In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Glory to Jesus Christ.

When I attended the college in Ukraine, we had one class that was not only outdated but also just theory, no practical application. This is not true with the Church. The Church uses the Word of God, the Bible, which is never outdated. As the Lord said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Mt. 24:35) [Mt. 5:18; Lk. 16:17 “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter  in the law to become void.”]

Do you know Why the Church keeps the Great Lent before Pascha, Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ? By the end of the sermon I should convey to you this important message.

Have you noticed, that in today’s Gospel reading the Lord does not say “The Kingdom of God is like…” but “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory…” This means, that it is not a parable but real prophecy and we have to pay great attention to it. For the Lord said: “All the nations will be gathered”, not one nation or the other, one religion or the other, but all human kind: those who still alive and those departed earthly life but resurrected.  Then they will be separated according to their works. Families may be separated: husband from wife, sister from brother, children from parents.

God requires from us only so much that we can handle even less than we can do and leaves for us freedom to do more. He is not requires from us too much or too expensive help. It says in the reading: “I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” Of course, those who are in prison and those who are ill need more than just our visit. The King doesn’t say that “I was sick and you came and healed Me” but he says: “I was sick and you visited Me”.

“Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The King will say these words to the righteous ones. I would like to bring your attention to the second part of the sentence: “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The kingdom was prepared for the righteous ones from the beginning of the world. To the other side He said something different. “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. The everlasting fire is not prepared for humans but for the devil and his angels who rebelled against God.

Do you see how serious this message is? It was not God’s plan to send people to everlasting fire. People themselves are the cause of this. God does not punish us when we sin; we leave dark spots on our soul. We make our soul sick when we are:

•not feeding the hungry,

•not giving drink to the thirsty,

•not accepting the stranger,

•not clothing the naked one,

•not visiting the sick,

•not visiting the imprisoned.

God does not punish us when we sin; we condemn ourselves. For the hell was not intended for humans.

That is why true repentance, true confession is when one comes to the Church, Temple of God, to speak with God, to ask forgiveness for damaging one’s soul and to change our mind, to turn against wrongdoings. Priest is only present as witness of one’s true repentance and who later may give communion to this person who decided to return to God and to heal one’s own soul. All services at the church are sacramental and find its sanctification when connected with Holy Eucharist, Communion.

When is the best time to come for confession? Anytime. We come for confession when we are ready to change our mind, to truly repent for our wrongdoings. The Church recommends to come for confession at least four times a year, during Lenten period, especially during Great Lent which is coming within the week.

Forty days of lent before Pascha are called Great Lent not because of its length for the lent before the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the same length. The forty-day lent before Pascha is called Great because it is before the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We as Christians believe in resurrection of body “when the Son of Man comes in His glory.” No one knows when it will happen but what we know is that we have time for repentance, not just during Lenten period, but also anytime when we are ready to follow Christ.  Great Lent is period when we take care of our soul, which is damaged by our sins, by our carelessness.

We have to open our eyes and see in other person Christ Himself, for Christ said: “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

We do not know “when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him” but we have to be always ready to meet the Lord. Great Lent is a time when we by prayer and fasting humble ourselves so that we may see our wrongdoings. Prayer and fasting calms us down and we begin to see Christ in other person. And if that person is hungry we will feed him, if thirsty we give him to drink, if stranger we receive him in, if naked we close him, if sick we visit him, if in prison we come to him. Prayer and fasting are not the Law, but we use prayer and fasting as tools that help us to come closer to God and “inherit the Kingdom which is prepared for us from the foundation of the world.”

“And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:17)

Amen.