New Warrior Ministries!: V Pentecost. 5th Sunday after Pentecost. Western Celtic Rite.

Greetings in Christ Jesus,

V Sunday after Pentecost

(Fifth Sunday of the cycle of six Sundays) During this week:

The Beginning of Night: read the Book of Acts throughout this week.

Matins: Week V throughout this week (St. Matthew 28: 1-10), for the verses before the

Second Canticle of Moses, the Song of the Three Youths, and the Matins Resurrection

Gospel.

The Divine Liturgy:

Old Testament: Is. 42:5-9 (“...I the Lord have called you in justice, and taken you

by the hand, and preserved you. And I have given you for a covenant of the people, for

a light of the Gentiles: That you might open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth

the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house...”)

Epistle: Romans 9:18-33 (The created person should not judge God their Creator. God

will save both Gentiles and Jews who have faith. Some thought deformity or leprosy was

caused by sin or the sins of the parents, but Jesus said it is for the glory of God.“But Israel, by following after the law of justice, is not come unto the law of justice. Why so? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were of works. For they stumbled at the stumbling-stone. As it is written: Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and a rock of scandal; and whosoever believes in him shall not be confounded.” [Is 8:14, 28:16 In Greek "scandalum" also means stone.)

Gradual: Psalm 80 (Heb. 81) Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob.

(Verse 17 as Alleluia.)

Gospel: Matthew 11:1-27 (Jesus tells St. John the Baptist’s disciples of Jesus’ works which are from God, and then Jesus talks about St. John the Baptist. Also, no person knows the Father but the Son and those to whom He reveals Him. - This day is usually after the Feast of St. John the Baptist in June. Also, “But where unto shall I esteem this generation to be like? It is like to children sitting in the market place. Who crying to their companions say: We have piped to you, and you have not danced: we have lamented,and you have not mourned. For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they say: Hehas a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say: Behold a man that

is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified by her children.”)

Friends,

In today’s prophecy, God, the Father Almighty has called Jesus in righteousness, what can this mean? The prophecy states that our Lord Jesus will be a light to the Gentiles, a covenant to a race to open the eyes of the blind, to free the prisoners who are bound and sit in darkness. God called Jesus in righteousness; He has promised that He would not abandon Jesus that He would hold His hand, but at one point in time, while hanging on the cross, our Lord cried out; My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? But the Father did not forsake His only Begotten Son. We are also called by God to come to that light which is our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

When we answer the call we will have stepped through a door and into a whole new and different world. One in which we will at times stand in awe and wonderment and other times we will find fear and confusion, heaviness of soul and heart. At times even despair. But God has called us in righteousness as well; He will be with us every step of the way. We find many temptations, pitfalls and dangers along the path but God will hold our hand. We may feel completely lost and abandoned at times but God is always faithful, he will not desert us, it will only seem to be so. Trials and temptations give us strength as we fight them and overcome them; we gain patience and perseverance through our struggles. We can never give up. This is the purging, the purifying of our soul unto righteousness and holiness.

In today’s letter this purging is explained some in that we are told that we are mere clay in the hands of the Potter who is God Himself and that we are not to judge God or find fault with God for the things that befall us but we are to grow and live in faith. This is our job here in the flesh, to grow in faith and understanding, to become one with the Christ Jesus and in turn through Him to be one with the Father. This is our struggle, heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force (St. Matthew 11:12), or in other words we gain heaven only through struggle, fighting the forces of darkness and overcoming.

With the psalmist we are to rejoice in God our helper, the Living God who is forming us as we grow. We must listen to God and walk in His ways. For as we learn in our Gospel, we cannot please the world, John came neither eating nor drinking and they said; ‘He has a demon’. Christ came eating and drinking and they said; ‘Look, a glutton and a wine bibber’. We are not to attempt to please the world, we are of Christ and not of the world, no one can know the Father except the one to whom the Christ reveals Him. Strive therefore to gain wisdom.

We must live our faith in spite of those who make the statement that they do not need God in their life to do good. We who believe still need our Savior because we sin everyday whether in thought, word or deed. There is no amount of good that we can do that will erase our sin once we have committed it. There is only our faith in Christ Jesus, our recognition of our sin, our confession, and repentance. This is our faith.

God can do all things; there is no situation that we get ourselves into that God cannot help us out of. Don’t think though that if there is some earthly penalty that we must pay that we will escape this because we suddenly come to God for help. We simply must have the faith and believe. Keep in mind however; God's plan is far above ours. We suffer and we have plenty coming based on what God Himself has in store for us whether it is for purging, for testing, or for reward or necessity for our life. God is in control.

We do not know when this will end and the new beginning will be, in spite of the many modern prophets who make a living selling Jesus and the destruction of the world; we have no clue when it will be. In the meantime, it rains on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. The sun shines on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. We remain together in this world until that day. So take a lesson from the readings. Continue to praise and worship Jesus the Christ and the Father through Him. Never cease to pray and live according to the gospel. Allow the Holy Ghost to guide you. Love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength; love your neighbor as yourself. You never know whose life you will change because of this love of God in you.

The light has entered the world and the times; they are a-changing.

If one does not have love for the soul of mankind and the desire that all come to the truth than one does not have Christ in them fully.

Little children, love one another; because this is our Lord’s command and if you fulfill this, nothing else is needed. Through love and because of love we will follow all of the commandments that we have been given. They are written on our hearts by the hand of Almighty God. We simply need to see them within us and follow.

Remember; if we confess our sins and repent, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you throughout this day and the rest of your life. May the Holy Spirit fill us all to overflowing so that everyone in whose path we cross may receive a blessing from our Lord Jesus the Christ.

In Christ.