Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
During this time of Great Lent, let us bring to your attention a part of the sermon of our Bishop Vsevolod.
Death is increasingly invading our lives, and even if this is not death itself, then its harbingers (three preceding “horsemen of the apocalypse”): epidemics, war and famine. They are now our constant companions. And death is somewhere next to them.
And therefore it seemed to me that the words that ten days ago we, the priests, repeated to our parishioners, drawing ashen crosses on their foreheads, sounded so ominous, “Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
Is it necessary to point people to the already obvious? Is it really necessary to remind everyone once again of the fragility of our human life? Is it really possible for any of us to forget about the sufferings around us at least for a while? Doesn’t the Church have some other words for us, softer and more comforting?
That is what I am thinking after the Ash Wednesday liturgy. How can I forget that I am dust? But yet, you and I need to hear these words. Because they are not only a reminder of who we are, but also of what Christ has done for us.
“Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you will return.” But also know, man, that God loved you and gave you the Savior. To you and to everyone: Christ Who died for us on the cross, where our death was conquered by His death. Christ, Who took upon Himself the punishment that we must bear.
We deserved it, but He was made responsible for us. His death became our life, and the instrument of execution, the cross, became a sign of salvation. That is why the ashes on our foreheads take on the salvific shape of the cross.
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For if, being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Rom. 5:10)
Who are we without Christ? Only dust. But by partaking of Christ, we are saved by His life (Rom. 5:10). Because the Lord said, “the one who eats Me, he will live by Me” (John 6:57). In the Eucharist, His life flows into us, becomes our life.
So come to church. This is where your salvation is worked out (from Phil. 2:12). God is waiting for you here during this time of Great Lent and always. Leave (at least for a while) the vanity and thoughts about the earthly, and come to commune of the heavenly Bread. And although life on earth will still be hard, the One Who died for you will be with you and in you to give you eternal life.
Please pray for your brethren in Siberia, and for peace.
On the photos: last Sunday our Bishop administered the confirmation of the adults and children in the parish of Saint Mary in Tomsk.
