:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Sunday, February 22, 2004 ::

Forgiveness Sunday and Lent Around the Orthodox Blogosphere

Tonight marks the beginning of Great Lent for Orthodox Christians.

I humbly ask for forgiveness of my sins from you my dear readers. I especially ask of those whom I have offended, misunderstood, and treated without patience or charity this past year; both on and off the blogs, in word or deed. Please pray for me and let me know if there are matters yet unresolved between us.

I will not be going cold-turkey on blogging this Lent (as one should only make vows one knows one can keep!), but I will be posting just a little less often to make more time for the Lenten journey.

Several of my fellow Ortho-bloggers are putting up edifying posts on the subject of Lent. Here are just a few:

Huw: "My sins are not 'breaking a law' but rather they are my withdrawal from communion, they disrupt my life as well as yours."

Clifton: "In just a few short hours we will ask forgiveness of everyone in the parish, and give forgiveness in turn. And then we will be prepared to go into the desert to be with out Lord, and to fight demons in his strength."

Jim: " [Lent is] understanding that our own sins contribute to humanity in much the same way a drop affects the pond into which it falls..."

Steve: "We stand at the very threshold of Lent, One foot poised in mid air..."

Peter: "When we hear the prayers in church for the armed forces, captives, and the psalm verses about our enemies let each one of us take a moment to consider how truly important those prayers really are."

Jonathan: "At various times I actually had tears, if not always down my cheeks, at least in my eyes."

R's Tower: "Watching the children as I asked for their forgiveness was humbling..."

Seraphim: Posts a piercing quote by Fr. Schmemann who writes, "the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love. These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people, of any real concern for them -- in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being 'polite' and 'friendly' we fulfill God's commandments."

:: Karl :: 8:03:00 PM [Link] ::