In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Another person wrongs me and I am burned up inside: anger possesses me as I go about my day. Someone speaks an unkind word and I am full of rage, someone does an unexpected act and I am apoplectic, someone merely exists and I am full of fury. I allow my health to suffer for the sake of my vexation, my relationships to suffer for the sake of me irritation, my life to suffer for the sake of holding on to these wrongs against me.
Another person has a bad day and gets over it, is spoken to rudely and lets it go, gets into an accident but brushes it off. And his life—his health, his relationships, his work, his relaxation—is of a better standard because of it. He may have nothing but possesses everything.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord commands us to forgive. Not suggests nor encourages, He commands. But this is not for the sake of the other person, it is for our own. For when we hold onto anger it eats away at us, corrupts us, turns us towards pride and entitlement. When I hold onto anger it is I who suffers, not the other person. Anger seeks to possess its victim, demonise its victim, pull down its victim. And in holding onto it I turn my back on God.
God, in His mercy, commands us to forgive. We forgive and anger no longer possesses us, we forgive and we bring a little positivity into the world, we forgive and we become more like God. Perhaps the forgiveness will be rejected, but we forgive anyway, perhaps the forgiveness is not deserved, but we forgive anyway because I should not be the one to suffer for another’s failures: and when we lack the strength to forgive, when we just can’t bring ourselves to forgive, we ask God to make up in us what is lacking and give us the strength to forgive—this may come instantly or may take a lifetime of prayer—and He will make up what is lacking.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are at the brink of the Fast, the contest lies ahead. And in the distance we see the great victory appointed for us, the Pascha of the Lord. Let us enter this arena with forgiveness that God will see our efforts and grant us all that is necessary for our salvation which “is nearer to us now than when we first believed.”
To our crucified and risen God and Savior Jesus Christ, Who from the Cross forgave us our wrongs against Him that we may have Life, be all glory, honour and worship, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit. Amen.
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 armour 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.
— Romans 13:11–14, 14:1–4
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.
— Matthew 6:14–21