Homily for Cheesefare Sunday
The Expulsion of Adam from Paradise
By St. Cleopa of Sihastria
The Expulsion of Adam from Paradise
By St. Cleopa of Sihastria
"But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to men to be fasting” (Matthew 6:17).
Beloved faithful,
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to obey His Father and to serve in the salvation of the human race, delivering it from the bondage of the devil and of death. Throughout the entire Gospel He ceaselessly taught people how to do the will of God and how to perform good works for His glory and for the salvation of their souls. In today’s divine Gospel, among other teachings, He shows us how to fast and where to gather treasure for our souls. Behold what He says concerning fasting, so that it may be for the glory of God and for the salvation of our souls: “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may 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” (Matthew 6:17–18).
But the Savior commanded us not only to fast in secret, in order to escape the glory of men, but also to give alms, to pray, and to perform all good works in secret. For behold what He says: “Take heed that you do not do your righteous deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in Heaven” (Matthew 6:1). “Therefore, when you do a righteous deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your almsgiving may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:2–6).
Behold, my brethren, how our Savior Jesus Christ has taught us to work in secret, so that we may guard ourselves from the great sin of pride and vainglory, which so often comes to us from the praise of men.
But must we always perform good works in secret? We are bound to perform good works both in secret and openly, when we cannot hide them. Only one thing must we keep in mind: that all our deeds be pleasing to God and for His glory. For our Savior Jesus Christ says: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Therefore, whether we do good works in secret or openly, let us do them for the glory and good pleasure of God. This same thing the chosen vessel, the great Apostle Paul, teaches us, saying: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31).
The divine Fathers teach us that a deed has both body and soul. The body of good works is their outward performance, and the soul of good works is the purpose for which we perform them. Therefore we must pay great attention to the intention with which we perform good deeds. A good deed done with an evil purpose has a foundation of shadow; and besides losing the labor of accomplishing it, we also make ourselves liable to condemnation. For God, who sees the hidden things of our heart, does not look at what we do, but at the purpose for which we do the good deed.
This truth is also shown to us by the divine Father Maximus the Confessor, who says: “In everything done by us, God takes note of the intention” (Philokalia, vol. II, Sibiu, 1947, p. 86). For one performs a good deed in order to be praised and honored by men; another, to gain money or possessions; another, to draw some into sins and pleasures. All these purposes are evil and harmful to the soul. But another endures all the toil of good works and, with much patience and humility, bears the cross of his life, having only the holy aim of doing all things for the glory of God, in order to obtain mercy and compassion on the day of death and at the Last Judgment, and thus to save his soul. Blessed and thrice-blessed is such a man, who desires nothing else in life except the salvation of his soul.
How many of the saints, hating glory from men, fled from the world and served God in deserts and among the rocks of the earth! And some, in order to be hated and mocked by men, made themselves fools for Christ, as were Saints Andrew and Symeon. Others, seeing the abyss of vainglory, strove more to hide their good works than to perform them. Thus we see that elder who always withdrew into the depths of the desert and there spent his life in silence, stillness, and prayer. Once his disciple asked him, saying: “Why, Father, do you always flee from us and withdraw into the depths of the desert? Is it not better to live near people, so that seeing your ascetic struggle and your good life, others may benefit, and you will have greater reward from God?”
The elder answered: “Believe me, my son, even if someone were like the Holy and Great Prophet of God Moses and lived among people, he could not be called a son of God by grace, nor could he benefit his soul at all. For I am a son of Adam, and just as Adam my forefather, seeing the fruit that was beautiful and good to eat, could not endure not to taste it — and through it died — so also I, when I see the fruit of sin, immediately desire it; and by taking and tasting, I die. Therefore our most Venerable Fathers fled from the world to the desert in order to mortify their passions and desires for pleasures, for there they did not find the food that gives birth to the desires of sin” (The Paterikon, Râmnicu Vâlcea, 1930, On Humility).
Beloved faithful,
Today is Cheesefare Sunday, and beginning tomorrow the Holy and Great Fast of Pascha starts, lasting seven weeks. The first six weeks constitute the fast proper, and the final week — from Palm Sunday until the Resurrection of the Lord — we fast seven days in honor of the Holy and saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How we ought to fast is taught to us by the Savior Himself in today’s Gospel, as we mentioned at the beginning. That is, we should fast according to each one’s strength, but in secret and with joy, not with sadness. For there are some Christians who say: “I cannot fast because I am ill!” Or if they do fast one or two days, they appear sad, downcast, and even agitated. In this regard, my brethren, you must know that “the Church is not a killer of people, but of passions.” The fasting from rich foods and even from wine is appointed by the Church for all, but according to one’s strength. It is necessary for everyone, especially for the young, in order to restrain them from sins and bodily passions. And if someone is ill, elderly, or weak, let him obey his spiritual father and fast as much as he is able.
Know also this: fasting is of two kinds. There is bodily fasting, that is, abstinence from food for a limited time, with the purpose of praying more purely to God and mastering our nature. The second is spiritual fasting, that is, restraint of the tongue, of the eyes, of the hearing from evil things; restraint of the hands from committing any sin; and especially restraint of the mind from passionate imaginations and thoughts, of the heart from desires and all kinds of wickedness “which proceed from the heart,” and of the will, so that it does not consent to commit any sin.
Here, then, are the two kinds of fasting. Only the one who fasts in both ways — both with body and with soul — keeps a complete and true fast. And if someone is ill, let him abstain from food as much as he can, but let him fast from anger, from smoking, from drunkenness, from quarrels, from swearing, from idle joking, from excessive sleep, from impure thoughts and imaginations, from harmful books, from shameful bodily and spiritual sins, from theft, from lying, from lawsuits, from sorcery, from abortions, from divorce, from divisions among relatives, and from every sin. For spiritual fasting, from evil thoughts and deeds, is greater than bodily fasting from food. Whoever restrains himself from all these evils will easily be able to restrain himself from food and drink as well.
Someone may ask about the antiquity of fasting, thinking that it was established by the Church much later. Here I remind you of the words of Saint Basil the Great, who said that fasting is one of the oldest commandments, having been appointed even in Paradise. For God commanded Adam: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die!” (Genesis 2:16–17). Do you see the antiquity of fasting? And if Adam and Eve transgressed the commandment of fasting and obedience, do you see that they were cast out of Paradise and died? Behold the antiquity of fasting, and behold also the consequences for those who were able but were unwilling to fast. Therefore let us also strive to pass through the course of Great Lent with restraint according to our bodily and spiritual strength. And when we cannot or do not know how to fast, let us follow the counsel of our priest.
Beloved faithful,
Fasting was also observed in the Old Law. The Jews fasted on Mondays and Thursdays and on certain days according to the liturgical order of the Old Testament. In the Law of Grace, the Holy Fathers, beginning from the Jewish practice, appointed two obligatory fasting days each week: Wednesday, in remembrance of the Lord’s betrayal by Judas, and Friday, in honor of His crucifixion on the Cross. Later Monday was also appointed as a day of fasting, especially for monks, so that the Christian Church might surpass the Jewish practice in all things. Then the other four fasting periods of the year were also established, among which the most important for our repentance and spiritual growth is Great Lent. During this holy fast Christians abstain from rich foods, attend church as regularly as possible, reconcile with one another, and married couples observe complete bodily purity. Then all pray more, regularly read the Psalter, make prostrations and give alms according to their means, confess and receive Holy Communion during the fast twice, or at least once before Holy Pascha; they give up lawsuits, quarrels, and entertainments that enslave the mind and deceive many.
In order to benefit from fasting and to pass through it more easily, we must unite it with two other good works: holy prayer and almsgiving. Prayer and fasting are the two wings by which the Christian can fly to Christ, and both united with almsgiving lead us before the Most Holy Trinity and form the surest and shortest ladder of salvation for Christians. A ladder of only three steps that can raise us from below — where we have fallen together with Adam — up above, into the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us love these three virtues and practice them throughout our life, but especially now during the Fast of Holy Pascha. Fasting is the sacrifice of the body, prayer is the sacrifice of the soul, and almsgiving is the sacrifice of love in Christ.
Let us fast with love and ascend the ladder of Great Lent with joy, not sighing, “for God loves a cheerful giver.” Adam fell by transgressing the commandment of fasting. That is why today is called the Sunday “of the Expulsion of Adam from Paradise.” But let us rise from Adam’s fall, climbing with fasting, prayer, and almsgiving the ladder of the forty days of Great Lent, growing spiritually in faith, in love, and in the hope of salvation, until we stand before the risen Christ and in the unsetting light of the Most Holy Trinity.
This evening at Vespers a prayer of forgiveness is read, and at home and in church all the faithful of every village, parish, family, as well as those in monasteries, forgive one another. Without forgiveness we cannot begin the fast; we cannot pray, and our labor is of no benefit. Beginning tomorrow, for four days in every church, the “Great Canon” of Saint Andrew of Crete is read — a most beautiful prayer of repentance. Those who can, take part with reverence in the service of the Great Canon, which is read over four days. At home, read prayer books and Christian books; according to your time and strength make prostrations; and above all, read the Psalter until Holy Pascha, for the Psalms have great power.
With these brief spiritual teachings we conclude today’s sermon and pray to the good God to bless the beginning of Great Lent, that we may pass through it with profit and reach with joy to venerate His glorious Resurrection. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
