Become a monthly supporter of my online ministry and join me every week on Zoom for a Bible Study of the Gospel of Luke.
To accommodate participants in varying time zones throughout the world, I offer the same class at four different sessions:
• Tuesday, 3:00 pm US ET (Monday 8:00 pm GMT)
• Tuesday, 8:00 pm US ET (Wednesday 1:00 am GMT)
Contact me for more information.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Great Lent begins on a Monday. The day before Lent starts is called the Sunday of Forgiveness.
Forgiveness Sunday serves as a vital extension of the Sunday of the Last Judgment. If serving our neighbor is serving Christ, then making peace with those who have hurt us is making peace with Christ Himself.
We need to remember that any resentment we harbor acts as a wedge between us and the Lord; we cannot truly draw near to Christ while pushing a brother or sister away. As the Scripture warns: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor be put away from you” (Ephesians 4:31).
To experience the peace of Christ during Great Lent, we are called to be active peacemakers—especially with those who hurt us, offend us, or just “get under our skin.” By laying down our grievances, we clear the spiritual path for the Holy Spirit to work within us.
This season, let us embrace the promise: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). As we begin the Fast, let us first forgive, that we may be forgiven.
Our walk with Christ is a journey of spiritual healing, not a checklist of accomplishments. We must resist the temptation to constantly ask, “Am I growing?” The Saints teach us that dwelling on this question leads us away from God and toward the pride of the Pharisee, comparing our “stats” with others.
If we obsess over our progress, we turn our relationship with God into transaction rather than transformation. We are called to simply do our duty without expecting praise, remembering the words of the Lord: “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do'” (Luke 17:10).
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom taught that the only true indicator of spiritual healing is our willingness to do what God wants us to do. It is not about how many spiritual disciplines we master, but whether our will aligns with His. When our hearts genuinely echo the surrender of Christ—”nevertheless not My will, but Thy will, be done” (Luke 22:42)—we have found the only measure of growth that truly matters.
Eastern Orthodoxy 