Well, we’re practically at the beginning of Lent; we couldn’t put it off any longer! (It starts on Monday for us; actually, the liturgical day starts in the middle of Vespers on Sunday evening.) After having given us teachings over the past few weeks on how to prepare for Lent—humility, repentance, the prospect of the coming judgment—the Church now shows us what it looks like in practice. Today we celebrate, as the liturgical rubric puts it, “our holy and God-bearing fathers who shone forth in the ascetic life.” The example of the saints, especially the holy monks and nuns, is offered as an encouragement for us to take up our crosses and fight the good fight as we prepare for the labors of Lent.
We have two Gospels for today (Mt. 6:1-13 and 11:27-30), the first one being a prelude to tomorrow’s Gospel, with which it presents to us the traditional Lenten teaching on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. But since we are celebrating our holy fathers and mothers in monastic life, I’d like to look at the common for the “venerable ones,” along with the common epistle from Galatians (5:22 – 6:2).
When one hears the word “ascetical,” what usually comes to mind are images of emaciated people wearing hairshirts and subsisting on a minimum of food and sleep, poorly dressed and enduring all manner of hardship and renunciation. This is partly true, for as Jesus said in his tribute to St John the Baptizer, those who wear fine clothes and live in luxury live in kings’ palaces—which means they won’t be found in monasteries or in the dwellings of ascetics. But the readings for the Liturgy show us a deeper aspect to the mystery of those who have “shone forth in the ascetic life.” Let us first look at the Epistle to the Galatians.
Part of it does sound like it fits the common understanding of the ascetical life: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” This is what we might call the “negative” aspect of asceticism. We’re saying “no” to the passions and desires of the flesh, and St Paul used the graphic image of pounding nails through these passions and fixing them to the Cross. This is the ongoing struggle for all who are burdened with the effects of original sin but who want to be liberated from all sinful constraints and thus made free for the journey to the Kingdom of Heaven. St Paul gives it as a kind of identity-check. Who are you? Are you someone who belongs to Christ Jesus? Then you are one who crucifies the passions of the flesh.
But there are also a number of positive elements in this reading. The ascetics are those who have no conceit, who do not provoke or envy other people. Ascetics practice fraternal correction in a spirit of gentleness, mindful of their own weaknesses and always willing to bear the burdens of others. Here we come closer to the heart of true asceticism.
The bottom line of the Christian life according to St Paul, and of the ascetical life according to the Byzantine Liturgy, is the bearing of the nine-fold fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Now we really know what true asceticism is all about: it is a lot harder to be loving, joyful, patient, kind, gentle and self-controlled than to wear a hairshirt and skip meals. So perhaps this ought to be our ascetical program for Lent: try to be joyful and kind, try to be loving and patient with others, try to be peaceful and gentle, within yourself and in relation to others. But don’t forget the fasting and prostrations and the crucifying of all that is not of the Holy Spirit! It all works together to bring body, mind, and spirit under the dominion and the blessing of God, for our inner transformation and for obtaining grace for others.
Finally, let us hear the word of the Lord in the Gospel—and this really is the most bottom of bottom lines. He says simply: “Come to Me.” This is the fundamental answer to everything, to all questions about asceticism and spiritual life. Come to Jesus with your whole heart, with your “whole life and hope,” as our Liturgy says. But what does He want us to do when we come to Him? “Learn from Me,” He says, “for I am meek and humble of heart.” To come to Jesus is to seek to be like Him, to learn how to please the Father and do his will, and none of this will be possible without the indispensable prerequisite of humility. If we live Lent in humility, we will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and our souls will find rest and refreshment in Jesus.
That is essentially what our God-bearing fathers and mothers who shone forth in the ascetic life did. If we come humbly to Jesus, willing to crucify the flesh and bear the fruit of the Spirit, we too will shine forth: as an example for others, and for the good pleasure of the Lord.
Making All Things New 