Cheesefare Sunday

Ambon Prayer 11

The Holy Apostle Archippus (the commemoration of the Saint is omitted)

Title

The Divine Discipline of Asceticism

Outline

I have been reading a book Liturgical Asceticism

It is oriented more towards the Eastern rites

A major point is that ascetic practices are not an attempt to reject matter or the good things or even pleasure, but rather a means of bringing the human passions under control to free us to serve (leitourgia) God in all we do - to make all of life a liturgical act

Now, it is true that some monastics do seem to reject the material world, that they are manichean or platonists, but the holy saints left the world until they gained mastery and then returned to draw others into the freedom of worship.

That is our texts today

Romans is clear about this

“You know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep.” We do not have time to mess around, for the end, at least of our lives, is nearing: “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.”

So we need to gain ascetic victory: “Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Among those things one casts off are drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling and jealousy.

But there is a positive side: “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” One casts off in order to have freedom to put on.

An example of quarreling and jealousy are debates over ascetic practices: “One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables.” Sounds like the Great Fast. But the Great Fast is not a divine ordinance but a discipline of the Church in its wisdom to help us gain freedom from what binds us. If it ends up in quarrels and jealousy or in judgment and separation, it has not brought freedom, but bondage to different demons.

Jesus, on the other hand, points us to ends rather than means

First, an ascetic disciple can point to an ultimate end, not a relative freedom that is one step forwards: “if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you.” Being forgiven is an ultimate end, and if we do not drop our binding others and turn the issue over to Jesus, we are the ones trapped

Second, an ascetic discipline should be directed towards God rather than towards people, as in his example of fasting. It is not that people will see you fast and think more highly of you - that is pride or vainglory. It is that God will see your asceticism as a disciplined athlete breaking free from what binds him or her - that is the goal. And aiming at that goal should make us joyful, for “your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Third, an ascetic discipline should be directed towards ultimate good. All our savings and collecting on earth do not guarantee our security or well-being, despite requiring a type of ascetic discipline. But that same style of discipline directed rightly brings ultimate good: “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

It also brings proximate good, for it places our hearts already in the ultimate place: “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Brothers and Sisters, follow the wisdom of God

There is the general wisdom of the Church in that the discipline of an ascetic diet not only breaks the power of the passions of the stomach over us, gluttony is Evagrius’ term, but also radiates into other areas of life and quietens our life in general for increased devotion.

There is also the specific calls the Spirit whispers in our ears, practices and things - usually not evil in themselves - we may give up for a period in order to gain freedom in other areas of our life. It takes about 40 days to break a habit.

The night is far spent, the day is closer at hand that we may think. It may be that the dawning of the day of resurrection will be a bigger dawn than we imagine. At the least it should be the dawning of a new stage of freedom in our lives when we have exchanged some past bondage for putting on the Lord Jesus Christ in a new way so as to live in the day, even if darkness is the experience of the world around us.

Readings

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) 2-26-2023: Forgiveness Sunday or Cheesefare Sunday

EPISTLE

Romans 13:11–14:4

11  Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; 12  the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13  let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

14  As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. 2 One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. 3  Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) 2-26-2023: Forgiveness Sunday or Cheesefare Sunday

GOSPEL

Matthew 6:14–21

14  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18  that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Notes

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) (2-19-2023: Forgiveness Sunday or Cheesefare Sunday)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2023 | TRIODION AND GREAT LENT

Byzantine Lectionary (Revised Julian) 2-26-2023: Forgiveness Sunday or Cheesefare Sunday

FORGIVENESS SUNDAY OR CHEESEFARE SUNDAY

Matins Gospel Luke 24:1–12 (37th Sunday)

Epistle Romans 13:11–14:4

Gospel Matthew 6:14–21