Daily Bread
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Notice the way in which Zacchaeus confessed his sin. He did not say: “Lord, I am a sinful man!”, or “Avarice is my sickness!” No; but, showing the fruits of repentance, he thus confessed his sin and his sickness: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.” is not this a clear confession that riches are his passion? “And if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Is not this a clear confession that his riches were acquired in a sinful manner? He did not, before this, say to the Lord: “I am a sinner, and I repent.” He confessed this silently to the Lord in his heart, and the Lord silently received his confession and repentance.
It is of more importance to the Lord that a man acknowledge and confess his sickness and cry for help in his heart than with this tongue, for the tongue is capable of deception, but the heart is not.
+ St. Nikolai Velimirovich, “The Thirty-Second Sunday After Pentecost: The Gospel on Repentant Zacchaeus, Luke 19:1-10,” Homilies Volume 1: Commentary on the Gospel Readings for Great Feasts and Sundays Throughout the Year
Daily Scripture Readings
Galatians 5:22-6:2 (Epistle, St. Alexander)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Matthew 11:27-30 (Gospel, St. Alexander)
27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Repose of Rt. Blv. Great Prince Alexander Nevsky, in schema Aleksy (1263).
Commemorated on November 23
The Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky was born on May 30, 1220 in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessk. His father Yaroslav II, Theodore in Baptism (+1246), “a gentle, kindly and genial prince”, was the younger son of Vsevolod III Large Nest (+ 1212), brother of the Holy Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich (February 4). Saint Alexander’s mother, Theodosia Igorevna, a Ryazan princess, was Yaroslav’s third wife. Their older son was the Holy Prince Theodore (June 5), who departed to the Lord at age fifteen. Saint Alexander was their second son.
His childhood was spent at Pereslavl-Zalessk, where his father was prince. The princely tonsure of the lad Alexander (a ceremony of initiation to be soldier) was done in the Savior Transfiguration Cathedral of Pereslavl by Saint Simon, Bishop of Suzdal (May 10), one of the compilers of the Kiev Caves Paterikon (Lives of the Fathers). From this Elder-hierarch, Saint Alexander received his first blessing for military service in the name of God, to defend the Russian Church and the Russian Land.
In 1227 Prince Yaroslav, at the request of the people of Novgorod, was sent by his brother Yuri, the Great Prince of Vladimir, to rule as prince in Novgorod the Great. He took with him his sons, Saints Theodore and Alexander. Dissatisfied with the Vladimir princes, the people of Novgorod soon invited Saint Michael of Chernigov (September 20), and in February 1229 Yaroslav with his sons departed to Pereslavl. The matter ended peacefully: in 1230 Yaroslav with his sons returned to Novgorod, and Saint Michael’s daughter Theodosia was betrothed to Saint Theodore, the elder brother of Saint Alexander. After the death of the bridegroom in 1233 the young princess went to a monastery and became famous in monastic exploits as the nun Saint Euphrosynē of Suzdal (September 25).
From his early years Saint Alexander went along on his father’s campaigns. In 1235 he participated in a battle at the River Emajogi (in present-day Estonia), where the forces of Yaroslav totally routed the Germans. In the following year Yaroslav went to Kiev, “settling” his son, Saint Alexander, to rule independently as prince at Novgorod. In 1239 Saint Alexander entered into marriage, taking as wife the daughter of the Polotsian prince Briacheslav. Some histories relate that the day the princess was baptized was the Name Day of her saintly spouse, and she was named Alexandra. His father, Yaroslav, blessed them at betrothal with the holy wonderworking icon of the Theodore Mother of God (the father was named Theodore in Baptism). Afterwards, Saint Alexander constantly prayed before this icon. Later, it was taken from the Gorodetsk Monastery, where he died, by his brother Basil of Kostroma (+1276), and transferred to Kostroma.
Gifted Only to Give: You’re More Important Than You Think
A man, sharp but insouciant, drives a long stretch of rural highway beneath waning daylight. He sees ahead a car parked on the shoulder, eventually slowing his Pontiac to a stop behind her Mercedes. And with a slow gait — for an unkempt man like him could startle an elderly woman like her — he ambles within earshot and calls, “Hey, looks like you have a flat tire”. Hoping to cast more comfort her way, he adds, “My name is Greyson. I can help you, just pop your trunk”.
After a few scraped knuckles, with the spare on the wheel and the flat in the trunk, he connects eyes with the woman, who thanks him and asks, “How much do I owe you?” “Nothing”, Greyson replies. “If you want to pay me, just help another person when you see someone in need, and think of me”.
That same evening the woman stops by a small cafe. She notices a waitress — maybe eight months pregnant — wiping her wet hair with a towel and evincing a sweet demeanor though languid in her limbs as if she’d been on her feet all day. The woman defies her typical thrift by laying a hundred dollar bill next to the check and crumbs from her finished meal. Returning to the table with the woman’s change, the waitress finds only this note: “Somebody helped me today, so I’m helping you today. Maybe do something nice for the next person”. Under the napkin, the waitress finds four more hundred dollar bills.
Not long after, the waitress returns home, fatigued but fascinated by God’s faithfulness. The elderly woman could not have known how desperately the waitress and her husband needed this financial boost, with their first baby on the way. She is so happy to tell her worried husband the good news, in that tender way she has about her. “Can you believe it, Greyson?” she says, as they climb into bed, “I think we’re going to be okay”.
The apostle Paul hunkers down in Corinth — a beautiful port city in Greece near the southern tip of the Ionian Sea. He’s an experienced missionary now, for this is his third journey scattering Gospel seeds throughout the Mediterranean. Having planted and watered many little Christian missions along the way, Paul knows what makes for strong churches.
He wants to visit the Christian community in Rome, some 600 miles from the dirt now under his feet, and writes a letter to them detailing his intentions: “Firstly, I give thanks to my God through Jesus the Anointed for all of you, because your faithfulness is proclaimed in all the cosmos. For God…is my witness to how unceasingly I remember you always in my prayers, asking whether now somehow, by God’s will, I might have a clear path to come to you” (1:8-10).
The visit — that’s the what. Now comes the why: “I long to come to you, that I might give you some spiritual gift so that you may be made firm — that is, rather, to be comforted along with you, through one another’s faith, both yours and mine” (11-12). Paul hopes to visit his friends so that he can use his gifts to strengthen them, just as they can use their gifts to strengthen him.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 11/18: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday 11/19: no services or events
Wednesday 11/20: Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos Vesperal Liturgy - 6:30pm
Thursday 11/21: Festal Matins 8:30 a.m.
Friday 11/22: Paraklesis to Theotokos 8:30 a.m.
Saturday 11/23: Women’s Group 9 am; Catechumen class 4:30; Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday 11/24: Divine Liturgy 9: 15 a.m.
