VI Pentecost Western Rite
6th Sunday after
Pentecost!
Greetings in Christ Jesus,
VI Sunday after
Pentecost
(Sixth Sunday of the
cycle of six Sundays)
During this week: At
the Beginning of Night read the Gospel of St. John throughout this
week.
Matins: Week VI
throughout this week, 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. 44:24-28 [S] (“Thus says the Lord your redeemer, and your maker,
from the womb: I am the Lord, that make all things...” Then the Lord lists a few of His
works.)
Epistle: I
Corinthians 7:24-35 (Concerning celibacy and marriage, and thinking about
God, tribulation of women
in marriage. Same Epistle almost as the Dormition of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.)
Gradual: Psalm 82
(Heb. 83) Deus quis similis. O God, who shall be like to You? Hold
not Your peace, neither be You still, O God. (Verse 19 as
Alleluia.)
Gospel: Matthew
15:10-28 (“Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man: but
what comes out of the mouth...” “Every
plant which my heavenly Father has not
planted, shall be rooted up... blind and leaders of the
blind...” Also: the woman who
says crumbs fall to the dogs has her daughter healed by
Jesus, because of her faith, even
though she is of
Canaan. Jesus has mercy on those of the right faith, but not always
those who call themselves religious leaders.)
Friends,
What do we learn from today’s prophecy? Who else but Almighty God, the
Creator of all things visible and invisible can accomplish all things? No one,
there is no one who can do all things including the redeeming of our souls
except God. This redeeming of course comes through our Lord and savior Jesus
the Christ. Depending on what Bible translation that you are reading from you
may find this at verse 25: who else will scatter abroad the sign of the ventriloquists and the divinations of
their heart, turning their shrewd men backward and making their council
foolishness. What is this word ventriloquist? What is the meaning?
Well, a ventriloquist is a person who speaks so that the voice seems to come
from somewhere else. In the case of this prophecy the ventriloquist is someone
who is speaking and pretending that he is speaking the words of God in
prophecy, this ventriloquist is a false prophet. Be watchful and ever vigilant.
Test all things to be sure of who we are following.
Our epistle may be somewhat difficult in the sense that it seems to be
saying that all single men and women should remain single because when single
they will devote themselves entirely to God but when married they will devote
themselves to one another and to the world and less to God. Let’s take a look
at this; Paul truly believed that the Lord Jesus was going to return shortly (along
with the rest of the church as well, it was the general belief that Jesus
return was soon to be) and that severe persecution was coming onto the church.
Paul wanted to spare the saints of undue grief and concern in having a family during
the severe persecution. It is true that one, whether male or female, remains
single then one has more time to devote purely to the service of God. But yet Paul
said other things as well. 1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop/Overseer then must be
blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to
hospitality, apt to teach…
1 Timothy 5:14 I
desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the
household, give none occasion to the adversary for reviling… So what is Paul saying in these various
writings? In society young single men and women do not dedicate themselves to
the Lord. That writing applies only to those who indeed have dedicated
themselves to the Lord and His service, it is better to remain single with less
pressure and worry or stress bit it is not a commandment, only a suggestion. Young
men and women who dedicate themselves to the Lord and His service also have
carnal desires, if this is a problem then one should marry so that the fighting
of the desire doesn’t need to happen. Because Paul also said this;
1
Corinthians 7:1 Now, to deal with the matters you wrote
about.
A man does well not to marry. 2. But
because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and
every woman should have her own husband. 3. A man should
fulfill his duty as a husband, and a woman should fulfill her duty as a wife,
and each should satisfy the other's needs. 4. A wife is not the master of her
own body, but her husband is; in the same way a husband is not the master of
his own body, but his wife is. 5. Do not deny yourselves to
each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your
time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will
be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of
self-control.Let me ask you this; how often does this happen in marriage, rarely I believe. A married person’s sex life is a joke in most of society. Among Christians who try to cram their beliefs and biblical understanding on others seem to completely neglect this. Jesus said to remove the log from our own eye. So, each situation is different, if one is able then celibate life is good, otherwise marry but in marriage do not live as if one is celibate. This is ridiculous and a very sad commentary on marriage today.
Jesus tells us that we are defiled by what comes out of our mouth because this comes from our heart. The words that we speak as well as our attitudes are a good indication of the state of our heart. Today’s passage speaks on things of the heart, lusts, fornications, adultery; these things come from the heart but what else comes from the heart? Faith; faith comes from the heart. Faith is knowing that Jesus can do anything and is always willing to help us for the betterment of our lives. The Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter but Jesus refused stating that He was here for the chosen people and actually called her a dog which was a common term of the Jewish people for those of Canaan. But what did this woman do? She knew that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and she persisted in faith knowing that the all loving God would grant her request through faith. Of course through her persistence in humbleness and faith her request was granted. She did not become arrogant, she did not become argumentative but she remained humble and persistent in her asking. This is a lesson for us, be humble and faithful regardless of circumstances. This is the Christian way.
So with the Psalmist let us remember that the true church will be persecuted; the world, even those who are enemies of one another will band together against the true church. Even those who claim to be the church will band with the world against the true church. Lest we forget, our battles are also against the spirit, we are under constant attack spiritually, our enemies are those who follow the spirits of the devil and are against God. The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray and also prays for us. We are surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses that also pray for us and with us in which far too many of us ignore. Do not neglect this help. God can and will send our Guardian angel to us when needed, I know this from personal experience. Stay close to Jesus.
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
