FORGIVENESS SUNDAY
Let us all make haste to humble the flesh by abstinence, as we set out upon the God-given course of the holy Fast; and with prayer and tears let us seek our Lord and Savior. Laying aside all memories of evil, let us cry aloud, “We have sinned against You, Christ our King; save us Like the people of Nineveh in days of old, and in Your compassion make us sharers in Your heavenly Kingdom.” (First Troparion of Vespers, Forgiveness Sunday)
ΤHE DAY BEFORE LENT is Forgiveness Sunday, when we hear this Gospel lesson:
“If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:14-15).
Fasting is not exclusive to Christianity. People of other religions and even of no religion also fast or abstain from certain foods for a variety of reasons, and many of them fast more rigorously than we do. If Lent is to be a truly Christian fast, it must be accompanied by love and forgiveness. Thus, before Lent begins, we are called to forgive everyone who has injured or offended us from the bottom of our hearts. Only then can we have a truly Christian Lent. Only then can our fast be pleasing to God.
The above hymn calls us to lay aside all memories of evil. The memory of evils or wrongs (mnisikakia) is something the saints and fathers of the Church constantly warn us against. How often we hear people say things like, “I forgive but I do not forget!” Is this not another way of saying, “I forgive, but not really”? Surely, if we refuse to forget the sins committed against us, we have not truly forgiven them. We are still baring a grudge in our hearts.
Forgiven is intimately connected with the love of our enemies. We are to forgive our enemies, which means we are not to bear a grudge or hold their wrongs against them, we are not to return evil for evil; we are to show them mercy and compassion. This divine love and forgiveness is the imitation of God, and our Lord refers to it as spiritual perfection:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:43-48)
Lent calls us to spiritual perfection, which is impossible without love and forgiveness. Thus, before Lent begins, we are called to forgive all those who have wronged us. Only then can we hope to attain perfection, which is the likeness of God.
~Vassilios Papavassiliou, Meditations for Great Lent: Reflections on the Triodion
