Sunday

Matthew 6:22-33   God Providence  (watching over us)

The mind (Gr. nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul; it illuminates the inner man and governs the will. Keeping the mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life. As slaves serving two masters, people attempt to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things. But this is impossible, since both demand full allegiance. Jesus calls mammon (“ riches”) a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people. Jesus is warning against anxiety, not against thoughtful planning. Our physical well-being is directly dependent on God, and only indirectly on food, drink, and clothing. Anxiety over earthly things demonstrates a lack of faith in God’s care.
 
Because the Gentiles served pagan idols, they remained consumed by dependence on earthly things. Those who follow God can be freed from this dependence. The kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus’ teaching, and His righteousness is the subject of the Sermon on the Mount. Calling us to be free from anxiety about earthly things, Jesus directs us to look to heaven, secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings.
“The Orthodox Church and Faith do not conform to Western cultural influences – instead they strive to nurture Christian values and the Christian way of life among Western people who have solemnly accepted the teachings and way of life of the Church. Modern Western society is based on the urge for the instant satisfaction of needs, hence the rampant consumerism of our time.”
(Vladimir de Beer, quote)

Monday

Mark 4:26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Explanation:

This parable occurs only in Mark. The kingdom refers to the whole span of God’s dispensation or plan of salvation. The man is Christ, and the seed is the gospel (see vv. 13– 20). His sleep indicates Christ’s death, from which He will rise. That the man does not know how the seed grows shows Christ does not manipulate man’s response to the gospel, but each person is free to receive it and to let it grow in his own heart. The harvest indicates the Second Coming, when all will be judged on their reception of the gospel.

Tuesday

Mark 4: 21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Explanation:  This is a call to attentive listening and discriminating response. We must not only hear, but hear properly. More will be given to those who respond to Christ with open hearts; they will grow in understanding. “Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you”

Wednesday

From St. Nikolai’s Prologue:

Why is it necessary to listen to the Church and not to a man who thinks against the Church, even though he might be called the greatest thinker? Because the Church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and is guided by the inspiration of the Spirit of God; because the Church represents the realm of the Holy, a grove of cultivated fruit trees. If someone rises up against the realm of the Holy, it means that he is unholy. Why then listen to him? “The Church is an enclosure,” says the all-wise John Chrysostom. “If you are within, the wolf does not enter; but if you leave, the beasts will seize you. Do not distance yourself from the Church; there is nothing mightier than the Church. The Church is your hope. The Church is your salvation. The Church is higher than the heavens. The Church is harder than stone. The Church is wider than the world. The Church never grows old but always renews itself.”

Thursday

Luke 10:25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’[h] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”[i]

28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed,[j] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Friday

Explanation of the Good Samaritan

Jerusalem is the place of peace, symbolic of communion with God. Jericho, on the other hand, was renowned as a place of sin (see 19: 1). Falling among thieves speaks to the natural consequence of journeying away from God toward a life of sin (see Jn 10: 10). 10: 31, 32 Titles and positions are meaningless in God’s sight when good deeds do not accompany them: “The dignity of the priesthood means nothing unless he also excels in deeds” (CyrAl). That the priest and the Levite do not help the man also indicates the failure of the OT Law to heal the consequences of sin. 10: 33 The Samaritan, while a despised foreigner, is an image of Christ (Jn 8: 48), for He “came down from heaven” (Creed) to save even those in rebellion against Him. 10: 34, 35 The bandages, oil, and wine are sacramental images for (1) the garment of baptism, which delivers us from the wounds of sin; (2) the oil of chrismation, which gives us new life in the Holy Spirit; and (3) the communion of the divine Blood, which leads to eternal life. His own animal indicates Christ bearing our sins in His own body, and the inn reveals the Church in which Christ’s care is  received. He pays the price for that care

 

Saturday

From St. Nikolai:  God hears the prayers of the just. This is clearly seen from the lives of Moses, Elias, and the other Old Testament righteous ones and prophets, as well as from the lives of the apostles and saints. While St. Genevieve lived a life of asceticism as a nun in Paris, it so happened that Attila with his savage Huns surrounded Paris. Fear and terror overcame the entire population, who awaited at any moment the capture of the city by the enemy. Then St. Genevieve called upon the people to fast and pray to God that the calamity might be averted. Many men and women responded to the call of this saint and began to fast and pray to God. Genevieve herself fasted more strictly than all, and prayed most ardently to God. After a short while, the enemy turned away from Paris without any visible reason and departed for another place. That which the sword of many sinners cannot do, the prayer of the righteous person can.