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.
St. Michael’s Monastery and the New Warrior Ministries Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW8XyPtkmtu6a1vVg6MEiNg
Many Blessings!
+William
