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Brothers and Sisters:

Great Lent was the period in the early Church when the catechumens were prepared for full initiation at Pascha. The other members of the community prepared with them and renewed their own Baptismal promises. With that in mind, I'd like to pose some questions along that line.

A hymn that continues to haunt me from the Byzantine Liturgy is rendered in one translation

"FOR AS MANY AS HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST, HAVE PUT ON, HAVE PUT ON CHRIST."

What does it mean to be baptized into Christ? What does it mean for you? Is it something that fills you with any sort of gratitude? What is Baptism all about anyway?

We have few adults who seek Baptism today but there are so many "unchurched" people out there. Are we missing out on telling them something about this Mystery?

Are there some obligations that go with Baptism or is it just something we do for infants?

What does it mean to "put on Christ"? Is it related to being a mirror of Him to the world? To others in our own community? What might cloud that reflection? Do I think about this when I walk out the door every morning? If not, why not? Am I spiritually focused on me and my own relationship with Christ to the exclusion of telling others about Him? Is this some sort of cultural thing--keeping my faith or even the Faith to myself so as not to offend and be labeled a "fanatic"? The Lord tells us He will acknowledge us before His Heavenly Father if we do the same before others. He also says He will not do so if we don't acknowledge Him before others. Should that make us stop and think?

Am I joyful about having been baptized into Christ and having put Him on like a garment?

With Baptism comes Chrismation in the Byzantine tradition. There is nothing in my humble opinion like the very smell of chrism--something like a reminder of Heaven; a smell that seems to lift one's spirit above the mundane.

Am I aware of the great dignity that has been conferred on me by Chrismation? Am I aware of the fact that God has made a covenant with me and made me a permanent part of His Family, the Church, whether I am faithful or not? Do I realize that He has sought me out from among all the billions of people walking around--hand-picked me--to be part of His Family?

Has any of this crossed my mind at all? Lately? Ever? When I prepare for confession this Holy Season might this be part of my realization that I really need to look deep inside to see how awful sin actually is? Should my repentance be deeper when I look at all that God has done for me and how I've thrown it all back in His Face?

St. Seraphim of Sarov tells us that all our ascetic efforts are THE MEANS to acquire the Holy Spirit. When we were chrismated, the words "the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit" were repeated as we were anointed. God sealed us with His Covenant and His promise. Do I realize what it means to kick the Holy Spirit out by sin?

Some say that we may be the only Bible others ever read by the way we live our lives. Can someone tell me from secular literature or the unchurched around me?
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These questions don't make me comfortable when I look inside here where I live.

BOB

St. Seraphim of Sarov says




1. Does my fasting, extra prayer and quiet time, additional attendance at church services, almsgiving, Bible reading, and other other positive and negative mortifications during Lent make me more like Christ? What does it mean to be more like Christ? Am I more loving? More patient? More understanding of my neighbor? More willing not to listen to gossip? To negative reports about another?

2. Has my spiritual growth this Lent made me more likely to forgive first and not hold a grudge? Have I let go of long-held hurts that may have been baggage for me and been dragging my spiritual life down? Has Forgiveness Sunday become for me a way of life or was it something I did then and moved on from?

3. Have I begun to do the hard work of praying for those who REALLY hate me? Who REALLY want to see me fail? Have I forgiven as Jesus did from the Cross--"Father, forgive them; they know not what they do."

4. Have I done one "random act of kindness" for someone who could not repay me in any way? Have I done something kind for another that no one knows about except God, even the one who received my alms?

5. St. John Chrysostom says that it is better to eat meat than to eat the flesh of the brethren. What have I done to build up my parish community this Lent? Am I a "back-biter" who talks behind someone's back to their detriment, to the scandal of others in my faith community and the larger community in which I live?

6. When Pascha arrives will I lose all this changed life and return to being the same person that I was on Forgiveness Sunday? If so , what has Lent meant--REALLY? Do I make an idol of the disciplines I undertake for this Holy Season? An idol that I will cast aside because my heart is not converted, but merely the same fickle one I started Lent with?