The End….for now

Today is the final day of Great Lent, and our final post for our 2022 Daily Lenten Journey. For forty days, the Church has asked us to read from the Old Testament, specifically Isaiah, Genesis and Proverbs and today we come to the final verses in each. They might be the final verses we read, but they are not the end of the story. Great Lent is ending today, but our journey to Christ is just getting started.

Tomorrow, with the Feast of the Saturday of Lazarus and Palm Sunday, the Church offers us a brief respite to prepare us for Holy and Great Week. Before we get to Holy Week, though, here is my final exhortation, since this year I have chosen not to blog during Holy Week.

“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her.” (Isaiah 66.10) These words open our final reading from Isaiah with a reminder of what is coming. Yes, we will be exhausted next week after seven days of Church. Yes, we will be hungry after so many weeks of fasting. Yes, we will rejoice with the Angel and Saints and all creation. Take advantage of the coming week to fully engage in Holy Great and Week.

Take the time to pray IN CHURCH, every night. Holy and Great Week is our annual pilgrimage as Orthodox Christians. Don’t spoil it with surfing the internet, or binge watching the newest episode of your favorite show. You don’t have to turn everything off. Just don’t waste the chance you have THIS year to take a pilgrimage with Christ to the Cross, Tomb and Heaven.

If you have been engaged for the first time this year, or have been ‘doing’ Great Lent for years, next week is worth every minute you give. Have a blessed Holy and Great Week. If you can’t get to Church, you can watch our host parish online at https://StNicholasTarpon.org/livestream