On Great Tuesday the Church calls to remembrance two parables, which are related to the Second Coming. The one is the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25.1-3); the other the parable of the Talents (Mt 25.14-30). These parables point to the inevitability of the Parousia and deal with such subjects as spiritual vigilance, stewardship, accountability and judgement.
From these parables we learn at least two basic things. First, Judgement Day will be like the situation in which the bridesmaids (or virgins) of the parable found themselves: some ready for it, some not ready. The time one decides for God is now and not at some undefined point in the future. If “time and tide waits for no man,” certainly the Parousia is no exception. The tragedy of the closed door ‘is that individuals close it, not God. The exclusion from the marriage feast, the kingdom is of our own making.
Second, we are reminded that watchfulness and readiness do not mean a wearisome, spiritless performance of formal and empty obligations. Most certainly it does not mean inactivity and slothfulness. Watchfulness signifies inner stability, soberness, tranquility and joy. It means spiritual alertness, attentiveness and vigilance. Watchfulness is the deep personal resolve to find and do the will of God, embrace every commandment and every virtue, and guard the intellect and heart from evil thoughts and actions. Watchfulness is the intense love of God. St. Hesychios the Priest described it with these words:
Through His incarnation God gave us the model for a holy life and recalled us from our ancient fall. In addition to many other things, He taught us, feeble as we are, that we should fight against the demons with humility, fasting, prayer and watchfulness. For when, after His baptism, he went into the desert and the devil came up to Him as though He were merely a man, He began His spiritual warfare by fasting and won the battle by this means though, being God, and God of gods, he had no need of any such means at all.
I shall now tell you in plain, straightforward language what I consider to be the types of watchfulness which gradually cleanse the intellect from impassioned thoughts. One type of watchfulness consists in closely scrutinizing every mental image or provocation; for only by means of a mental image can Satan fabricate an evil thought and insinuate this into the intellect in order to lead it astray.
A second type of watchfulness consists in freeing the heart form all thoughts, keeping it profoundly silent and still, and in praying.
A third type consists in continually and humbly calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ for help.
A fourth type is always to have the thought of death in one’s mind.
These types of watchfulness, my child, act like doorkeepers and bar entry to evil thoughts. A further type which, along with the others, is also effective is to fix one’s gaze on heaven and to pay no attention to anything material.
~Adapted from Alkiviadis Calivas, Great Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, “Great Lent, Holy Week & Pascha, Website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, http://lent.goarch.org/articles/lent_mon_tues_wed.asp.
