Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Lenten Fast
The Martyr Sabinos of Egypt
6th Hour: Isaiah 2:3-11 1st Vespers: Genesis 1:24-2:3 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 2:1-22
Genesis 1:24-2:3, especially vss. 26, 27: "And God said, Let Us make man according
to Our image and likeness, and let them have dominion....And God made man, according to the image of God He made
him, male and female He made them." We continue in Genesis examining God's unfolding revelation of Himself as
disclosed in the account of the sixth day of creation. Herein, God discloses Himself as personal and relational in His being;
and man, made in the Creator's image, is shown likewise to be personal and relational. Further, as God is Ruler of the
creation, so also He extends to man dominion within the creation. First, notice that between vss. 26 and 27 there is a
significant moment akin to a pause. God "reflects" within Himself, among His Persons. Throughout the Genesis account,
as God creates, He says simply, "Let there be" (e.g., vs 14) or, "Let the earth bring forth" (vs. 24), and whatever He names
comes into being. However, in these two verses God first proposes "Let Us make man" (vs. 26), and only then does He act,
"And God made man" (vs. 27). The important addition to note here is the "Us." Creation is revealed to be the work of a
personal and relational Being. God proposes, deliberates, and communicates among the Persons of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. Persons in a relationship of Communion with each Other is the appropriate way to conceive of God the
Creator. Since man is fashioned in the image of God, these facts concerning God's nature have immense consequence
when one considers the creature, man.
Metropolitan John of Pergamon explains that when man is made in the image of God, "he exists, he takes on God's 'way
of being.' This way of being is not a moral attainment, something that man 'accomplishes.' It is a way of 'relationship'
with the world, with other people, and with God, an event of 'communion.'" It should be noted that this way of being,
however, may only be attained fully within the life of the Church, "only as an 'ecclesial' fact." What do we mean by
saying 'person' and 'personal?' St. Gregory of Nyssa says, "There is nothing remarkable in man being the image and
likeness of the universe: for the earth passes away, the sky changes, and all that is contained therein is as transient as that
which contains it." What we can intuit from the fact that we are made in God's image and from knowing that He creates,
deliberates, proposes, decides, and communicates, is that we are 'persons' with constitutive capacities, able to do these
sorts of things. What is remarkable about Man and each man we encounter is that we bear in our breast what St. Gregory
Nazianzus calls "a divine particle," that includes the capacities for self-awareness, choice, and a modicum of freedom.
Man also is relational, as Metropolitan John indicates. As God is Communion and diversity within Himself, so we are
complete only in relation to others. We are made for Communion. This is the underpinning of our being made male and
female in the image of God (vs. 27). Let us recognize, therefore, that gender and sexual diversity are not merely natural,
but supra natural. We are not complete merely in physical union, but in spiritual Communion.
Finally, mankind's God-given mission is stated here: "Let them have 'dominion' over...all the earth" (vs. 28). Respect and
care for God's creation is implicit in this dual extension of "dominion" and "blessing." God has called us to bless the
world, to transfigure it in Communion with Him. As St. Diadochos of Photiki states, "Our likeness to God requires our
cooperation. We are to work with God in bringing blessing to the created order." "But man shall go forth unto his work,
and to his labor until the evening" (Ps. 103:25 LXX).
"Thou, O Lord, hast made [us] a little lower than the angels; with glory and honor hast Thou crowned [us], and Thou has
set [us] over the works of Thy hands." (Ps. 8:5 LXX).
Thursday, March 17, 2005 Lenten Fast
Venerable Alexios, 'the Man of God'
6th Hour: Isaiah 2:11-22 1st Vespers: Genesis 2:4-19 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 3:1-18
Genesis 2:4-19, especially 16, 17: "And the Lord God gave a charge to Adam,
saying, Of every tree which is in the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - of it
ye shall not eat, but in whatsoever day ye eat of it, ye shall surely die." St. Symeon the New Theologian records that "the
Holy Fathers tell us that God became man in order that through His becoming man He might again raise up human nature
into the blessed state" of that divine condition which was ours before the transgression of Adam. Then St. Symeon draws
this conclusion: "Therefore, we must know in what way it is that man, through the Economy of Christ's Incarnation, may
again come into that blessed state."
The common starting point of the Fathers from which they understand the original state of mankind is the sixth day of
creation (Gen. 1:24-31). Today's reading expands our information about that special, final day of creation. We learn that
man, as well as every "living creature according to its kind" (Gen. 1:24), was brought forth from the "dust of the earth"
(Gen. 2:7,19). St. John of Damascus teaches that "all that is produced," man and animals alike, is "subject to change....For
those things must be subject to change whose production has its origin in change," that is, "in being brought into being out
of nothing, and in transforming a substratum of matter into something different." How, then, did God intend for man to
change?
Man differs from the other living creatures in that "God...breathed upon his face the breath of life, and man became a living
soul" (vs. 7); and, as we learned yesterday, man was thereby made according to the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26).
Thus, God furnished man's nature with free will, simultaneously imposing "a law on him, not to taste of the tree of
knowledge." St. John of Damascus elaborates: if man "should preserve the dignity of the soul by giving the victory to
reason, and acknowledging his Creator, and observing His command, he should share eternal blessedness and live to all
eternity, proving mightier than death. But if he should subject the soul to the body, comparing himself in ignorance of his
true dignity to the senseless beasts, and shaking off his Creator's yoke, and neglecting His divine injunction, he will be
liable to death and corruption, and will be compelled to labor throughout a miserable life." God placed man in the garden
of Delight, or Paradise, "to cultivate and keep it" (Gen. 2:15). Whatever Paradise may be, God honored man with the gift
of free will; for, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, "He desired that man might belong to Him as the result of his choice."
Do you see the truth of this gift of freedom? Where there is no choice, there can be no love. Love and freedom of choice
partake of the same interpersonal reality. St. Gregory elaborates: "Also He gave him a law, as a material for his free will to
act upon. This law was a commandment as to what plants he might partake of, and which one he might not touch. This
latter was the Tree of Knowledge; not however, because it was evil...But it would have been good if partaken of at the
proper time, for the tree was...Contemplation, upon which it is only safe for those who have reached maturity of habit to
enter, but which is not good for those who are still somewhat simple and greedy in their habit."
Now that our Lord Jesus Christ has become Incarnate, the image of God has once again been clearly manifested to mankind
that we might turn back to God. However, returning to our Creator can only happen, as St. Athanasios teaches, if we "have
got rid of all foreign matter that has affected our soul, and can show it in the simplicity as it was made." Seeing Christ, the
soul is brightened as it "beholds in a mirror the image of the Father, Whose image the Savior is." Illumine our hearts, O
Master, with the pure light of Thy Divine knowledge.
Friday, March 18, 2005 Lenten Fast
Nikolai Velimirovich, Bishop of Zica in Serbia
6th Hour: Isaiah 3:1-14 1st Vespers: Genesis 2:20-3:29 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 3:19-34
Genesis 2:20-3:20 LXX, especially vss. 3:15 and 20: "And the Lord God said....In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou return to the earth out of which thou was taken, for earth thou art
and to earth thou shalt return." Beloved of the Lord, as we read today, let us behold how well we know Adam and Eve.
If their portraits had been retained in some archive of history, we would see readily that they should be placed neatly
alongside pictures of our parents and grandparents, of our children and grandchildren.
Indeed, let us look into our hearts as we read, for there we shall also see Christ our God, for He, too, is present in the events
of Paradise given and lost even as He is with us now. Christ our God causes Adam to fall asleep. He forms the woman and
brings her to the man. He commands them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. It is He Who comes, walking in the
garden, looking for His errant loved ones. He fashions us still and lays His hand upon us: "And from Thy presence
whither shall I flee? If I go up into heaven, Thou art there; if I go down into hades, Thou art present there" (Ps. 138:6,7
LXX). Yes, as He was with our first parents, so also we may "...grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from
each one of us" (Acts 17:27).
"And God brought a trance upon Adam, and he slept" (Gen. 2:21), and He made a woman. St. Augustine of Hippo says,
"Adam sleeps, so Eve may be formed; Christ dies, so the Church will be formed." Mystically, we are one with Him, of His
own Body, having His precious life and blood coursing through us to eternal life. As Nicholas Cabasilas teaches: "For in
this Sacrament we attain God Himself, and God Himself is made one with us"
The pre-incarnate Christ, having formed the woman, brought her to Adam in a primal procession of innocence and
marriage. Later, having taken our flesh upon Himself, He repeats what He had said at creation: "Therefore a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Gen. 2:24; Mt. 19:5). Further, by
His presence at this first marriage feast, He declares wedlock to be an holy and honorable estate. "And the two were naked,
both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Gen. 2:25).
The cunning serpent approaches the innocent ones who bear the image of God. He comes with questions, insinuations, and
suggestions. Centuries later he will come again with similar questions, probing and enticing the Only Sinless One. At that
time, the Son of Man, the second Adam, will spurn His tempting, for the Pure One comes to save mankind. In the
beginning, the innocents turned from Truth and Life to delusion and corruption. Then, "they heard the voice of the Lord
God walking in the garden in the afternoon; and both Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God"
(vs. 3:8). Who can stand in the presence of pure, hallowed, uncreated light Himself? Our God is a "Fire, consuming the
unworthy," yet to us, fallen with Adam, He comes to restore to life. He bids us, sinful as we are: "Go and sin no more" (Jn.
8:11).
God, Who one day would send His Only Begotten to restore mankind, tells the serpent, "He shall bruise your head, and you
shall bruise His heel" (Gen. 3:15). Beloved, we have lived to see His true promise fulfilled. Christ has trampled down
death by death. He has harrowed the gates of Hades, raising Adam and Eve from their tombs and bestowing life upon
mankind.
"Thou wast verily nailed upon the Cross, O Life of all; and was numbered among the dead, O deathless Lord. Thou didst
rise after three days, O Savior, and didst raise Adam from corruption. Wherefore, the heavenly Powers shouted to Thee, O
Giver of Life, Glory to Thy Passion, O Christ, glory to Thy Resurrection, glory to Thy condescension, O Thou Who alone
art the Lover of mankind." (Glory, Second Kathisma of Orthros for Tone One)
Saturday, March 19, 2005 Lenten Fast
Martyrs Chrysanthos, Daria, & Companions
Kellia: Deuteronomy 5:6-15 Epistle: 2 Timothy 2:1-10 Gospel: St. Mark 2:23-3:5
St. Mark 2:23-3:5, especially vs. 2:28: "Therefore the Son of Man is the Lord of the
Sabbath." To say, "I am Orthodox," is to express a primary concern for right doctrine, right practice, and right praise.
Hence, strict adherence to authentic Tradition would seem to be Orthodox. However, consider a strange twist in today's
reading. The Gospel passage describes two conflicts involving the Lord and strict Orthodox Jews of the Pharisees. In these
two encounters, it is Christ Who seems to be the One "bending" the rules.
Was the Lord Jesus more "easy going" and less Orthodox than His opponents, He the Law Giver? He established the
Commandment: "Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God commanded thee. Six days thou shalt work, and
thou shalt do all thy works; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do in it no work...." (Deut.
5:12-14 LXX). Also, He it is Who asserts, "Think not that I Am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I Am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil....Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he
shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 5:17-19). What is happening here? What is the Lord teaching us
about Orthodoxy?
The key to unlocking this twist will be found in the little phrase from St. Matthew's Gospel just quoted: "...to fulfil" (Mt.
5:17). The Lord seeks "to fulfil" the Law, not to break nor do away with the Law. As we examine this Gospel, let us
reconsider Orthodoxy as fulfilment. Both conflicts involve the Sabbath, the holy, seventh day on which God rested from "...all His work which He had done" in
creating the world (Gen. 2:2). In this quote from the Genesis account, notice what follows the statement about the Sabbath.
God not only "rested on the seventh day," but, in addition He "blessed the seventh day and sanctified it" (Gen 2:3). To
what purpose? For what? The Lord Jesus answers these questions in today's reading.
God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath "for man" (Mk. 2:27). The seventh day is a Divine gift to mankind, a rest from
labor and a day for giving thanks to the Lord. The Pharisees began well enough. Desiring to be orthodox in their practice
of Judaism, the Pharisees spelled out in measurable terms what constituted "rest" on the Sabbath. They even noted 39
categories of activity that would constitute work, and they asserted that any action which they could assign to any one of
these categories was a violation of the Sabbath (Deut. 5:12-15). Rest was converted from a Divine gift into a man-made
system of rules to be obeyed as from God. Orthodoxy as "fulfillment" was lost.
Notice: the Pharisees' third category of work was reaping, and so they could define the picking and eating of grain by the
Disciples as work (Mk. 2:23,24). The Lord, however, cited David's "violation" of the Law (vss. 25,26) to break open the
hard shell of legalism, and to return to the Sabbath His real purpose for the day, as a gift "for man." Men need material
food. The disciples were not violating the Law of rest. They were fulfilling the need of their bodies for food.
Finally, to establish the nature of true Orthodoxy, the Lord states clearly that He is the One Who defines what constitutes
work and He is the One Who determines the intention underlying the Sabbath Law: "...the Son of Man is also Lord of the
Sabbath" (vs. 28).
In the second conflict (vss. 3:1-5), the Lord Jesus again reveals Orthodoxy as fulfillment. A man needs healing. His loving
Creator will help a man on this day which He has given to mankind: "Stretch out your hand" (vs. 3:5), for "the Sabbath was
made for man" (vs. 2:27).
With my prayer I cry unto Thee, O Lord; it is time for Thy good pleasure. O God, in the multitude of Thy mercy hearken
unto me, in the truth of Thy salvation. (Ps. 68:16,17 LXX)
Sunday, March 20, 2005 Lenten Fast Tone 1
The Sunday of Orthodoxy
Kellia: Exodus 3:1-8 Epistle: Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2 Gospel: St. John 1:43-51
St. John 1:43-51, especially vs. 46: "...Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'" Philip invited
Nathanael, a neighbor from his home town, to "Come and see." This invitation "to see" is one of nine times that the verb
"to see" appears in this single passage. However, be sure to note how the verb "to see" changes its meaning as the passage
develops. At first, "see" refers to sight with the physical eye, but at the end "seeing" means "knowing." The change
begins with Philip's offer to Nathanael. The offer might be paraphrased thus: "Come, observe, learn, and get to 'know' this
Man for yourself." As the account progresses, "seeing" more and more often acquires the sense of "knowing."
Furthermore, do not miss the point that the "knowing" implied in the verb "to see" becomes increasingly complex and
profound. The Evangelist John shows us that to "see" Jesus is to cross the threshold into a saving knowledge, a powerful
knowing that far exceeds the mundane acquisition of information.
After Philip's invitation, the next uses of the verb "to see" occur in verse 47, appearing twice. The first occasion is in a
statement of fact, "Jesus 'saw' Nathanael coming toward Him." The second use occurs when the verb "to see" is translated
as "behold," being, in this instance, a "command" form of the verb. In the command, the Lord discloses that He "knew"
clairvoyantly something of the character of Nathanael. With a capacity to "see" men's hearts, the Lord knew Nathaniel was
guileless, without deceit. Nathanael did not miss the point in this "Behold." He was impressed with the knowledge of this
Man who "saw" into his soul. He asked, "How do You know me?" (vs. 48). Beloved, let us remember that the Lord sees
clearly into our hearts and minds. He sees and knows our deepest values. Thus, the Lord Jesus selected men whom He saw
as potential Apostles. In the Church's history, the capacity for sight into men's inner thoughts and values was given to
many of the Saints by the Holy Spirit, to those worthy of such "sight."
Next, Jesus tells Nathanael, "I saw you when you were under the fig tree." This statement of "seeing and knowing" is a
clear example of what the Holy Fathers call "diorasis," the ability to see into obscure circumstances, to enter the psychic
world of others, to see or know facts or happenings not visible to others. Once a peasant came to St. Seraphim of Sarov in
despair because his horse had been stolen: "I do not know how I shall feed my family." The Saint told him, "Wrap
yourself in silence and hasten to the village of (he named it). When you come to it, turn off the road to the right and pass
along the back-yards of four houses. There you will see a small wicket-gate. Go in, untie your horse from the log and lead
it out without a word." And it happened exactly in that manner. Such "sight as knowledge" clearly is a gift of the Holy
Spirit, and is strictly limited to those who are purified through long and deep askesis.
The final kind of "sight as knowledge" is mentioned by the Lord in His last statement in today's passage: "you shall see the
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (vs. 51). Here the Lord Jesus refers
to pure revelation. God discloses Himself to those who trust in Him, who commit their lives to Him.
At one level, the Lord is referring to the ability to discern that He is the Ladder or the Way from this life to the heavenly
realm. The Lord reveals this truth to the hearts of all the Faithful so that without hesitation or restraint we commit to
following Christ as God and King in our daily lives and decisions. Of course, on another level also, there shall be a time, in
the age to come, when the Faithful shall see Him, and "not through a glass darkly" (1 Cor. 13:12).
Illumine us, O Lord, by the light of understanding and piety, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that we may behold Thee,
O King of all, in Thy royal beauty.
Monday, March 21, 2005 Lenten Fast
Venerable Confessor James, Bishop of Catania
6th Hour: Isaiah 4:2-5:7 1st Vespers: Genesis 3:21-4:7 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 3:34-4:22
Genesis 3:21-4:7, especially vs. 22: "And the Lord God made for Adam and his
wife garments of skin and clothed them." In the Genesis readings for this week, God reveals significant insights into the
consequences of disobedience. Even as He seals the door of the Paradise of Eden, He clearly shows that He has not
abandoned mankind. His providence continues. Also, He reveals sin in all its vicious ugliness, unmasking secularism.
Likewise, to prevent despair, God discloses that His image, which we bear within us, remains, so that despite sin, the grace
of God can yet abound. Thus, we are led to consider His Providence.
In the present passage, it is strikingly clear that although God sent our primal parents out of the garden of Delights, He
neither abandoned nor destroyed mankind. He barred the way to the Tree of Life with a fiery sword, but as St. John
Chrysostom notes, "He did not stop loving them at that point. Instead, faithful to His own goodness, He is like a loving
father Who sees His own son through negligence committing things unworthy of his upbringing and being reduced from his
eminent position to the utmost depravity: He is stirred to the depths of His being as a father, yet far from ceasing to care for
him, He displays further concern for him in His desire to extricate him gradually from his abasement."
This survey of the reading discloses that God's providence continues. Yes, He imposes death on Adam's race because of
disobedience, but He does not withdraw the element of physical life. Hence, Adam calls his wife Eve, or Zoe, that is, Life
(vs. 3:21 LXX). She will bring many children into life (4:1,2,25; 5:4). Further, as St. John Chrysostom points out, God
"does not overlook them in their depth of shame and nakedness...[but] showed them great pity and...makes them garments
of skin...and clothes them in them" (vs. 3:21). He causes the ground and the beasts to produce life's necessities for
mankind (vss. 3:23; 4:3,4). St. John notes also that even death should be understood as providential, for, by our death, God
checks "our decline into greater evil and [stems] the tide of wickedness...out of fidelity to His own lovingkindness."
God's providence is evident when Cain is born. Eve is prompted to name him "I have begotten," in the Hebrew, "qayin,"
or Cain. In addition to his name, she expresses delight in the child as a gift of God: "I have gained a man through God" (vs.
4:1). Thus, she is able to acknowledge God's providential care for her in and through her birth-giving.
Note that the sons of Adam are moved by God's beneficence to bring offerings. "Cain brought of the fruits of the earth as a
sacrifice to the Lord. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his sheep and of his fatlings" (vs. 4:3,4). However, there
was in Cain's offering a failure of true gratitude. About this, St. Didymus the Blind observes, "For Abel's sincerity is
manifest: he offers of his firstborn considering it necessary to reserve for God the most precious things, from which he also
chose the fatlings. This is what Cain should have done, bringing the first fruits of the fields. For it is especially appropriate
to offer the firstfruits to God..." because of His munificent providence to the human race.
God's providential care is especially manifest as He responds to Cain's sullen reaction when the Lord "regarded not" his
sacrifice (vs. 4:5). See how God lovingly seeks to curb Cain in his passions: "If you do well, will you not be accepted?
And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it" (vs. 4:7). In His
prescience, God was seeking to avert the tragedy that followed (Gen. 4:8-11), but did not force Cain to "do the right thing."
Once again, providentially, God greatly respected the freedom He has bestowed upon us.
Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us, O God, by Thy grace.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Lenten Fast
The Hieromartyr Basil of Ancyra
6th Hour: Isaiah 5:7-16 1st Vespers: Genesis 4:8-15 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 5:1-15
Genesis 4:8-15, especially vs. 10: "And the Lord said, What hast thou done? The voice
of thy brother's blood cries to Me out of the ground." There are those who grade sin in degrees and dub the transgressions
of Adam and Eve as "relatively harmless"- a mere yielding to an unimportant and understandable temptation. But God
does not grade sin. All sin is separation from Him and at its depth the genesis of death-dealing among men. Behold! While
"sin entered the world" with Adam and Eve (Rom. 5:12), it is now perceived not to be "relatively harmless," but the source
of "capital crime." Sin's dread potential is revealed along with irreversible consequences, bondage, and resistance to self-examination.
The tragedy of Cain and Abel dramatically reveals sin's consequences. The voice of Abel's blood cried out to God (Gen.
4:10), and along with it, the blood of history's countless slaughtered victims. But despite grief, the dead are not restored to
life. Sin of every sort brings irrevocable consequences. King Saul's disregard of the Lord's commandment cost him his
kingdom and his life (1 Sam. 13 and 31). King David's crime against Uriah the Hittite haunted his reign, despite
repentance and gifts of psalmody and prophecy. The stain of adultery remained. Whispered lies return with ghastly results,
which even retraction cannot undo.
However, the consequences of sins may be beneficial, if one understands rightly, and does not whine like Cain: "My crime
is too great for me to be forgiven" (vs.13). As Christians, Beloved, we know that there is another way. The sinner and
Prophet, David, teaches us that "a heart that is broken and humbled, God will not despise" (Ps. 50:17 LXX).
The truth is, our response to sin in us is crucial. By the grace of God, consequences may provoke contrition and the
breaking and humbling needed for healing. Denial is a demon with a thousand forms. Cain's denial produced a terrible,
downward spiral into a hardened, personal resistance. The rejection of his offering brought no reflection but only anger
(Gen. 4:5). Presented with the alternative of offering "rightly" (vs. 7), Cain transferred his anger to Abel and murder
resulted (vs. 8). Asked where his brother was, he evaded with a question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (vs. 9). Faced with
his crime and its consequences, he whined (vss. 10-15). Sin so often enslaves, blinds, binds, and holds: "Iniquities ensnare
a man and every one is bound in the chains of his own sins" (Prov. 5:22 LXX). How simple is the path to freedom, and
how often it is resisted! Admission is the doorway out of the bondage of sin. Beloved, the Lord speaks clearly: "Behold, I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he
with Me" (Rev. 3:20).
By God's grace, if we admit our sin, we open the door to those convoluted, dark passageways that sin burrows into our
hearts. Cain would not examine his anger, nor what was morally twisted within him, nor the enormity of his crime, nor the
shattering of the bond of fraternal love and trust which he had severed. Yet, Beloved, see how God encourages us. With
no repentance nor any sign even of remorse, our patient and loving God did not abandon Cain. Rather, He marked him and
continued as a covering over Cain to his life's end (vss. 15,16).
God usually leaves time and space that we may change our hearts: admit our sin, examine our souls, and confess. The thief
on the cross found sufficient time. Let us remember, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1
Jn. 1:8,9).
Cleanse us from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and may our soul, our body and our spirit be enlightened by the light
of Thy divine knowledge, that we may be saved by Thy mercy.
Wed, March 23, 2005 Lenten Fast
Venerable Martyr Nikon of Sicily & 199 Disciples
6th Hour: Isaiah 5:16-26 1st Vespers: Genesis 4:16-26 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 5:15-6:3
Genesis 4:16-26, especially vs. 16: "...Cain went out from the presence of the
Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden." Today's reading follows the history of Cain and his descendants,
those we may well call "the first secularists." In this lesson God reveals the nature of life devoid of all thought of Him, for
in Cain and his family we see the heart of secular man: the deformed spirit, existence organized solely around the material
and psychological dimensions of life, and the reign of the passions.
God curses Cain, casting him out "from the face of the earth" (Gen 4:12-14). Cain is estranged from a rooted life tilling the
soil (see Gen. 4:2). He learns what it means to be "hidden from [God's] presence" (vs. 14). His rootlessness is underlined
in Hebrew in which "Nod" literally means, "the land of wandering" (vs. 16). Wandering takes him "forth from the
presence of God" (vs. 16), so that the Lord is effectively removed from his thoughts. He lives solely for the "seculum," the
material world. In physical existence he fashions a secular community. St. Augustine describes Cain as a man who in
heart and will "belonged to the city of man," and, therefore, "it is recorded of Cain that he built a city," a humanistic
construct to replace one's rightful life in communion with God. Secularism is life devoid of relationship with God.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that when men exchange "the truth of God for the lie," and worship and serve "the creature
rather than the Creator," they become "futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts [are] darkened" (Rom. 1:25,21).
Still, in God's mercy, the darkening of men's hearts does not destroy all facility of the human spirit. The Lord leaves in
place His gifts for the just and the unjust (Mt. 5:45). Artistic capacity remains in the hearts of all men. Hence, the
descendants of Cain employed their spiritual faculties, inventing and fashioning the various elements of material culture,
the husbandry of livestock, the development of music and instruments, and the mastery of bronze and iron artistry (Gen.
4:20-22).
But compare these talented, secular craftsmen with the godly artisans who were filled "with the Spirit of God, in wisdom,
in understanding, in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works" (Ex. 31:3,4). Clearly, the
mysteries of faith and the beauties of worship are rightly expressed only by those whom God chooses, ordains, and inspires.
For this reason, vestment making, iconography, Church music, and other forms of Orthodox craftsmanship are conducted
within the boundaries of canonical definition, prayer, and fasting, so that God may be honored in all things.
Secularism leads men to greater indulgence of the passions. Cain's descendant, Lamech, provides two examples of this, in
his sexual passions and his anger. God ordained monogamy as the basis for human marriages (Gen 2:24). However
Lamech, in the secularist spirit, takes two wives (Gen. 4:19). No ills appear to follow from his bigamy, but Scripture
reveals numerous other cases where multiple wives or other indulgence of the sexual passions brought great grief. Lamech
also exhibits a powerful compliance toward the passion of anger - greater than his grandfather, Cain, who killed one man.
In Lamech the passion of anger becomes far more violent and sinister. He wildly boasts of wholesale revenge, announcing
every intention to indulge in blood feud and multiple murder (vss. 23,24). His ethics are founded on unrestrained passion
and self-indulgence. He epitomizes the spirit of the secularist ideologies that promote terror, genocide, mass-murder, war,
and violence in order to achieve their "ideals."
Blessed be the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
Thursday, March 24, 2005 Lenten Fast
New-Hieromartyr Parthenios of Constantinople
6th Hour: Isaiah 6:1-12 1st Vespers: Genesis 5:1-24 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 6:3-20
Genesis 5:1-24 LXX, especially vss. 1, 2: "...in the day in which God made
man; in the image of God He made him; male and female He made them, and blessed them; and He called his name Adam
in the day in which He made them." This passage is far more than a list of descendants. Herein God unveils hope: life is
not simply "poor, nasty, brutish and short" as the swaggering Lamech or as Thomas Hobbes have asserted (vs. 4:23,24).
The blessing of God's image remains in mankind, and the gift of life perseveres in the face of death. God continues
seeking and rewarding those who are well-pleasing in His sight.
The opening verses direct us back to the uniqueness of the human race, to our being fashioned "in the image of God." God
does not withdraw His blessing from mankind, despite our expulsion from Paradise, in spite of sin and its consequent
distortion of the likeness of God within us, and notwithstanding the wildest depravities of which we as sinners are capable.
Above all, let those who are united to Christ and have received the seed of the new Adam, cry out in joy: "Christ is born,
raising the image that fell at the beginning."
One of the wonderful morning prayers to the Holy Trinity reveals the truth of God's continuing love for us "while we were
yet sinners" (Rom. 5:8): "because of the abundance of Thy goodness and long suffering, Thou was not wroth with us,
slothful and sinful as we are; neither hast Thou destroyed us in our transgressions, but in Thy compassion raised us up as
we lay in despair, that at dawn we might sing the glories of Thy Majesty." What shall we make of God's image that He
placed within us, revealed fully in Christ Jesus, and illumined by the Holy Spirit?
The repetitive litany of fathers and firstborns in this chapter, as it flows from Adam to Enoch, directs us to hope. Note: in
maturity each Patriarch fathers a firstborn. After the child's birth, the father lives on for many years and sires other sons
and daughters. God's gift of life asserts itself against death which mankind sadly introduced. The human race is not
consigned to develop solely from Cain's lineage of murderous, secular men and women, a branch of humanity devoid of all
relationship with God. The Lord appoints another seed in the stead "of Abel, whom Cain killed" (Gen. 4:25). The world
will not be given over to Satan and his human slaves.
The lineage of Seth reveals that our gracious Creator always is the "fountain of life" (Ps. 35:10 LXX). Yes, we are exiled
from Paradise, but God remains active among us to give salvation and life to those who worship and seek Him. As Elder
Joseph the Hesychast says, "...blessed is he who has traded well during this exile and reached the haven of salvation."
In the seventh generation from Adam, the new lineage through Seth reaches a pinnacle in Enoch, a man "who was well-pleasing to God" (Gen. 5:22, 24). Undoubtedly, like Seth, he "trusted to call on the Name of the Lord God" (Gen. 4:26),
for he did not taste the bitterness of death. Instead, "God translated him" directly to heaven (Gen. 5:24). Enoch, like the
Prophet Elijah, was lifted up to the very presence of God without directly undergoing death. The fact is reiterated in the
Epistle to the Hebrews: "By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, and was not found because God had
translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Heb. 11:5). By Thy mercy may we
struggle to please Thee!
Enoch foreshadows the hope completed for us in the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Despite death,
let us look forward in hope and live in such a manner that we too may be pleasing to God and worthy always to "be with
the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17). O All-compassionate Word, Who didst translate Enoch from the earth, by his prayers save us
who glorify Thee in faith that we too may be found well-pleasing in Thy sight.
The Annunciation of the Theotokos Fish, Wine, & Oil
Friday, March 25, 2005
1st Vespers Annunciation: Genesis 28:10-17 LXX Epistle: Hebrews 2:11-18 Gospel: St. Luke 1:24-38
STRONG> St. Luke 1:24-38, especially vs. 34: "Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not
know a man?'" God the Word, the Lord of the Universe, joined Himself eternally and completely to mankind in the
Incarnation. He performed this union in concert with the Theotokos, entering her womb. While using elements of the
natural procreative process, He also overshadowed both nature and history in becoming man (Lk. 1:35).
But let Christians realize that what occurred in "Mary's case" is revealed now as God's goal for everyone. In the Baptismal
Mystery, the Faithful receive the Holy Spirit Who empowers us to discard, if we will, what is fallen, and to grow in God's
grace and the sonship He gives. As St. Maximos the Confessor states: "By this power, Christ is always born mysteriously
and willingly, becoming incarnate through those who are saved. He causes the soul which begets Him to be a virgin-mother." Let us understand the Annunciation as the model of what God wills to achieve in each of us. The Annunciation
is from God for us: "Turn ye to Me, and ye shall be saved...I Am God, and there is none other" (Is. 45:22 LXX).
With precision, the Evangelist enumerates the specifics of the Virgin's time, place, person, social status, and lineage (Lk.
1:26,27). Life for the Theotokos was about specifics. We also live in a certain town, at a specific address, at what the
Postal Service calls a "point of delivery," which regularly is embossed on our letters as a 62 bar code. We are alive on a
specific date, in this century, bound to what we call "now." We are married, single, engaged, widowed, or divorced -
"check one only." In truth, God's saving acts in Christ are for all men, yet salvation is bestowed one by one, so that each of
us may cry, "Thou art my God" (Ps. 117:28 LXX).
Notice what Gabriel said: "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you" (Lk. 1:28). To have God active in the
specifics of one's life is an occasion of great joy, a cause for true rejoicing. How glorious to know that our souls, our
ordinary human psyches, contain the potential both to have Christ conceived within us and to be fully formed in every
aspect of our being (Gal. 4:19)! While most of us are still far from having Christ fully formed in us, yet He Himself prays
that He may be in us and we in Him (Jn. 17:23). O Savior, save us!
We are told that Mary "...was troubled at [Gabriel's] saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was" (Lk. 1:29).
It is unsettling to have God act in our lives. His presence within disrupts our logic, pushes our assumptions toward new
patterns, stretches and calls us to change, repent, accept, and respond. Appropriately, the Archangel sealed the Virgin off
from agitation and fear: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God" ( vs. 30).
Our decision to undertake mystical conception and incarnation need not be made from fear. Rather, let us receive the great
lovingkindness of God Himself. As Christians, we have found favor with God. His love has been manifested that we
might live in Him (1 Jn. 4:9).
The angel Gabriel answered the Virgin's perplexity and ours: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Highest will overshadow you..." (Lk. 1:35). It is beyond mortal understanding that God wishes to be conceived in us
mystically and that He may be. However, the Son of God became the Son of Man, and His conception has been repeated
countless times in specific persons. God does what He will, "for with God nothing will be impossible" (vs. 37).
Last of all, notice: mystical conception requires our assent. God does not force. Love is born from freedom's womb.
Christ has a Divine and a human will, and so, let us say, "Thy will be done." Let us assent with the Theotokos: "Let it be
unto me according to Thy word" (vs. 38).
From day to day, show forth Thy salvation in us, O God, as we sing unto Thee, Alleluia.
Saturday, March 26, 2005 Lenten Fast
The Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel
2nd Vespers Annunciation: Ezekiel 43:27-44:4 Epistle: Hebrews 3:12-16 Gospel: St. Mark 1:35-44
St. Mark 1:35-44, especially vs. 35: "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight,
He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed." The Lord Jesus Christ reveals Himself as the
consummate Man of Prayer, as today's reading shows. Consider: not only did He pray during His three year ministry, but
even now He prays, for as the Apostle teaches, "He always lives to make intercession" for us (Heb. 7:25). Think of it!
Christ Jesus our Lord as the God-Man, hears our prayers and offers them to the Father. As a fellow Man, He Himself
prayed, and more wonderfully, He continues praying now and forever. So what is there about prayer that He does not
know and understand fully? To what greater Teacher may we turn for instruction in prayer? Let us join Metropolitan
Philaret in praying to the Lord: "Direct our wills, teach us to pray, pray Thou Thyself in us." After all, being baptized into
Christ, we "have put on Christ" (Gal.3:27). Thus, we have assurance that He is always ready within our spirits to pray with
us and for us. In today's reading the Lord Jesus teaches us three aspects of prayer: 1) maintaining an intimate relationship
with Him, 2) fighting off demonic interference, and 3) cleansing our hearts to be vessels of pure prayer.
Prayer is struggle, something Simon Peter and many have encountered. We must find Christ (Mk. 1:36)! Many fail to
understand what is driving them to search for truth, light, happiness, love, and meaning, but Peter understood: "Everyone is
looking for You" (Mk. 1:37). And the Lord intends that we should seek Him, "grope for Him and find Him, though He is
not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:27,28).
Beloved, how blessed we are among all men if we have found Him, for in Him is the true Faith! Like Christ's first
Disciples, we too may discover that we have become separated from Him. Then we must search for Him, to be united
again with Him (Mk. 1:36,37). Often, we lose the Lord by falling asleep spiritually (Mk 14:37). But the Lord knows our
weaknesses, and that is exactly why He told Peter and the others: "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The
spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak" (Mk. 14:38).
After the disciples came to the Lord, He led them "throughout all Galilee...casting out demons" (Mk. 1:39). The Lord leads
us through many places in this life. And in each one, as we are willing, He teaches us to pray, casting out the demons He
finds. They come and attack us mercilessly, especially during prayer. Have you not heard their voices? "What madness is
this? What are you doing? He is not within you! You are deceived. Deal with real life!"
Against such let us cry out with St. John of Kronstadt: "O my strength, Jesus, Son of God! O Light of my mind! The
peace, the joy of my heart - glory to Thee! Glory to Thee, Deliverer from my invisible enemies, that fight against my mind
and my heart, slaying me in the very source of my life, in my most sensitive part!" Christ our God does cast them out (vs.
39)!
Since the Lord Jesus indwells us, what else is it within us that enables the demons to distract and tempt us so readily? Let
us confess the weakness in our hearts and minds - our fallen flesh. We are diseased, like the leper in this reading, corrupted
throughout. St. John of the Ladder points the way to health: "Repentance is critical awareness and a sure watch over
oneself....Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord....Repentance is purification." Let us learn from the leper who was
healed. And come to Him, "imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, 'If Thou art willing, Thou canst
make me clean'" (vs. 40). Let us also ask Him to stretch out His hand and heal our leprous hearts and souls. He is faithful
so to do (1 Jn. 1:9).
O Master, Who art merciful, grant unto us who pray, Thy rich mercies and compassions.
Sunday of Gregory Palamas, March 27, 2005 Lenten Fast Tone 2
Second of Great Lent
3rd Vespers Annunciation: Proverbs 9:1-11 Epistle: Hebrews 1:10-2:3 Gospel: St. Mark 2:1-12
St. Mark 2:1-12, especially vss. 10, 11: "'But that you may know that the Son of Man has power
on earth to forgive sins' - He said to the paralytic, 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.'" When the
Lord Jesus returned to Capernaum, "immediately many gathered together" (vs. 2). Despite difficulties, friends brought a
paralyzed man to the Lord for healing (vs. 3-4). He responded to the demonstrated faith of these friends and spoke to the
paralytic about his primary problem - his need for forgiveness (vs. 5). However, the Lord also sensed the "reasoning" of
the scribes, "in their hearts" (vs. 6). These religious authorities believed "this Man," Jesus, was blaspheming by forgiving
sins (vs. 7). How ironic! They were correct in saying that the authority and power to forgive are vested in God alone.
Therefore, the Lord Jesus addressed their spiritual resistance and declared that "the Son of Man has power on earth to
forgive sins" (Mk. 2:10). As Blessed Theophylact notes, "by healing the body, the Lord makes credible and certain the
healing of the soul as well, confirming the invisible by means of the visible." Still, the healing occurred in a believing
community gathered around the Lord. The faith of the paralytic's friends was more important than his own.
The scene in Capernaum has, in fact, the appearance of the Church. Christ the Lord is in "the house" (vs. 1). People learn
that He is there, and gather together. He preaches to them (vs. 2). Father Alexander Schmemann reminds us that the first
and often overlooked action of the Liturgy is the gathering of the Faithful, what he calls the "Sacrament of the Assembly:"
"When I say that I am going to Church, it means I am going into the assembly of the Faithful in order, together with them,
to constitute the Church, in order to be what I became on the day of my Baptism - a member, in the fullest, absolute
meaning of the term, of the Body of Christ." The full expression of the Church's gifts, including every sort of spiritual and
physical healing, is most appropriate and likely in the context of the Church gathered around the Lord. Church - the
Assembly of the Faithful - is the locus for anticipating Christ "Who is gracious unto all thine iniquities, Who healest all
thine infirmities, Who redeemeth thy life from corruption, Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion" (Ps. 102:3,4
LXX).
Second, notice that the paralytic man was passive, not merely because of his physical need to be carried (Mk. 2:3). There
was more. The man never said a word. He did nothing until he was directed to "... arise, take up your bed and go to your
house" (vs. 11). Then he acted, but still without a word. It was not his faith to which the Lord responded, but rather the
faith of those who brought him (vs. 5). Healing requires the faith of the Church more than the faith of a single individual.
The system of Godparents, for example, is founded on this principle, which is especially evidenced with infants. The
Orthodox anointing service, most often seen on Great and Holy Wednesday Evening, requires the reading of seven gospels
by seven priests. The number seven expresses this same reality of the wholeness of the Church gathered in faith with the
Lord.
Finally, this lesson reveals that all healing - physical and spiritual - finds its source in Christ. The scribes had the right point
but with wrong reasoning (vs. 7). The Lord agreed with their assertion, but simultaneously fixed the authoritative power to
heal in Himself: "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins," He commanded the man
to rise and walk (vs. 10). The poor scribes! The Lord revealed their innermost thoughts, healed the man's body, and still
they were not healed of delusion, still they could not receive their Savior.
O Master, Lord our God, raise us up from our sickness through the mercies of Thy goodness, that we who share in Thine
inexpressible love toward mankind may sing Thy praises.
Monday, March 28, 2005 Lenten Fast
The Venerable Hilarion the New
6th Hour: Isaiah 8:13-9:7 1st Vespers: Genesis 6:9-22 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 8:1-21
Genesis 6:9-22, especially vss. 9, 10 (LXX): "But Noah found grace before the Lord
God....Noah was a just man; being perfect in his generation. Noah was well-pleasing to God." Alone in his generation,
Noah "found grace" in God's eyes, being perfect and "well-pleasing to God." As a result, God disclosed to him that a
critical moment "for all men" had come, "because the earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy
them and the earth" (vs. 14 LXX), and yet, God saved Noah from destruction.
Like Noah, we live in a time flooded with wickedness, and so the question arises: is God likely to permit another season of
destruction to come upon the earth? Further, is it possible that like Noah we too might receive grace from God in the face
of some great, world-wide catastrophe? After all, the Baptismal Liturgy makes it clear that we were clothed with the
garment of righteousness, although it also says that we have a part in preserving our "baptismal garment and the earnest of
the Spirit pure and undefiled unto the dread Day of Christ."
In the Hebrew version, when Noah is called "just," his righteousness is emphasized both grammatically and by his being
called "blameless" (vs. 9). He behaved blamelessly and righteously with men and before God. This is the character one
expects to find in those whom Scripture calls "just." Aided by the grace of God, the "just" man habitually functions in a
trustworthy manner. This means that Noah was a person one could trust in business, leave alone with one's wife,
confidently expect would perform a contract, or trust to handle money without strict oversight. Noah was a just man -
morally predictable and reliable.
What is the relationship between moral consistency and grace? In Proverbs it is said that "All the desire of the righteous is
good" (Prov. 11:23 LXX). But what makes a man's desires good in God's eyes? When Noah is described as "perfect in
his generation" (Gen. 6:10 LXX), the point is made that Noah's inner character was wholesome. By grace he overcame
inner confusion and contradiction and became a man of integrity, not being controlled by impulses, base desires, or
conflicting wants. He was at peace in himself.
How may we attain such integrity? God's grace enables right behavior. Elder Joseph the Hesychast says, "By ourselves,
we cannot do anything if Christ does not first assist us with His divine grace. He first made Himself known to us, and then
we came to know Him....If He does not act, the good is not activated within us." O Lord, may we be perfected in Thy
Christ!
Notice also that Noah is said to have been "well-pleasing to God" (vs. 10 LXX). The reintegration of the inner self, by
which we become "perfect" in Christ, requires cooperation between us and God. Let us embrace the grace of our Savior
and confess our sins to Him Who is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1
Jn. 1:9). By so doing we may become increasingly well-pleasing to God. Let us receive His all-pure Body and precious
Blood for healing, for restoration, and for reconciliation with the God of all. Observe: after the Lord gave Noah detailed
instructions (vss. 14-21), the text then says about him: "And Noah did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him,
so did he" (Gen. 6:23 LXX). As God speaks and directs, so Noah does. Noah never replies verbally to God, but he acts on
God's commands! Let us who have received grace also heed God and obey Him.
O Physician and Healer of our souls: guide us unto the haven of Thy will, enlighten the eyes of our hearts to the knowledge
of Thy truth, and vouchsafe that our whole life may be peaceful and without sin; and grant us, O Lord, all our petitions
which are unto salvation, that we may love and fear Thee with all our hearts and do Thy will in all things. Amen.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 Lenten Fast
Mark, Bishop of Arethusa
6th Hour: Isaiah 9:9-10:4 1st Vespers: Genesis 7:1-5 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 8:12-9:11
Genesis 7:1-5, especially vs. 1 (LXX): "Enter thou and all thy family into
the ark for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation." Ever since the Apostle Peter associated the events of
the Flood with Holy Baptism (1 Pet. 3:18-22), the Church has celebrated Noah as a type of the Christian Mystery, seeing in
his deliverance a prophetic foreshadowing of the gifts of grace, mercy, submission, and salvation - the whole of the life in
Christ imparted through Baptism, Chrismation, and Communion. Yesterday, we considered the Baptismal Mystery as
God's lovingkindness and grace extended to each of us. Today's reading reveals why it is important to apply the
incalculable love of God in our life.
First of all, understand that God's gracious actions, whether directed to Noah or provided to us in the Holy Mysteries, are
loving, concerned invitations from the Lord. They are neither harsh commands nor empty rituals. Although the words,
"Enter thou and all thy family into the ark" have the "form" of a command, yet God fully reveals His purposes (Gen. 7:1,4),
prompting and inviting rather than bluntly ordering. In fact, all of God's commandments have this character, being given
out of love and compassion for mankind's highest good and welfare.
Compare the tone of God's directives in this passage with the prayers offered for catechumens: "I lay my hand upon Thy
servant, who hath been found worthy to flee unto Thy Holy Name, and to take refuge under the shelter of Thy wings.
Inscribe him in Thy Book of Life, and unite him to the flock of Thine inheritance. And may Thy Holy Name be glorified in
him." Let us embrace and apply God's mercy, because to do so is natural, healthy, and life-giving.
God prompted Noah to come into the ark with his family primarily for reasons of safety and survival, that they might have
life (vs. 4). Similarly, the invitation of Holy Baptism is a bidding to enter into the safety and life that God offers in the
Church. St. Nikolai of Zica has this very security in mind when he begs us to listen to the wise Chrysostom: "If you are
within, the wolf cannot enter, but if you stray outside, the wild beasts will get you...Do not wander from the Church; there
is nothing more impregnable than the Church. She is your hope and salvation." As we consider the entrance of Noah and
his family into the ark, let us recall our own entry into the Mystery of the Church. God's mercy received in Baptism brings
us into the Church, into the spaces where the Church gathers for Liturgy, its assembly halls which are called "nave,"
originally meaning "ship" - havens of salvation from the floods of evil all around us.
Notice, finally: the Lord gives very precise instructions regarding the animals to be brought on board the ark. He tells
Noah, "And of the clean cattle take in to thee sevens, male and female, and of the unclean cattle pairs, males and female"
And of the clean flying creatures of the sky, sevens (vss. 2,3). Thus, Noah and his family would have sufficient clean
animals and birds after the flood for burnt offerings in thanksgiving to God as well as for replenishing the earth.
Likewise, God in His grace prearranges resources for us, both for our physical and spiritual needs, setting us on a planet
rich in resources and abundant with life-giving goods. Especially notice that in the grace of the Baptismal Mystery, the
Lord provides the blessings of the new Life in the Spirit through the washing and the anointing. In addition, He arranges
for our on-going nurture for living in Christ on a day-to-day, year-in-and-year-out basis. He gives us the Holy Communion
of the Lord's most Blessed Body and Blood. As the Elder Joseph says, "Just know that everything - the beginning and the
end of every good thing - is Christ."
The Lord is my Light and my Savior: whom then shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life; of whom then shall I be
afraid? (Ps. 26:1 LXX).
Wednesday, March 30, 2005 Lenten Fast
Ven. John of Sinai, Author of The Ladder
6th Hour: Isaiah 10:12-20 1st Vespers: Genesis 7:6-9 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 9:12-18
Genesis 7:6-9 LXX, especially vss. 8, 9: "...of all things that creep upon the
earth, pairs went in to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah." Holy Scripture records that "Noah
did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him" (Gen. 6:23), yet Noah never spoke in reply to God. Throughout the
entire account of the Great Flood, Noah acts, and that only as the Lord commands. On the other hand, the Lord's speech
takes many forms. He directs, commands, asks, and explains. Finally, long after the Flood, as we will read, Noah does
speak, but he speaks then only to his sons (vss. 9:25-27). Never at all does he speak to God, yet he obeys the Lord without
hesitation.
Noah's silent actions speak fluently. He "speaks" by preparing, by loading the ark, by entering it, and even by waiting
silently for God to tell him when he may leave the ark. Noah typifies obedience to God for any who would actualize the
Mystery of being "saved by water" (1 Pet. 3:20). True Christian obedience begins silently within the self - when we
choose to obey the Lord. The Faithful respond obediently because of truly believing in Christ as God and King. The
wordlessness of Noah's behavior clearly reveals that the habit of true obedience must begin within the silent spaces of the
soul. Listen to the Elder Joseph the Hesychast: "Obedience is not to carry out this or that order that you were given, while
you object on the inside. Obedience is to subordinate your soul's convictions so that you may be freed from your evil self.
Obedience is to become a slave in order to become free. Purchase your freedom for a small price....And don't listen to that
thought of yours which advises you...."
Here is a problem: our "listening" to thoughts that create struggles, raging storms of ideas and impulses within us. St.
Augustine of Hippo advises, "A temptation arises: it is the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the
moment to awaken Christ and let Him remind you of those words: 'Who can this be? Even the winds and the sea obey
Him.'"
Notice: when Christ awakens within, the choice of how we shall respond to Him remains ours. Consider Noah: despite
utter silence, he must not be disdained as an automaton, lacking the capacity to choose. Like us, he is created in the image
of God. Freedom was ingrained in his essential nature, even as a descendant of fallen Adam. Noah freely chose to obey.
Free choice is the ground of life for the Christian. In undertaking the life in Christ through the Baptismal Mystery, each
one is examined carefully so that he may manifest freedom fully: "Dost thou renounce Satan? Hast thou renounced Satan?"
Even as we are challenged to breathe and spit on him, the choice is ours. Over and over our freedom is exercised: "Dost
thou unite thyself unto Christ? Hast thou united thyself unto Christ? Dost thou believe in Him?" As the Elder Joseph
suggests, obedience is to subordinate the soul to Christ, but it is done in full freedom, in the freedom that was exhibited by
Noah, in the freedom that is ours as well.
Finally, notice the last question that is put to the Baptismal candidate: "Dost thou believe in Him?" We were not asked if
we "believed 'that' Jesus is Lord, but if we believe 'in' Jesus the Lord." Christian obedience is commitment to Christ as
King and our God. It is allegiance. It is to become His obedient servant as the Elder Joseph notes. Being a servant of
Jesus Christ is the first mark of identification that St. Paul mentions about himself, even before his Apostleship (Rom. 1:1).
Like Noah, in order to gain our freedom, let us commit ourselves to center our lives around that which the Lord directs,
commands, asks, and explains.
Let us now lay aside all earthly care: that we may receive the King of all, Who comes invisibly upborne by the Angelic
Hosts. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Thursday, March 31, 2005 Lenten Fast
Innocent, Enlightener of Alaska and Siberia
6th Hour: Isaiah 11:10-12:2 1st Vespers: Genesis 7:11-8:3 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 10:1-22
Genesis 7:11-8:3 LXX, especially vss. 16, 17 and 24: "And they that entered went
in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded Noah....And the water was raised over the earth an hundred and fifty
days. And God remembered Noah...as many as were with him in the ark." God saved from death Noah and all who were
with him in the ark. God saves the Faithful in Christ from eternal death through the Baptismal Mystery.
By embracing Christ through His Church, Christians sever themselves from the swirling flood of death all around them, die
with the Lord, and receive His gift of the new Life. As Father Alexander Schmemann says of Baptism: "It is the
representation not of an idea but of the very content and reality of the Christian faith itself: to believe in Christ is to 'be
dead and to have one's life hid with Him in God' (Col. 3:3)." Baptism hides us away from the world, shuts us up safely in
the ark of life, and introduces us to the new life in Christ. Let us examine this Mystery.
"The water prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and covered all the high mountains....And there died all flesh that moved
upon the earth" (vss. 19,21). However, all that perished then were "dead" long before the waters came, for biological death
is not the totality of death. The people of Noah's generation held the same, dominant heresy that darkens the mind of
modern, secular man - denying the spiritual dimension of life and wholly investing everything in physical existence. What
is the result? Listen to Father Schmemann: "spiritual death...fills the entire life with 'dying' and, being separation from
God, makes man's life solitude and suffering, fear and illusion, enslavement to sin and enmity, meaninglessness, lust and
emptiness. It is this spiritual death that makes man's physical death truly death."
By choosing to live life on completely different terms, Noah elected to die in relation to his neighbors, his acquaintances,
the relatives in his family, and the members of his wife's family and the families of his sons' wives. He left them all and
their delusion. As each of us, upon whom the hand of Christ has been laid through His Priesthood, "hath been found
worthy to flee unto [Christ's] Holy Name, and to take refuge under the shelter of [His] wings," so may our gracious Lord
"remove far from [us our] former delusion." For the sake of Him Who loved us while we were yet in our delusion, let us
go on loving those who choose death over life. But let us continue to choose the Ark of salvation and the life in Christ
now, long before physical death.
Because Noah was a righteous man, pleasing to God, he was found worthy of salvation, to build the ark, and to be delivered
from the Flood. His life of silent obedience revealed a man who passed from death to life long before the flood came, a
man who was truly united to God. Beloved of the Lord, may the portrait of a true Baptismal initiate given by Nicholas
Cabasilas describe the manner in which each of us lives: "Fleeing from darkness he runs toward the light and turns to the
east to seek the sun. Being freed from the tyrant's hands he worships the King, and having condemned the usurper he
recognizes his lawful Master. He prays that he may become subject to Him and serve Him with all his soul."
Like Noah, we have been called by God into the Ark of the Church, shut in with His own hand. Most of all, God
remembers us because we are united to Him. God made Himself man to unite us to Himself. Now as Cabasilas says, "we
are really members of Christ, and this is the result of Baptism. The splendor and beauty of the members come from the
Head, for they would not appear beautiful without being attached to the Head." Let us cling to Him Who glorifies us.
Keep us in Thy sanctification; deliver us from the evil one, and preserve our souls in purity that we may please Thee in
every deed and word and be heirs of Thy heavenly kingdom.
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
The Venerable David, Bishop of Menevia in Wales
Kellia: 1 Kings 14:36-46 LXX Epistle: 1 John 3:9-22 Gospel: St Mark 14:10-42
St. Mark 14:10-42, especially vs. 38: "Watch and pray, lest
you enter into temptation." Under guidance by the Holy Spirit, the Church assigns the present series of daily readings from
St. Mark's Gospel as preparation for Great Lent. Two weeks ago, as we began the Triodion leading up to Great Lent, to
help us repent, the lessons from St. Mark described the conflicts the Lord Jesus encountered with the religious authorities
who "...sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude..." (Mk.12:12). Last week, before the Sunday of the Prodigal
Son, the readings were from a series of the Lord's prophecies concerning the last judgment (St. Mark 13). These were
filled with similar cautions to "...watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is" (Mk.13:33).
This week, the Gospel passages are from St. Mark's Passion narrative (Mk.11,14,15). These readings invite us to reflect on
the Lord Jesus' Passion for our sake. Notice: before the Great Fast, the Church calls upon us to meditate upon the
sufferings and death whereby Christ our God has given unto us life and immortality. Much later, during Great and Holy
Week, at the end of the Great Fast, the readings will be Passion accounts from the other Gospels. Thus, the sufferings of
our Savior are set before us to frame our Lenten journey.
Today's Gospel reading places six real-life choices before us, decisions one might face on any given day: choices to betray,
obey, follow, protect one's self, desert, or suffer with Christ. Judas, who betrayed the Lord, was one of the Twelve (vs.
10). He deliberately chose to approach the chief priests in order to betray the Lord. This choice - to seek out the authorities
- was his personal decision; the religious leaders did not come to him (vs. 10). Incredibly, Judas choose to cooperate with
the Lord's enemies! Yes, and the same choice is available to each of us every day. We may betray Christ in so many
different ways: by compromising His truth, by deserting Him, by acts of petty self-interest, or by mindless, plain
carelessness.
The inverse of betrayal is obedience. We may respond appropriately to the Lord's will, remaining Christ's faithful
disciples. At His bidding, two other of His disciples "...went out and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to
them; and...they prepared the Passover" (vs. 16). Opportunities of this sort fill every day of life. We may do the Lord's
work as He wills if we will follow His directions. In what moment is the choice of obeying Christ not present?
To follow the Lord, we need to remain close to Him. Notice in today's reading: when the Supper ended, and "...when they
had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (vs. 26). Wandering off and "doing our own thing" are available
choices. However, those who would meet Him in the Resurrection followed Him even as the clouds of suffering and death
gathered.
At the Supper, the Lord told all the disciples, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me..." (vs. 27). Sooner or
later every disciple of the Lord fails Him through "self interest." Were it not for the Cross and His forgiveness, for His
Resurrection, and for the Gift of the Spirit, we would all fail our gracious Lord and live permanently in despair. Save us, O
Savior!
Like St. Peter, we prefer to think of ourselves as those who would never flee from Christ for any reason (vss. 29,31), yet we
make little compromises and evasions and do forsake Him (Mk. 14:50). We protect a false "self" when we run away from
the Cross, yet He is our true self!
Finally, there is the possibility of suffering with Christ and for Him. Yes, that night in the garden, He said, " Rise, let us be
going. See, My betrayer is at hand" (vs. 42). But notice: those who did flee then, thereafter met Him risen and alive, chose
His salvation, and embraced death.
O Christ our Salvation, Who didst suffer in pity for mankind, save us who cry to Thee.
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 Fast Day
The Martyr Hesychios the Senator
Kellia: 1 Kings 15:1-3, 7-23 (1 Samuel 15:1-3, 7-23 MT) Epistle: 1 John 3:21-4:11 Gospel: St. Mark 14:43-15:1
43-15:1: Lord Jesus, I behold them, a great multitude
coming with swords and clubs. I see men's raw and brutal power, but I cannot move. I can only watch. It is all wrong and
inverted. Why does Judas lead them to Thee? How can he? This night is a bad dream; it is not real. Listen to him!
"Rabbi, Rabbi," and, besides, he even greets Thee with a kiss! O Lord, God of our Fathers, save us!
Men put their soiled hands on God's pure One. No! No! No! Let there be no bloodshed. O, my brother, the Master does
not want it so. Put back thy sword. It is not His way. O Lord! Stop them! Why do they come out at night as if Thou wast
a robber? Why? Let them answer Thee! Take away all swords and clubs! Did these men not hear Thee in the Temple?
Do they not see the hand of our God the Almighty upon Thee? Why swords and clubs? Are they coming for every one of
us? Lord Jesus, save me!
Thou saidst that they would beat us also in their councils and the synagogues. No! Let them not take me, too! They have
taken Thee, Master. Save me, O God by Thy Name. Where can I hide? I am utterly naked. O God of my Master, let no
harm come upon Him! Lord, forgive me. I am a sinner. I am afraid. I have deserted Thee. Lord, have mercy!
See, they have taken Him to the high priest's residence. All of the chief priests are inside with the elders and scribes also.
What are they going to do? And Peter has even gone into the courtyard. Maybe he will find out what is happening! He
had better be careful! They may take him, too. What a terrible night! Who could believe this? You warned us, Lord. O
God, Who didst deliver our fathers at the Red Sea, save and help us we humbly beseech Thee!
Look, Peter is talking to one of the servant girls. Why is he shaking his head? She must suspect that he is one of us! May
God Who watcheth over all keep thee safe, Peter, my brother. What is that servant asking thee now, Simon? He has upset
thee. Peter is really angry. He is coming out. He is weeping. What does he know?
Peter, my beloved brother. Our Master trusted thee above all the rest of us. And, look, my brother, I too ran away. We all
are seized with the fear. Yes, I remember, Peter: thou didst say that thou wouldst die with Him, but Simon, we all denied
Him. Thy tears are mine. We all ran like startled sheep! The Shepherd has been taken. They have stricken Him. Do you
hear? Dawn is coming. It is the rooster's crow. I love thee, my brother. I weep with thee.
Now what word is there from the Council? What have they done? What are they doing? Is He safe? No! No, say it is not
true! They cannot be trying Him! The witnesses lie! He never said He would destroy the Temple, only that the Temple
would be destroyed. They must not condemn Him for that! Let them be truthful, and they will not condemn Him. Do you
hear that? Not even their paid witnesses agree! Did He actually tell them openly that He is the Christ? They should have
believed Him! They think He has blasphemed God. They are ones who have gone too far! When will He come in power
on the clouds of Heaven? When He does, they will be the ones that will have to hide. How long will He permit them to
blaspheme God this way - spitting on Him, beating Him, condemning Him? Forgive us, O, Holy One!
Look, here is the Master. They are coming out with Him. Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Bound like
some criminal! Why does He permit this? Will He not stop them? He was able to stop the storm on the sea. Where are
they taking Him now? They are so rough. Oh, no! They are not going to Pilate's headquarters. Not for death, Lord Jesus!
Refrain not Thyself, O God, but save us!
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Hieromartyr Theodoretos of Antioch
Kellia: 1 Kings 15:24-35 (1 Samuel 15:24-35 MT) Epistle: 1 John 4:20-5:21 Gospel: St. Mark 15:1-15
St. Mark 15:1-15, especially vs. 5: "But Jesus still answered
nothing, so that Pilate marveled." To encourage his young protégé, Timothy, as the years of his ministry drew to a close,
the Apostle Paul recalled the Lord's "good confession" before Pilate (1 Timothy 6:13). He urged Timothy to follow the
example of the Lord Jesus at His trial. St. Paul's challenge applies to all Christians: our manner of life should follow the
model of the Lord's example. Before the tribunal of the world, let us be found "without spot, blameless until our Lord
Jesus Christ's appearing" (1 Tim. 6:14). How? St. Paul says, by fleeing foolish and harmful lusts (1 Tim. 6:11), by
pursuing righteousness (1 Tim. 6:11), and by fighting the good fight of faith, laying hold of eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12).
These surely were elements in the Lord's "good confession before Pilate," and they caused the Roman Procurator to
marvel.
The most striking aspect of the Lord's demeanor - both in His trial before the Sanhedrin in an all-night session and before
Pilate the next morning - was His restraint. He disclosed great freedom from the passions. In "answering nothing" (Mk.
14:61) to a flood of accusations, our Incarnate God spoke with the infinite eloquence of restrained silence. Through a
"passionless Passion," He "spoke" a word of calm, Divine judgment against all human sin and passion.
Much was asked of the Lord during the two trials, and He answered either with silence or concise brevity. When asked,
"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" He answered, "I AM" (Mk.14:62), and described His future glory. When
Pilate asked, "'Are you the King of the Jews?' He answered, 'Thou sayest'" (vs. 15:2). "I AM" and "Thou sayest." So free
was He of all passion and the need to defend His life, of any lust for power, of concern to make "His point," or of a need to
"prove" His enemies wrong, that He could remain largely silent. As we are cleansed of passion, God will bless us with
peace and calm even in the most agitated situations.
Is it possible to imagine One more righteous than the Lord? Is it possible to think of a time when His righteousness was
more evident than during His trials and at His Crucifixion? Our hearts command us to agree with Jeremiah and call Christ
Jesus "the Lord our Righteousness" (Jer. 23:6). Most striking in the entire Passion account is the serene perseverance of
our Savior and God while intrigue, betrayal, mob rule, and injustice raged around Him.
Reading through the Gospels, one is struck by the Lord's inner and all-pervading power to manage what happened. He is
revealed as the "Producer" of His ministry, as the "Director" of the sequences, including His own arrest, trials, and
execution. We find the Lord Christ moving the events steadily forward for the salvation of mankind. For instance, at a
turning point in the Gospel of Luke, the Evangelist notes: "...when the time had come for Him to be received up...He
steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Lk. 9:51). The Lord's fellow humans appear as "bit" players, taking their part
in their assigned scenes and passing off the stage. Others pursue their ends. Unremittingly, Christ our God pursues
righteousness and our salvation.
Finally, the Lord "fought the good fight of faith." The Sanhedrin assured themselves that they had rid the world of terrible
"blasphemy" (Mk. 14:64), that they had won a struggle for true Faith. Rather, Christ won the battle of faith. It was He
Who laid hold of eternal life for mortal men who will put their faith in Him. No doubt Pontius Pilate sighed when he did
not lose control of a frenzied mob. What was the life of one harmless Jewish teacher? Pilate sustained the "Pax Romana!"
However, Beloved of the Lord, Pilate lost his greatest chance for eternal life, for Christ offers Life to all through His good
fight on the Cross and His great victory over death. Glory to Thee O Savior, Who didst trample down death by death and
bestow life upon all.
Friday, March 4, 2005 Fast Day
The Venerable Gerasimos of the Jordan
Kellia: 1 Kings 16:1-13 (1 Samuel 16:1-13 MT) Epistle: 2 John 1:1-13 Gospel: St. Mark 15:20, 22, 25, 33-41
V ~ Kindness: St. Mark 15: 20, 22, 25, 33-41, especially vs. 36: "Then someone ran and
filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, 'Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah
will come to take Him down.'" The Lord Jesus embodied kindness to all in need. He restored a demon-possessed man to
his right mind. He stopped a woman's issue of blood. He fed crowds, gave sight to the blind, healed lepers, enabled the
lame to walk, forgave sinners, embraced little children, returned departed ones to their bereaved families, and saved a
wedding celebration. Only the proud, the self-righteous, the power-hungry, the calloused, and indifferent received His
scorn.
What of Him? Did people love Him? Certainly His disciples cared deeply for His welfare and His needs (Mt. 26:35).
Mary of Bethany anointed His head, "in preparation for His burial" (Jn. 12:7). Most heartening are the glimpses of others
being kind to Him during His Passion. Best-known is the thief. Sharing the same sentence of death on an adjoining cross,
he sought to restrain the bitter tongue of his criminal accomplice on the third cross (Lk. 23:40,41). Also, the good thief
expressed faith in the Lord Jesus with no earthly reason compelling him: "Remember me when Thou comest into Thy
kingdom" (Lk. 23:42).
In the portion of St. Mark's passion narrative assigned for today, there is a record of four who were kind to Him: a soldier
in the execution squad, the Centurion in charge of the detail, an unknown person in the crowd, and a small group of women
who had supported His ministry.
The soldiers took Him out to the site for the crucifixion (vs. 22). Then one of the squad offered Him wine laced with
myrrh. The concoction is a narcotic. Had the Lord drunk what was offered, it would have deadened His pain, created a
mood of euphoria, relaxed Him, and likely shortened His time of suffering. The act revealed a quality of simple human
kindness. It recalls the Lord's promise that if anyone gave Him drink when He was thirsty, or "did it to one of the least of
these My brethren," such a one would inherit the Kingdom (Mt. 25:35,40). Thank God for such kind gestures that happen
by the thousands all across the face of the world every day.
For three long hours, our Blessed Lord endured not only the physical agony of crucifixion, but also mockery from "those
who passed by" (vss. 29-33). Then at the ninth hour, when He cried out (Mk. 15:34), "...someone ran and filled a sponge
full of sour wine, put it on a reed and offered it to Him to drink," another kindness like the soldier who earlier had offered
him wine with myrrh. Shortly afterwards, the Lord died. God bless all such acts of kindness!
Tradition tells us that the Centurion in charge of the squad of soldiers was Longinos. By the gift of faith he was able to say,
"Truly this Man was the Son of God" (Mk. 15:39). When the elders tried to bribe him to lie and say that the body was
stolen, he refused and sought Baptism, but he was hunted down and martyred. Thank God for the kindness of those who
tell the truth.
Finally, there were the women who were to become the Myrrh-bearers. As the Lord suffered, they watched. After His
death, with the Sabbath ended, they came with a last gesture - to anoint and dress His body and bid farewell as they could.
Their grief turned to joy! God bless those who clean up the pain and grief of the world without seeking recognition (vss.
41; 16:1).
May God give us the grace to relieve pain as we are able, to offer gestures of comfort to those who struggle, to tell the truth
with love, and to assuage the world's pain when we meet it. And may the Lord say to us, "Come ye blessed of My Father,
inherit the Kingdom" (Mt. 25:34). Blessed art Thou, O Compassionate Lord, for all that is gracious in the lives of men
and women, reveals Thy lovingkindness, Thine image, and Thine ever-present hand among us.
Saturday, March 5, 2005
Hieromartyr Konon of Isauria
Kellia: 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 16:14-23 Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 Gospel: St. Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 35-36
St. Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 33-36, especially vs. 27: "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with
power and great glory." How often we hear the hymn of praise offered to the Life-giving Trinity, "Glory to the Father, and
to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen!" The hymn is called the little
"doxology," from the word in the original, "doxa," referring to the "glory," a praise which the hymn ascribes to the Holy
Trinity. The hymn enables us to bring, "... unto the Lord the glory due unto His Name..." (Ps. 28:2 LXX). What is this
"glory" we bring to the Lord? In fact, we praise that which already is God's nature, the "great glory" that all men shall see
when Christ returns.
Holy Scripture associates God's "glory" with what Orthodox Christians call a "theophany," an appearance of God.
Theophany literally means "a giving or bringing of God's light." In a theophany, God discloses not His essence but His
energies coming from His essence - light, love, power, and truth. Hence, in theophanies, we men do not see God directly,
as God teaches us: "...for no man shall see My face and live" (Ex. 33:20 LXX). Man, the creature, and God, the Creator,
are absolutely incomparable: "For My counsels are not as your counsels, nor are My ways as your ways, saith the Lord. But
as the heaven is distant from the earth, so is My way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from My mind" (Is. 55:8-9
LXX).
Theophanies typically are associated with cloud, fire, light, and voice - forms spoken of as "the glory of the Lord" (Nu.
16:19 LXX). However, even the power and the majesty of God's energies, being pure forms as Holy Scripture shows,
invariably overwhelm those to whom they are granted in theophanies (Deut. 5:23-27, Acts 22:9-11). Therefore, God
"modulates" His appearances to men, that His creatures may receive them. This means that the "glory" of God that men
see is limited by what impure human hearts, minds, and eyes can tolerate.
In the book of Exodus, theophanies occur repeatedly for the people of Israel. For example: "...all the congregation of the
children of Israel...turned toward the wilderness, then the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. And the Lord spoke to
Moses..." (Ex. 16:10-11 LXX). Apparently, such spectacles were awesome: "And the appearance of the glory of the Lord
was as burning fire on the top of the mountain before the children of Israel" (Ex. 24:17 LXX).
Such experiences take ordinary men far beyond their spiritual depth: "And now let us not die, for this great fire will
consume us, if we shall hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, and we shall die. For what flesh is there which has
heard the voice of the living God, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have heard, and shall live?" (Deut. 5:25-26
LXX). When the Lord revealed His glory on Mt. Tabor, the disciples were rendered "...heavy with sleep; and when they
were awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him" (Lk. 9:32).
Invariably, when God imparts a message, He reveals His glory, and often what He communicates concerns both His
judgment and His salvation. Hence, in this reading, when the Lord Jesus speaks of His return, He announces that the Son
of Man will come "with power and great glory....Heaven and earth will pass away" (Lk. 21:27,33). It is a warning, but it is
not without hope: "Watch, therefore, and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things...and to stand
before the Son of Man" (vs.36), for the Lord's final, great theophany will come as a snare "...on all those who dwell on the
face of the whole earth" (vs. 35).
As I remember the terrible Day of Judgment, and Thy dark, ineffable glory, I tremble altogether, O Dread Lord, crying to
Thee in fear, O Christ God, deliver me from all punishments, and make me worthy to sit at Thy right hand, O Master.
Sunday, March 6, 2005 (Tone 7)
Sunday of Meatfare and of the Day of Judgment
Kellia: Genesis 18:16-33 Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2 Gospel: St. Matthew 25:31-46
St. Matthew 25:31-46, especially vss. 37-39: "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying,
'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take
You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?" It is a blessed day of
discovery, a day of dread recognition, when one looks within and admits, "I am starving, emaciated, mad with thirst,
naked, unclothed, shame-ridden, spiritually sick, and imprisoned."
The Lord teaches all who come to Him about this blessed state of destitution (Mt. 5:3-12), so that like Mary of Egypt,
one's soul learns the pain of alienation from Life but is unable to return to the world. All is empty for the "poor in spirit."
They can only cry, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, the sinner." In that instant, the blessed discover
the hand of the Lover of Mankind. They inch toward Him, and He points toward the perilous, narrow trail of repentance.
He steadies with His gracious hand. He gives the Bread of Life, slakes the parching thirst. He becomes clothing, healing,
and freedom - the true Friend Who embraces.
Imagine what the pitiful poor-in-spirit will do if he meets a fellow sufferer along the way. Naturally, he will share whatever
he has. His heart, now stained indelibly with love, gives simply because there is a need. He does not calculate, but simply
responds. As he cannot turn back from his true Friend, so, likewise, he can only continue steadily toward others, always
remembering to feed and to forgive. Yes, he will share whatever he has.
We have the wonderful example of this in the Roman soldier, Martin. He served in the army solely because his father
wished it, but Martin was blessed to discover Christian faith. He became a catechumen. One winter day, while on duty, as
he came into a city, he was stopped by a beggar: "Would he give alms?" Martin had no money. He did see that the beggar
was blue with cold and shivering. He took off the cloak of his uniform, cut it in half with his saber, gave one part to the
beggar, and went on into the city. We know that blessed soldier as Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours. Blessed Theophylact
bids us look at the disposition of such saints: "...they deny, with befitting modesty, that they have cared for Him." Why?
Very simply - they do not calculate. They are preoccupied with gratitude, delight, and joy in the Lord.
Yesterday, we considered the Lord's "great glory" when He comes again upon the Cloud of Divine Majesty. An
inescapable element of that glory will be the final judgment of all mankind. What will the Lord look for in each of us? He
will look for gratitude, delight, and love. He will not review our giving to charity, nor our work in prison ministry, nor our
struggle to relieve world hunger. It is dangerous to take assurance from any efforts we have invested in such activities. St.
Paul warns us about this sort of thinking: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body
to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). In today's passage the Lord Jesus sets forward His
basis for judgment: are His light and His love planted and flowering in our hearts? Do we calculate, or do we love?
St. John of Kronstadt teaches that "The purer the heart becomes, the larger it becomes; consequently it is able to find room
for more and more loved ones." How easy it is to forget the poor, the neglected, the homeless, the destitute, the old, the
sick, and the brokenhearted. Were the Lord not to heal our hearts, there would be no ability at all in us to love. God help
us!
I have no life, no light, no joy or wisdom; no strength except in Thee, O God. Enable me at all times to speak and act to
Thy glory, with a pure spirit, with humility, patience, love, gentleness, peace, courage, and wisdom.
Monday, March 7, 2005 Meat Fast
Hieromartyrs of Cherson
Kellia: Psalm 57 LXX Epistle: 3 John 1:1-15 Gospel: St. Luke 19:29-40; 22:7-39
St. Luke 19:29-40, 22:7-39, especially vss. 22:28-30: "But you are those who have continued with
Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink
at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Today, the Church asks us to fast from
all flesh meats, and, thereby, to take one small step toward the full exercise of the Great Fast. In one week, on Pure
Monday, we shall assume the full Lenten struggle. This week, we have prepared meditations on seven readings from the
Gospels, all of which aim to strengthen us for the Fast. Each passage considers a particular aspect of fasting: 1) gratitude,
2) strength, 3) judgment, 4) dying with Christ, 5) the Age to come, 6) piety, and 7) three essentials in ascetic labor.
Orthodox fasting derives its distinctive nature from the Church's knowledge of God. Hence, for the Faithful, fasting is
inseparably bound to the Incarnation of our Lord, His teaching about fasting, His saving Death and Resurrection, the Holy
Mysteries, and the illuminating presence of the Holy Spirit among us. Gratitude for what God the Holy Trinity has already
accomplished, is accomplishing, and will accomplish, exists prior to all ascetic effort.
The way in which joy, praise, and gratitude to the Lord touch all aspects of life is made plainly evident during Forgiveness
Vespers which we shall celebrate next Sunday evening. That Vespers completes our transition into the full Lenten ascesis.
Following an ancient practice, it is customary to sing the Paschal Canon softly at that Vespers. Do you see the connection?
Lenten sorrow has come, yet "sotto voce" we sing this beautiful Resurrection hymn of praise from the future Paschal
Liturgy, with its joyous announcement: "Christ is risen from the dead." Also notice that the singing of the Paschal Canon
occurs exactly during the time that the Faithful seek forgiveness from one another. The mind is inexorably drawn to the
"Glory" of the Canon with its final commands: "be illumined, embrace one another, let us speak, brothers, even unto those
who hate us, and forgive all for the sake of the Resurrection." The Resurrection alters the perception of life, every activity,
and the entire Created order. Orthodox Christians do not fast in an absolutely penitential mode detached from the reality
and joy of Christ's Resurrection.
This irrepressible joy appears in the Passion narratives of all the Gospels. The heart gratefully connects the Lord's coming
victory to the words of the crowd which rejoiced and praised God as He rode into Jerusalem (Lk. 19:38)! No Christian
reads the account of the Lord's Last Supper in isolation from the eucharistic gratitude of the Divine Liturgy (vs. 22:16). We
fast gratefully, knowing that all betrayal and denial are overcome, even one's own (vss. 22:21-23, 33-34). How
strengthening to know that "...the things concerning Me have an end" (vs. 22:37), for the end is revealed in His
Resurrection. All events are in the hands of our Blessed Savior.
Because we have died with Christ and are buried with Him, we know that we also live with Him (Rom. 6:8). As His
Resurrection frees us from sin, and enables us to have "...fruit to holiness and the end, everlasting life" (Rom. 6:22), so we
are grateful. The risen Lord empowers us to rule over our passions, to fast from sin, even as we practice material
abstinence. To withdraw from earthly things whets the spiritual appetite for Christ's heavenly gifts. We gratefully
experience the same nourishment He described to His disciples at Sychar in Samaria - "I have food to eat of which you do
not know" (Jn. 4:32). Orthodox fasting does not devalue earthly things, but in gratitude, restores them to their true function
within God's good creation.
O Christ our God, Who alone art sinless and hast risen from the dead, Glory to Thee Who hast given us fasting to quench
the uprisings of passions and to reconcile us to Thee!
Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Meat Fast
Theophylaktos, Bishop of Nicomedia
Kellia: Psalm 102:8-15 LXX Epistle: Jude 1:1-10 Gospel: St. Luke 22:39-42, 45-23:1
St. Luke 22:39-42, 45-23:1, especially vs. 69: "Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand
of the power of God." Superficially, it seems incongruous to look to fasting as a source for strength; yet St. Photios the
Great, the Patriarch of Constantinople, assures us that "by fortifying the body with fasting, bracing it with discipline,
whereby the mortification of the flesh is achieved....we re-live Christ's death, and put on the armor against the Evil one, and
are awarded victory if we struggle zealously to the end."
The truth is, we necessarily must look beyond the physiological effects of abstinence and fasting and their impact on body
and soul. Fasting is carried out first and foremost as a means of seeking "the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Mt.
6:33). As Bishop Kallistos Ware says, "is directed not against the body, but against the flesh. Its aim is not destructively to
weaken the body, but creatively to render the body more spiritual." The strength we seek in fasting is a restoration to the
natural powers that God intends for our spirits and souls so that they have primacy over our corrupted lusts and appetites.
The Gospel selections for today present a portrait of our Lord Jesus from His final hours in the Garden of Gethsemane until
the decision by the Sanhedrin to take Him before Pontius Pilate for an order of execution. By observing the Lord in the
initial throes of His Passion, we discern the powers that God intends for us to gain through true fasting: strength to pray for
victory over temptation and sorrow, strength to meet the power of darkness while retaining meekness and the capacity to
heal, and strength to stand before any opponent of our God, and Faith to witness to the truth.
When the Lord Jesus came into the Garden, He urged His disciples, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Lk.
22:40). However, they were not able to sustain their prayers at this critical time, and so the Lord kindly repeated His
admonition (vs. 46). The Evangelist explains why: "He found them sleeping from sorrow" (vs. 45). Perhaps as a result of
the Lord Jesus' warnings, the Disciples were overcome with sorrow at His predictions of His blood being shed (Lk. 22:20),
of His betrayal (Lk. 22:21-22), of their own imminent failure to stand with Him (Lk. 22:31-34), and of His being
"numbered with the transgressors" (Lk. 22:37).
However, when we aim at honing the spiritual aspect of our person by fasting, it opens the truth that all that happens comes
to us by God's permission and for His purposes. If we pass through all that takes place with such confidence - that God is
in charge and is using the events of the present - then temptation will be arrested and sorrow soon will be lifted.
Similarly, fasting strengthens one's spirit to meet the power of darkness with the same God-given qualities of meekness
and healing which the Lord Jesus displayed when the authorities arrested Him (Lk. 22:47-54). He permits Judas' kiss (vss.
47,48). He stops all resistance by a command (vs. 51). He immediately heals the servant of the High Priest (vs. 51). He
quietly allows the officials to arrest Him and to lead Him to the High Priest's house (vs. 54). The strong in spirit, those
whose hearts are empowered through union with Christ and are aware of God's infinite love for them, are able to maintain
their purity and strength in all circumstances.
Fasting reveals our weakness but shows Christ's almighty strength, allowing us to stand as faithful witnesses in Him
before every opponent. At Christ's arrest, Peter failed. In the power of the Resurrection, like the Apostle, we can find the
strength to face any Christ-hating attack. O Compassionate One, help us to hasten to the subjugation of the flesh by
abstinence as we approach the divine battlefield of blameless fasting, and shower us with Thy strength.
Wednesday, March 9, 2005 Meat Fast
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
Kellia: St. Matthew 20:1-16 1st Vespers: Joel 2:12-26 2nd Vespers: Joel 3:12-21
St. Matthew 20:1-16, especially vs. 15: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own
things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?" If we will closely examine this parable of the Lord Jesus concerning a
landowner paying his workers' wages in the evening, it can brightly illumine the relationship between fasting and Divine
Judgment for us. However, St. John Chrysostom is quite right in pressing us to inquire fundamentally, "What then does the
parable mean?" his point being that "it is necessary first to make [this point] clear" before applying its message. St.
Theophylact of Bulgaria states the meaning of the parable quite succinctly for us: "Christ...went out from the bosom of the
Father and hired....each one to labor in the vineyard which is his own soul." The task, then, of the laborers requires those,
"who by the grace of Christ have been made righteous through baptism, [to] receive power to conquer our opponent who
has already been cast down and slain by Christ." What is the name we give to this work within our souls of conquering our
enemy but askesis - the struggle by various methods "to fight the passions and evil habits, to overcome temptation"?
Of course, one of the principal methods for fighting the passions is fasting, coupled with the study of Scripture, prayer, the
cultivation of the virtues - the practice of piety in general. By all of these methods we labor in the vineyard of our souls. In
the matter of Divine Judgment, one of the Holy Fathers rightly asks us, "and just as the hired hand is ashamed to enter the
house and ask for bread on a day when he has not worked, how will you not be ashamed to enter church and stand before
God's gaze when you have done nothing good in God's sight?" God has set fasting and all the ascetic practices before us
as the labor for which He has called us. So God's judgment on our discipleship is involved when we come to receive our
wages in the evening, whether the evening of each day or at the final sunset of our life.
St. Gregory the Great rightly cautions us that at the times of Divine Judgment "no one should boast of his work or of his
time, when after saying this [parable] Truth cries out" 'So the last will be first and the first last.' We know what good
things we have done and how many they are; we do not know with what exactitude our Judge on high will investigate
them." However, the parable does provide light for considering God's judgment on our fasting and all our askesis. For it
shows us that God sets His standards for our askesis (vs. 7); further, that we have no claim before Him on our part that
obligates His judging (vss. 11-15); and, thankfully, that Christ our God Who called us to this gracious labor, is not
capricious but good and compassionate (vs. 15).
Our Master and our Benefactor "agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day" (vs. 2), whether they were called early or late
(vss. 4,5,7). When we "commend our ourselves [our bodies, souls, and spirits]...and all our life unto Christ our God," do
we not declare that our souls are His vineyard, that the labor His, and that the salvation we are to receive is His to give?
It is obviously our Lord Who sets the standards for our askesis. In the Sermon on the Mount, it is He Who defines how we
are to conduct our prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and all our askesis. In the present parable, He stoutly refuses the claim of
those who hold up "the burden and the heat of the day" (vss. 11-14) as constituting any claim for some better or higher
salvation.
The good news for us who are not always as rigorous in our labors as God intends is that the Owner of our souls is good
and compassionate (vs. 15), not capricious. He "is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown
toward His Name" (Heb. 6:10).
Awaken us from the sleep-walking of daily life by an active askesis to clear away the silt in the depth our souls, so that the
spring of living waters may quench the thirst of our hearts.
Thursday, March 10, 2005 Meat Fast
Anastasia the Patrician of Alexandria
Epistle: 40 Martyrs Sebaste: Hebrews 12:1-10 Epistle: Jude 1:11-25 Gospel: St. Luke 23:2-34, 44-56
St. Luke 23:2-34, 44-56, especially vs. 49: "But all His acquaintances, and the women
who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things." These faithful ones did not die physically
with Christ, but watched His death at a distance, yet, in another way, they did "die." St. Athanasios urges us to note "how
much a fast can do, and in what manner the law commands us to fast. It is required that not only with the body should we
fast, but with the soul. Now the soul is humbled when it does not follow wicked opinions, but feeds on becoming [i.e.:
adorning] virtues. ...virtues and vices are the food of the soul, and it can eat either of the two according to its own
will....Such was the case with our Lord, Who said, 'My meat is to do the will of My Father which is in heaven' (Jn. 4:34)."
If our "meat" is not God's will, the soul inclines downwards being malnourished by self-will and sin. Fasting can become
a "little death" if we choose to find life in it, dying to the passions of our bodies and souls. When we choose to die to our
will because we would rather join the Lord at His Table and partake of the will of the "Father which is in heaven," then, by
such fasting, we may die with Christ and live. Let us see how to begin this dying with the Lord to receive His life.
The High Priest, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin brought the Lord Jesus to Pilate to have Him condemned to death. Caiaphas
saw clearly that it was "expedient...one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish" (Jn.
11:50). These leaders of the Jews feared Jesus. They believed that His teaching and His ministry would create unrest that
would bring sharp reprisal from the Roman authorities. Flush for the moment in their power, with the Lord Jesus
blindfolded and bound, the Sanhedrin "mocked and beat Him" freely (Lk. 22:63, 64).
To follow the Lord truly often requires us to surrender our power in humility, to "turn the other cheek" (Mt. 5:39) and to
forgive those who wrong us. Such are the times when we must reject the choice to "incline downwards" in favor of and do
the will of our Father in heaven.
Pilate was under pressure (vss. 23:2-5,11-22). He inclined to release the Lord Jesus, but the voices of the Sanhedrin leaders
were insistent and "prevailed" (vs. 23). Pilate found only a good man in Jesus and no faults, yet, to keep the "Pax
Romana," it was expedient to acquiesce to these leaders rather than to risk a tumult (Mt. 27:24). If, in our fasting, we
would die with Him, we shall have to find more in Christ Jesus than "a good man." We shall have to find the Savior.
Herod was contemptuous of the Lord Jesus when "He answered him nothing" (Lk. 23:9), when He did no miracles to
entertain him. To die with Jesus Christ it is necessary to find in Him more than entertainment and diversion. Only when
we perceive that He is Life, fulfillment, and our restoration to God shall we risk fasting and dying with Him.
The Centurion in command of the execution squad did his duty. Spending hours at the Cross, watching the manner of the
dying, seeing all that took place, and the nature of the Man, he was transformed. In three hours, that pagan Roman soldier
who began by mocking Jesus (vs. 37), ended by glorifying God: "Certainly this was a righteous Man" (vs. 47). Holy
Tradition tells us that the transformation continued in Longinos. He went on to Baptism and martyrdom. If we will let the
eyes of our hearts look upon the dying of our Savior, we too shall find what St. Demetrius of Rostov says of Longinos, that
it is "better to be an outcast with Christ...and to labor in solitude for God" than to continue among those who mock,
disdain, and ignore the Faith.
The Pious Joseph of Arimathea "had not consented" with the Sanhedrin (vs. 51), being a "good and just" man (vs. 50), and
he did what he could. Beloved, let us learn to fast and die. I beseech Thee to purify me with Thy showers of forgiveness
and lighten me with fasting.
Friday, March 11, 2005 Meat Fast
Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Kellia: St. John 14:1-11 1st Vespers: Zechariah 8:7-17 Gospel: Zechariah 8:19-23
St. John 14:1-11, especially vs. 3: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you to Myself; that where I Am, there you may be also." From the outset of turning our thoughts to the
connections between fasting and the age to come, we will do well to heed what Bishop Kallistos Ware says, that "at the
Messianic banquet in the Kingdom of heaven there will be no need for fasting and ascetic self-denial. But, living as we do
in a fallen world, and suffering as we do from the consequences of sin, both original and personal, we are not pure; and so
we have need of fasting."
Are there, therefore, connections we need to consider profitably between the timeless, eternal "now" of the coming age and
the days and seasons of Orthodox fasting and abstinence in this present life? Quite so! For the Kingdom of heaven is
impinging upon us, making its influence felt at present on everything in this created order, including our fasting and
abstinence. Further, since we hope to enjoy the fullness of eternity, and since fasting is one means for purifying ourselves
so that we may be found worthy of the age to come, then how greatly we need to understand that the purifying askesis of
fasting prepares us for eternity.
First, then, let us lace together two important events that unite the present world and the age to come: God's initial creation
of the universe and His assumption of our human nature into the Godhead by the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. In
both events God repudiates any notion that the material elements are evil in-and-of themselves. Further, God's actions call
into serious question the assertion of some that the fall deprived us humans of all goodness and the capacity for communion
with God. In the words of Archimandrite Akakios, the fall "was part of a dynamic process of deviation which led to
disobedience and which changed the course of human growth from something natural to something unnatural." Let us
agree with Bishop Kallistos that "those who fast, so far from repudiating material things, are on the contrary assisting in
their redemption." Let us see fasting as a deliberate choice to share in the restoration of oneself, mankind, and the entire
created order which "groans and labors...to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God" (Rom. 8:21,22).
Do you see how the King of the age to come embodied Himself in time and taught us how to fast and purify ourselves? As
St. Isaac the Syrian notes, "For after His baptism the Spirit led Him into the wilderness and He fasted for forty days and
forty nights. Likewise all who set out to follow in His footsteps make the beginning of their struggle upon this foundation.
For this is a weapon forged by God, and who shall escape blame if he neglects it?" You see, beloved of the Lord, the
Kingdom of God is impacting us even now, making us "children of God" even though "it has not yet been made clear to us
what we shall be" (1 Jn. 3:2). So, let us fast to purify ourselves and become worthy to stand before our Lord and King and
hear Him say, "Well done."
Of course, for Orthodox Christians the decision to fast is not a matter of individual choice but is carried on within the what
Archimandrite Akakios calls "the course of correction established by the Church's experience and expertise." In this he
follows the entire mind of the Holy Fathers. As Bishop Kallistos says, "This accepted pattern, expressing as it does the
collective conscience of the People of God, possesses a hidden wisdom and balance not to be found in ingenious austerities
devised by our own fantasy." Fasting should not bring us close to Satan, but, rendering us sensitive to the spiritual world,
prepare us for the age to come.
O Good Father, I have withdrawn from Thee and wasted the gifts of the soul in riotous living. Make me as one of Thy
hired servants, since Thou alone art most compassionate.
Saturday, March 12, 2005 Meat Fast
Gregory the Dialogist, Pope of Rome
Kellia: Zechariah 8:1-6 Epistle: Galatians 5:22-6:2 Gospel: St. Matthew 6:1-13
St. Matthew 6:1-13, especially vs. 1: "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen
by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." [RSV] The oldest manuscripts of this verse
have the word "dikaiosune" (here translated as "piety"), rather than the word for "almsgiving," found in some of the later
manuscripts. "Piety" serves well in this verse, making it an introduction and linking together the Lord's teaching about
three pious practices - almsgiving (vss. 2-4), prayer (vss. 5-15), and fasting (vss. 16-18). The Lord teaches that in
practicing piety we should 1) be vigilant against vainglory, and 2) direct our efforts solely toward obtaining heavenly
treasure (vss. 6:19-21).
Concerning the Lord's warning to be vigilant against vainglory, Blessed Theophylact cautions: "See what He says, 'Take
heed,' as if speaking of some terrible, wild beast. Take heed that it not tear you limb from limb." Let us be wary of how
the beast crouches to spring on us. One may be lulled into feeling safe from vainglory by the habit of measuring himself
against others, but comparison prepares the ground in our souls to make vainglory "acceptable." The world urges us to
"take pride" in our accomplishments, without a moment's thought for God Who gave us our abilities, our various strengths,
whatever intelligence, and all our capacities.
In addition, "serious" Christians face a special trap. Out of devotion to the Lord, we want to do well, make the best of
efforts, give generously, pray fervently, fast in purity. But then, "up jumps the devil." As St. John Chrysostom says,
"...what remains the most tyrannical passion of all, the rage and madness with respect to vainglory,...springs up in them that
do right." And what if we "catch on" to the idea that we need to be humble and modest in practicing our righteousness?
Vainglory returns like a raging virus, and mutates into self-congratulation: "We have become humble!" No! We have
become the worst of the Pharisees!
Our compassionate Lord understands our weakness and how difficult it is for us to remain focused on Him. St. John of
Kronstadt explains, "Our heart often sleeps....the outer man prays, but not the inner one...we only flatter with our tongue."
So the Lord kindly offers us means to sustain our consciousness of His presence. Keep our charity out of public view (vss.
3,4). Be secret about prayer (vs. 6). Fight to keep the heart focused in prayer (vss. 7,8). And as His best gift for the battle
to be pious and true, the Lord offers His Prayer. It is a sure guide, a valuable checklist, and a weapon to destroy vainglory
and sustain us in lifting up our hearts to Him alone.
Who besides our Father in Heaven do we seek to please with our offerings, by our prayers