It is about this time, in the middle Great Lent, where those who have been taking their spiritual lives seriously begin to feel weary and overcome by their struggles to fast. It becomes harder to give alms and even to pray. It’s an annual tradition that every Orthodox Christian experiences: Great Lent around this time doesn’t always feel “Great”.
For many of us sitting here today, this is an image of our own relationship with God. We know He is nearby… “everywhere present and filling all things”, yet we place so many barriers between us and Him, that He feels almost inaccessible at times. Instead of trusting in Him, we trust in man-made institutions and ideas. Rather than making our relationship with Him a priority, we focus on our careers, our possessions, our comforts and entertainments. Instead of repentance from sin, we would rather remain paralyzed by what sin does to us and to the rest of the world.
Yet perhaps the one reason that comes out the most in conversations with many of you is how this tree of Orthodoxy does not change. It is so deeply rooted, that there are no weekly changes in the services to try and make them more relevant or popular. There are no changes in morality, or how we should live, to try and fit the ebbs and flows of a fallen world. There are no changes to this way of life. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”, and it is on this day, this glorious day of Orthodoxy Sunday, that we celebrate the triumph of this deeply rooted faith over the storms of heresy that have tried to alter and change it throughout history.
Instead of baths in the tub, they are being bathed in Christ’s light. Instead of needing to feed, they are constantly being nourished by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Instead of weeping and tears in the middle of the night, their cries are directed towards the presence of God, interceding and praying for the only people who they ever knew in this world…their mother and father.
