On the final Sunday before Great Lent begins, Fr. Matthew Howell discusses the relationship between our expulsion from Paradise (like Adam and Eve), our judgment and criticism of our neighbor’s, our ability or lack thereof to forgive, and the reopening of Paradise to us. He starts by talking about Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise and the blame-game they play, and how we do the same thing. He explains the importance of the Holy Doors closing during Forgiveness Vespers and then opening and closing during Lenten services and how this action should remind us of what we lost and what we are working towards. Then he talks about how poisonous judgment and criticism toward our neighbors is, and how our inability to forgive is directly related to our proclivity to judge. He connects the dots by mentioning that the gates of Paradise will reopen to us when we stop judging and start forgiving. Along the way, he talks about the importance of praying for our enemies, but rebrands the “enemy” list to the “list of people I want to love but don’t want to hang out with.”
He finishes by mentioning handouts of good prayers about forgiveness. Those handouts can be found here.
Previous Homilies from Forgiveness Sunday:
Romans 13:11-14; 14:1-4
Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.
Matthew 6:14-21
The Lord said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.