Isaiah 29:13-23 (6th Hour)
13 Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; they say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off –
21 who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just by empty words.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel.
Genesis 12:1-7 (Vespers, 1st reading)
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Venerable Hilarion the New, Abbot of Pelekete
Saint Hilarion the New, Igumen of Pelekete Monastery, from his youth devoted himself to the service of God and spent many years as a hermit. Because of his holy and blameless life he was ordained to the holy priesthood, and later he was made igumen of the Pelekete monastery (near the Dardanelles). Saint Hilarion was granted gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking by the Lord.
Through prayer he brought down rain during a drought, and like the Prophet Elisha he separated the waters of a river, he drove harmful beasts from the fields, he filled the nets of fishermen when they had no success in fishing, and he did many other miracles. In addition to these things, he was able to heal the sick and cast out demons.
Saint Hilarion suffered on Great and Holy Thursday in the year 754, when the military commander Lakhanodrakon suddenly descended upon the Pelekete monastery in pursuit of icon-venerators, boldly forcing his way into the church, disrupting the service and throwing the Holy Gifts upon the ground. Forty-two monks were arrested, slapped into chains, sent to the Edessa district and murdered. The remaining monks were horribly mutilated: they beat them, they burned their beards with fire, they smeared their faces with tar and cut off the noses of some of the confessors. Saint Hilarion died for the veneration of icons during this persecution.
Saint Hilarion left behind spiritual works containing moral directives for spiritual effort. Saint Joseph of Volokolamsk (September 9 and October 18) was well acquainted with the work of Saint Hilarion, and he also wrote about the significance of monastic struggles in his own theological works.
Faith and Moral Freedom
Archpriest Michael Gillis
Farming is one of the most concrete examples of faith. Farmers spend a great deal of money, very often going into debt to buy seed, fertilizer and equipment only to sow the seed and fertilizer into the ground. The harvest will not come for several months, and there is very little the farmer can do but wait. Jesus spoke a great deal about sowing and reaping and used it as a metaphor for understanding the spiritual life.
This delay between sowing and reaping has an important spiritual purpose. The delay in consequence allows for greater moral freedom. When the consequence of my moral or spiritual actions are immediate, I lose some of my freedom.
Take thieving as an example. I am free to steal a candy bar from a grocery store (or cheat an ignorant person or embezzle a little from work) but if the probability of being caught is high, then my freedom is curtailed. There is very little moral virtue in not stealing a candy bar while the clerk is watching you. However, if the probability of being caught is very low, perhaps almost nil, then my freedom is quite free. What I do in that moment reveals much about my moral virtue.
This is, I think, why Jesus often used sowing and reaping as a metaphor explaining the spiritual life. The outer consequences of our spiritual and moral life are often separated from our initial moral choices and actions. Therefore, the spiritual choices or effort I exert today are freely made. The act of kindness I show a stranger today will probably not be rewarded today, or maybe not at all in this life. The time I take to pray this morning may not have any noticeable effect on my day or in the lives of the people I pray for. I pray in faith, like the farmer, sowing my prayer like a seed, waiting to see what God will do. When I give to the poor or to the Church, the money (or time or labour) is sown. The money (or time or labour) is given to God. I get no immediate benefit, maybe no benefit at all in this life; but for that reason, the gift is truly a gift to God.
In our spiritual life, only seldom do we experience immediate consequences for our actions. Very, very, seldom do I pray and see an immediate physical result. Occasionally, I pray and experience an immediate inner consequence: a sense of peace or calm, or a thought that comforts or encourages me. Most often, however, prayer begins as an obedience, something I make myself do. Then, sometimes, as I pray, I slowly experience some inner consolation or comfort. But just as often, maybe more often, prayer begins, continues and ends as an obedience, with no inner sense of consolation—much less any outward, physical consequence other than my being tired and distracted.
At such times, the Fathers tell us, prayer is the most valuable. Prayer and all spiritual acts like tithing, helping at Church, caring for the sick, obeying our parents, etc. are all most valuable when we do them even though there is no immediate tangible benefit, when they are tiresome, hard, painful, and seemingly meaningless. At such moments, spiritual actions are most truly expressions of our moral freedom. At such moments we are choosing to follow Christ only for Christ’s sake. At such moments we are nothing less than Christ’s martyrs.
But that’s not all.
Just as surely as there is a time of sowing, there is a time of reaping. God changes us and touches the hearts of others through our prayers, our giving and our service to others. Seeds become trees and trees change the environment. Sowing is hard. Trees grow slowly, almost imperceptibly. It requires faith and often tears.
I sometimes think my spiritual life is a bit like the experience of a trapeze artist. Swinging blindfolded on her trapeze, she must let go and trust that her partner will be there to catch her. God is good at catching, but that’s not what worries me so much. I’m not very good at letting go. It’s always scary, but gets less so with practice.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 3/24: Vesperal Liturgy for Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos 6:30 p.m. (potluck meal to follow)
Tuesday 3/25: no services or events
Wednesday 3/26: Presanctified Liturgy 6:30 pm (potluck meal to follow)
Thursday 3/27: Lenten Matins 8:30 am
Friday 3/28: Paraklesis to the Theotokos 8:30 am
Saturday 3/29: Catechumen Class 4:30 pm; Choir Rehearsal 4:30 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 3/30: Divine Liturgy 9:15am;
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Christ the Savior Orthodox Church is located in Southbury, Connecticut, and is part of the New England Diocese of the Orthodox Church of America.
Mailing address: Christ the Savior Church, 1070 Roxbury Road, Southbury, CT 06488
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Fr. Moses Locke can be reached at frmoseslocke@gmail.com