Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

On the Sunday before the beginning of Lent in the Eastern Church, we shall hear the passage from the Gospel of Matthew: “For 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. Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6:14-21)

Even the prophet Isaiah relates the true meaning of fasting to forgiveness: “On the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter–when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” (Isa 58:3-7)

So before the beginning of Lent, the Lord Jesus highlights forgiveness: “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” This is the only commentary on the Our Father – forgiveness.

Someone harms us by gossiping about us, robbing or deceiving us – and this injures our feelings. This person did it either consciously or unconsciously. Our response to this wrong done to us is bad – hatred or self-pity. If we adopt this policy – and our old self, our corrupt nature, adopts it automatically – we unite with this evil and get entangled more and more like in a spider’s web. How foolish we are! Our response should be as follows: “Well, this person hurt me. He could do so unconsciously. It often happens to me too – how often I wanted good but I caused evil. So I forgive him. Or he could do so consciously. But if he really did it consciously, God allowed it as a kind of purification for me. So I give thanks for it and I forgive this person.” Of course, I must be prudent. I need not immediately show excessive forgiveness to this person. In the first place, I must assume an attitude of forgiveness in my heart so that I may be free. “God allowed it, I am conscious of my guilt too, and I accept it as atonement for my sins.” If this person did it out of malice and consciously, I admit that the devil had deceived him because he had obeyed him before and has now reached the stage at which he wilfully does evil. God allowed him to cause me pain, but deep down this person too longs for help because his soul rushes headlong to destruction. Therefore I forgive him and I know that the pain he causes me is a chance for me to display heroism and to attain holiness.

Unfortunately, instead of forgiveness and thanksgiving we often nourish hatred, bitterness and revenge, and the devil laughs because the soul in such a state allows him to put a curse on it.

But let us return to forgiveness. The condition of forgiveness is to enter into the light. You must suppress hatred, selfishness and self-centredness by making a step of faith, i.e. by realizing the following: “This person who has done me wrong is not the source of evil. He just became a medium of evil. How often I was an instrument of evil, self-will and all kinds of sin. If God forgives me, I must forgive too, for otherwise God will forgive me no longer!” And this is the fundamental thing in our relationship to Jesus, our true wisdom, for we pray: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

“When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”

The old self, i.e. our corrupt nature, desires recognition. What is the point of it? God sees my heart! Why play a saint and seek recognition or adoration? Live like a saint in earnest, you need not pretend to be one. Be a saint in secret. God sees your heart. Why do you want to be seen by people? “They have their reward.” What reward do you seek – do you want people to smarm to your face and to blackguard you behind your back? If you seek glory from men, you will soon fall into depression.

“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6:20-21)

We should have our treasure in heaven, and our greatest treasure must be Jesus Himself. If it is so, we really give Him the first place in our lives. He is the most precious treasure; in Him are all our treasures. In Him is the fullness of wisdom and knowledge, as God’s Word says. In Him is eternal life: “He who has the Son has eternal life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” And where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Take stock of your life

You should therefore take stock of your life: Where is your treasure and what is your treasure? What or who? Is it your ego which you revolve around, thus betraying Christ, or is it your dream or desire? What is your treasure? If you do not know what your treasure is, where is your heart then? What is most precious to you? What or who is it? Is it a thing, a desire, a person, or is it Jesus? If Jesus is most precious to you, in Him you obtain everything. If vanity that perishes is most precious to you, you will lose everything. For what is human life? We all have attended a funeral in our life. What will be left behind? Two metres of earth covering the grave. All things here on earth are vanity of vanities. We will not take a single penny to eternity. Shall we store up goods? How foolish we are!

What is the purpose of life? To save our soul and to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. How many treasures have I laid up for myself there until now? Let us not sit around idly but let us lay up for ourselves treasures where no one will steal them from us. And how? What are these treasures in heaven? The acts of our faith.

A tithe of time

How to make the most of the time during Lent – the most precious time which is the centre of the whole year? What to do to change our hearts? Let us give a tithe of time to God. If someone cannot do so every day, let them give a tithe of time to God at least on Wednesdays and Fridays. What does it mean? “Go into your room, shut the door and pray to your Father.” (Mt 6:6) We should contemplate above all the suffering of Jesus during Lent. You can follow the Way of the Cross or contemplate the last seven words of Jesus on the cross. The Lord calls us to stand at the foot of the cross, to look into Jesus’ face, into His eyes – this is the university of love. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus crucified. Let us realize anew that He is God and He died for my sins! What suffering He has endured, what He has done for my sake! And what am I doing for His sake? He did His utmost, and I am doing so little! Let me think of Him being scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified. That all was for me. God so loved the world – me – that He gave His only begotten Son…

We should use this tenth part of time for interior prayer, in which we open our heart wholly to Jesus and give our all to Him. Thus we are poor in spirit. When our spirit is free from all possessions, this helps us to live by faith. Only those who are poor can live in dependence on Jesus, live His life of obedience to and dependence on the Heavenly Father.

We can also devote the tithe of time to the study of God’s Word or to mission in which we can witness to Jesus. But apart from mission we still need to talk to Jesus at least for one hour daily. He Himself says: “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” In prayer too, we need to put into practice the words: deny yourself. If you are lazy and fail to overcome distraction, you can daydream a whole hour and it is loss of time. Every prayer is a fight against distraction, against your self, against the spirits that try to prevent you from gaining experience of the living God, from tasting true freedom and true happiness, from giving yourself wholly to God. It is necessary that we not only utter His name in prayer but unite to Jesus, give ourselves wholly to Him and love Him truly and consciously at least for one minute during prayer every day. Let us look back on our life in the spirit of repentance and stand before God with a humble heart.

Fast

So we start the Lenten period during which we want to intensify our Christian life. It does not mean that we shall eat nothing for 40 days. Of course, it would be good if we did something about food and sweet things. We should fast. The Lord Jesus fasted too. However, people sometimes think that holiness is when someone looks like a corpse, just skin and bone. Such people are not necessarily holy. Even pagans or yogis fast but they open to the spirit of darkness. Fast according to the will of God disposes man to deeper spiritual sensitivity. It is very useful if, fasting, you also have time for prayer and reflection on God’s Word. Breathtaking fasting “performances” are very dangerous. It is far better to observe a regular fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, or perhaps on Mondays too, and to keep discipline in eating so as not to be choosy, to eat healthy and simple food rather than expensive specialities. This is better than extremes. God’s Word says clearly that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. Fasting is good but it requires discipline. There is no point in making superb fasting performances if you are under mental stress or have a heavy workload. It would end in a riot of emotions. You would either quarrel with your wife or husband or shout at your children. Fasting requires certain conditions and ought to be combined with contemplation of the fundamental truths of the faith. According to the Tradition of the Church, people observe a fast on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year. During Lent, Christians usually make an additional resolution. We have had several years’ experience of a rhythm of fasting which one can practise all the year. It is a practise of fasting for three days and a half a week (cf. Rev 11). Observing the fast, you eat nothing, just drink water. You fast from Sunday evening to Monday evening – 24 hours; from Tuesday evening to Wednesday evening – 24 hours again; from Thursday evening to Saturday morning – 36 hours. Three and a half days altogether. Sunday is the Day of Resurrection, so according to the old tradition there is no fast on Sundays.

Apart from physical fasting there is also spiritual fasting: It is good to abstain from useless and harmful information. It requires discipline of vision and thought. Our thoughts are influenced by the mass media, billboards, people we talk to who think only of earthly and vain things and do not think or speak about the most important things, such as death, God’s judgment and eternity. Some people turn off the television and do not watch it all through the Lenten period.

“Blue Life” in Lent: Children make a certain resolution for the week days in Lent (i.e. except Sundays). They write down the tasks and every time they fulfil the task, they colour in a square blue. Example:

1) the fight against laziness – when Mum is waking you, you must overcome laziness and get up

2) the fight against “a sweet tooth” – e.g. you will not eat a sweet and keep it for Sunday

3) the fight against curiosity – you will not watch TV, restrict the use of the mobile phone, the Internet…

4) a good deed every day – you can help someone

5) prayer – prayer stops during the day (9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00), the holy hour, the rosary…

6) ask for forgiveness if you have said a bad word to somebody…

Do something for Jesus every day

All of us can make such a resolution. It helps to train our will. Let us make at least small steps like children. Let us make a concrete resolution or restore our good habits. Every day you can make a little sacrifice for the sake of Jesus – you can humble yourself, ask for forgiveness even if you don’t feel like doing it, show patience, overcome your feelings like self-pity, bitterness, anger or temptation to scold somebody… You can try to practise the love of your neighbour, which means that you will make allowance for others’ faults, fight against critical and exalted thoughts and accept your neighbour in prayer in humility, as we pray when making bows: “Lord, grant me to see my sins, and not to judge my neighbour.” Our old self uses a special measure: “it is the fault of my neighbour and not mine”. And it also has a special code of law: “the plank is in my neighbour’s eye and not in mine”. Such system is in us, and you cannot recognize it until you start to take steps against this system of evil which enslaves both your neighbour and you. Our old self always wants our neighbour to learn from his mistakes at last, to behave properly: “Can’t he remember how many times I have already told him to behave and he won’t…” But I have to start from myself and not want my neighbour to start.

We often make good resolutions, a plan for the whole Lenten period; we start with enthusiasm – and it all ends on the next day. Therefore, it is good to make a plan for one week and then to continue the next week, or you can somehow modify it or change it. You can draw up a table for Lent as children do it, and you can write down – “Lord, this I have done during Lent out of love for You. It’s too little but it’s for You!”

One act of self-denial every day

We are living in hard times. What can we do in this battle? We can pray and make little sacrifices for the sake of our Lord every day. Jesus says: “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.” Deny yourself – we all can make such a resolution. Let us stop in a particular situation: “Lord, I deny myself now!” For instance, I want to look somewhere – “Stop, this is curiosity, this is harmful! I don’t need it!” How important it is to be able to deny yourself! It is a moment when you want something but you make a step of faith instead – you deny yourself. And this self-denial is the victory. It is a moment when I have a chance to overcome my will and then I am happy that I managed to overcome it and I see in the end that it was for my own good. People who are unable to control themselves suffer from a number of problems, indulge in self-pity, fall into depression…

When you are in a bad mood – you need to learn to apply the words of Jesus: “Deny yourself!” Deny yourself, give your problem to the Lord and do not revolve it!

It is high time to awake out of sleep, now is the day of salvation!

“You know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light…” (Rom 13:11-12)

St Monica, the mother of St Augustine, prayed for her son many long years. She told him to repent, but sin was stronger. Although he would read the Scripture, the lives of saints and had extensive theoretical knowledge, he did not have the strength to make a resolute step of conversion. His mother could do nothing, and finally God gave him the grace. One day he was walking in the garden. He had the Holy Scripture with him and suddenly heard a voice: “Take up and read!” He opened the Scripture and it said: “The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now…” He cried out: “But I can’t!” And he heard the voice again: “Other men and women could, so why not you, Augustine?” He cried out from the bottom of his heart: “O Lord!” and made a step of faith. That’s the moment of self-denial. We should therefore learn to deny ourselves in little things during Lent. God rewards a little self-denial with abundant grace.

We are about to run a 40 days’ Lent marathon. It is good to make resolutions, little sacrifices, which can help us to be filled with a new spirit and to taste the power of the resurrection of Jesus in our life. To taste that He is alive! Christ lives in me! To become aware that we were also raised with Him and to have personal experience of the Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwelling in us.

Let us store up treasures in heaven, and not only for ourselves, for we are fighting a battle for the entire nation. Let us make at least a little act of self-denial every day out of love for Jesus and for the salvation of our soul and of the souls of our neighbours.

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