“Dear Lord, thank you that today I have not sinned. I have not taken Your name in vain. I have not offended my brothers or sisters. I have not cheated, stolen, or even yelled at anyone. Thank you. In a moment, I will get out of bed to start my day.” If you laughed, you could relate to the humor of even thinking we can get through a single day without sin.
There is a saying, “The more I know, the more I know I don’t know.” This saying bears witness to the truth more and more each year we age, until eventually we realize we never really knew anything. Now, in my fifties, I realize just how little I ever knew when I though I knew it all in my twenties. A very similar experience can be found in our spiritual journey.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
I pray your Great Lenten Journey has been a blessing for you so far. I am writing to you today to let you know of an urgent need for our Ministry. Our website has suddenly become out of date with our servers and is no longer functioning properly. Although our blog and other content is still present it has become difficult to navigate. This has created the requirement to totally rebuild our website from scratch.
It is no secret that a war between good and evil is raging in our world. Since the beginning of the Creation, the devil has been waring against God, hoping to win the Throne of Victory, only to be constantly shut down century after century. God’s power is supreme, but His love even for His enemies allows them to think they can win against the Creator. His love allows them the freedom to keep trying, but nobody ever wins against the Creator, no matter how much they try.
I hear it all the time. “I’m not perfect.” I get tired of this excuse, not because it isn’t true, but because when it is used, it normally means, “I’m not trying to be perfect.” When we are content with our fallenness, we are the greatest risk of salvation.
We have arrived at the “half-way point” of our Great Lenten Journey, and the Church brings our attention solidly upon the Holy Precious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord. In the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Great Lent we hear Jesus Christ challenge us to join Him on the Cross. “For whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 8:34) The life of every Christian is found in the Cross, both the Cross of Christ and OUR cross which we carry through our daily struggles.
Once I attended a hospital ministry seminar, and the question was asked, “Who wouldn’t pray for people to be healed?” This issue has always bothered me, so I raised my hand. I said, “In the Orthodox Church we pray that someone is granted health so they can repent, not just so they can go home.” A lengthy discussion ensued, and I was able to help a few people gain perspective on prayer when it comes to our physical health.
It is nine months until Christmas! That must mean today is the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos by the Archangel Gabriel. The Feast is known in Greek as Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου, which translates to the Good News of the Theotokos. What Good News, you ask? The Good News that God has chosen to become one of us to save us. That’s right. We share something in common with God, and we’re the only one of His creation that has such a claim to Him.
Today is the Forefeast of the Annunciation, the day on which the Church glances ahead to the Feast tomorrow, so it is no surprise the readings today remind us of salvation. Noah and his family had the Lord as their salvation from the flood, and we have Him as our salvation from eternal torment if we allow Him to save us.
