Lent at the End of the World
When Thou comest, O God, to earth with glory, and all the creatures tremble before Thee, and the river of fire floweth before the Altar of Judgment, and the books are opened and sins revealed, deliver me then from that unquenchable fire, and make me worthy to stand at Thy right hand, O Righteous Judge!
Kontakion for the Sunday of the Dread Judgement (Meatfare)
“Wars and rumors of wars” surround us today. The Lord told us that this is a sign of the approaching end of the world and His Second Coming. There have, indeed, always been wars and catastrophes in human history, but today man has the technology to commit two crimes never possible before: 1. Global war on a scale which can destroy vast portions of the human race and therefore can frighten men into accepting 2. All-powerful global government. More important than man’s having this technology - which is, after all, only a tool and not the crime itself - is that men are in fact cooperating with an unprecedented outpouring of demonic energy. Today there is a dominance of the demonic in human affairs at a level never seen on earth since before the First Coming of Christ. The outward organization of the True Church is in disarray and full retreat from any influence over human affairs. Left thus unprotected, people will, apart from a miraculous conversion to Orthodoxy, give themselves over to demonic passions and despair, thus setting the stage for outward slavery to evil forces which will manifest their inward bondage to the devil. What can we do to save ourselves in such a situation? Finding the answer to this question and living by it should preoccupy us day and night, for our eternal destiny is at stake: Will we pass the test and be loyal to Christ, or will we fall? The answer to this question, “How do we save ourselves?” is not written in a pop paperback with a scary cover, written by some sectarian preacher who has “figured out” the biblical prophecies. It does not lie in fanatical political movements. The answer is using the tools we already have in Orthodoxy that we do not use. Again, these are simply the “technology.” We have to use the technology to win, not just admire it on the shelf.
Here is the program of action I urge on you, that I urge all of us to work together on:
1. To make our families Orthodox fortresses of prayer and the saving way of life.
2. To make our local Church, our parish, also, a quiet but militant fortress of Orthodoxy.
In other words, the big structures – Christian nation and national Church – have disappeared as viable entities. Whatever is left of these structures is an empty façade and a potential trap. We have to face this and move on. We can still be saved by “hiding in the dens and caves of the earth,” which in the present period does not yet mean literally fleeing into the countryside but working with the structures we still have – parish Church and family. To make this happen successfully, we have to perform specific actions consistently. God has given us the tools; He will give us the power, that is, the grace. We have to act.
God designed Great Lent as the time to make a fresh start. NOW, as Lent approaches, let us resolve to do a few basic things and stick to them:
1. Turn off the TV and other entertainment devices in the home and pray as a household at least once every day.
2. Keep the fast from meat and dairy products during the entire Lent/Holy Week period, and, in addition, prepare for Holy Communion at least twice during this period by confessing, keeping a three day strict fast (no oil), and attending Vespers the night before the Liturgy.
3. Make a commitment to the parish to donate x hours of work for the church when the priest or council asks us, and fulfill the commitment.
This short to-do list may seem too simple, too uncomplicated, and perhaps not clever enough for life “at the end of the world.” But we have to start at the beginning before doing greater things. There is an old saying: If something works, keep doing it. Prayer, fasting, and alms (material sacrifice and service hours for the Church and the needy) have worked to save man since the day our first parents lost Paradise. Let’s get back to basics and execute. Time is running out.