At the beginning of Great Lent, I asked my parishioners to fulfill the teaching of Christ which we encounter 2 Sundays before Lent begins:
‘
Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ForI was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40)
We attain Pascha, we attain the Kingdom of God, when we do these things in our daily lives.
I saw the following prayer on a flyer from the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese’s Food for Hungry People Campaign. Considering the economic downturn, it is a good prayer for each Orthodox to say as we prepare for Pascha by doing the works of the Lord.
Oh, God, when I have food,
Help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me
To remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home,
Help me to remember the homeless.
When I am without pain,
Help me remember those who suffer;
And remembering,
Help me to destroy my complacency
And awaken my compassion.
Make me concerned enough
To help, by word and deed,
Those who cry out
For what I take for granted.
Fraternized 