Sunday of the Last Judgement [Meatfare Sunday]
Categories: hymns, parish-life, feast-days
Date: 07 February 2010 04:52:47
Kontakion:
When You, O God, shall come to earth with glory,
All things shall tremble
And the river of fire shall flow before Your judgement seat;
The books shall be opened and the hidden things disclosed!
Then deliver me from the unquenchable fire,
And make me worthy to stand at Your right hand, righteous Judge!
Today is the Sunday of the Last Judgement in the Orthodox Church, also know as Meatfare Sunday because for those keeping the Lenten Fast today is the last day on which meat may be eaten before Pascha [Easter]. The Gospel reading at the Divine Liturgy today is the Parable of the Sheep and Goats [Matthew 25:31-46]. The linked article goes into some depth on the explanation of the Feast: one aspect, as shown in the Parable, is that of Christian love; I quoted this last year and probably will each year as I need to hear it again and again. In quotes from the wonderful book Great Lent by Fr Alexander Schmemann:When Christ comes to judge us, what will be the criterion of His judgment? The parable of the Last Judgment answers: love—not a mere humanitarian concern for abstract justice and the anonymous “poor,” but concrete and personal love for the human person—the specific persons that we encounter each day in our lives. Christian love is the “possible impossibility” to see Christ in another person, whoever he or she is, and whom God, in His eternal and mysterious plan, has decided to introduce into my life, be it only for a few moments, not as an occasion for a “good deed” or an exercise in philanthropy, but as the beginning of an eternal companionship in God Himself. The parable of the Last Judgment is about Christian love. Not all of us are called to work for “humanity,” yet each one of us has received the gift and the grace of Christ’s love. We know that all persons ultimately need this personal love—the recognition in them of their unique soul in which the beauty of the whole creation is reflected in a unique way. We also know that people are in prison and are sick and thirsty and hungry because that personal love has been denied them. And, finally, we know that however narrow and limited the framework of our personal existence, each one of us has been made responsible for a tiny part of the Kingdom of God, made responsible by that very gift of Christ’s love. Thus, on whether or not we have accepted this responsibility, on whether we have loved or refused to love, shall we be judged.Challenging words indeed, and I but pray that with the mercy and love of God, I may indeed see Christ in all I encounter and furthermore, show practical and real love as I am called to do. To celebrate this Sunday, we had a bbq lunch after the Liturgy. It was to be held in a park, but with the heavy rain that has settled over Sydney the last few days the ground was rather soaked. So we went to the old Archdiocese's headquarters and had the bbq lunch there. And what a lunch it was. Before the fast, a feast: and a feast of epic proportions. I truly had no idea how much food a bbq could have until my first Middle Eastern bbq: I doubt I need dinner tonight. A blessed Sunday of the Last Judgement, and entry to the fasting season of Great Lent, to all.