THE JOURNEY OF LENT

BY Fr. Bishoy Kamel

The First Sunday:

Clarity of vision and determination: no criss-crossing between two paths: man cannot worship God and money-money is a god!!! At the start of the journey, God asks me: how many Gods do you worship? Do you really believe in one God?...God or money? God or the flesh? God or clothes? God or appearances? God or the ego?

The teachings at the beginning of this journey are:

These are basic teachings to help those setting out on the journey of Lent--they pray for the kingdom of God and His righteousness..and all the rest shall be added. They travel without any concern because God is their life, their light on the way, their source of nourishment and their helper...they take firm and strong steps towards eternal life. Indeed, they experience eternal life now as they do not worry or criss-cross over the lines.

The Second Sunday:

Temptations on the road: struggle is a natural condition to a person who wishes to attain a valuable object. War is burdensome when it is an object in itself. But when the object is to progress spiritually, and to be steadfast in God, then war becomes a pleasure. It is a pleasure because victory is certain since Christ won it for me. I, consequently, will win through Him. It is a war with a fierce enemy whom the Lord has already conquered. That evil one had used food and price as instruments of war against the Lord. He told Jesus to throw Himself from the top of the temple, and attempted to lure Him to choose the easy way out of the sufferings of the cross by saying: "I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you bow down and worship me." This seems easier then reigning over people’s hearts through the Cross...throw your cross and learn be sleazy in life...but our Lord conquered and gave us the victory.

Today, the church is in a state of war...these are some of its features. For example, what can annoy Satan more than fasting? "That kind does not come away but through prayer and fasting." Do you know that many Western Churches have neglected fasting although they continue their meetings. Some publications of the Bible have replaced the word "fast" and use "abstain from food." Satan also introduces the ways of the world into the church: love of money, dodging issues under the name of wisdom, goals validate the means, white lies...Into the homes, Satan introduces the world through television and vulgar images so that children absorb these rather than the sounds of hymns and prayers. The same things happen at school and in the streets: young Christian girls are surrounded by the lusts of the world. They hear everywhere about corrupt adventures besides what they read in magazines. Our children are truly entrapped in the lion’s den..the lion’s den may be more merciful, however, for Daniel stopped the lion’s mouth with prayer and fasting. It is a violent war. Our safety can be assured only by prayer and fasting as well as faith. These are the weapons we carry as we undertake the journey of Lent. God told Jeremiah, the prophet, "Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; see now and know, and seek in her open places if you can find a man...who seeks truth and I will pardon her," (Jer 5:1).

If just one person is found who observes a true fast and devotes himself, sacrificially, then God would save the whole Church. Just one person is needed...wholly consecrating his life in silence and service--to bring Satan down in shame.

War is waged on every level--within the Christian family and within educational institutions. There is the temptation to be an atheist, or morally deprived..faith is shaken; then there is the material or financial lure...to immigrate to seek wealth...so many temptations that turn your love for the Church to a weak or lukewarm relationship. It is a universal war waged against the Church today. Indeed, some churches in the West have been conquered and given in to the world. During Lent we are as though calling everybody to enlist...it is in our hands and our weapons are powerful enough--through Jesus Christ--to destroy all strongholds. Finally, we can subjugate all thought to obey our Lord.

Thus the big fast of Lent is a general enlistment for a great war whose outcome is certain victory. The Lord is with us and He has become victorious for us. We can never agree to a peace treaty for we have to conquer...Christ is slain on the altar before us, thus He proclaims that we need to struggle even to the shedding of blood, for victory will be achieved through blood.

The Third Sunday:

Fasting is the outcome of repentance. Repentance involves constantly falling into the Father’s embrace...and there we discover His infinite heart that is full of love. This explains why the Church reads the story of the Prodigal Son in the third week...when I get up and return to my Father. We often complain and reproach God for leaving us, while the reality is that we are the ones who go to the world of pigs. When we decide to return, we discover an eternal truth: God’s love can never diminish. On the contrary, we realize its depth as we get closer.

Nothing is more wonderful that the Father’s embrace and kisses! He is never disgusted of my dirt...this is the best encouragement along my journey and as I stumble...On account of His love, I walk firmly towards repentance...for my Father is waiting for me, His love encourages me, His Blood purifies me and the best man’s attire waits for me...

The purpose of repentance is to allow one to seek intently to discover the dimensions of God’s heart and His love, For I have squandered the wealth He has given me in the form of talents, knowledge, health, money, etc...I have spent them on the world...how will my Father meet me...He will fall on my neck and kiss me...what amazing love!!!

Another purpose of repentance is to enable us to discover the wealth of the house of the Father...the wealth of the church. In the church, we find the first outfit (Baptism), we find the seal which is the sign of eternal participation with God, and the fattened calf...this is the banquet for a thousand years (the constant presence of the Body and Blood of Christ on the altar).

One of the best features/fruits of repentance is joy...it is this great motive that drives me on through the journey. It is the joy felt by the repentant children of God who gather around the heavenly table (altar). It is a joy that is hard to describe for it is glorious. It is a characteristic nature of the repentant church: she lives in constant joy...and being joyful in the Lord is the nourishment of the church as she undertakes the holy struggle and fast.

The Fourth Week:

One the way, the human soul meets face to face with the glorious Lord Jesus (the Samaritan, symbol of human nature avoiding to face truth). The human soul seeks happiness and imagines it could be found in indulging in the lusts of the world...to the extent of having five husbands. The meeting with Jesus records an important fact; "the human soul that lives amid pleasures is not satisfied...on the contrary, it is thirsty."

Coming face to face with God can only be through confession. The woman’s confession granted her the blessing of receiving living water. Confession revealed the quibbling quality of the human soul of the Samaritan. This confession reveals to oneself the soul’s dirt as it is brought in the light of the Holy Spirit.

After confession, the thirst is quenched, and during Lent it is necessary to quench our thirst by going to the stream of living water. Meditation in the Word of God is a source flowing with living water...! Prayer is another, Christ’s love...let us drink to the overflowing so that spring of living water may flow out of our body.

Having confessed and taken our full of living water, we bow down in spirit and truth. During Lent, the Church frequently worships and kneels down. Kneeling down or prostrations expresses total devotion and submission to God’s reign over us. So let us bow down as often as we can during Lent.

This is ultimately followed by witnessing...the Samaritan woman witnessed for Christ. We too should become witnesses and testify that we have met Our Lord Jesus Christ and have worshipped Him. Those who go on the journey of fasting are silent witnesses as they worship and live devotedly and humbly.

The Fifth Sunday:

A Warning against Despair on the way. There can be no failure or despair after Jesus Christ...the paralytic got up and carried his bed after being ill for 38 years: 38 years of paralysis, 38 years of sin, 38 years lost...

Our Lord Jesus Christ does not count the years...when we get to know Him, He renews our strength as the eagle’s. We pray, "Count us among the fellows of the eleventh hour." Life with Christ is renewed each day.

As big problems and trials face us, we gain greater power in Christ. Anba Paul, the simple, began his relationship with Christ after he was sixty--after he had had a fight with his young unfaithful wife. He went to St. Anthony, the great, and became an ascetic. After 60 years...he learned and achieved a high level of fasting and worship!

In Christianity, there is no place for senility or despair...it is constant renewal of hope. This is the law governing our journey of fasting: hope and renewed life in Christ, joy, courage, optimism...and spiritual flight and growth...it is a journey that knows no end.

The Sixth Sunday:

Perceiving God is the goal of the journey (the man born blind). That man had been deprived of seeing material things...now he had sight that enabled him to see Jesus whereas the vision of the Pharisees was blurred and they could not see Him. At the end of the fast, the Church calls us to perceive God spiritually. Fasting has helped in purifying our hearts and those who have a pure heart can see God. This is the fruit of the holy fast. The spiritual eyes of our hearts begin to perceive God and see His will as it is evident in His wisdom and in all His works around us. At that point, we fix our eyes on Him and kneel before Him just as the man born blind had done.

The Seventh Sunday.

Entering and Participating in His Suffering and Resurrection. This is the end of the journey. Yet it brings us to another journey that involves deeper focus and participation in the Lord’s passion and the power of His resurrection...this journey begins in Jerusalem and ends on Golgotha.

Conclusion: The intention of God by the incarnation of our Lord was to change my nature and allow me to share His divine nature. Thus, I could emulate Him: His humility, love, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Hence, I would be exactly like Christ. This is the main focus of the struggle of the Church throughout Lent. The Church always preaches love, sympathy rather than condemnation, forgiveness, prayer and fasting, as well as endurance under temptation as the heart reaches out to God. We have spoken about the living water that quenches the soul...so that we ultimately perceive God and live with Him: thus, God’s purpose is fulfilled in us.

Finally, the feast at hand...he who has held an acceptable fast, and entered into the Lord’s suffering, will have a spiritual celebration and enjoy the gladness of the Resurrection. On the other hand, those who have wasted the period of Lent in laziness and indifference will experience a great loss.

Those who have held an acceptable fast will experience a change in their lives. They will be like the Lord who rose from the dead. They will joyfully say: "We have risen with the Lord...we have risen from our weakness...we have risen with Christ with great power."