Sunday<\/p>\n
I Thessalonians iv
\nBRETHREN: We beseech you, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness,\u00a0but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
Monday<\/p>\n
The\u00a0 2nd Sunday of Lent focuses on St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica and Wonderworker (see Nov. 14). St.. Gregory is known as the one who exposed the heresy of Barlaam, an Italian monk, who rejected the Orthodox teaching about the blessed light, which illuminates the internal person sometimes openly visible (as for example on Tabor and Sinai), and who did not admit the possibility to achieve this inner light through both prayer and fasting and other individual efforts (i.e. to achieve the ‘glow’ that manifested by Moses in the Old Testament).\u00a0\u00a0St. Gregory is also glorified in the service on this day by the Holy Church. Thus the Holy Church, celebrating on the previous Sunday the triumph of Orthodoxy over all heresies, on the present Sunday celebrates the victory of Orthodox ascetic teachings over all false doctrines opposing it.<\/p>\n
Vn Bede’s Psalter Psalm 16<\/p>\n
1<\/sup><\/strong>Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n 2<\/sup><\/strong>O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;<\/strong><\/p>\n Tuesday<\/p>\n In Christian history the number 40 is sacred and confirmed anew, with even much greater and sacred examples. The Savior Himself, fulfilling the law, is brought into the temple on the fortieth day. Preparing to announce the good news of the Gospels to the world, He leaves for the desert and fasted there for forty days. After His resurrection He willed to remain on earth for forty days before His ascension into heaven. Following this great example, the Holy Church in the very beginning blessed the number forty, as a specially significant number: such as, the fortieth day after birth, the fortieth day after death, the forty day repentance, and, finally, established the forty-day fast, the Holy Forty Days.<\/p>\n 5<\/sup><\/strong>Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.<\/strong><\/p>\n 6<\/sup><\/strong>I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.<\/strong><\/p>\n 7<\/sup><\/strong>Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.<\/strong><\/p>\n 8<\/sup><\/strong>Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,\u00a0 Psalm 17<\/strong><\/p>\n Wednesday<\/p>\n Series… Seven Stages of Forgiveness by Fr. Konstantin Kobelev<\/em><\/p>\n First stage: Don\u2019t make any enemies<\/strong><\/p>\n The most correct conduct with enemies is to not have any enemies at all. The first stage of achieving peace with those who offend you is to avoid situations where people become offenders. Enmity<\/a> between people is most often caused by sin. Therefore, we must be attentive to ourselves, analyze our behavior, and not fall into emotionalism. If you feel an increase in tension in your relations with someone, in those moments try to be quieter, remain silent, be patient, and if possible, try to simply take a break from communication.<\/p>\n Second stage: In having a conflict, don\u2019t let it get personal<\/strong><\/p>\n But perhaps you did not have the strength to hold out on the first step, and a conflict breaks out. It should be noted that even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself had conflicts with people. At times it\u2019s impossible to live on earth without conflict, preserving your views and beliefs and your soul. Sometimes there really are situations when we must openly stand for the truth, not fearing to confront evil.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s necessary to separate the person from his actions and resist not the person, but his wrong actions. Condemn<\/a> sin, but not the sinner. Sin itself does not need justification; it\u2019s even dangerous: If we stop condemning sin, we could lose the understanding of the boundary between truth and falsehood.<\/p>\n Not condemning a person does not mean weakly allowing him to continue to do unseemly things.<\/p>\n Non-condemnation has nothing to do with appeasement.\u00a0Moreover, in the case that someone persists in his sin, communication with him should be broken.<\/p>\n Thursday<\/p>\n