MONDAY

Copyright ©2021 by Deborah Belonick. All Rights Reserved. Published by Ancient Faith Publishing.

DAY BEFORE GREAT LENT Cheesefare/Forgiveness Sunday

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:12–26

Meditation

Today’s scripture announces the threshold of the Great Fast. In the text—prescribed for the Wednesday before Great Lent—God calls His people to return to Him. In almost the same breath, He orders a period of fasting. Clearly, God’s beckoning and His decree for a fast are connected.

God calls me back to Him, knowing my heart is far, far away. Similarly, I acknowledge my focus has strayed from Him—I have sought nourishment, happiness, security, and fulfillment everywhere and in everything but Him. And I realize: no matter how much “life” I try to consume, I am never really satisfied.

When I am honest with myself, I know I am far from Him, because my heart is stone cold. My prayer is weak, and I grow bored reading

His Word. I go through the motions during church services, yet they have no effect on me. I am usually unhappy and complaining. I have no joy. Instead, I feel spiritually shipwrecked. Sometimes I feel nothing. My thoughts and emotions signal I have moved away from my Lord, who gives abundant life (see John 10:10).

Yet God is always calling me back, asking me to turn and to focus on Him. If I do, He will receive me gladly and provide the fulfillment that now escapes me.

To make this possible, God has set aside a fast—moments in time when I can turn from my usual activities and reflect and repent. He shows the way and provides the strength. Given His great grace and my meager effort, He will fill me with the life-giving spring of water my inner heart craves (John 4:14).

Font of Wisdom

As abbot of the Monastery of St. Mamas, St. Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022) instructed the monks under his charge daily,