By Father Andrew Lemeshonok
With God’s help
we are beginning the Great Lent. We have to start to work on ourselves, to set our
thoughts in order. Our inner man should restore. All our thoughts and feelings
are devastated, tangled and crushed by the sin. How can we live in such a
condition and say that we are Christians?
The thing is
that we need help. And the Church offers us help in plenty, for everything we
hear and see in a church, everything that happens there is blessed by the Holy
Spirit. It is a sacred place which washes away any blight and impurity. But to
clear ourselves we need to be attentive. We need to withstand our weaknesses
and believe in the victory of the Resurrection. We have done a small step, but
there are still so many steps ahead! However, let us not forget that we should
thank God for the recent day as well. A thankful man does not despair, he does
not complaint of that he is not well, that something is wrong in his life. A
thankful man thanks for what he has, and then God gives him even more. So, let
us prepare for the evening service, when we can listen to the Great Canon of
St. Andrew of Crete. At the same time, let us not forget, that the day is going
on, and our service to God continues not only in a church, but outside it as
well. It continues through the people we will meet today and through the work
we have to do despite the fact we are a little tired. We have spent several
hours at the service – and we got tired. But what will we do in the Kingdom of
Heaven then? You know that in the Kingdom of Heaven we will constantly praise
God standing near His Throne. This is why our tiredness should not hinder us to
serve, to work as hard as we can to earn our earthly and Heavenly Bread.
February 27, 2017
St. Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION