Beloved in the Lord,

The two words most of us would probably use to describe our lives are “too busy." Some have said that all of us suffer from a hyperactivity disorder. We are too busy shuttling to and fro, from activity from home to work, to school, and more. We are too busy with email, online shopping, reading, and social media. And in our state of seemingly perpetual motion, we are also often too busy for God, Church, and our spiritual life. Is there a remedy for our exhausting pace? Our Lord and Savior cries out to all who are too busy, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). Our Lord Himself is calling us to slow so that we can turn to Him.

For centuries, the Christian Church has used the period of Great Lent as a time for inner reflection and meditation. In Latin the term “lent” means to slow down. A lento passage in music is played slowly. Great Lent, in other words, is meant to be our time to slow down, to take a rest from our usual pace and refocus and redirect our lives towards Christ and His Church. All the discipline of Great Lent – the fast, the study, the prayer, the philanthropy – are all intended to give us time for reflection and refocusing our lives.

But this is not an easy task and the Church honestly and realistically communicates this struggle to us. At the Vespers beginning Great Lent we hear the following: “Let us set out with joy upon the season of the Fast, and prepare ourselves for spiritual combat. Let us purify our soul and cleanse our flesh; and as we fast from food, let us abstain also from every passion. Rejoicing in the virtues of the Spirit may we persevere with love, and to be counted worthy to see the solemn Passion of Christ our God, and with great spiritual gladness to behold His holy Passover.”

Calling Great Lent a time of spiritual combat reminds us that none of our Lenten disciplines come easily to us. There are too many distractions that can take us away from God, that can pull us away from His love. Resisting the distractions is part of the combat we must endure. The hectic pace of our regular lives is one of those distractions. We can choose to say no to the non-essential demands on our time; we can choose to simplify our schedules and diets so that we can attend divine services, to spend more time in private prayer, and to read scripture. Our Lord calls us to Himself to find rest and to experience the peace we all desire. And we can find this peace in our Church, which shows us the way.

But these days of rest and reflection are not ends unto themselves. Great Lent will culminate in a celebration, a time of joy: the Resurrection of our Lord. The Good News that we will proclaim at Pascha is not meant to be hidden under a bushel, but to be shared. When the women found the empty tomb they ran to the disciples to tell them the Good News (Matthew 28:8). Likewise we are meant to run to all corners of the world to proclaim the Resurrection and to bring all people to Christ and His Church. So, this Holy season of the Great Fast is a period of preparation we need so that when we experience the empty tomb, when we experience the Resurrection in our lives, we will be able to run and share the Good News with the world.

I pray that this Holy and Great Fast Season be a time of many blessings from our God to you and your beloved families.

With Love in Christ,
+ G E R A S I M O S
Metropolitan of San Francisco