Having been
anointed with holy ashes, we now fix our gaze upon the cross of the Son of God,
and guided by the light of the paschal fire, we begin our preparation for the
Resurrection of the Savior of the World.
As we considered on Monday, no one will reach the hoped-for day of the
Resurrection, who has not first willingly entered into the tomb. If you seek to rise with Christ, you must
first die with Him.
But how are
we to accomplish this spiritual death?
The answer is simple, and yet so hard for our fallen nature: we must die
to our own human desires; we must renounce the enticement of the body, that
having willingly accepted the death which our first parents dealt to all of
mankind, we may begin to live the life of God.
This is why the Lenten fast is so important. Throughout the year we condition ourselves to
follow the demands of the flesh: we eat when we are hungry, we sleep when we
are tired, and we may curse when we are angry.
This constant assent to the demands of the body has a spiritual
effect. Instead of the soul (intellect
and will) ruling our lower passions, we become enslaved to the tyranny of the
flesh. Far from being able to choose rightly about the good things God has
given to us, we become like animals, going after everything that gives us
pleasure. For this reason, our Holy Mother Church sets before us the forty day
journey of Lent. In this season we seek
to become masters of our lives once again, taking control of our lower passions
so that we may focus upon higher goods.
How difficult it is! As anyone
who has taken the fast with all seriousness knows, to deny the body its most
basic urges exposes the real war between the body and the soul. This war is the war of the cross, and we will
either win or we will lose; there can be no in-between. Either we will have mastered our desires,
after the forty days of Lent, in such a way as to willingly accept death upon
the cross of Christ and burial with Him in the tomb, or we will renounce him as
the Savior, and turn instead to the worship of the body. Therefore, over the
next few weeks, let us turn our attention to the spiritual life, turn our
thoughts to the wise men of the Church, and prepare our souls for the
Resurrection of God.
-Deacon Sabatino
