When Ed Kock was mayor of New York (from 1978 -1989),
he had a catch phrase he would scream out whenever he was in front of an
audience – “How am I doing?” For the most part, the people of New York answered
in the affirmative because he was able to gain the nomination from both the
Democratic party and the Republican party- I don’t know if anyone else has ever
done that in NYC. I won’t be asking that question to all of you
but I will ask it of myself –
“How am I doing this Great Lent?”
I guess it’s a good thing that I haven’t been blogging
much during Lent because to be honest, I’ve been very busy and busy with good
things. I have tried to attend as many services
as my odd work schedule will allow.
I have been busy with my family, even taking trips with my wife to visit
her 98 year old mother who lives around four hours away from us. And in stead
of filling up my long commute with audiobooks from Stephen King, Shelby Foote
and John Grisham, I have been tuning into Orthodox podcasts by Fr. Thomas Hopko, Fr. Stephen
DeYoung and Dr. Jeanne Constantinou.
Fr. Bohdan celebrating pre-sanctified liturgy.
As far as prayer goes, I have replaced my normal use
of the Faithtree prayer app for morning prayer with the longer form I have with
an Orthodox Prayer book I bought years ago from Saint Arseny of Konevets
Press which, sadly, no longer exists. In terms of Bible reading, I have
been mostly faithful in the daily lectionary selections and I have added the
books that Father Hopko recommends be read for Great Lent (Genesis, Isaiah, the
Psalms, Proverbs – I may not finish Isaiah before Pascha; it’s a pretty long
book! ) I wanted to add the book of Wisdom but I guess I’ll add that next year.
A place you can get lost during Great Lent is
fasting. It is very easy to miss the
point entirely and concentrate on what foods are and aren’t allowed. It is
supposed to be about limiting portions so as to crucify the flesh . It is
supposed to be about taking your money that you saved by fasting and giving it
to the poor. It’s about denying yourself
and picking up the Cross. While I have
been faithful in the “restrictions” of what can be eaten, I haven’t been doing
well with portion control. I ask myself
what is the point of just eating rice and beans if I eat too much of it? I find
myself snacking way too much on “Great Lent approved foods” when I should
be content with the food I eat just at meal times.
The great things about Orthodoxy is it is about daily
repentance. While in my Evangelical days, I was content with a “one and done”
approach to Salvation, in the Church I can come to Christ daily, tell him my
sins (which He knows already) and ask for His help and help from the
Saints. I pray the Lord gives me many
years so I can get Lent right. Of course the way things go in Orthodoxy, I
should always consider myself the chief of sinners so I will never truly “get
it right.” And when I think I have, it will be a sure sign that I haven’t!
I am looking forward to Pascha and not just so I can
have pizza again but Great Lent has helped me so far in keeping my focus on
Christ and His Church. Speaking of His Church, it has been a joy to get to know
the young Catechumens and inquirers who are part of this parish. They are
inquisitive, joyful and open to God in a way that inspirers me to daily seek Christ.
May you all finish the course well during the Fast and
may you experience the Resurrection of Christ in a new way this Pascha!
Christ is Risen!
