Homily for 2 March 2014: Cheesefare Sunday

Homily for 2 March 2014:  Cheesefare Sunday

(Romans 13:11-14:4)

(Matthew 6:14-21)

 

We start the season of Great Lent with a great reminder from St Paul in today’s Epistle reading:  “Salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.”  This is what Great Lent is all about—making us aware of salvation and helping us get ready.

Great Lent is not all about the rules of fasting, the extra prayers and church services, the giving money for the poor and other works of charity.  These are just the exercises the Church gives us for becoming more aware of God’s gift of salvation and for living in a way that shows we believe in that salvation.

Great Lent is the time for us to wake up from the sleep of everyday life and start truly living the Christian life.  Just as we wake up each morning and greet the light of a new day, we need to wake up at the beginning of Great Lent and rejoice in the light that Christ brings into our lives.  Every morning, we get out of bed and put on our clothes for that day.  We also put on our attitude for the day.  As we begin Great Lent, St Paul tells us to “put on the armor of light,” which is Jesus Christ Himself.  When we put on Christ, we can face anyone and anything with hope and joy and love and faith.

But St Paul warns us against being proud and judgemental.  We have to remember that even when we put on Jesus Christ, we ourselves are not God and we do not completely understand how God works.  We must welcome other people and not worry about what they are doing—or not doing—for Lent.  We must welcome them, because God has welcomed them just as God has welcomed us.  We have to pray and fast and do works of charity to build up our relationship with God, according to our ability.  That’s more than enough for each one of us to deal with.  We have no time—and no business—quarrelling with or judging anyone else.

This is why we begin Great Lent by asking for forgiveness and forgiving one another.  We wipe away all of our quarrels and offenses and judgements and start with a clean surface.  In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us, “if you forgive other people their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive other people, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Jesus also reminds us that Lent is not a time of suffering and gloominess.  He says, “When you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show other people that they are fasting.”  Anyone who makes a big show out of Lenten fasting—or praying, or giving charity—actually sins in two ways:  by taking pride in doing things that God expects all of us to do, and by losing sight of why we do them, which is the eternal salvation our loving God has promised to those who believe in Him.

Jesus says, and St Paul agrees, that our extra efforts in Lent are a private matter between us and God.  We don’t brag about what we do, and we don’t worry about what other people do.  What matters is that we do the best we can to live in a way that is pleasing to God and brings us closer to the Lord—and that we do it with joy, knowing that our salvation is close at hand, and that we always give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.