His Grace Bishop John Yazigi                                                                           Sunday Sermon
   Dean & Abbot of Balamand                                                                                     March 10, 2002

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. One God, Amen.

 Beloved, in this period of each year we prepare ourselves to enter the Holy and Great Lent in which we labor until we reach the day of Pascha. Today is the Sunday of the Last Judgment, which is the third Sunday before we enter the period of Great Lent. This Sunday is commonly known as Meat Fare Sunday because starting from today we do not eat meat.

 The Gospel passage we just heard speaks about the subject of fasting. Lent has many aspects which we speak about. Today the Church reminds us of an important aspect. Christianity and the Christian faith are not just beautiful ideas pleasing to the mind, entertained and discussed. Christianity is the Lord Jesus coming in love in order to raise us with Him by His resurrection. He came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary. He lived among us and taught us. At the end, He gave us Himself on the  Venerable Cross, and He rose from the dead, trampling down death by death. His resurrection is a token of our own resurrection. In this frame of events falls Lent. Fasting is one of the spiritual weapons used by man in his strive to be with God.

 We heard in the Gospel passage that in the day of Judgement the Lord will ask each one of us, "What did you do towards your brother? I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you visited me." Conversely, He will also say, "I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink and sick and you did not visit me." Furthermore when His disciples will answer Him, asking, "When were you thirsty and we did not give you to drink and sick and we did not visit you?" He will declare to them, "Whatever you have done to the least of these my little brothers, you have done it to myself."

 The Church had carefully chosen to read this passage before we step into Great Lent in order to remind us that Lent is about doing good and holy works and that as Christians we ought to work for righteousness and holiness, and not for evil. We ought to do the works of God and not of the devil. The works of God are love, kindness, and showing a loving countenance to the other who is in the image of God.

 Let's remember what we do in our Orthodox Church during Baptism. When the catechumen advances to receive Baptism, the priest asks him, "Do you renounce Satan and all his works and vanities?" He answers, "Yes I do renounce Satan." Let's pay close attention to the question, "Do you renounce Satan and all his works and vanities?" and to the answer, "Yes." Upon declaring this the priest asks:" Do you accept Christ?" and he answers, "Yes." So whoever is baptized has first to renounce Satan and all his works and strive to do divine works. He puts on Christ and he labors in his life in order to be the son of the Light, a child of God. He ought to be active and dynamic for God and not be a slave of Satan, doing sinful and evil works. The Lenten Fast is about this struggle. Through fasting, man tries to do the works of God. Kindness, love, sustenance, almsgiving, and all Christian charitable works hold an important place in Great Lent. As the Gospel says, we cannot fast without these works: "Faith without works is dead." Beloved, the church reminds us today of this very important matter. This is the way of our Christian faith: it is not just beautiful ideas by which we describe Christ the Great and Mighty, but it is to live in Christ and witness to Him. When people see our good works, our love, kindness, smile, etc., they will glorify our father in heaven.

 Just before the end of Matins we heard the following hymn:"Let us go before, O brethren, and cleanse ourselves for the queen of virtues (signifying Great Lent into which we enter); for behold she has come bringing to us a fortune of good deeds, quenching the uprisings of passion and reconciling the wicked to the Master. Let us welcome her therefore shouting to Christ God (note how the liturgical hymns describe in depth Divine mysteries), O You who rose from the dead keep us uncondemned, who glorify you, O you who alone are sinless."

 This liturgical hymn reveals to us the profound meaning of Lent. It reminds us that Lent is a field of virtues, and that through it we can quench the flames of passions. It invites us to be reconciled with the Master and not be in enmity with Him, but rather be His loving children and loving to every man. The Church reminds us that the scope for this struggle is the Risen Christ. That's why we say to Him: "You who rose from the dead keep us uncondemned, who glorify you, O you who alone are sinless."

 We lift up our prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom we look for much strength, to make our Lenten Fast one of the works of God, so that we may be sanctified and may witness to Him inhe world. Through this, the whole world may be transfigured and we may be accounted worthy to be with Him in His kingdom. He is blessed and glorified forever. Amen.