Bartholomew I’s Lenten message
Istanbul (AsiaNews) - Today Lent begins
according to Orthodox tradition, a period when, according to the mind of the
great Fathers of the universal Church, man is called to ponder his future and
reconfirm the eschatological sense of his life.
The fasting that begins today and ends on the day of Our Lord's Resurection,
does not mean a rejection of material life, but the submission of material
needs in the process that leads the human existence to participate in the
holiness of the Lord, as the message that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
addressed the faithful suggests.
"This season - says Bartholomew - commences
as a salvific preparation for the "great and most sacred Pascha of
Christ." We are referring to Holy and Great Lent, which we must live
"by offering prayer and seeking forgiveness," in order truly to taste
Pascha "with all the saints," by becoming "saints," by
confessing before God and people that we are "clay vessels" that are
shattered on a daily basis by the evil one, always "falling and
rising." That is to say, we must admit our human imperfection and failure,
as well as our insignificance before God, by repenting and repeating day-in and
day-out, at all times and in all places - even as we are made "holy"
through baptism - that "one is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ, to the
glory of God the Father".
"Our Creator wants
us to be in communion with Him - continues Bartholomew - in order to taste His grace, which is to participate in His sanctity.
Communion with God is a life of repentance and holiness; whereas estrangement
from God, or sin, is identified by the Church Fathers with "evil of the
heart." Sin is not natural, but derives from evil choice".
Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch adds," is a quality that belongs to the Lord as
"the one, who offers and is offered, who receives and is
distributed." The celebrant of the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist".
"Our Church which
aspires exclusively and solely to our salvation, "rightfully
proclaimed" one season as a period of special prayer and supplication in
order to calm the passions of our soul and body ".
"Lent is a period
of preparation and repentance as the voice of our conscience, which is internal
and inexpressible, our personal judgment. When it finds us doing wrong, it
protests vehemently inasmuch as "nothing in the world is more violent than
our conscience".
"Thus - continues Bartholomew - each of us must be at peace with our
conscience in order that "we may offer a mystical sacrifice in the fire of
our conscience," surrendering our passions and offering them as an
oblation of love toward our fellow human beings, just as the Lord gave Himself
up "for the life and salvation of the world." Only then will
forgiveness rise from the tomb for us as well; and only then shall we live in
mutual respect and love, far from the horrific crimes that we witness plaguing
the entire world today".
Finally, the Ecumenical Patriarch concludes his message with an appeal as the spiritual father of all our
Orthodox faithful throughout the world, "Let us rather walk with God's grace in
order to cleanse our conscience "with the good option" of repentance
in the conviction that heaven and earth, as well as all "things visible
and invisible" will ultimately emanate the light of our Lord's
resurrection".
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