Daily Bread
Thursday, December 12, 2024
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fulness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.”
+ St. Basil the Great, “On the Holy Spirit”
Daily Scripture Readings
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5 (Epistle)
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you,
2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.
3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.
5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ
Mark 9:10-16 (Gospel)
10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.
11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
13 But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.
15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.
16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?
Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Tremithus
Saint Spyridon of Tremithus was born towards the end of the third century on the island of Cyprus. He was a shepherd, and had a wife and children. He used all his substance for the needs of his neighbors and the homeless, for which the Lord rewarded him with a gift of wonderworking. He healed those who were incurably sick, and cast out demons.
After the death of his wife, during the reign of Constantine the Great (306-337), he was made Bishop of Tremithus, Cyprus. As a bishop, the saint did not alter his manner of life, but combined pastoral service with deeds of charity.
According to the witness of Church historians, Saint Spyridon participated in the sessions of the First Ecumenical Council in the year 325. At the Council, the saint entered into a dispute with a Greek philosopher who was defending the Arian heresy. The power of Saint Spyridon’s plain, direct speech showed everyone the importance of God’s wisdom before human wisdom: “Listen, philosopher, to what I tell you. There is one God Who created man from dust. He has ordered all things, both visible and invisible, by His Word and His Spirit. The Word is the Son of God, Who came down upon the earth on account of our sins. He was born of a Virgin, He lived among men, and suffered and died for our salvation, and then He arose from the dead, and He has resurrected the human race with Him. We believe that He is one in essence (consubstantial) with the Father, and equal to Him in authority and honor. We believe this without any sly rationalizations, for it is impossible to grasp this mystery by human reason.”
As a result of their discussion, the opponent of Christianity became the saint’s zealous defender and later received holy Baptism. After his conversation with Saint Spyridon, the philosopher turned to his companions and said, “Listen! Until now my rivals have presented their arguments, and I was able to refute their proofs with other proofs. But instead of proofs from reason, the words of this Elder are filled with some sort of special power, and no one can refute them, since it is impossible for man to oppose God. If any of you thinks as I do now, let him believe in Christ and join me in following this man, for God Himself speaks through his lips.”
At this Council, Saint Spyridon displayed the unity of the Holy Trinity in a remarkable way. He took a brick in his hand and squeezed it. At that instant fire shot up from it, water dripped on the ground, and only dust remained in the hands of the wonderworker. “There was only one brick,” Saint Spyridon said, “but it was composed of three elements. In the Holy Trinity there are three Persons, but only one God.”
The saint cared for his flock with great love. Through his prayers, drought was replaced by abundant rains, and incessant rains were replaced by fair weather. Through his prayers the sick were healed and demons cast out.
A woman once came up to him with a dead child in her arms, imploring the intercession of the saint. He prayed, and the infant was restored to life. The mother, overcome with joy, collapsed lifeless. Through the prayers of the saint of God, the mother was restored to life.
Another time, hastening to save his friend, who had been falsely accused and sentenced to death, the saint was hindered on his way by the unanticipated flooding of a stream. The saint commanded the water: “Halt! For the Lord of all the world commands that you permit me to cross so that a man may be saved.” The will of the saint was fulfilled, and he crossed over happily to the other shore. The judge, apprised of the miracle that had occurred, received Saint Spyridon with esteem and set his friend free.
Similar instances are known from the life of the saint. Once, he went into an empty church, and ordered that the lampadas and candles be lit, and then he began the service. When he said, “Peace be unto all,” both he and the deacon heard from above the resounding of a great multitude of voices saying, “And with thy spirit.” This choir was majestic and more sweetly melodious than any human choir. To each petition of the litanies, the invisible choir sang, “Lord, have mercy.” Attracted by the church singing, the people who lived nearby hastened towards it. As they got closer and closer to the church, the wondrous singing filled their ears and gladdened their hearts. But when they entered into the church, they saw no one but the bishop and several church servers, and they no longer heard the singing which had greatly astonished them.
Focusing On God Instead Of Ourselves
How blessed we are to have the privilege and joy of hearing the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ each and every week, or if we choose, each and every day of our lives. Is anything more beautiful, more meaningful or more powerful than the words of Our Lord?
I feel that each week the Church gives us a new angle, a new insight into the mind of God. Each thought from the mind of God guides us, heals us and has the power to give us renewed purpose and focus in our lives. In fact, today’s gospel reading really does focus on our focus. Our Lord says “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Often we hear or listen to these words and we think very straightforwardly that this is about what we look at with our physical eyes. Now there is certainly some truth to this, no doubt. But the Lord goes further and it helps to clarify the teaching for us. He says “No one can serve two master; for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
Our Lord tells us that the eye is the lamp of the body, but as we read we understand that this isn’t all about what we look at with our physical eyes. Put another way, if a man is blind, is his body full of light or darkness? The answer is “it depends on his heart.” Our Lord chooses the eyes as a symbol of our focus in life. What do we desire? What do we live for? Where is our heart? To what do we dedicate our energy, our minds, our hearts and our lives? This, and this alone determines whether or not your body is full of darkness or light.
“You cannot serve God and mammon.” This is the very next word from our Lord after He reminds the people that they cannot serve two master. Why does He say this? Because He knows us well. Our Lord Jesus Christ knows that His people will worry about the details of life. He knows that they will worry about how they will survive, how they will live, how they will eat. The Lord knows that our fear and our desire to survive can leave us spiritually compromised. Instead of focusing on the one needful thing, on the things of God. We slowly and gradually drift in our focus and aim in life. What is mammon? Mammon is often understood to mean “money” but in fact many of the Church fathers had a more thorough understanding. St. John Chrysostom saw mammon as a demon.
When we think of mammon in this way then it gives a new meaning to where we focus our lives. Where we focus and what we prioritize are the most important signs of who or what we really serve. So who do we serve with our time, our focus and our energies? Where do we direct our talents and the resources that we gain through the use of our God given talents? To answer these questions is to know whether we are full of light or darkness.
Our Lord knows His people, and as a word of encouragement He tries to comfort us. He says “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
Anxiety steals our joy. Our fear for all of the “what ifs” of life actually works to destroy our relationship with God. How does it do that? It causes us to doubt God and it focuses our energies on false gods, and temporary solutions. If a man thinks that his biggest problem in life is poverty, will he not focus on working to make as much money as possible? Will he not pour himself into the thing that he believes is the solution to all of his problems?
The gospel challenges us. It never stops challenging us! When you find that the gospel no longer challenges you, that means you aren’t paying attention to it. The gospel challenges us today and reminds us that our biggest problems are not lack of food, lack of money, lack of clothing, lack of beauty, lack of happiness or even a lack of justice. Our problem is the lack of righteousness and holiness. This is man’s only real problem. This is your only real problem. St. Andrew of Crete in his canon writes “I have been anxiously concerned only about outward adornment, and have neglected the inner temple made in the image of God.”
The other things we lack might be important in our short term understanding, but only one problem has lasting effect and significance. The problem is our constant search for comfort, belonging, identity and survival apart from God our creator. And according to the Lord, when we focus our sight on these things, we in fact begin to serve another master apart from Christ! How sad that is for Christians, for children of our heavenly Father!
Our Lord says “Don’t be anxious!” Many times within the Scriptures we read the phrase “fear not!” Fear is a strong negative emotion and driver in the spiritual life. It changes us and deeply affects us. In fact we are reminded that only fear of God is really appropriate. This healthy fear can be the seed to our repentance and a renewed life where we seek God, His kingdom and His righteousness before all else. God loves you, each of you, more than you can possibly fathom. He will not abandon you or leave you poor. He wants to give you all of His riches and His wealth. He wants to clothe you with the beautiful garment of a clean soul. He wants to welcome you into His heavenly mansion so that you are protected from the elements. He wants to feed you with His own flesh and blood. Everything that we think we need to struggle and worry about has already been arranged for us. Trust Him and direct your lives to serve Him alone. Focus on Him because He is already focusing on you.
Finally I want to leave you with this wonderful quote from St. Isaac the Syrian. He writes, “While we are living improperly, we fear all kinds of things. When we recognize God, there occurs a fear of His judgment. But when we start to love God, all fears vanish.” May all of our fears also vanish as we run to Christ and focus all of our efforts on Him for He alone is worthy of our focus and worship.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 12/9: Matins 8:30 am; Steward’s Meeting 6:30pm
Tuesday 12/10: no services or events
Wednesday 12/11: no services or events
Thursday 12/12: Matins 8:30 am
Friday 12/13: Paraklesis to Theotokos 8:30 am
Saturday 12/14: Catechumen Class 4:30 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 12/15: Divine Liturgy 9:15 am
