Here at 5004 Cross Keys Rd, we continually set goals as we purchased the land, pulled permits, hired an engineer and architect, hired an excavator and finally broke ground. We hired concrete contractors and masons and plumbers and all these many things before this beautiful flower blossomed out of this rocky soil. Five tractor trailers of steel arrived from Alabama and Texas and we were able to finally hire a contractor to erect the steel frame and install the roofing after the concrete pad had cured, and so on and so on. As you can see, the construction of this temple took a lot of prayer, struggle and sacrifice! It didn’t happen overnight either! The mighty demonic winds blew fierce, but we clung to the cross as if our very life depended on it! But, doesn’t it though?
Now here we are at the beginning of another building project, but this time it is our Earthly temple that needs work! After all, it is lent. Salvation is not a onetime event! What set of goals will you set for yourselves during this period of fasting and rebuilding? This Lenten process prepares us for the next steps of Christianity as our foundations become true and sure, and we can certainly expect that there will be struggles. But it is necessary, if we hope to enjoy eternal blessedness. As we step by step reprogram our lives to follow and serve the One who created us!
This Sunday we begin our journey towards lent with the reminder that without humility, we will not see paradise. The Publican beats his breast and looks inwards asking the Lord to show mercy on his failings. Saint Peter of Damascus writes: “If repentance is too much for you, and you sin out of habit even when you do not want to, show humility like the publican; this is enough to ensure your salvation.” The Gospel writer Luke writes: “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”(Luke 14:11)
You see, pride is a deeply rooted thorny weed. It is going to take some digging and pulling to unearth it! Blessed Theophylact brings it to us this way: “The Lord ceaselessly purges the passion of pride in many ways. This passion, more than any other, disturbs our thoughts, and for this reason the Lord always and everywhere teaches on this subject. Here He is purging the worst form of pride. For there are many offshoots of self-love. Presumption, arrogance, and vainglory all stem from this root. But the most destructive of all these kinds of self-love is pride, for pride is contempt of God. When a man ascribes his accomplishments to himself, and not to God, this is nothing less than denial of God and opposition to Him. Therefore, like enemy to enemy, the Lord opposes this passion which is opposed to Him, and through this parable He promises to heal it. He directs this parable towards those who trust in themselves and who do not attribute everything to God, and who, as a result, despise others. He shows that when righteousness—which is marvelous in every other respect and sets a man close to God—takes pride as its companion, it casts that man into the lowest depths and makes demonic what was God-like just a short time before.” (From the Explanation of the Gospel of St. Luke by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria)
Blessed Theophylact then goes on to examine the words of the Pharisee in this way: “But one might wonder why it is that the Pharisee is condemned for speaking a few boastful words, while Job receives a crown for speaking many such words (Job 29). The answer is that the Pharisee stood and spoke these vain words under no compulsion, and he condemned others for no reason. But with Job, his friends pressed him and bore down upon him more fiercely than did his own calamities, telling him that he was suffering these things because of his sins. Job was compelled to enumerate his good deeds, but he did so for the glory of God, and so that men would not be misled from the path of virtue. For if men came to hear that Job was suffering because what he had done was sinful, they would not act as Job had. As a result they would become haters of strangers instead of hospitable to strangers, merciless instead of merciful, and unrighteous instead of righteous; for such were the good deeds of Job. Therefore Job enumerated his virtues so that others would not be misled and harmed, and this was why he spoke as he did. Shall we not say that his words, which may seem boastful, in fact are radiant with humility? Oh that I were as in months past, he said, wherein God preserved me! (Job 29:2) Do you see that he attributes everything to God and does not judge others? Instead he is judged by his friends. But condemnation rightly falls upon the Pharisee, who attributed everything to himself and not to God, and judged others for no reason whatsoever. For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled and condemned by God; and he that humbleth himself when he is condemned by others shall be exalted and counted righteous by God. The Lord is saying, “You, 0 Christian, be the first to tell your sins, so that you may be counted righteous.” (From the Explanation of the Gospel of St. Luke by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria)
I have to continually remind myself that our time here is very, very short. We need to seize this lent, each and every day, and make some changes, to forgive one another, spend more time in church and in prayer, and to live the narrow salvific path. We always need volunteers to help clean and cook. We always need help welcoming visitors and loving on those who are struggling. Don’t be selfish and proud, because our Lord needs more from you. Humility reminds us to be merciful! Mercy is the foundation of a mighty fortress that can bear the weight of the world.
Fr. Gabriel Weller 2-1-2026
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