The Lenten Triodion begins today, and it begins with a weeklong period of feasting. This fact, coupled with today’s Gospel reading, warns us against pride and hypocrisy: the Lord desires, not that we become puffed up because of our pious works, but that we repent in our hearts and in our lives. Fasting is a means, not an end.
Moreover, by starting this penitential season with a fast-free week, we are reminded that the goal of Lent – the goal of repentance and the entire Christian struggle – is not self-denial and deprivation per se; the goal is restored relationship with God. Ultimately, we seek to deprive ourselves not of food, but of sin, and our final goal is not sorrow, but the everlasting joy of the heavenly banquet. Once again: fasting is a means, not an end.