Daily Journey Through the Great Fast With the Early Churchنموونە

Whenever we gather together for the Divine Liturgy, we have Communion with God, doing this “in remembrance of Me.” [Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:18-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25]. When we abide in Him, He will abide in us (John 15:4). The blessing of Him abiding in us is a peace the world does not know and cannot give (John 16:33), joy that is inexpressible (1 Peter 1:8), love that is unconditional.

The blessing of His salvific work for us on the Cross was to put to death our sinful nature and gave us the opportunity to live in the Spirit, thereby being able to put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13). The blessing of strength against temptations our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in the wilderness during the 40 days of fasting (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:11-13, Luke 4:1-14). The blessing of our Savior is He not only tells us about the way of eternal life, but He shows and leads the way. He is "the way, the truth, and the life" [John 14:6]. He does not tell us something He does not do Himself - He showed us the ways of humility against the sin of pride, praying alone in a quiet place and time, love for his enemies, compassion for the brokenhearted, weary, orphans, widows and the outcasts, and shows us forgiveness for the sinners that return in repentance and how we should accept those who come back in repentance. He shows us mercy and that His compassions never fail and they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, blesses us with the sending of the Holy Spirit that proceeds from the Father. When He sent us the “Comforter” Who is the Holy Spirit [John 14:16]. The blessing of the Holy Spirit is the continuing guidance by God, Who dwells in each and every one of the believers who has been Baptized and Chrismated. The blessing of the Holy Spirit is He lives in us and the same power that rose Jesus from the dead lives in the believer! The Holy Spirit will give us boldness and words to speak in front of rulers, judges and all the people of the Earth who persecute us for the Name of Jesus (Matthew 10:19-20). The Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, when we do not know what we should say in prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with "groanings that cannot be uttered" [Romans 8:26-27].

The blessing of salvation is having a clear conscience with God, because we are reconciled and at peace with God once again. We are freed, by the Cross of Jesus, from the guilt of shame that came with disobedience. The blessing of salvation is the gift of joy - joy in times of tribulations...we are given the gift of joy to endure patiently during tribulation knowing that perseverance in tribulation will bring a refinement and abundant blessings. Salvation brings joy, a joy that Christians now are able to endure suffering and trample death by following in the example of Jesus and because of Jesus Christ. The blessing of salvation is that we become aware of God's love towards us, that He would send His Only-Begotten Son to die in order to save us (John 3:16). The blessings of salvation are countless and endless. As we go into Holy Week, make time to sit before the Cross of Christ and ponder on all of these blessings, meditate on the Cross and the blessings we received from that glorious, selfless, transformative love.

“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.” [St. Basil the Great, 4th century Bishop of Caesarea, Confessor and a “doctor of the Church”]