Forgiveness Sunday 2025 Fr Nicholas Carr

Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to Jesus Christ.

Imagine, if you will, a great harbor of the 16th

or 17th century in Western Europe during the

age of exploration, and you are on the docks

getting ready to board a great clipper ship.

You are on the docks. The journey is before you.

And the church is the grand sailing vessel that

all of us will board together. Because the seas

of Lent are not just done individually, but we

go through it together. We're in the harbor.

The sails are trimmed, ready to fill with winds,

with spiritual winds. which will carry us across

the vast seas of Lent. And our destination is

the great and holy Pascha, the resurrection of

our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, the

conquering of sin and death, the land of life

and love and light. But first, we must travel

across the vast waters of Lent, Journey before

destination. And so on this day, on Forgiveness

Sunday, we prepare to launch. But we are not

unprepared. Thousands of voyages have gone before

us, and the experience and wisdom of our predecessors

is with us. They have provided us with maps and

charts containing their wisdom and experience.

And you may ask, how have they helped us prepare?

Well, over the past month, we have been given

Zacchaeus Sunday with the lessons of Zacchaeus.

And the Sunday of the publican and the Pharisee

and the lessons we learned. And the prodigal

son Sunday. And of course, the Sunday of the

Last Judgment. And these gospel lessons have

meant to help us prepare for this sea voyage

ahead of us through Lent. Two great commodities

have been recommended to us. Repentance and humility.

Repentance for our sin and self -centeredness.

and humility before God, acknowledging our wretchedness

before God, that without God we would be lost,

that we need to return to him with a humble heart,

seeking his will, that his will be done on earth

as it is in heaven. And so we have brought on

board our ship sacks of humility and barrels

of repentance. And now this Sunday, we are helped

again and instructed in the importance of forgiveness.

Indeed, later today, forgiveness vespers will

occur. We will put into practice forgiveness.

And if at all possible, be here. Be here for

that great Vespers today at 1 o 'clock, for there

is no better way to prepare for the journey of

the next 40 days. The Gospel reading for today

from St. Matthew begins with these two verses.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your

Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if

you forgive not men their trespasses, neither

will your Father forgive your trespasses. There

is no other way given to us but forgiveness.

No excuses we need to forgive. We are still at

the docks, and now to untie the ropes and to

cast off into the harbor, forgive. Not just small

things. Forgive everyone for everything. Saint

Tikhon of Zdonsk says this, Beloved Christians,

we speak here of a serious matter in which consists

either eternal salvation or eternal destruction.

We speak of the forgiveness of sins for which

we sigh to God daily. But sighing and even tears

are useless to us if we do not forgive our neighbors

their transgressions. And further on in his writing,

he says, submit your will to the will of God

and overcome evil with good, overcome pride with

humility, with meekness and patience, and hate

with love. This is the Christian victory. And

so now we prepare to launch on these vast seas

of great Lent, going together, knowing that our

grand vessel is stocked with repentance, humility,

and forgiveness, and we sail together across

those vast And we come together as a crew as

we sail. We have services to be a part of. We

are gifted with 8 a .m. daily mantens and the

Wednesday pre -sanctified, sometimes Friday pre

-sanctified liturgies. And this week, if perhaps

you find yourself lacking still in humility or

repentance, come. to the evening services of

the great canon of St. Andrew of Crete, who leads

us on those Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights

into our hearts where we can truly repent. Our

schedules can be busy, but attend what you can.

And today at 1 p .m., come back and be blessed

and be forgiven. and forgive others. May God

bless us all on this great voyage. Glory to Jesus

Christ.