On the First Sunday of Lent, a Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom on Spiritual Benefit #

From experience itself, beloved, you have seen the goodness of fasting and the benefit that comes from it. For whoever has observed this first week of the holy and great fast understands well his own nearness to God and will be more vigilant in the weeks to come. But if anyone has spent this week in negligence, he does not know what benefit there is in fasting, for he has indulged in sweetness like honey and in fine food. Concerning this, the prophet David says: “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”

You yourselves know the goodness of fasting—that there is no quarreling or vexation, as there is in drunkenness, but rather silence and peace, as evil habits are driven away by fasting. Therefore, I implore you, faithful, let us not forsake the beginning of our fasting. The first week of the fast has passed—let us now be even more vigilant in the remaining weeks, as is fitting for those who seek to progress in what is good. As the Apostle Paul says: “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”

Listen with love, faithful: There are seven weeks of the holy and great fast, of which the most honorable is the seventh, called the Great Week. It is not greater than the others by the number of its hours but because of the great mysteries of the Lord’s Passion that took place in it. Likewise, this first week is greater than those that follow. Just as a king is greater than a prince, and a prince greater than a nobleman, and a nobleman greater than a general, and a general greater than a centurion, and a centurion greater than a captain of ten, so also should you understand this.

If a man desires to approach the king regarding some matter, he first wins the favor of lesser officials, even reaching the high dignitaries who may introduce him to the king. But if he has committed a great offense, he is all the more anxious about how he might be justified before the king. So too, brothers, we do not merely seek to appear before the Heavenly King but to receive within our hearts the Mysteries of Holy Communion. These weeks have been given to us for the cleansing of our sins, provided we observe them properly.

I wish, therefore, to tell you a parable. There was once a king in a certain land who was exceedingly good, loving all his people as his own children and caring equally for all, not only for their bodies but also for their souls. No one was poor in that land, for it was filled with every kind of abundance, as the prophet David says: “Their corn, and wine, and oil were increased.” The king’s chief concern was to provide for the poor and needy, and he established a law that the wealthy should give to the poor. As it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: “Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.” Such was that land, and such was that king.

This good king had seven exceedingly beautiful daughters, and he commanded all the people to come and honor him and his daughters. He seated them in order, placing the youngest at a distance and the eldest closest to himself. Some honored them all equally, thus pleasing the king. Others honored only the youngest while passing by the rest without offering reverence. Seeing this, the good king, turning his mercy into wrath, commanded his servants to drive them away from his presence and hand them over to tormentors for punishment.

Did the good king act unjustly in this? If you wish to understand who this king is, I will tell you. The good king is the Creator and Maker of all, the Lord, Christ our true God. The land full of good things is the Church of God, wherein the whole world is saved through repentance. The Law and the Prophets preached Christ, declaring how He would descend to earth, become man like us, apart from sin, be crucified, buried, and rise again on the third day. Afterward, He sent forth the Apostles, calling us into the heavenly kingdom, and to this day He ceases not to teach, crying out: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And again: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

What could be greater than this grace? The king’s daughters represent the seven weeks of the holy and great fast, which we are commanded to honor above all other days of the year through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Therefore, brothers, if we have honored this first week well—the youngest of the king’s daughters, sitting farthest from her father—let us also honor the others. But if we have honored only the first and neglect the rest, then, brothers, what shall we answer on the dreadful day of God’s righteous judgment? How shall we justify ourselves if we do not seek to keep these holy days with purity?

I beseech you, let us not say that we are unable to keep the fast in its entirety as we did in the first week. This is a poor excuse and a worthless justification, full of self-indulgence. For if, after having passed through the first week, abstaining from excess food and drink, we have strengthened ourselves, how much more will we be able to complete the whole fast? I do not compel anyone to fast beyond their strength, but let each fast according to his ability—only let us cast away the impieties of this life: drunkenness, fornication, blasphemy, judgment of others, malice, envy, lying, slander, wrath, injustice, theft, greed, and all other evils.

Let us give alms more abundantly than on other days so that with a pure conscience we may bow before the Precious Cross and reach the Lord’s Passion, becoming worthy to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. Show kindness to the poor, the needy, orphans, and widows, for they always pray to God for us, and it is for their sake that God grants us greater blessings. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.

Therefore, brothers, let us be diligent in fasting and prayer, in prostrations and almsgiving, to purify both soul and body so that we may reach the Resurrection of Christ with love. It is not difficult if we desire to do good—only let us not grow weak, nor fall into laziness, nor indulge in bodily pleasures, lest we lose the labor we undertook in the first week.

To our God be glory, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.