In our Epistle reading this weekend we hear these words of Paul: “It is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith.” This words are very poignant as we begin the Great Fast – our preparation for Pascha.

Now is the time when we should think about our salvation! We should not put off for tomorrow what we can spiritually do today. God again gives us, through the Church, an opportunity to increase the actualization of our potential to become more like Jesus Christ. This, of course, is the major task of this earthly life! Let us wisely use this time of the Great Fast!

In our Gospel reading we hear this exhortation:

Make it your practice… to store up heavenly treasure…. Remember, where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

On this last weekend before the Great Fast, we are reminded that the task of life is to seek forgiveness by extending forgiveness to others. This is one of the reasons, I believe, that we recall the Biblical story of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise. The story highlights how self-centered we humans and how such behavior is destructive to our relationship with God and others. They only thought of themselves and not their relationship with God.

The one temptation common to all humans, it seems, is the temptation of self-aggrandizement and desire for power. We see it rampant in our modern society. Narcissism is strong and prevalent. What people fail to realize, however, is that when we give into this temptation, we typically hurt others as well as ourselves since it lessens us as children of God. This is why, I believe, our Eastern Church would have us begin the Great Fast with asking for forgiveness from God and from one another (this weekend is also called Forgiveness Weekend). If we allow narcissism to rule our lives, we can never actualize the potential to become like Jesus. Why? Because we already think we are great and don’t think we must change. One author has written this: One should love oneself enough not to love oneself too much. What good advice! So our work during the Great Fast is to work on bringing balance into our lives.

To achieve this, we must first desire to change, admit that we need to change and then work to change.