A
message from Bishop John Elya
Annunciation
Cathedral
(To be read from the pulpit and/or to be distributed with the weekly
bulletin)
|
|
A
message from Bishop John Elya Annunciation
Cathedral (To be read from the pulpit and/or to be distributed with the weekly
bulletin) |
To
the clergy, laity and friends of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton, “grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 1:3)
So much of what we celebrated with the
coming of the new millennium was clouded by the gloom and doom and fear in one
side, and the superficial worldly celebration on the other. Now that we see that
we're all still here on earth to give glory to God, we can celebrate with
greater joy and enthusiasm the great gift of the 2000th anniversary of the birth
of Jesus Christ our Lord, God, and Savior.
With all the 'party-spirit' celebrations over, we see again how shallow
it is to put too much attention on food and drink and fun. Now we can deepen our
love and commitment and obedience to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords, the King of the Ages. As we
face the new millennium, we face Jesus Christ, Who is our Hope, Who is our joy,
and Who is our Crucified King and Risen Lord. He is our Savior, Who frees us
from sin, heals us, and calls us to walk in His steps and follow His Word. He is
the Way and the Truth and the Life. [John 14:6]
He is the Light of the World. [John
8:12]
During this year of Jubilee,
Great Lent takes on a new and deeper meaning.
Great Lent is the time of preparation for the great Pascal Mystery of the
passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. In
this the first celebration of Great Lent of the new millennium, there is a
deeper sense of urgency. The world is ripe for peace in so many places
throughout the world, especially the Middle East.
The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II is visiting Egypt on February 24-27.
God willing, on March 25th , the Feast of the Annunciation, Pope John
Paul will visit the Holy Land. May
these visit there, along with all the efforts made by both civil and church
leaders, bear fruits of love, justice, harmony, and peace that will last for
many years.
In
a certain way I see the Season of Great Lent as a time of Preparation,
Purification, Sanctification, and Transformation.
I invite you all, our beloved faithful of the Eparchy and our friends, to
join me on this journey or Lenten Pilgrimage.
Let us walk our Pilgrimage with great enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is God’s
energy within us. I often think that what we begin without enthusiasm, we quit
without regret. This year for our
preparation to celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ, I strongly encourage you and myself to intensify our commitment to the
life in the Spirit on three battlefields: to prayer, to fasting and to the works
of mercy.
“PRAY WITHOUT CEASING,”
writes St. Paul to the early Christians. (I Thess. 5:17) Prayer is always
timely; but the season of the Great and Holy Lent is a most favorable time to
pray individually and in church with the church community. Lenten Orthros is so
beautiful! The alleluia verses, the
thrice holy, and the prayer of Light are a gift to pray.
Lenten Vespers are a blessing. The Prayer of Saint Ephrem with the
prostration is a challenging call to virtue, especially humility and brotherly
love. The Akathist Hymn celebrated
on the first Fridays of Lent in honor of Mary the Theotokos is a poetic delight.
Great
Compline is such an inspiring and uplifting service.
The joy of singing, "God is with us" and "O Lord of Powers
be with us" is great indeed. How comforting it is to praise Almighty God
while at the same time being reminded that He is with us.
God is as close to us as our breath. He is as close to us as our heart.
“In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) For the Holy
Spirit dwells in us. [cf. Romans 8:11-12] One
of the many gifts of Baptism is the indwelling of God in the hearts of baptized
Christians. We are Temples of the Holy Spirit. [I Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19; II
Corinthians 6:16-18] We are sons
and daughters of God the Father. [Romans 8:12-17; Galatians 4:1-7; John 1:12;
Ephesians 1:3-5 ff.; 5:1-2 ff.; I John 3:1-6] Praise God for His boundless mercy and His
faithful, tender, and unconditional love!
FASTING
is another blessed practice (praxis) of the Church. It is emphasized in a
special way during Great Lent called precisely “the Great and Holy Fast.”
Fasting produces purification by
intensifying our desire for God and by freeing us from the control of our
passions. Fasting produces self-knowledge in helping us identify and overcome
compulsive and addictive behavior patterns towards food, drink, and the like.
Fasting strengthens the will of the Christian to help in overcoming battles and
obstacles in spiritual warfare. The toughest kind of demons who hinders our
fullness of life can be cast out only by prayer and fasting. (Matthew 17:21)
Finally, the fruits of these Lenten
Practices of prayer and fasting and self-denial will not be complete without the
WORKS OF MERCY. The three sides of
the tripod of our life in Christ, namely: prayer and fasting and works of mercy
result in our sanctification and transformation and divinization in harmony with
the Will of God in us. Saint Paul teaches us in his letter to the early
Christians: "For this is the
will of God, your sanctification . . ."
[I Thessalonians 4:3] "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." [II
Corinthians 5:17]
May
the Great and Holy Lent in this Jubilee Year 2000 be a Springtime of Hope . .
. a Springtime of Truth . . . and a
Springtime of Holiness. To Him be glory forever.
PS – This Lenten Message 2000 is available in Arabic by fax or snail mail from the Melkite Chancery Office, 158 Pleasant St. Brookline, MA 02446.