In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
Dear brothers and sisters!
The second week of Great Lent is already passing. We often think that there is still a lot of time ahead: the third, fourth, fifth Sundays of Lent... But human life reminds us of another truth - time is not in our hands. Death comes to everyone, and very often when we least expect it. Therefore, the Church constantly reminds us: we need to live as if every day is important for our salvation.
The Apostle Paul says:
“Keep strict watch over how you walk, because the days are wicked.”—Eph 5:16.
This means that we do not know the day or the hour, but we do know one thing—God gives us time to repent.
Before the beginning of Great Lent, the Church speaks to us a lot about repentance. We have heard the Gospel stories about Zacchaeus, about the tax collector and the Pharisee, about the prodigal son, about the expulsion of Adam from Paradise. All this is a call to see our sinfulness and to want to change our lives.
But when Lent itself begins, the Church shows us something else - the greatness and beauty of our faith. The first Sunday of Lent is the Triumph of Orthodoxy. This is a reminder of the victory of truth over iconoclasm, when the Church confirmed that Christ can be depicted, because God truly became man. In other words, if God entered this world, if he became visible and close, then man is also called to meet Him.
Today the Church remembers St. Gregory Palamas, the great theologian of the 14th century.
His teaching helps us understand one very important truth: God is not far from man.
Sometimes people think that God is so great and unattainable that man can never truly know Him. They say that there is such an infinite distance between God and man that there can be no true encounter. But the Church teaches otherwise.
St. Gregory Palamas explains: although God's essence always remains a mystery to us, God is not hidden from man. He reveals himself to us through His grace, through His living presence.
This is best seen in the event of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. When Christ prayed, His face shone, and His clothes became bright as light. The apostles saw the glory of God. This was not ordinary light, not the light of the sun. This was the uncreated light of God's glory, which in the Church is called the Tabor light.
St. Gregory explains: the apostles saw not just a miracle, but God's grace, which comes from God and can touch a person. This means that a person is called not only to live morally or simply to follow rules. A person is called to something much greater - to deification, that is, to participation in God's life.
It is not for nothing that the Holy Fathers said:
"God became man so that man could become a partaker of God's life."
Through prayer, repentance, struggle with one's passions and purification of the heart, a person gradually opens up to God's grace. And then God begins to enlighten one's life, one's thoughts, one's heart. That is why saints are often depicted on icons with light around their heads. This is a sign that a person who lives with God gradually becomes a partaker of His light.
So, the Tabor Light is a reminder of our calling. Lent is given to us so that we can purify our hearts and return to God again. For, as Christ says:
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
Dear brothers and sisters!
God has given us a great gift—the opportunity to know our faith.
We have the Holy Scriptures, the teachings of the Holy Fathers, catechesis, and spiritual meetings.
Therefore, let us use this time of Lent:
- pray more
- read the Gospel
- to learn our faith
- to purify one's heart.
Because the purpose of fasting is to encounter the living God and allow Him to transform our lives.
May the Lord illuminate our hearts with His light, so that we too may become a light for others.
Amen.
