Reflections at Lent

A friend of mine sent me an article that has proven helpful to him during the season of Lent. I was enriched by this so I want to share it here.

Sunday of Forgiveness - Great Lent: A Season of Spiritual Springtime

"Thus saith the Lord Almighty; there shall,be fasts in the House of Judah unto joy and gladness and unto feasts goodly, cheering, and joysome" (cf. Zacharias 8:19)

a. In the Paschal Vigil, the decisive criterion in our experiencing a personal Resurrection-Renewal will not be the maintenance of the Fast, but mutual love; the practice of sympathy and empathy; sensitivity before the misfortune of our brother; the rebuilding of our person relationships with Christ.
b. The Great Fast is not a Great Desert, in which we wander, beleaguered for forty days. But it is a stroll through the Garden of the Kingdom, unique in beauty and comeliness.
c. Nature's Spring coincides with the Springtime of Lent: "The Springtime of the Fast hath dawned, as hath the Blossom of Repentance.
d. In the Lenten Springtime:

• our hearts are warmed and enlightened through prayer-fasting-almsgiving;

•  we return to our fervent and radiant relationship with God and our fellow man;
•  we rise above self-centeredness, that is, we remove ourselves from the center of our attention;
•  we open the realm of our hearts, such that they overflow with God and our brother.

+ Bishop Cyprian of Oreoi