Dear Friends
Before setting out on a quest, the hero of legend must prepare himself. It would be no use embarking on his journey to fight foe and dragon for the sake of truth and righteousness without training, collecting the right equipment and assembling a team to support him. Tale records the woes which befall those who hastily and thoughtlessly presume to take on great feats.
The season of Lent is nearly upon us and like those men of myth we too must prepare to become the heroes and heroines we were created to be; our quest is no less dangerous than those of Odysseus, Hercules or Achilles because to be Christian is not merely to join the safety of a harbour but to set sail against the evil of this world, not to escape the storms of this world but to attack them as part of Christ’s conquest—to be a Christian is to associate so strongly with the victory Christ wrought through the Cross that we take up arms against the enemy alongside him.
For us to prepare, the Church herself gives the preparation—exactly ten weeks before we celebrate the victory of the Resurrection at Pascha we open the book of the services of Lent, called the Triodion. And I listen to the hymns and I am ashamed of the sins I have let into my life.
Open unto me, O Giver of Life, the gates of repentance: for early in the morning my spirit seeks thy holy temple, bearing a temple of the body all-defiled. But in thy compassion cleanse it by thy loving-kindness and thy mercy.
Hymns after Psalm 50, Sunday Matins, Sundays of the Triodion.
If I truly want to be a warrior of Christ, if I want to be part of Christ’s Gospel, if I want to set out on this quest with a true purpose as a hero of the Kingdom, I must repent. I must give up what is earthly and turn my soul to the Lord. As a human, all I have to offer him is frail and weak yet if I offer it to Christ with my whole heart he returns to me what is strong, if I offer to him my mortality he returns immortality, my death he returns abundant life.
My dear brothers and sisters, Lent is nearly upon us. Embark on this journey with the Church. We will be tested, we will be tried, but by holding fast to Christ—by putting away from us our sins—we are assured his Victory.
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Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
What does the life of a Christian look like, my brothers and sisters? How do we behave? And we can look at these questions on a moral level: we can do this in terms of negatives, do not kill, do not steal, or positives, feed the poor and so on. And these are all true. And when someone comes who does not fit these criteria, these rules, we may try to keep them away from the purity of the Church.
The Pharisees, too, knew what it was to be a child of God, and in their desire for the purity of the Law of Moses all else was expendable. The scribes and Pharisees followed Christ even from Jerusalem to Galilee, so Christ withdrew to the northwest, to the region of Tyre and Sidon, to teach his disciples: he teaches them through the witness of a certain Canaanite woman.
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Read last Sunday’s sermon, The moral Christian.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 11th February
Discussion on the book of Exodus, 8 pm
Online only
Saturday 12th February
Vespers, 6.30 pm
At St Francis’ Hall, Eastleigh
Sunday 13th February
Divine Liturgy, 9.30 am
At St Francis’ Hall, Eastleigh
Online session is via Google Meet: please get in contact for the details.
As part of our measures against Covid-19, we strongly request all who attend our services to take a lateral flow test prior to attending.
Please join us: all are welcome, come and see.
Attending Church
We will be meeting at St Francis’ Hall, Nightingale Avenue, Eastleigh, SO50 9JA. We request you wear a mask unless exempt. Come and See.
Can I help you?
I am here for you, you need only ask. Is there a way I can support your life of faith? Get in touch.
Can you help the mission?
Yes, absolutely. Offer yourselves to the Lord: pray! Make available to him all your talents and ask him how he would like you to use them — listen for his reply.
Your prayers!
With love in Christ
Fr Alexander
[email protected]