“The soul that has come to know God fully, no longer desires anything else, nor does it attach itself to anything on earth. If you put before the soul an entire kingdom, it would not even desire it! For the love of God gives such sweetness and joy to the soul, that even the life of a king can no longer give it any sweetness.” These are the words of St. Silouan the Athonite, who was an ascetic that dedicated his life to one thing: Drawing near to God
I saw a photo that was making its way around the internet this past week, that showed the reflection of an upcoming car that was labeled “The Lenten Triodion” in one of the side mirrors that said: “Objects are closer than they appear”. This photo was circulating because starting next week, the Church begins its 3-week march towards Great and Holy Lent; that period of time in our lives where we dedicate 49+ days to doing exactly what St. Silouan spent his entire life doing: Drawing Near to God.
Beginning today, I wanted to dedicate these next few weeks to uncovering what the Church is trying to teach us to do as we prepare for the holiest period of the year. It begins with the story of Zacchaeus the Tax collector, who was just as much of a sinner as all of us sitting here today. Yet the gospel tells us that despite the corruption in his heart, there came a time in his life where he burned with the desire to know the Lord.
Zacchaeus did something rather foolish in the eyes of the world. He didn’t care what others might have thought about him. Like a small child, this grown man climbed up to the top of a tree, wanting to see God Himself. Our Lord, able to see this transformation in the heart of Zacchaeus, looked up immediately and said: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for I must stay at your house.” We then hear that this once hard-hearted sinner came down from the tree and came face to face with Christ “Joyfully”, as the Gospel proclaims.
This joy is what awaits all of those who truly desire to meet our Lord face to face! St. Silouan once said: “My soul yearns after the Lord, and I seek Him in tears! How could I do anything else than seek You?” This is an attitude we can use to look at our own spiritual states. Are we there yet this morning? How much longer will we continue to drone on in this life, wasting day after day, without putting to the forefront our eternal life?
Where is our desire to see and to be with our Lord?!
Desire is one of those human attributes that took a serious turn in the wrong direction at The Fall of Adam and Eve. We went from desiring to be in communion with the heavenly things above, to the desire for things that we can only see with our eyes! We desire certain foods, more money, more things, other human beings (which can be a good or a bad thing). We tend to only concentrate our efforts towards the things that we can touch, taste, smell, hear, and feel. Yet when we read the lives of the Saints like St. Silouan, we hear that they very rarely speak about a desire for the things of the earth. He even went as far as to say that if he was presented with an entire kingdom of earthly riches, it would pale in comparison to the sweetness he had received from the Love of God!
There is a wonderful book called “Remember Thy First Love”, written by Fr. Zacharias, who was a spiritual grandson of St. Silouan, and the disciple of the great St. Sophrony (who was just recently canonized in 2019). In commenting on this gospel, he said:
“The Lord only had to fix His gaze upon Zacchaeus for him to be quickened with the new life of salvation. The same happens for us when the Lord looks upon us: We have only to behold His Face, and all at once death no longer has dominion over us. To behold the Face of the Lord then, is the “one thing needful”.
So step 1 of our march to Great Lent: “Cultivate a desire to behold the Face of the Lord”. What are the things that are keeping us from beholding God in our lives? Zacchaeus had crowds of people standing in his way…what stands in our way?
Is it laziness? We read in scriptures that “idleness has taught much evil” (Sirach 33:29). We can’t allow our minds to become numb with surfing the internet or binge watching television. Do we want something to fast from during lent? Replace the phone with encounters of God through prayer, physical work, and reading patristic nectar.
Is it gluttony? Let us begin to fast now! Perhaps not from meats, but from quantities and snacking. This will allow us to overcome the need for physical food and better prepare us to receive the spiritual food that flows from the Lenten Cycle!
Is it noise? We learn silence by enclosing ourselves in the prayer corner, lighting some incense and a candle, taking some deep breathes, and chanting the psalms.
Is it our priorities? What could be more important in life than coming to the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth during the times that the Church calls us to prayer and calls us to encounter the Face of the Lord!
Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the time for our purification has come. The time of repentance draws near. “Thy Grace has shone forth, O Lord, it has shone forth and given light to our souls…” we will sing on that first day of Lent. “…Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the season of repentance. Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, that having sailed across the great sea of the Fast, we may reach the third-day Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of our Souls!”