 Gospel Reading: Matthew 6-14-21
This
last of the preparatory Sundays before Great Lent has two themes: it commemorates Adam's expulsion from Paradise, and
it is also the Sunday of Forgiveness. There are obvious reasons why these two things should be brought to our attention
as we stand on the threshold of the Great Fast. One of the primary images of the Triodium -- the Lenten Service Book
-- is that of the return to Paradise. Lent is a time when we weep with Adam and Eve before the closed gate of Eden,
repenting with them for the sins that have deprived us of our free communion with God. But Lent is also a time when
we are preparing to celebrate the saving event of Christ's death and rising which has reopened Paradise to us once more.
So, sorrow for our exile in sin is tempered by hope of our re-entry into Paradise.
The second theme, that of forgiveness,
is emphasized in the Gospel reading for today and in the special ceremony of mutual forgiveness at the end of Vespers.
Before we enter the Lenten fast, we are reminded that there can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation
with God, unless we are at the same time reconciled with one another. A fast without mutual love is the fast of demons.
We do not travel the road of Lent as isolated individuals but as members of a family. Our asceticism and fasting should
not separate us from our fellow human beings but link us to them with even stronger bonds. The Lenten ascetic is called
to be a man or woman for others.
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