Daily Bread
Friday, January 24, 2025
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James 2:1-13 (Epistle)
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”
4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;
9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Mark 10:23-32 (Gospel)
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
28 Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.”
29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s,
30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life.
31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:
Bl. Xenia of St. PetersburgLife
Little is known of her early life. Neither the dates of her birth nor of her death are known. Her birth is believed to have been about 1731 and her death about 1803.
The wife of Colonel Andrei Feodorovich Petrov, who served as a court chorister, Xenia fell into great grief upon the death of her husband when she was 26 years old. Appearing to have lost her mind from her grief, Xenia distributed her possessions to the poor, and keeping and dressing only in the clothes of her husband she wandered the streets of St Petersburg among the paupers. She called herself by her husband’s name: Andrei Feodorovich. Her life was centered on God, seeking protection and comfort only in Him. During the nights, she refused refuge and went into the fields where she prayed through the nights.
When relatives of Xenia tried to help her with necessities she replied , “I do not need anything.” The people of St. Petersburg came to love her as she placed the Kingdom of Heaven before earthly possessions. The people considered her presence in their homes as good signs. Her acceptance of services and bread from merchants, however small, brought them great sales as their customers, who loved the saintly Xenia, frequented those who helped her.
Xenia possessed the gift of clairvoyance. She foretold the deaths of the Empress Elizabeth, in 1761, and of the imprisoned John IV Antonovich, the great-great-grandson of Tsar Alexis, in 1764. After her death her grave became a place of pilgrimage. Portions of the dirt from her grave brought healing for many of the pilgrims.
Epitaph
The only record of "vital statistics" that has been left to us concerning Blessed Xenia is the epitaph on her gravestone:
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Here rests the body of the servant of God, Xenia Grigorievna,
Wife of the imperial chorister, Colonel Andrei Theodorovich Petrov.
Widowed at the age of 26, a pilgrim for 45 years,
She lived a total of 71 years.
She was known by the name Andrei Theodorovich.
May whoever knew me pray for my soul that his own may be saved. Amen.
Hymns
Troparion (Tone 4)
Having renounced the vanity of the earthly world,
Thou didst take up the cross of a homeless life of wandering;
Thou didst not fear grief, privation, nor the mockery of men,
And didst know the love of Christ.
Now taking sweet delight of this love in heaven,
O Xenia, the blessed and divinely wise,
Pray for the salvation of our souls.
Troparion (Tone 8)
In you, O mother was carefully preserved what is according to the image.
For you took up the Cross and followed Christ.
By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away,
But to care instead for the soul since it is immortal.
Therefore, O Blessed Xenia, your spirit rejoices with the Angels.
Kontakion (Tone 3)
Having been as a wandering stranger on earth,
sighing for the heavenly homeland,
thou wast known as a fool by the senseless and unbelieving,
but as most wise and holy by the faithful,
and wast crowned by God with glory and honor,
O Xenia, courageous and divinely wise.
Therefore, we cry to thee:
Rejoice, for after earthly wandering thou hast come to dwell in the Father’s house.
Kontakion (Tone 7)
Having loved the poverty of Christ,
You are now being satisfied at the Immortal Banquet.
By the humility of the Cross, you received the power of God.
Having acquired the gift of miraculous help, O Blessed Xenia,
Beseech Christ God, that by repentance
We may be delivered from every evil thing.
Our venerable Mother, the Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, (Russian: Святая блаженная Ксения Петербургская [Xenia Grigoryevna Petrova]) is an 18th century Russian fool-for-Christ. In grief over the death of her husband, she distributed all her possessions and took up a life as a holy fool. Her life was centered on God, and she sought protection and comfort only in Him while wandering among the poor of St. Petersburg. She is commemorated on January 24.
How to Deal with Sin
The word of the day is “reckon.” What is our relationship to sin? As we start down our walk with Christ in the Spirit, sin is likely to follow us. We try to flee it. But it seems that the faster we run from it, the more it catches up with us. If we cannot escape sin, what can we do?
In our reading of Romans 6:11-17, Paul says, “Reckon yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord (OSB vs. 11). Today, we consider what being “dead to sin” and “alive to God” means for our struggle against temptation. We will find that the key is how we “reckon” ourselves.
We Should Not Let Sin Reign
In the reading of Romans 6:11-17, St. Paul writes, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (OSB vs. 12). Paul’s warning is clear. When we allow disobedience to God to reign in our lives, it controls us. We are captive to its “lusts.” In Greek, the term “lust” refers to passionate desires, impulses, and longings (Strong’s #1939). And the word “reign” in Greek means to exert influence over or to govern (Strong’s #936). Accordingly, Paul says that we should not “let” the dictates of passion rule over us. Like a king, the lusts of sin order us to do this or that. But Paul teaches that we can choose not to obey. We do not have to listen or attend to these passions (Strong’s 5219).
A Suggested Way of Dealing With Sin
These thoughts suggest a way of dealing with the sin that “so easily ensnares us” (OSB Hebrews 12:1). How? The writer to the Hebrews urges us to “lay aside” the passions (OSB Hebrews 12:1). The word in Greek means to cast off or put away (Strong’s #659). Thus, the apostle teaches us not to pay homage to the lusts and longings of the flesh. Instead, we should put behind us everything that drags us into sin. The apostle promises that when we let go of what tempts us to sin, then we will be able to run the race set before us with endurance (OSB 12:1).
We Can Turn Our Attention from Sin to God
Again, how do we do this? We may have the idea that our hearts contain a mixture of sin and godliness. If this is true, then no matter how hard we try to put down the evil in us, it is always coming to the surface and taking over. But Paul contradicts this idea. He teaches that there are two forces that strive to control us: the reign of sin or the domination of righteousness (Romans 6:170-18). Both of these cannot rule us at the same time. If one controls us, the other has no power over us.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 1/20: Matins 8:30 am
Tuesday 1/21: no services or events
Wednesday 1/22: no services or events
Thursday 1/23: Matins 8:30 am; Men’s Group 7 pm
Friday 1/24: Matins 8:30 am
Saturday 1/25: Catechumen Class 4:30 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 1/26: 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