Forgiveness Sunday 2024

Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to the Father, and

to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. You heard

the epistle. Those are sort of our walking orders

for Lent. I don't need to go into that. And you

heard the gospel, which on the one hand is frightening,

and the other hand is absolutely consoling. I'd

say it's frightening because the Lord, having

just told his disciples how to pray, he gave

them the Lord's prayer. This is chapter 6, the

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Gospel of Matthew. And then he says to expand

on the Lord's prayer. Give us this day our daily

bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive

those who trespass against us. Forgive us our

debts. as we forgive those who are debtors to

us. He expands on that. He says, if you forgive

men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will

forgive you. It's important to understand. I'm

going to say more about this later at the Vespers.

I hope, I'm expecting, all of you will stay for

that. That's not a request, by the way. I'll

say more about forgiveness later. No, it's an

act. When the Lord forgave from the cross, it

wasn't about feeling ready or warm towards those

who had offended. So it's an absolute must we

must do. We have to do it. But what's consoling,

and we have a hard time, but what's consoling

about this gospel is that the Lord says when

you fast, do it in a joyful way. When you pray,

do it secretly. And your Heavenly Father will

reward you openly. How? With grace that's shared

with others. With love. With the ability to actually

forgive from your heart. We start with an act.

Maybe someday the heart will follow. But here's

today what I really want to say to you. Today

is Forgiveness Sunday. Also known as Cheese Fair

Sunday. We're going to stop eating dairy products

after today. I say we. We are going to stop doing

that as a parish. Last week we heard the gospel

of the last judgment. It was not just as a warning.

Of course, you heard the answers for the final

exam. They're clear, are they not? Judgment means

to put things right, to put things in order,

to make things as they should be. The parable

of the sheep and the goats that we heard last

week, told of the end of the age, the consummation

of everything, the judgment and the resurrection.

Now the church is pointing our direction towards

Pascha. Let's orient ourself. So today, having

heard last week about the end, the church says,

well, let's go back to the beginning. Today is

known as the commemoration of the expulsion of

Adam and Eve from paradise. So the church says,

let's talk about that, let's meditate on that,

let's sing about that, return to the beginning

at the creation and the fall from paradise, the

fall from beauty and glory. closeness to God,

so that we can begin Lent with a realistic idea

of where we're really at. So we start with Adam

and Eve in the garden, or rather, outside of

the garden. Here's the hymn from last night.

It pains my heart so much to hear this. Adam

sat before paradise, and lamenting his nakedness,

he wept. Woe is me, by evil deceit I was persuaded

and led astray. And now I am in exile from glory.

Woe is me. He's weeping there. He was persuaded.

He gave his will, just as we do. We do it. Can't

blame Adam. We certainly know about the tragedy,

the grief, the suffering, the sin, all the brokenness

that has come. But what exactly has been lost?

We know what we have. We live with it every day.

What's supposed to be normal for God and for

humans? So what can we say about paradise as

we are thinking about the resurrection? Paradise,

say the Holy Fathers. I'm just going to give

you some quotes here. It's the kingdom of God.

At the resurrection, when we shall rise from

the dead, when our bodies will be restored and

renewed and become what was corruptible, incorruptible.

What was mortal becomes immortal. What was broken

is restored. When that happens, We will have,

we will know, we will experience the kingdom

of God in its fullness. St. Gregory the theologian

says the kingdom of heaven is nothing but encountering

of the supreme purity and perfection of the life

of God. The closeness to God. To behold him.

the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the whole

company of heaven in the light of his glory,

which will be revealed to us in its fullness,

and we will never be filled, and we will always

desire more. We will see Christ then no longer

as in a mirror, in an indirect and dim matter,

but face to face, says St. Paul, face to face.

I shall, he says, I shall know just as I also

know. am known. We shall know God as God knows

us. We will be in his presence. We will live

with him forever. A divine and truly eternal

life. The Lord said, as you, Father, art in me,

and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.

and the glory which thou gavest me I have given

them, that they may be one just as we are one,

and I in them, and thou in me. This is beyond

comprehension, but we have to say it. St. Paul

says it's beyond whatever eye has seen, ear has

heard. It's beyond whatever has entered into

the heart of man. We will be in the presence

of God and live with him forever, a divine and

truly eternal life. The liturgy tells us in its

prayers this communion with God and the kingdom

is this. Grant that we may more perfectly partake

of thee in the never -ending day of thy kingdom,

in paradise, in the resurrection. We too will

shine with divine light, uncreated light and

glory, be united with our Savior, the Father,

Son, Holy Spirit. Then the righteous will shine

forth as the sun in the kingdom of heaven, says

the scriptures, and will partake of God's glory.

Your joy, says the Lord, no one will take from

you. We don't live with that joy now. But then,

no one will take it from you, and we will be

deified. Oh, precious paradise, says a hymn,

unsurpassed in beauty, tabernacle built by God,

unending gladness and dwelling of the saints.

This, what I've just given you, can just be as...

the talking heads talking about politics say

now, a word salad. If we don't orient ourselves

toward the scriptures and towards the life of

the age to come, we, to make an understatement,

we don't live in paradise. So let's not think

for a moment the life we live in this world is

normal existence. What I've read to you, That's

normal existence. Yes, it seems distant from

us. But where does it start? It starts with the

change of heart. We can't actually forgive anybody

truly unless it comes from the heart which has

been changed by the grace of God and by the crucifixion

of the old man, the old Adam, who disobeyed God.

He has to die. In a little while, Just before

communion, we're going to hear the psalm by the

waters of Babylon. There we sat down and wept

when we remembered Zion. How can we sing the

Lord's song in a strange land? This psalm presents

the raw emotion, including revenge also. But

for us, it represents the spiritual sorrow which

the church says, you! Brothers and sisters, you

know about it. Don't ignore it. Meditate on that

sorrow and that tragedy that we all experience

in the light, not by itself, in the light of

the kingdom of God, the paradise to come. By

the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and

wept when we remembered Zion. To lose our home,

to lose paradise, that's tragic. But worse, our

current problem isn't just thinking back. It's

that we don't think back. It's that we forget

it. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right

hand wither, says the psalm. When we forget something

holy in us and precious in us dies, to be a Christian

is to love Christ above everything else and to

examine our life. In the light of his kingdom.

To love everything else. After Christ. Everything.

And that means to behold the beauty of Christ.

And to struggle to behold the beauty of Christ.

To pray. To struggle through prayer. To set Jerusalem.

The kingdom of God. Above all others. As at the

head of my joy. Make paradise in your heart by

God's grace. That's what Lent is pointing us

to. It's not just a series of services, liturgical

rites and rituals, remembering this, that, and

the other thing. No, it's as the hymn which we're

going to sing on the Sunday of the veneration

of the cross, it says to us, to the whole congregation,

return again to paradise. That's what Lent's

about, to acquire the peace that passes all understanding

who is Christ. Then we can forgive. Then we can

bless. Then we can do all that we need to do

as servants of God in this world and make little

paradise around us because Christ will be our

peace and our heart will remember and long for

and weep for what was lost. but be joyful what

we are heading towards. I've prepared a little

booklet for you. It's a limited amount. I guess

I can make more. It's a 2024 Lenten calendar

and service guide. You know Lent is going to

involve works of mercy. You know it's going to

involve prayer. At home. It's going to involve

more fasting. Shutting off social media. And

television. And all that stuff. But what I want

to say one thing to end with today. It involves

church services. Let me suggest. Let me challenge.

At least make a plan. What you are going to do

this coming week. Canada St. Andrew in the evening.

If you can come to Mass in the morning, pre -sanctified,

etc. But as a baseline, as a goal, whether you

can meet it or not, here's what I would suggest.

Every Wednesday, pre -sanctified. Because if

you only come on Sunday, the only thing different

about Lent is going to be you're going to see

purple. Mostly. Come every Saturday. Because

you're going to hear the wonderful hymns. You'll

have been nourished on Wednesday after fasting,

spiritually, and Saturday evening, you're going

to hear the hymns of what we're celebrating.

You'll understand what the content of Lent is,

what the church is saying. Pay attention. You're

here. Let's do this. And don't miss Sunday. These

are the three things. Of course, you'll want

to go to confession at least once during Lent.

At Pascha, you hear this amazing... Sermon of

St. John Chrysostom, which is built on the parable

of the vineyard workers. And St. John is saying

everyone's welcome, third, sixth, eleventh hour,

whatever you come. The doors are open, the table

is richly laden, feast all sumptuously. But brothers

and sisters, that's for those that don't know.

Do not come for confession at the eleventh hour.

For your own spiritual growth. And, you know,

to save the priests a little bit, too. To be

honest. The moment your conscience tells you

something, come confess. Leave that stand over

there with a clean conscience. and a heart that

is ready to receive the peace of God that passes

all understanding. So please take a look at this

guidebook and make a plan. And may we all, brothers

and sisters, have a blessed and wonderful and

edifying fast. Amen.