CHICAGO, IL –
As Orthodox Christians enter Holy and Great Lent, Metropolitan Nathanael invites the faithful to confront Christ’s timeless question—“Do you love Me?”—and to embrace Lent not as a burden of rules, but as a return to truth, mercy, and spiritual openness.
The full message follows below:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
At the threshold of Holy and Great Lent, the Church places before us a single and searching question—the same question the Risen Lord asked Simon Peter: Do you love Me? (John 21:15-17). Lent is not merely a season of dietary discipline or increased services; it is a sacred opportunity to answer that question with greater honesty and depth.
When Christ asks, Do you love Me? He is not asking about our success, our efficiency, or even our consistency in spiritual practices.
He is asking about the orientation of our heart.
Many of us might respond, “Lord, I want to love You—but I am distracted,” or “I want to love You—but I am weary,” or even, “I want to love You—but I am not proud of how I have lived.” Holy Lent does not begin with our perfection; it begins with truthfulness before God. The Lord’s question is not meant to shame us, but to draw us closer.
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13), Jesus reveals that the sower scatters seed everywhere—on hardened paths, rocky ground, thorny soil, and good earth alike. The generosity of the sower is striking. He does not wait for ideal conditions. He sows abundantly. If we ask again what it means to love Christ, the parable offers an answer: to love Him is to allow Him to sow. Even when our hearts feel unprepared, even when we feel unworthy, even when we doubt our readiness, love keeps the heart open. It says, “Yes, Lord, plant Your word in me again. Soften what has grown hard. Clear what has become choked. Deepen what is shallow.” Love is not the claim that our soil is already good; it is the willingness to let Him work it.
This question—Do you love Me? — is addressed to every one of us. It is asked of the married and the single, the ordained and the lay, the young and the old, those rejoicing and those grieving. No vocation exempts us, and no life circumstance disqualifies us. Wherever we stand, whatever burdens we carry, however steady or inconsistent our spiritual life may have been, the Lord asks the same question. Our answer is revealed not only in words, but in repentance, forgiveness, prayer, patience, and mercy toward one another.
As your Metropolitan, I hear this question for myself before I ever preach it to you. Before I teach, before I lead, before I make decisions, I must stand before Christ and respond. I answer as you do—imperfectly, yet sincerely—learning again that to love Christ is to trust Him, to receive His mercy, and to extend that same mercy to others. When reflecting on how to direct this appeal, I think first of myself. In this spirit, I ask your forgiveness for any way in which I have failed to love you as I ought. I also ask your prayers that my heart may remain open to the seed He continually sows.
Beloved in the Lord, if we love Christ, we will return to Him without delay. If we love Christ, we will forgive one another more readily. If we love Christ, we will not surrender to despair. Let us therefore begin Holy and Great Lent with humility and courage, answering the Lord not with self-confidence, but with hope: “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
May He who sows abundantly bring forth fruit in our hearts, and may He count us worthy to behold the radiant joy of His Resurrection.
With paternal love in Christ,
†NATHANAEL
Metropolitan of Chicago
