, no matter where we
are. Your prayers do not have to be too long or involved. Just express what is
on your heart.
Another way to develop our spiritual maturity
is by participating in the Sacraments, especially taking Communion. The whole
purpose of Communion is to receive remission of sins and to be united with
Christ. It is a mystical union, which we experience through the Holy Spirit.
Receiving the Eucharist is one way we energize the Holy Spirit within us, who
brings us closer to God. During Lent, we should also participate in Confession.
I have to confess, myself, that until this last year, I had only gone to
Confession once in my life. I was terrified, especially because there were
decades of sins I had never confessed. If you have reservations, one thing I
can tell you is that only by facing a human being, like a priest, do we truly
feel repentant of our sins. Confessing to a God who we cannot see is easy! I genuinely
experienced the love of God when I participated in Confession and knew my sins
had been forgiven.
We can also
develop our spiritual maturity by remembering what we ourselves say each time
we recite the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive
us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Preparing for
Easter requires us to forgive all those who have sinned against us and hurt us.
After all, by reciting the Lord’s Prayer, we are basically telling God to only
forgive our sins, if we forgive
others. That means God may not forgive our sins. Before
approaching a person who you need to forgive, spend some time thinking about
your own sins. Ask yourself, if you committed similar sins, and maybe even
committed those same sins against the same person. If you really think about
it, none of us is any better than someone else. We have all sinned. That is
exactly why we must forgive others their sins. We show them compassion by
forgiving them. Reconcile with anyone you are estranged. This may also mean that you must ask someone for forgiveness yourself.
When you
have prepared yourself during Lent, Easter will be much more joyous! In our
Orthodox tradition, we spend Holy Week at church, attending services that
recreate the events of Christ’s betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection. The
prayers and Bible passages are intended to remind us of the sacrifice Christ
made for us. They are intended to put us in the right frame of mind, so that
when Easter arrives, we have a deeper understanding of why we are so thankful
that God offered us a way to Heaven. The Orthodox services during Holy Week are
unique to our faith, particularly the services on Holy Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday. On Thursday, Christ is placed on the cross. On Holy Friday afternoon,
He is taken down from the cross and in the evening, we follow in a funeral
procession to bury Him in His tomb. On Saturday morning we joyfully anticipate
the Resurrection and at midnight we jubilantly sing “Christ is Risen,” while a
darkened church is set alight by the flames of our candles. We experience the
joy of Easter by reliving it!
© 2019 Helen Kamenos
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http://www.helenkamenos.com/
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