'Daily Bread'
Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024
“Prayer is food for the soul. Do not starve the soul, it is better to let the body go hungry. Do not judge anyone, forgive everyone. Consider yourself worse than everyone in the world and you will be saved. As much as possible, be more quiet.”
+ St. Joseph of Optina: Living Without Hypocrisy: Spiritual Counsels of the Holy Elders of Optina
Daily Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 4:1-6 (Epistle)
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.
2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 24:13-28 (Gospel)
13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
15 Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
Holy Prophet Zachariah and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Baptist (1st c.).
The Holy Prophet Zachariah and the Righteous Elizabeth were the parents of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. They were descended from the lineage of Aaron: Saint Zachariah, son of Barach, was a priest in the Jerusalem Temple, and Saint Elizabeth was the sister of Saint Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. The righteous spouses, “walking in all the commandments of the Lord” (Luke 1:6), suffered barrenness, which in those times was considered a punishment from God
Once, during his turn of priestly service in the Temple, Saint Zachariah was told by an angel that his aged wife would bear him a son, who “will be great in the sight of the Lord” (Luke 1:15) and “will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias” (Luke 1:17).
Zachariah doubted that this prediction would come true, and for his weakness of faith he was punished by becoming mute. When Elizabeth gave birth to a son, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit she announced that his name was John, although no one in their family had this name.
They asked Zachariah and he also wrote the name John down on a tablet. Immediately the gift of speech returned to him, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, he began to prophesy about his son as the Forerunner of the Lord.
Self-Denial As The Path To Life
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the antidote to the problems of the world around us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the vaccine of truth against a pandemic of lies. Among the most wicked and deceitful of all of the lies around us today is the lie that we should do whatever we want in life. We should chase after pleasure and self-fulfillment. We should have everything that we want. The beauty of the gospel, the precious words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most important, beautiful and powerful words that have ever been spoken, is that they correct our way of thinking and seeing and expose us to truth and light, if we are willing to accept them.
The world tells us not to suffer, not to deny ourselves anything that we want. Chase your desires. Follow your urges. Don’t hesitate at all. Everything can be yours. You can have it all. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ says something different and each one of us must seriously choose who or what we will honor and follow with our lives and our choices. We are not polytheists. We don’t worship multiple gods. So as Christians, it is up to us to take this call of following Christ seriously.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 9/2: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday 9/3: no services or events
Wednesday 9/4: no services or events
Thursday 9/5: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Friday 9/6: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Saturday 9/7: No Catechumen Class 4:30; Choir practice 5 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 9/8: Divine Liturgy 9: 15 a.m.
