Have I Changed Yet?

Today is the Leave-taking of Pascha, the last day of the Feast. It is the final day we greet each other and sing Christ is Risen, until next year. Last year in my blog “Christ is Always Risen” I wrote about reviving the fervor of Pascha. Today, I still wonder about my fervor.

Every year during Holy Week and Pascha I’m ‘on fire’ for Christ. By the end of Pascha, many of my bad habits have returned. As I thought about what to write about today, I realized not much has changed in my journey. I’m fighting the same temptations. I’m committing the same sins.

I’m not sure what that makes me. I am sure it means I still have a lot of work to do for my salvation. No wonder Protestants preach ‘once saved always saved’. It is so much easier thinking I’m done with what I must do. All that is left for Christ to do His thing.

The problem is, ‘once saved always saved’ is a lie. At any moment we can ‘lose’ our salvation by turning our backs on God. To be clear, I haven’t turned my back on God, but I am disappointed that I haven’t made the spiritual progress I had hoped for a year ago.

So, as we joyously sing Christ is Risen one final time today, I invite you to join me in making this coming year, a year of progress. Make this the year we finally put to rest the temptations and sins that plague our souls.

I invite you to join me in prayer, fasting, almsgiving and the sacramental life of the Church, reading the Scriptures every day, living a life of repentance. Every day is a chance to be closer to God than we were yesterday, let alone last year.

If Christ returns today, let’s make today count. If He doesn’t return today, let’s thank Him for another chance to get it right tomorrow. If we find ourselves here again next year, still tempted by the same temptations and committing the same sins, we can thank Him for more time.