"If you call upon knowledge and cry out for understanding, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." At first glance, reason and the fear of the Lord seem like completely unrelated things! But the author of Proverbs believes that it is impossible to find knowledge without the fear of the Lord. What is this mysterious fear?

Of course, it is not what we usually mean by the word "fear": not the fear that enslaves and paralyzes. The fear of the Lord is a special attitude toward God. The closest word in meaning is probably "reverence." Knowledge of God is impossible without rightly relating ourselves to him. If we sense who we are and who he is, we will sense this very fear: awe before immeasurable greatness. But if we try to relate to God "as equals," we will hardly see or know anything beyond the end of our nose.

Yes, the fear of the Lord lies at the beginning of wisdom, but wisdom also leads to the fear of the Lord and, through it, to the knowledge of God. This might seem to close a circle, but in fact it is precisely through this interconnection that we can escape the circular race of constantly sinking into familiar everyday sins, great and small, and set out on the path that leads to God and therefore to freedom from the power of evil. Wisdom is not a quantitative collection of knowledge; it is an attitude toward life that is qualitatively deeper than our usual everyday view of things. Once it enters the heart, wisdom is capable of transforming a person.

Surely the parable that advises us to beware of another man's wife warns against more than just marital infidelity. It is by no means accidental that unfaithfulness to God is compared with adultery. “Whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much” (Luke 16:10).

At the beginning of the fast, the Church calls us, in the words of the Proverbs of Solomon, to “call out for knowledge and raise our voice for understanding.” Over the course of the fast we are to read all four Gospels. By reading the Gospel, we become attentive to wisdom and incline our heart to reflection, as today’s reading from Proverbs says. And by reading the Bible we also restore once again to our memory everything connected with the history of this world. It is as though we contemplate anew the history of creation, the history of expectation for Christ’s coming, and the prophet’s call to repentance. Sunday, which is the seventh day of the week, is best devoted during the fast to attending church and receiving Communion together. Fervent prayer and weekly Communion will certainly bear fruit, whether we stand or fall on our personal path through the fast. Through Communion we receive strength for prayer and for following Christ, through the remembrance of the Cross and His sacrifice for us.