Great lent is here! It's been such amazing moments of reflection, of being refreshed and of repentance.
In this beautiful time, the passage of Christ's revelation about Last Judgement (Matt 25:31-36) stuck really strongly in my mind.
In this particular part of Holy Gospel, Christ clearly tells us how all nations, every human will be judged. Such dreadful yet true as it is, when The Lord The Most Holy and Truthful Judge will reveal all things plainly.
To my amazement, the standard which He will use to judge is love. Do we really love God and do we love our neighbor? Seems then, after all, our very existence must revolve in these two most important matters.
We know that Love comes and flows from The Lord and none else. It is our sins, impurity and disobedience which block His precious gifts to be active and bearing fruits in us. Thus, it is the act of humility and denial of the flesh which makes our heart contrite and be open to the grace of God.
Now, among important things which a Christian can do to have this disposition of heart are... prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These acts are not meant to make us 'good' or religious; rather these acts are what Christ highlighted to be done out of sincerity and love toward Lord and others very powerfully.
Let's ponder very quickly how important these three things are.
Prayer directs our being toward God: our mind, heart, body and soul. Let us lock our small room i.e. our deepest heart to be sanctified by the presence of The Lord in every single moment we have. Let us craving for Him and His presence like a deer panting for the water, and not merely for vain glory.
Fasting makes our flesh and desires bridled thus giving us much more opportunity to think and seek not something worldly, but His Kingdom and righteousness.
Almsgiving done in secret are great ways to help others, to open the abundance of God's mercy to be experienced by our brothers and sisters and not stop in us.
So prayer, fasting and almsgiving... these very powerful staffs for our pilgrimage in the journey of Love. May this not be merely religious duty, rather our yearning to learn and to love God in very real way. Because we want to serve and please Him and because we see Him with us in every moment of our life.
Glory to You, O Lord.
