Sunday
Matthew 9:27-35   Healing of the blind men

According to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear” (Is 35: 5). These healings are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which expresses their faith in this truth.

Quote from Elder Iakovos: “So long as we work for our bread, it doesn’t matter what our job is. Of Adam’s sons, one was a farmer the other a herdsman. All occupations are good, so long as we remain close to God. Saint Paul…made tents. And the great saints of our Church also worked. Christ Himself also worked in a carpenter’s shop. He was God and Human, but He still worked. Work is always a virtue for people.”

Monday

Parable of the Workers

 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle,[a] and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

8 “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ 9 And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 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?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

Tuesday

Explanation of the ‘workers’:

In this parable, the vineyard is life in this world. The day refers both to the span of a single person’s life and to the whole of human history. The laborers are all the people in every nation. Each hour can refer to times in a person’s life, whether infancy, youth, adulthood, maturity, or old age. It also has a second meaning in the span of history, referring to those called during the covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally Christ. God’s generosity provides equal reward for both early and late comers. Jesus teaches that the former should not be proud of their long service nor resent those called at the eleventh hour. To the latecomers, He teaches that it is possible even in a short time or at the end of one’s life to recover and inherit everything. In the early Church, this message applied specifically to the Jews (the first-called) and the Gentiles (those called later). In our day, it can be applied to those raised in the Church and to those who find the Church later in life, both of whom receive an equal reward. St. John Chrysostom’s renowned paschal sermon is based on this parable, applying it to the preparations of each person in approaching the paschal Eucharist.

Wednesday

Matthew 21:28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

Explanation:  Using their own principles, the elders convict themselves in their answer to Christ’s parable.

In other words the Jews are the 1st son who promised to obey God and His Laws but who didn’t.  The gentiles are the second who did not heed God’s call but repented and returned to Him thru His Church.

Thursday

Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen

Luke 20: 9Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. 10“ Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11“ Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12“ And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. 13“ Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ 14“ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15“ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16“ He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” And when they heard it they said, ‘Certainly not’.

Friday

Explanation of the Husbandmen:

In this parable, the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard refers to God’s people. The vinedressers are the leaders of the Jews entrusted to care for the people. Each servant (vv. 10– 12) sent by the owner stands for an OT prophet who comes to call people back to God, while the beloved son (v. 13) refers to Christ Himself. When the Son is cast out of the vineyard (v. 15) to be killed, this is understood on two levels: (1) that Jesus was killed outside Jerusalem; and (2) that Jesus was crucified by foreign soldiers, not by those of His own vineyard. The others (v. 16) who later receive the vineyard are the Gentiles brought into the Church.

Saturday

St Seraphim of Sarov on the parable of the foolish virgins (we did not read it this week):

“God the Word, the God-Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, compares our life with a market, and the work of our life on earth He calls trading, and says to us all: Trade till I come (Lk. 19:13), redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:16). That is to say, make the most of your time for getting heavenly blessings through earthly goods. Earthly goods are good works done for Christ’s sake and conferring on us the grace of the All-Holy Spirit.

“In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, when the foolish ones lacked oil, it was said: ‘Go and buy in the market.’ But when they had bought, the door of the bride-chamber was already shut and they could not get in. Some say that the lack of oil in the lamps of the foolish virgins means a lack of good deeds in their lifetime. Such an interpretation is not quite correct. Why should they be lacking in good deeds if they are called virgins, even though foolish ones? Virginity is the supreme virtue, an angelic state, and it could take the place of all other good works.

“I think that what they were lacking was the grace of the All-Holy Spirit of God. These virgins practiced the virtues, but in their spiritual ignorance they supposed that the Christian life consisted merely in doing good works. By doing a good deed they thought they were doing the work of God, but they little cared whether they acquired thereby the grace of God’s Spirit. Such ways of life based merely on doing good without carefully testing whether they bring the grace of the Spirit of God, are mentioned in the Patristic books: ‘There is another way which is deemed good at the beginning, but it ends at the bottom of hell.’