As we draw near to the beginning of Lent, we're called to examine ourselves more deeply, to clear away what dims the light of Christ within us. This holy season invites us to look honestly at our lives, not with harsh judgment, but with loving and careful attention. We are called to prepare our hearts as we would prepare a room for an honored guest. In this spirit of preparation, St. Basil the Great offers timeless wisdom:
Be attentive to yourself. That is, observe yourself carefully from every side. Let the eye of your soul be sleepless to guard you. You walk in the midst of snares. Hidden traps have been set by the enemy in many places. So observe everything, that you may be saved like a gazelle from traps and like a bird from snares. —St. Basil the Great
Finding Our True Self in the Lenten Journey
Years ago, a beautiful and wise soul in our parish asked a profound question about knowing who we truly are and living as God's beloved children: "How does one get beyond the you that you've come to know as authentic, real and true, so you can discover the real you who is known and loved by God?"
This question speaks to the very purpose of our Lenten journey. Our church invites us, especially during this season of repentance, to be real and authentic before Christ. Through confession, we can strip away all the lies and half-truths that have been imposed on us, and reflect the true person God created in His image and likeness—the person Christ both knows us to be, and calls us to become.
Christ calls us to take stock of our condition daily. The examination of thoughts and confession of sins are integral to the ascetical life, to growth into the Kingdom. To cease the continual self-examination of the heart is to fall prey to the suicidal lethargy of the human race in its sinful condition." —Archimandrite Irenei, The Beginnings of a Life of Prayer
Moving Forward into Life
According to Dn. John Chryssavgis, confession can be looked at as a forward movement into life, a movement that mirrors Christ's own resurrection. It is not an invitation to hopeless guilt but to freedom and responsibility. The purpose of confession is not that we be ashamed or demoralized but rather to point us towards life; a life characterized by honesty, integrity and personal accountability to God, to all others, and to oneself.
To repent is to awaken from the sleep of ignorance, to rediscover our soul, to gain the meaning and purpose of our lives by responding to the incomparable love of the One who is not of this world, the One who demonstrates His own love toward us. The focal point should not be our imperfection but the perfect love of Jesus, who is good and loves humankind. —Dn. John Chryssavgis
The Restoration of Souls
In the ministry of confession, Christ helps the priest become a restorer of souls. Just as we begin Great Lent with the Sunday of Orthodoxy, celebrating the restoration of icons, we too are called to a kind of restoration. Like those who lovingly restore ancient icons, removing layers of darkened oil and accumulated dirt with a careful hand, the priest approaches a penitent soul. With spiritual attention and love, not judgement or condemnation, he helps remove the layers that obscure our true image, revealing first a small window of purity, then gradually uncovering more and more of the divine likeness within.
This careful work requires great tenderness, for the soul, like an ancient icon, can bear both deep wounds and profound beauty. How careful one must be, how spiritually attentive to the injured soul not to harm it in trying to direct a person toward the path of light.
Christ wants to uncover the dirt and lies that build up and distort our true nature! Through His love in confession, we begin to see ourselves more clearly in His pure light, preparing our hearts for the journey ahead.
May God strengthen us as we prepare our hearts and embrace the beauty of soul restoration in this holy season of Great Lent!
+Fr. Tom
Related Posts
