The Lord gave his teaching on the Last Judgment in restrained words, avoiding spectacular descriptions. He said, all the nations will be asked, have you fed the hungry, housed the homeless, healed the sick? This question affects us today because the Last Judgment is not postponed until the death of the last human being. We are being questioned now. We are questioned as individuals, over what we do privately, but also as a nation, a society with its laws and culture, whose citizens take decisions and actions frequently conditioned by their environment.

I was recently surprised to discover to what extent I tend to hold unwittingly the materialist views of our society, ranging from seing the universe as functioning mechanically, to seeing the human mind as a mere by-product of the physical brain. The extent to which I have been unaware of my compliance to the secularist, physicalist mindset horrifies me.

More specifically today, I need to concentrate on one question: who are the hungry, the homeless and the sick we are called to help? The global village, and above all, our planet itself, in danger of death for lack of healthy air, water free of poison and plastic, and good soil. We have known about the ecological disaster for many years. It is a humming sound in the background. Our human race is still not really acknowledging its significance. The threat to the planet is recent. Only the apocalyptic books of the Bible mention it, Daniel and Revelation. But they don’t attract attention.

Clearly the intolerable level of suffering of sentient beings, people and animals, is incomparably more traumatising that the fate of our planet without taking account of sentient beings. Today, Gaza the Sudan and Ukraine bring into our hearts the cry of Why, O Lord, why? Of course, the answer is not an explanation, but only love in action.

God incarnate has shown us the noblest example of love in action. He has shown us how to go about helping people in need, as opposed to just the planet. He espoused the limitations of our human condition and did not attempt to eradicate hunger, homelessness and sickness, waving a magic wand. C.S. Lewis wrote that a major turning point in his life was the realisation that God is not a magician.

During his public ministry, Jesus focused his attention on healing the souls and bodies of large numbers of people. In order to follow his example, piety is not enough. Our faithful religious routine can be like a magnificent fig tree with luscious foliage but no figs. Let us follow the example of our patron Saint, John of Kronstadt, who was tireless in helping people, but did not hide his conviction that the wealthy frequently behave unjustly and selfishly.

As Christians, we are called to hold views in line with those of the great prophetic voices calling for responsible living, from John Chrysostom to the Wesleys. Today large parts of the world are being taken over by people who combine anti-democratic authoritarianism with contempt for the downtrodden, those of darker skin, immigrants, not to mention the survival of the planet.

We are not politicians or journalists and have few opportunities for activism. Our duty is mainly to eliminate our own irresponsible behaviour. As Christians, we must not confuse taking responsibility with offensive outbursts. The Christian ethos requires behaving in a dignified way.

Helping the needy always has both a material and a spiritual aspect. Our giving spiritual help to others starts with banning agitated critical thoughts, by which we cause ourselves serious harm. Our most blatant temptation comes from forgetting that our family and closest friends must be protected against our own criticism and gossip.

Before Forgiveness Sunday, it would be helpful to scrutinise ourselves for changes to be made, and gather information to help us make the changes. The season of Lent makes great liturgical demands on our time, and we would do well to make our preparations before the beginning of the fast. Assuming our responsibilities is the most important aspect of fasting, as Elizabeth Theokritoff explains so clearly. Because we forget resolutions, it would be wise to keep a journal during Lent, recording our ups and downs in obeying God’s requirement to be responsible and help those in need.

Amen.

Given by Father Yves