We waited...

Bishop NIKOLAI Velimirovich of Ohrid once said as he was present at Pascha in Jeruslaem, "We waited, and at last our expectations were fulfilled. When the Patriarch sang 'Christ is Risen', a heavy burden fell from our souls. We felt as if we also had been raised from the dead. All at once, from all around, the same cry resounded like the noise o fmany waters. 'Christ is Risen' sang the Greeks, the Russians, the Arabs, the Serbs, the Copts, the Armenians, the Ethiopians--one after another, each in his own tongue, in his own melody...Coming out of from the service at dawn, we began to regard everything in the light of the glory of Christ's Resurrection, and all appeared better, more expressive, more glorious. Only in the light of the Resurrection does life receive meaning."

Though NIKOLAI's narrative goes into great length about the joy and the benefits of Pascha, the first two words of his description deserve special attention: We waited. In this context, I am sure he is speaking more than just of waiting for the service to begin. I am quite sure that he is speaking of the waiting undergone during Great Lent and Holy Week for our Lord's Pascha.

Today begins Triodion. I can hardly believe that after the joy of Nativity and Theophany, we are so soon about to plunge ourselves into the holy season of repentance where we wait for our Lord's Pascha! In these four Sundays before the beginning of Great Lent, we recall the humility of the Publican, the repentance of the Prodigal as well as the rejoicing of the Father for such repentance, the Last Judgment of our Sins and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. In all that, we wait...for Great Lent. Then Great Lent is upon us where we fast and pray and give alms, still waiting...for Pascha.

We wait, which means we prepare. And we have to prepare. Bishop NIKOLAI saw this clearly. Without the waiting, without the preparation there can be no rejoicing, there can be no sense that as the dead are raised, so we are raised from our sin. Without that preparation, our hearts are as empty as the empty tomb. And the empty tomb becomes an anecdote of history rather than the key to our salvation.

We cannot simply come into the presence of God. For those who only want 30 minute church services with happy clappy music and short prayers and no mention of sin, you are not asking for the presence of God. You are asking for the presence of the flesh to mask the presence of God. Though it is an insult to search out God since God is everywhere, it is insulting to suggest that one can simply come into the presence of God, whether by just entering a church or saying one short prayer or singing a hymn. Coming into the presence of God takes time and effort...a lot of them, too! Because we are so hardened in sin, we cannot see that God still does walk among us and even if we could see such a thing happening, many of us would not want it. You cannot simply come into the presence of God. You must prepare.

Infants must crawl before they can walk. Why do we lowly sinners demand that God reveal his majesty to us immediately before we can even look upon the light of the sun? It's probably sheer laziness. Preparation takes time and no one wants to rid themselves of their precious time which could be directed towards TV, family, business, work, sports, etc.

Even if it is impossible to prepare all the time, it is very possible to prepare some of the time, to make more effort than one would during the rest of the year.

Let us prepare. Let us purge ourselves of our sins. Let us desire God if only because He has desired us.

Blessed preparation to all of you!

With daring and with boldness

In an earlier post, I talked about preparation for the Holy Eucharist, which, I fear, is not done by many. At the same time, how much preparation can one possibly do to receive the Lord who is Holy in my body which is corrupt and sinful? In the Canon for preparation for the Eucharist, we confess that this is a mystery, saying: "How is it that I who am but clay partake of the mystic food! O Great Mystery! O Divine Compassion!" We sinful creatures cannot possibly wipe away our transgressions by ourselves. That's why the Lord came, incarnate, in the first place.

Since we cannot make ourselves holy no matter how much prayer and preparation we put ourselves through, that is why it is significant that we must confess that it is with daring and with boldness that we approach the chalice at every Divine Liturgy, especially in our prayers of preparation. In the 10 prayers of preparation, the following speak of the boldness and daring we have in Christ Jesus to come to his Holy Table. A few snippets:

From the first prayer of St. Basil the Great: Wherefore, though I am unworthy of both Heaven and earth, and even of this transient life, since I have wholly subjected myself to sin and am a slave to pleasures and have defaced Thine image, yet being Thy work and creation, I the wretched one, do not despair of my salvation; but emboldened by Thine immeasurable compassion, I draw nigh.

From the second prayer of St. Basil the Great: I know, O Lord, that I partake of Thine immaculate Body and precious Blood unworthily, and that I am guilty, and eat and drink judgment to myself, not discerning the Body and Blood of Thee, my Christ and my God. But trusting in Thy compassions, I take courage and approach Thee...

From the third prayer of St. John Chrysostom: For it is not one presumptuous [i.e. in my own goodness] that I draw nigh to Thee, O Christ my God, but as one taking courage in Thine ineffable goodness...

From the fourth prayer of St. John Chrysostom: I am not sufficient, O Master and Lord, that Thou shouldest enter under the roof of my soul; but since Thou, as the Friend of Man, dost will to dwell in me, with trust I draw nigh.

From the seventh prayer of St. Symeon the New Theologian: These things now do give me daring, These things give me wings, O Christ God; Trusting, then, in the abundance of Thy benefactions toward us, With rejoicing, yet with trembling, I partake now of the Fire.

Our sinfulness should keep us away from the Lord. Sinfulness separates us from our Lord. But He came incarnate bridging the uncreated with the created. That was nothing short of boldness, if not of love. Or perhaps boldness and love are the same thing. We are told to approach "with fear, with faith and with love." But as God was compassionate to come down from on high, to be incarnate for us, should we also not be bold to trust in that compassion, not at the expense of ignoring our sins or saying they don't exist?

So, let us be bold, let us be daring and, above all, let us approach with love.