A Lent Like No Other
Adapted from a sermon by Fr Elijah Iskander
Passage: Matthew 6:1-18
As Lent approaches, we generally have one of three reactions. Sometimes it is excitement, at the opportunity to wake up from my spiritual sleep. Sometimes, it is nothing, we are indifferent toward the fasting period. Sometimes, it is resentment – it is going to be long, it is going to be hard, I’m going to spend my time looking through ingredients. On the eve of Lent, it is good to reflect upon which of those three categories I fall into.
Fr Bishoy Kamel writes about the Journey of Lent;
“The forty days of fasting is a gift from our Lord who fasted for us, and a gift from the Church to her children that they may struggle and become liberated from bitter slavery – the slavery of hatred and grudges; the slavery of worldly desires, idleness in prayer and obedience of the commandments. The Great Lent is a time of rejoicing for the children of the Church, to pass over the weakness of the soul, particularly very difficult matters which we cannot solve. Our Lord, who is fasting with us, will over with the Cross to His church and show the glory and the power of His Resurrection.”
Lent is a gift, a time of liberation, a time for the unsolvable to be solved, for our Lord is fasting with us and for us. If we were to ask Fr Bishoy how he felt about Lent, we have his answer here.
He also adds that fasting is not a prison to the senses, but a soaring without hinderance toward contemplation about the Lord. This is a time for all of us, as a church, to soar, without hinderance, in contemplation of the Lord. It is a gift, it is a liberation, it is a time for the unsolvable to become solvable.
When I consider Fr Bishoy’s thoughts of Lent, I feel like I have been fasting wrong my whole life. How many Lents in my life have come and gone and I don’t experience any of this? We are assured that we aren’t the first to think in this way. The people of Israel also thought the same. They questioned Isaiah in chapter 58, on the famous chapter on fasting.
Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?
Isaiah 58:3
Why have so many Lents come and gone, and I do not even know in the slightest what Fr Bishoy is talking about?
The Gospel on the Sunday before Lent gives us a number of clues. We are instructed to do charitable deeds, to fasts and to pray. There are two phrases that are repeated and emphasised by the Lord.
Regarding charitable deeds, the Lord says, “do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” – Matthew 6:3
He goes on to tell us how we should perform charitable deeds. “But when do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” – Matthew 6:4
He tells us not to be like the hypocrites; “For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” – Matthew 6:5
But we do not pray in this manner. “You, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” – Matthew 6:6
Again with fasting, He tells us, “do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” – Matthew 6:16
If we want to fast properly, the Lord tells us, “anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” – Matthew 6:17-18.
He uses the exact same two phrases throughout. When I fast, when I pray, when I do charitable deeds, I need to determine which of the two categories I fall into – will I have my reward from the praise of men, or will my Father who sees in secret reward me openly?
St John Chrysostom says very simply, “because the Lord is invisible, He would like your prayers to be the same.”
Can this Lent be a time where I taste that this is a gift from the Lord? That I taste that this is a time of liberation? That this is a time for the unsolvable to be solved? That this is a time where I can complete unhindered?
One of the keys is that I must pray, I must fast and I must do my charitable deeds in secret. Can I perform my charitable deeds not looking for praise? For if I am praised, then that is my reward.
The church is very active during Lent, when I attend church services, am I attentive? Do I pray more frequently at home, where no one can see?
What am I doing with my fasting in secret that is different? It could be abstaining for a period of time, giving up other things that I enjoy. Whatever hinders my soul from contemplating on the Lord are things that I consider putting aside for the period of Lent.
The promises of an acceptable fast from Isaiah 58 are something that we can all strive for;
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
Isaiah 58:7-9
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
I will fast, I will pray, I will endeavour to do my charitable deeds in secret so that the Lord may reward me openly. May we beg the Lord that this Lent does not just pass us by, that this time is different. This time we see the joy, we see the liberation, we see the solution of the unsolvable, we contemplate on the Lord, and I focus on building my spirit in the secret place so that in the secret place I may cry out to the Lord and He responds, “Here I am.”