A Feast with a Fast?

Tomorrow we celebrate one of the Great Feasts of the Church with a Divine Liturgy AND fasting. Why fasting? Our Lord said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9.23) As Orthodox Christians we know life is a struggle and joy is often paired with struggle. We struggle to raise our children and find joy in the way they end up. We struggle in our businesses and have joy in their success. “Hard work pays off,” is a common saying in America and our founding families struggled for us to enjoy our Church today.Once we accept that struggle is expected, we can then strive to transfigure our lives to be like our Lord’s life. His struggle on the Holy Cross brought life to the world. Our struggle in fasting and other spiritual disciplines will bring joy to us in the life to come. May we always strive to be more like Christ in our daily lives. Let us start, and “deny ourselves” by fasting as strictly as we are able so we can go after Him.