Over the centuries, many people have been blessed by God to know the time of their departure from this world. Most of us will likely not be told. But what if we knew that this Great Lent would be our very last one? Would we make any changes to our Lenten life?
As Orthodox, we should always try to keep a three-fold practice during Great Lent. We should increase our prayer life; we should be more disciplined in our fasting; and we should increase our almsgiving. Certainly we pray you will be granted many, many years of service to our Lord! But it does provide some food for thought to think about “what if”. If we knew this was to be our last Great Lent, what would we do differently? We pray that you will be more fruitful than ever in all three of these areas!
As you consider your own almsgiving this Lenten season, please include OCPM in your offerings. Matthew 25:36 demands that we “visit Jesus in prison”. While you may not be able to personally visit a person in prison, you can still heed the Lord’s command by supporting OCPM’s outreach. With your support, we are visiting men and women in prison every day—sending icons, prayer books, Orthodox Study Bibles, catechism courses, study books and personal letters. Your gift will also help provide training for clergy and lay people to correspond with and/or visit these precious souls. When you have provided for the least of these my brethren you have touched the very heart of “visiting Jesus” in prison.
May our Lord richly bless you this Great Lent as you seek to bless those in need. Many thanks for your support of this ministry of the Orthodox Church.
With love in Christ,
Fr. Stephen