On the week of the Last Judgment, Metropolitan Alexander celebrated the Liturgy at the Representative Office of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District in Moscow

March 10, 2024 is Meat Week, about the Last Judgment. On this preparatory Sunday before Lent, the universal final and Last Judgment of God upon humanity is remembered.

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church in the name of the holy martyrs Faith, Nadezhda, Love and Sophia at the Patriarchal Metochion of the city of Moscow - the Representative Office of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District.

The archpastor was co-served by the clergy of the metochion.

Employees of the Representation and parishioners of the temple prayed during the service.

Liturgical chants were performed by the church choir under the direction of Anna Rozhnova.

At the end of the service, Bishop Metropolitan congratulated the clergy and laity on Sunday and delivered a word of teaching.

“Today, on Sunday - Little Easter - the Lord gave us the opportunity to all gather together for the Divine Liturgy, here in this church, with one mouth and one heart to say a prayer. You and I have entered a special time - a period of preparation for the Holy Pentecost, for a great and saving work. There is an ancient commandment to offer a tenth of everything a person acquires as a gift to God. A tenth of the year is the 40 days of Lent. We dedicate this time of our lives to the Creator and Creator in a special way and prepare ourselves for the holiday of Holy Easter, for the Triumph of celebrations, for the Feast of Feasts. A Christian spends the period of Lent in strict abstinence and fervent prayers, in good deeds and reading the Divine Scriptures, in order to meet the day of the bright Resurrection of Christ in sacred joy and receive blessings from the Lord for all the deeds and undertakings of the annual circle. Today, as always during the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Gospel was read, we heard the verbs of eternal life. The gospel conception that sounded told us about a great and terrible event that at the end of time awaits the entire human race, everyone who has ever lived on earth, awaits each of us - about the final Judgment of the Creator and Maker of this world. At this Judgment, God will evaluate the deeds and deeds that we have committed. We will be strictly asked whether we had responsibility for the priceless gift of life, whether we were merciful to our neighbors, how we responded to the sorrows, illnesses and experiences of those around us in our dreams. We are called by God to do good on this earth, therefore the Judge of the universe asks questions about specific good deeds - did you find the time and opportunity to come to someone in prison, visit the sick, give a piece of bread to the needy or lived for yourself, for his pride, he lived forgetting about his neighbors, about the truth of God, about mercy, about goodness. Today we heard what a terrible sentence will be pronounced on those, who having rejected works of love, focused only on themselves and what a joyful word filled with God’s mercy will be addressed to those who lived according to the Gospel, according to the holy commandments. You and I have the opportunity to choose on earth - we can accept one thing and reject another, choose good and refuse evil. Let us try to use the time given to us by the Lord for the salvation of our souls, so that we become not strangers to us, but friends of God, so that we become faithful sons and daughters of the Holy Orthodox Church, so that faith is alive and active in us, so that it is not limited to just words, but is fulfilled business. This is the deep Gospel, you and I heard today. It renewed in us the remembrance of the main choice of man - where we will find ourselves in eternal life, with God or without Him, with the Lord or without His mercy, as those who have not done mercy in this world. Let us try with our mind and soul to hear the words of eternal life, let them touch our believing heart, so that we may become faithful disciples of Christ.” From the sermon of Metropolitan Alexander.