Daily Journey Through the Great Fast With the Early Churchনমুনা

A few days ago I heard the words “treat your body like it belongs to someone you love.” If how I treated my body was the litmus test for the love I have for my spouse and family then it turns out I am not doing a good job at loving them at all. I had completely neglected my duty to care for myself, neglected caring for what was given to me.

Damage to how you view yourself ruins how you treat yourself. The things we experience and the scenes we see on tv and social media truly hurt the expectations we set for ourselves. Sometimes we try to live up to these outlandishly ridiculous expectations and other times the thought of not being able to attain it beats us down - both are toxic.

The toxic things we put inside our bodies and the toxic things we tell ourselves will eventually catch up to our spiritual body. The Lord Jesus Christ told the Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-26, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” The Pharisees were not producing the proper works and fruit that was expected of them; on the contrary, their works were in vain and they were fruitless. They filled themselves with toxic behaviors like making long prayers to receive the glory of the people rather than to glorify God. They were barren deserts, “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”[Matthew 23:27] - how sad that they appeared to be perfect on the outside but God saw right through them and saw how dead they were inside.

We have been given “this treasure [the Light of Christ’s Gospel] in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” We must take great care of the vessels we have been given -a beautiful spirit needs a sturdy vessel.

As I was reading today’s Gospel, I started to think of myself as the irresponsible tenants. The landowner prepared everything needed at the vineyard and rented it out to tenants, then some time passed, after the landowner moved away, he sent servants to bring back the fruit the vineyards yielded. Instead of giving what was needed, the tenants killed the servants. The landowner sent more servants, the tenants killed them as well. The landowner, loving his son very much, sent his son the third time as a sign of respect to receive the fruit, instead, the tenants killed him. The tenants did not care about the landowner, his investment, welfare or his family - they selfishly took what they wanted, forgetting that the landowner leased the land to them and it was not theirs to keep.

St. John Chrysostom puts into perspective the extreme negligence of the tenants simply by outlining the work of the great Landowner, “And observe also both His great care, and the excessive idleness of these men. For what pertained to the husbandmen, He Himself did, the hedging it round about, the planting the vineyard, and all the rest, and He left little for them to do; to take care of what was there, and to preserve what was given to them. For nothing was left undone, but all accomplished.”

When you find yourself in moments of forgetting the truth worth of the gift given to you and the purpose God has laid before you, meditate on the eternal life to come.Meditating on the eternal life to come will help you refocus on the works and fruit of the Gospel you have produced.

Be reminded in order to repent. Be reminded in order to uplift your soul. Be reminded in order to awaken your life of prayer. “Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.” [Ezra 10:4] Be reminded that this body we were given, this Spirit we were given, belong to God and will be accounted for at the end of our lives, whether we used them to produce works and fruit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not neglect this vessel that God has entrusted to you.

“You ought to begin here: you should with indelible memory, and ever mindful of giving it your unceasing attention, recollect for yourself all the things that God, in His love for humankind, has done for you, and all the special dispensations and benefits He is giving you now for the salvation of your soul. When the soul recalls the benefits it has received from birth from God because of His love for humankind – either how it has often been rescued from so many dangers or how, despite falling into so many evil ways and often willingly slipping into sin, it was not rightfully handed over to deceiving spirits for destruction and death, but instead the long-suffering and benevolent Master, overlooking its sins, protected it, awaiting its conversion – it recalls that, when it willingly enslaved itself to its enemies and to evil spirits on account of the passions, God continually supported it, watching over the soul and providing for it in every way.” [St. Mark the Hermit, 5th century ascetic and theologian]