A homily by His Grace, Bishop Antanisky of Partenij, delivered at the Holy Liturgy on Forgiveness Sunday, February 26, 2023, Savior’s Year.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
My dear ones, the Holy Church is preparing us for the greatest holiday in our Christian faith, Holy Easter – Easter. To achieve this and be prepared to enter the antechamber of this celebration, we are offered the honest fast as a method of complete abstinence, which, starting tomorrow, will show us the path of ascent up the ladder of virtues. Abstinence, generally speaking, is something particularly important and very salvific. A little while ago, we heard the Apostle Paul calling on Christians to abstain from shameful feasts and drunkenness, from fornication and uncleanness, from quarrels and envy, as well as not to turn the care of the body into lusts and passions (Rom. 13:13). The Apostle was wise and very enlightened, and he knew human psychology very well, so he calls on the faithful to abstain from passions, so as not to become their slaves. As our Lord Jesus Christ says: “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34).
Let’s take the example of a person who consumes alcohol excessively. Initially, they may have had a little to drink, but over time they allowed themselves to become so addicted to alcohol that it even became their master. If someone were to tell them to try to abstain, it would already be impossible for them. They would sacrifice many things, their peace, health, the peace of their loved ones, and everything else, just to avoid being deprived of their passion because they are completely enslaved and cannot easily overcome their drinking. However, the strength of their deliverance and salvation lies precisely in abstaining. The same is true for someone who enjoys beautiful and abundant meals excessively, to the point where it becomes a passion. If someone were to tell them to fast, it would seem like a death sentence. This is because they have already turned their concern for food and their body into a desire. And if they were to talk to them about beautiful and elevated spiritual things, such as uniting with God, the Holy Communion, worship, it is questionable how much of that they could or would like to understand, and they would even doubt it because they are already slaves to gluttony. However, if they wanted and firmly resolved to fight abstinence, God’s grace would immediately visit them to support them. The same is true for the adulterer, the pleasure-seeker, the gambler, and the addict.
It seems to us that there is no greater and more frightening slavery than when a human, who is verbal by nature, submits themselves and becomes enslaved to some mindless creature, such as drugs. Unfortunately, drug abuse is widespread among young people today, who are still not aware enough and fall into the traps of this deadly, demonic passion. We are all witnesses to this. And how difficult it is for these people to give up this destructive, hellish slavery. They have to go through so much suffering just to decide to give up drugs! But what if someone cannot find the will to make such a decision, what if they do not choose to show restraint? They will completely destroy themselves and their environment and ultimately end up with a humiliating and miserable death. Besides losing their temporary life, they also lose, unfortunately, eternity, for which we are created. However, if they stand firm in abstinence, they will be freed from this demonic addiction.
Don’t think that smoking is a smaller or less dangerous addiction than others. In fact, from all aspects, it is a big madness. Smoking doesn’t benefit a person at all. Besides wasting money that could be used for something good and useful, it also destroys their health and, what’s even more terrifying, endangers the health of others, pollutes the air, and poisons nature. From experience, I know that smokers are heavily dependent people. Many times, I tell those who smoke, “Look, it’s fasting time now and if you confess and stop smoking, you can receive communion every week and on holidays. Holy Communion is the most necessary and important thing; you will be spiritually better, happy, and free…” But as soon as I mention quitting cigarettes, they immediately begin to hesitate and withdraw because that insane addiction has completely taken over them and they do not want to give it up, even if it is for the holiest thing. The cigarette is more important to them than Holy Communion. However, abstinence brings wonderful transformations in people. I have seen many former smokers who have fallen in love with abstinence, quit smoking, and completely changed for the better.
An extremely alarming phenomenon. How dare Christians judge, slander, and even go so far as to throw sticks and stones at the Church’s clergy! And all of this is evident on social media. We will repeat that God is not disgusted by anything as much as He is by condemnation. Therefore, we must particularly refrain from this evil. Unfortunately, there is such a phenomenon when believers are incited by some members of the clergy to publicly slander and condemn other priests, bishops, brothers, and sisters. It’s a decadent state of affairs! Therefore, if we ever find ourselves in such a situation, we should be instructed by members of the clergy to speak or write against someone in the Church, we should respectfully remind them, no matter what rank they may hold, that it is not good: “Father, or Bishop, or Brother, we must not meddle in your affairs; in no case is it good to judge the clergy of the Church, because according to all the holy fathers, it is a great sin. If you have something against one of your brothers, some misunderstanding, then go and tell him personally and understand each other, but don’t involve us, the believers.” Indeed, it is very sad when believers engage in slander, especially on social media, where everyone, educated or not, can see and read. Malicious gossip and condemnation spread, and it causes great temptation. The slanders and condemnations harm not so much those for whom they are intended, but those who provoke and write them, as well as the uneducated in the Church. Today people are searching for Christ, who is essentially needed in the world. In their ignorance and lack of guidance, they enter the internet space to read something nice, but there they come across all sorts of slanders against priests, clergy, and rulers. It is very frightening and tempting. Souls that should follow Christ are being tempted. As the Lord says in the Gospel: “Woe to the man through whom the stumbling-blocks come!” (Matthew 18:7) Imagine now what sin those who condemn us carry! When they slander us, in a spiritual sense, they do us good. But what about those who are yet to find Christ, or those who are new to the Church or still not sufficiently established? Instead of Christians bearing witness to Christ with kindness and love, being a guide for others, they, unfortunately, engage in condemnation, thus turning others away from the Church and from Christ.
My dear ones, just look at how destructive and heavy our passions are, to which we so easily surrender. At first, perhaps hastily and without much reflection, but over time we truly become their slaves. And sin is a cruel master: it torments us, mocks us, and turns us away from the purpose for which we were created, because it does not allow us to unite with God. Instead of striving upwards towards spiritual goals, our passions pull us downwards, towards the earth and destruction.
Let us never forget that this life is only a journey towards our elevated goal, to unite with God and live in the Kingdom of Heaven. That is precisely why, before the greatest holiday in which the purpose of human life is contained – Holy Easter which represents the Kingdom of Heaven, our complete union with God – the Church calls us to spiritual exercises. The word “asceticism” precisely means: exercise, practice. Fasting, on the other hand, is a beautiful arena for spiritual exercises, for spiritual achievements, which of course should not end with the completion of fasting, but continue throughout our whole lives. The recommendations we heard from the Apostle Paul are not only expressed for a specific fast, but are addressed to all Christians and for all periods, for the whole time. Church thought calls us to be temperate – certainly with humility and moderation. We should rule over ourselves, not allow something else to reign over us. Let us not give space to passions and soulless things to rule over us.
Dear friends, we are in the most blessed period, the spiritual spring of the Church, the Holy Forty Days. The fast is a holy time, a time for spiritual exercises and practicing good deeds; a time in which we must dedicate ourselves to spiritual asceticism in order to please God and be united with Him. Moreover, the spiritual wealth that we will gain during the fast should last and continue in our lives. We could say that fasting is like a spiritual workshop in which we repair and upgrade our own soul. During the Lenten services, the book of Lenten Triodion is used, full of penitential and contemplative poetry, which helps us greatly in understanding and purifying ourselves. During this period, if we go to the churches, we will have the opportunity to learn from that wonderful and inspired poetry of the holy fathers and it will be easier for us to understand why abstinence is so necessary.
In the Gospel that we hear too little of, God calls us to forgive each other. In a sense, the fast, which is of great spiritual benefit to us, is also our gift to God. And the Lord says that if someone wants to bring a gift to God, he must first reconcile with his brother, that is, with all people. It is a tradition and commandment of the Church that before the fast, we all forgive each other and ask for forgiveness. People often say, “But I did not sin against him; he sinned against me, hurt me. Therefore, he should come to me and apologize. I do not need to approach him and ask for forgiveness because I did nothing wrong to him.” However, let us ask ourselves: Did Christ sin against anyone? Of course not. It was man who sinned, and the sinless God came and even became a man to forgive us, to save us. He was the first to approach the fallen man. He first extended His hand to redeem man. The sinless One Himself came to sinners and called on man to reconcile.
My dear ones, it is good for us to seek forgiveness. If you are a Christian and strive in the secular life of the Church and know about devotion, then you are the one who should seek forgiveness, even if you have not sinned, and by doing so you will set a good example that you are a disciple of the Lord, who is love and who told us that we will be recognized by our love as His disciples. Let us pray to the Lord to strengthen in us the desire to repent, the desire to become true Christians, and this is best achieved through the virtue of abstinence, with that beautiful and blessed feat that the Church especially offers us in the Holy and Great Lent. Abstinence, we will repeat, is essential for each of us. The characteristic of the era in which we live is abstinence. And that is why we see evil advancing on all sides. People do not want to refrain from their passions, and therefore chaos ensues. First in the family, and then in the whole world, which we have turned into an unbearable and sad place to live. But we Christians are the ones who should be heralds of Christ’s spring. Only Christ gives spiritual health to humanity. We should be His followers and heralds, flowers of Christian spring. Christianity is the spring and resurrection of this world. May the Lord give us strength to pass this fast in blessed abstinence and to learn to apply that blessed self-discipline to the end, so that we too may be saved and set an example for others to be saved.
Forgive me for everything I have sinned in word, deed, and thought, and let us have a beautiful and blessed Honest Fast, so that we may all celebrate Holy Easter together in joy and spiritual happiness. Amen.
