02/05/07 Wed in the week of the 4th Sun in Easter
[PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A "MENU" FROM WHICH TO PICK AND CHOOSE ONE OR MORE MEDITATIONS. PLEASE DO NOT THINK YOU HAVE TO PRAY ALL OF IT. PLEASE THINK OF IT AS A BUFFET OF THE DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF CHRISTIANITY. IT IS HOPED THAT ALL WILL PRAY THE COLLECT, REFLECT ON THE DAY'S SCRIPTURES AND PRAY THE ANGLICAN CYCLE OF PRAYER. AFTER THAT, YOUR CHOICE. THANK YOU]
If you would like these meditations to come directly to your in box, please click here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnitternunMeditation/
Blessed are those for whom Easter is...
not a hunt, but a find;
not a greeting, but a proclamation;
not outward fashions, but inward grace;
not a day, but an eternity.
Collect
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
AM Psalm 119:49-72; PM Psalm 49, [53]
Wisdom 4:16-5:8; Col. 1:24-2:7; Luke 6:27-38
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Luke 6:27-38. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Pray for your enemies?
Before September 11, 2001, when our parish read the Prayers of the People (Form V), we sometimes skipped the part about loving our enemies. Not because we didn't think loving enemies was a good idea, but partly because it just didn't seem relevant. People like us don't have enemies, we thought, just a few people we don't much like. We thought the same thing about countries, at least since the end of the Cold War. After September 11 we still didn't pray for our enemies, this time not because we didn't think we had them, but because we weren't ready to say we should love them.
Now the prayer is a regular part of our service, as is the discussion and the struggle about who our enemies are and what it means to ask God's help in loving them. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. There is no getting around it. The words are there, a gospel mandate. The challenge is how to live it out.
++++++++++
Today we remember: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Calendar.htm
Athanasius
Psalm 71:1-8 or 112:1-9
1 John 5:1-5; Matthew 10:22-32
Uphold your Church, O God of truth, as you upheld your servant Athanasius, to maintain and proclaim boldly the catholic faith against all opposition, trusting solely in the grace of your eternal Word, who took upon himself our humanity that we might share his divinity; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of North Central Philippines
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
By how many paths, in how many manners, through how many means do you reveal your love to us.
St Teresa of Jesus
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
Abba Joseph asked abba Nisteros, "What should I do about my tongue, for I cannot control it?" The old man said to him, "When you speak, do you find peace?" He replied, "No." The old man said to him, "If you do not find peace, why do you speak? Be silent, and when a conversation takes place, prefer to listen rather to talk."
++++++++++
Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (Pirqe Aboth)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/sjf/index.htm
R. La'zar said, Let the honour of thy disciple be dear unto thee as the honour of thine associate; and the honour of
thine associate as the fear of thy master; and the fear of thy master as the fear of Heaven.
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Friends and Their Unique Gifts
No two friends are the same. Each has his or her own gift for us. When we expect one friend to have all we need, we will always be hypercritical, never completely happy with what he or she does have.
One friend may offer us affection, another may stimulate our minds, another may strengthen our souls. The more able we are to receive the different gifts our friends have to give us, the more able we will be to offer our own unique but limited gifts. Thus, friendships create a beautiful tapestry of love.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Two - The Object, cont'd
In the example of his own sacrifice, Jesus reveals the secret of bearing fruit. In surrendering himself to death, he becomes the source of new life. Lifted from the earth on the cross, he draws all people to himself. Clinging to life causes life to decay; the life that is freely given is eternal.
++++++++++
Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
SALVATION IS NOT simply a personal experience, a “me-and-Jesus” thing. … Growth into salvation affects us personally, socially, and politically. Conversion in each [of these] areas helps us to develop a balanced spirituality necessary for living in God’s intended shalom. …
The “personal conversion” is the one we nomally associate with the word “conversion.” It is an experience when the realness of God breaks in upon our lives, generating a sense of God’s love, care, and providence. …
The next conversion is in the “social” dimension, involving genuine interest in other people, love for our neighbors. … Social conversion requires openness, listening to others, as well as entrusting ourselves to them. A lifestyle reflective of our positive faith is the outcome of social conversion.
- Ann Hagmann
Climbing the Sycamore Tree
From pages 91-92 of Climbing the Sycamore Tree: A Study on Choice and Simplicity by Ann Hagmann. Copyright © 2001 by Ann Hagmann.
+++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"God's Building Block"
God's basic building block for his self-communication is not the "saved" individual or the richly informed believer - or even personal careers in ministry. It is the journey and bonding process that God initiates in marriages, families, tribes, nations, peoples and Churches who are seeking to involve themselves in his love. The body of Christ, the spiritual family, is God's strategy. It is both medium and message. It is both beginning and end: "May they all be one...so that the world may believe it was you who sent me...that they may be one as we are one, with me in them and you in me" (John 17:21-22, JB). Until Christ is someone happening between people, the gospel remains largely an abstraction. Until he is passed on personally through faithfulness and forgiveness, through bonds of union, I doubt whether he is passed on at all.
from Sojourners, "Building Family: God's Strategy for the Reluctant Church"
++++++++++
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/dsteelman/tradition/sources.htm
The corruption of death no longer holds any power
Christ received from humankind a body like our own, and, since all were subject to the corruption of death, he delivered this body over to death for all, and with supreme love offered it to the Father. He did so to destroy the law of corruption passed against all people, since all died in him. The law, which had spent its force on the body of the Lord, could no longer have any power against his fellow human beings. Moreover, this was the way in which the Word was to restore humanity to immortality, after it had fallen into corruption, and summon it back from death to life. He utterly destroyed the power death had against humankind—as fire consumes chaff—by means of the body he had taken and the grace of the resurrection.
This is the reason why the Word assumed a body that could die, so that this body, sharing in the Word who is above all, might satisfy death's requirement in place of all. Because of the Word dwelling in that body, it would remain incorruptible, and all would be freed for ever from corruption by the grace of the resurrection.
Athanasius (296 - 373), bishop of Alexandria, was the principal defender against the Arians regarding faith in the divinity of Christ.
++++++++++
Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/
THE PASSION OF PATIENCE
"Though it tarry, wait for it." Habakkuk 2:3
Patience is not indifference; patience conveys the idea of an immensely strong rock withstanding all onslaughts. The vision of God is the source of patience, because it imparts a moral inspiration. Moses endured, not because he had an ideal of right and duty, but because he had a vision of God. He "endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible." A man with the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue; he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it; things come with largeness and tonic to the life because everything is energized by God. If God gives you a time spiritually, as He gave His Son actually, of temptation in the wilderness, with no word from Himself at all, endure, and the power to endure is there because you see God.
"Though it tarry, wait for it." The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. "What shall I render unto the Lord?" said the Psalmist. "I will take the cup of salvation." We are apt to look for satisfaction in ourselves - "Now I have got the thing; now I am entirely sanctified; now I can endure." Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect." If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing; if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of relaxation spiritually.
++++++++++
G. K. Chesterton Day by Day
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/gkcday/gkcday.html
MAY 2nd
IF drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colourless, and of small import to the soul, then, as I say, I give it up: I do not know what the word means. To be Queen Elizabeth [ he means the first ]within a definite area -- deciding sales, banquets, labours, and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area -- providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes, and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area -- teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene: I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it.
'What's Wrong with the World.'
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
Prologue
L I S T E N carefully, my child,
to your master's precepts,
and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20).
Receive willingly and carry out effectively
your loving father's advice,
that by the labor of obedience
you may return to Him
from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.
To you, therefore, my words are now addressed,
whoever you may be,
who are renouncing your own will
to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King,
and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience.
And first of all,
whatever good work you begin to do,
beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it,
that He who has now deigned to count us among His children
may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds.
For we must always so serve Him
with the good things He has given us,
that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children,
nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions,
deliver us to everlasting punishment
as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.
++++++++++
Dynamis http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxdynamis/
Dynamis is a daily Bible meditation based upon the lectionary of the Holy Orthodox Church. Dynamis is a project of the Education Committee of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Christ is Risen!
The Feast of Mid-Pentecost
2nd Vespers Mid-Pentecost: Isaiah 55:1-3
Apostle: Hebrews 13:7-16 Gospel: St. John 5:14-19
Relief for Thirst: Isaiah 55:1-2; 12:3-4; 55:2-3, 6-13 LXX, especially
vs. 55:1: "Ye that thirst, go to the water, and all that have no money,
go and buy; and eat and drink wine and fat without money or price." The
Prophet insistently directs the thirsty - nay, he orders parched souls:
"go to the water." Likewise, the Lord Jesus commands those who thirst
to "come to Me and drink" (Jn. 7:37). In either case - with the Prophet
or with the Lord - a feast to satisfy the soul and give life to the
spiritually thirsty is set forth (Is. 55:2 and Jn. 7:38). The
difference between the Prophet's command and Christ's order lies in that
to which the thirsting soul is directed.
Note where the water is and what water is meant. In the Gospel command,
we have no doubt where we should go to slake our thirst: "Come to Me and
drink"(Jn. 7:37). Christ removes Isaiah's command from the unspecified
and commands quite specifically and personally. The Lord provides the
ultimate answer to the spiritual thirst by means of an invitational
command: "Come to Me and drink" (Jn.7:37). How do we do this? How do
we reach Him for relief?
The Blessed Isaiah points the way: "Go to the water" (Is. 55:1).
Theodoret of Cyrus clarifies the Lord Jesus' point - in case we should
miss it: "Behold what he has shown here...it is thanks to All-Holy
Baptism that 'we are justified freely,' according to the divine Apostle,
"by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus'" (Rom.
3:24). Recall that in Holy Baptism we are filled "with power of [the]
Holy Spirit, in the unity of...Christ," becoming "members and partakers
of the death and resurrection of Christ our God."
The Prophet teaches us much more. First, he reveals the cost of unity
with Christ, a price that may not be counted in monetary or other
tangible measures. Union with the Lord Jesus is freely given to those
who thirst, if they will extend His feast to others - direct others to
Him Whom they have received. "Freely you have received, freely give"
(Mt. 10:8).
As Ambrose of Milan makes clear: "He Who paid the price of His blood for
us did not ask a price from us, because He redeemed us not with gold or
silver but with His precious blood. Therefore, you owe that price with
which you have been bought. Even though He does not always demand it,
you still owe it. Buy Christ for yourself, then, not with what few men
possess, but with what all men possess by nature but few offer on
account of fear. What Christ claims from you is His" - your soul made
in the image of the Eternal Son of God.
In addition, Isaiah reminds us not to be distracted in expending our
labor in this life nor to waste our effort on wrong things (Is. 55:2).
To make clear what to avoid and what to work for, the Prophet speaks the
word of the Lord Himself: "Hearken to Me and ye shall eat that which is
good, and your soul shall feast itself on good things" (Is. 55:2). We
must purify the ears of our hearts that we may hear the Lord speaking to
us, guiding us, saving us from all false choices, directing us in His
paths to His green pastures beside still waters.
Nor should the final point in verse two be missed: let us turn to Christ
and make the effort to sustain an intimate union and fellowship with
Him. God encourages us with a Promise - "Ye shall eat that which is
good, and your soul shall feast itself on good things" (vs. 2). The
Lord Jesus yearns to pour out His love, healing, grace - His very
presence upon us. If we will but "give heed with [our] ears, and follow
[His] ways: Hearken to [Him], and [our] soul shall live in prosperity;
and He will make with [each one who does so] an everlasting covenant,
the sure mercies of David" (Is. 55:3).
O Christ God, Master and Maker of all, we kneel to Thee, crying out in
faith, saying, Grant us Thy mercy and compassion; for Thou art the
Fountain of life.
If you would like these meditations to come directly to your in box, please click here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnitternunMeditation/
Blessed are those for whom Easter is...
not a hunt, but a find;
not a greeting, but a proclamation;
not outward fashions, but inward grace;
not a day, but an eternity.
Collect
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
++++++++++
Today's Scripture http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/
AM Psalm 119:49-72; PM Psalm 49, [53]
Wisdom 4:16-5:8; Col. 1:24-2:7; Luke 6:27-38
++++++++++
From Forward Day by Day: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm
Luke 6:27-38. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Pray for your enemies?
Before September 11, 2001, when our parish read the Prayers of the People (Form V), we sometimes skipped the part about loving our enemies. Not because we didn't think loving enemies was a good idea, but partly because it just didn't seem relevant. People like us don't have enemies, we thought, just a few people we don't much like. We thought the same thing about countries, at least since the end of the Cold War. After September 11 we still didn't pray for our enemies, this time not because we didn't think we had them, but because we weren't ready to say we should love them.
Now the prayer is a regular part of our service, as is the discussion and the struggle about who our enemies are and what it means to ask God's help in loving them. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. There is no getting around it. The words are there, a gospel mandate. The challenge is how to live it out.
++++++++++
Today we remember: http://satucket.com/lectionary/Calendar.htm
Athanasius
Psalm 71:1-8 or 112:1-9
1 John 5:1-5; Matthew 10:22-32
Uphold your Church, O God of truth, as you upheld your servant Athanasius, to maintain and proclaim boldly the catholic faith against all opposition, trusting solely in the grace of your eternal Word, who took upon himself our humanity that we might share his divinity; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
++++++++++
Today in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Diocese of North Central Philippines
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm
++++++++++
Carmelite.com: Reflections http://www.carmelite.com/spirituality/reflection.php
By how many paths, in how many manners, through how many means do you reveal your love to us.
St Teresa of Jesus
++++++++++
Reading from the Desert Christians http://www.cin.org/dsrtftin.html
Abba Joseph asked abba Nisteros, "What should I do about my tongue, for I cannot control it?" The old man said to him, "When you speak, do you find peace?" He replied, "No." The old man said to him, "If you do not find peace, why do you speak? Be silent, and when a conversation takes place, prefer to listen rather to talk."
++++++++++
Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (Pirqe Aboth)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/sjf/index.htm
R. La'zar said, Let the honour of thy disciple be dear unto thee as the honour of thine associate; and the honour of
thine associate as the fear of thy master; and the fear of thy master as the fear of Heaven.
++++++++++
Daily Meditation (Henri Nouwen) http://www.henrinouwen.org/home/free_eletters/
Friends and Their Unique Gifts
No two friends are the same. Each has his or her own gift for us. When we expect one friend to have all we need, we will always be hypercritical, never completely happy with what he or she does have.
One friend may offer us affection, another may stimulate our minds, another may strengthen our souls. The more able we are to receive the different gifts our friends have to give us, the more able we will be to offer our own unique but limited gifts. Thus, friendships create a beautiful tapestry of love.
++++++++++
From the Principles of the Third Society of St. Francis:
Day Two - The Object, cont'd
In the example of his own sacrifice, Jesus reveals the secret of bearing fruit. In surrendering himself to death, he becomes the source of new life. Lifted from the earth on the cross, he draws all people to himself. Clinging to life causes life to decay; the life that is freely given is eternal.
++++++++++
Upper Room Daily Reflection http://www.upperroom.org/reflections/
SALVATION IS NOT simply a personal experience, a “me-and-Jesus” thing. … Growth into salvation affects us personally, socially, and politically. Conversion in each [of these] areas helps us to develop a balanced spirituality necessary for living in God’s intended shalom. …
The “personal conversion” is the one we nomally associate with the word “conversion.” It is an experience when the realness of God breaks in upon our lives, generating a sense of God’s love, care, and providence. …
The next conversion is in the “social” dimension, involving genuine interest in other people, love for our neighbors. … Social conversion requires openness, listening to others, as well as entrusting ourselves to them. A lifestyle reflective of our positive faith is the outcome of social conversion.
- Ann Hagmann
Climbing the Sycamore Tree
From pages 91-92 of Climbing the Sycamore Tree: A Study on Choice and Simplicity by Ann Hagmann. Copyright © 2001 by Ann Hagmann.
+++++++++++
Richard Rohr's Daily Reflection
http://cacradicalgrace.org/getconnected/getconnected_index.html
"God's Building Block"
God's basic building block for his self-communication is not the "saved" individual or the richly informed believer - or even personal careers in ministry. It is the journey and bonding process that God initiates in marriages, families, tribes, nations, peoples and Churches who are seeking to involve themselves in his love. The body of Christ, the spiritual family, is God's strategy. It is both medium and message. It is both beginning and end: "May they all be one...so that the world may believe it was you who sent me...that they may be one as we are one, with me in them and you in me" (John 17:21-22, JB). Until Christ is someone happening between people, the gospel remains largely an abstraction. Until he is passed on personally through faithfulness and forgiveness, through bonds of union, I doubt whether he is passed on at all.
from Sojourners, "Building Family: God's Strategy for the Reluctant Church"
++++++++++
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
http://www.artsci.villanova.edu/dsteelman/tradition/sources.htm
The corruption of death no longer holds any power
Christ received from humankind a body like our own, and, since all were subject to the corruption of death, he delivered this body over to death for all, and with supreme love offered it to the Father. He did so to destroy the law of corruption passed against all people, since all died in him. The law, which had spent its force on the body of the Lord, could no longer have any power against his fellow human beings. Moreover, this was the way in which the Word was to restore humanity to immortality, after it had fallen into corruption, and summon it back from death to life. He utterly destroyed the power death had against humankind—as fire consumes chaff—by means of the body he had taken and the grace of the resurrection.
This is the reason why the Word assumed a body that could die, so that this body, sharing in the Word who is above all, might satisfy death's requirement in place of all. Because of the Word dwelling in that body, it would remain incorruptible, and all would be freed for ever from corruption by the grace of the resurrection.
Athanasius (296 - 373), bishop of Alexandria, was the principal defender against the Arians regarding faith in the divinity of Christ.
++++++++++
Daily Readings From "My Utmost for His Highest", Oswald Chambers
http://www.myutmost.org/
THE PASSION OF PATIENCE
"Though it tarry, wait for it." Habakkuk 2:3
Patience is not indifference; patience conveys the idea of an immensely strong rock withstanding all onslaughts. The vision of God is the source of patience, because it imparts a moral inspiration. Moses endured, not because he had an ideal of right and duty, but because he had a vision of God. He "endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible." A man with the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue; he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it; things come with largeness and tonic to the life because everything is energized by God. If God gives you a time spiritually, as He gave His Son actually, of temptation in the wilderness, with no word from Himself at all, endure, and the power to endure is there because you see God.
"Though it tarry, wait for it." The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. "What shall I render unto the Lord?" said the Psalmist. "I will take the cup of salvation." We are apt to look for satisfaction in ourselves - "Now I have got the thing; now I am entirely sanctified; now I can endure." Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect." If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing; if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of relaxation spiritually.
++++++++++
G. K. Chesterton Day by Day
http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/gkcday/gkcday.html
MAY 2nd
IF drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colourless, and of small import to the soul, then, as I say, I give it up: I do not know what the word means. To be Queen Elizabeth [ he means the first ]within a definite area -- deciding sales, banquets, labours, and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area -- providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes, and books; to be Aristotle within a certain area -- teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene: I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it.
'What's Wrong with the World.'
++++++++++
Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/
Prologue
L I S T E N carefully, my child,
to your master's precepts,
and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20).
Receive willingly and carry out effectively
your loving father's advice,
that by the labor of obedience
you may return to Him
from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.
To you, therefore, my words are now addressed,
whoever you may be,
who are renouncing your own will
to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King,
and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience.
And first of all,
whatever good work you begin to do,
beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it,
that He who has now deigned to count us among His children
may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds.
For we must always so serve Him
with the good things He has given us,
that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children,
nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions,
deliver us to everlasting punishment
as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.
++++++++++
Dynamis http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxdynamis/
Dynamis is a daily Bible meditation based upon the lectionary of the Holy Orthodox Church. Dynamis is a project of the Education Committee of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Christ is Risen!
The Feast of Mid-Pentecost
2nd Vespers Mid-Pentecost: Isaiah 55:1-3
Apostle: Hebrews 13:7-16 Gospel: St. John 5:14-19
Relief for Thirst: Isaiah 55:1-2; 12:3-4; 55:2-3, 6-13 LXX, especially
vs. 55:1: "Ye that thirst, go to the water, and all that have no money,
go and buy; and eat and drink wine and fat without money or price." The
Prophet insistently directs the thirsty - nay, he orders parched souls:
"go to the water." Likewise, the Lord Jesus commands those who thirst
to "come to Me and drink" (Jn. 7:37). In either case - with the Prophet
or with the Lord - a feast to satisfy the soul and give life to the
spiritually thirsty is set forth (Is. 55:2 and Jn. 7:38). The
difference between the Prophet's command and Christ's order lies in that
to which the thirsting soul is directed.
Note where the water is and what water is meant. In the Gospel command,
we have no doubt where we should go to slake our thirst: "Come to Me and
drink"(Jn. 7:37). Christ removes Isaiah's command from the unspecified
and commands quite specifically and personally. The Lord provides the
ultimate answer to the spiritual thirst by means of an invitational
command: "Come to Me and drink" (Jn.7:37). How do we do this? How do
we reach Him for relief?
The Blessed Isaiah points the way: "Go to the water" (Is. 55:1).
Theodoret of Cyrus clarifies the Lord Jesus' point - in case we should
miss it: "Behold what he has shown here...it is thanks to All-Holy
Baptism that 'we are justified freely,' according to the divine Apostle,
"by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus'" (Rom.
3:24). Recall that in Holy Baptism we are filled "with power of [the]
Holy Spirit, in the unity of...Christ," becoming "members and partakers
of the death and resurrection of Christ our God."
The Prophet teaches us much more. First, he reveals the cost of unity
with Christ, a price that may not be counted in monetary or other
tangible measures. Union with the Lord Jesus is freely given to those
who thirst, if they will extend His feast to others - direct others to
Him Whom they have received. "Freely you have received, freely give"
(Mt. 10:8).
As Ambrose of Milan makes clear: "He Who paid the price of His blood for
us did not ask a price from us, because He redeemed us not with gold or
silver but with His precious blood. Therefore, you owe that price with
which you have been bought. Even though He does not always demand it,
you still owe it. Buy Christ for yourself, then, not with what few men
possess, but with what all men possess by nature but few offer on
account of fear. What Christ claims from you is His" - your soul made
in the image of the Eternal Son of God.
In addition, Isaiah reminds us not to be distracted in expending our
labor in this life nor to waste our effort on wrong things (Is. 55:2).
To make clear what to avoid and what to work for, the Prophet speaks the
word of the Lord Himself: "Hearken to Me and ye shall eat that which is
good, and your soul shall feast itself on good things" (Is. 55:2). We
must purify the ears of our hearts that we may hear the Lord speaking to
us, guiding us, saving us from all false choices, directing us in His
paths to His green pastures beside still waters.
Nor should the final point in verse two be missed: let us turn to Christ
and make the effort to sustain an intimate union and fellowship with
Him. God encourages us with a Promise - "Ye shall eat that which is
good, and your soul shall feast itself on good things" (vs. 2). The
Lord Jesus yearns to pour out His love, healing, grace - His very
presence upon us. If we will but "give heed with [our] ears, and follow
[His] ways: Hearken to [Him], and [our] soul shall live in prosperity;
and He will make with [each one who does so] an everlasting covenant,
the sure mercies of David" (Is. 55:3).
O Christ God, Master and Maker of all, we kneel to Thee, crying out in
faith, saying, Grant us Thy mercy and compassion; for Thou art the
Fountain of life.
posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 12:14 PM
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