Daily Bread
Thursday, February 20, 2025
1 John 4:20-5:21 (Epistle)
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.
10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Mark 15:1-15 (Gospel)
1 Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.
2 Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”
3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.
4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!”
5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.
6 Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.
7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.
8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.
9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.
12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”
14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”
15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.
Saint Leo, Bishop of Catania in Sicily
Saint Leo was born in Ravenna, Italy, of pious and noble parents. He was famed for his benevolence and charity, as well as his Christian love for the poor and wanderers. After completing his studies, he was ordained as a priest at Ravenna, and later, because of his purity and his most spiritual life, he was consecrated as Bishop of Catania in Sicily. He became the protector of orphans and widows, teaching and shepherding his flock.
The Saint was also distinguished for his struggles against heretics, whom he defeated and shamed, not only by his words, but also through his writings. The Lord honored him with the charisms of healing people from various diseases, and of working miracles.
During Saint Leo's episcopate, there was a sorcerer named Heliódoros who lived in Catania and deceived people with his fraudulent miracles. He was once a Christian, but then he denied the Savior and became a servant of the devil. Saint Leo urged Heliódoros to refrain from his evil deeds and return to God, but all in vain. One day Heliódoros audaciously entered the church where the bishop was performing the Divine Services, and tried to create a disturbance, sowing confusion and temptation with his sorcery.
Seeing the people beset by demons under the sorcerer's spell, Saint Leo knew that the time for meek exhortation had passed. He came out of the altar and tied his omophorion around the sorcerer's neck, leading him out of the church and into the city square. There he forced Heliódoros to confess all his wicked deeds. Then he commanded that a fire be lit, and jumped into the flames with the sorcerer. There they stood until Heliódoros was consumed by the fire. Saint Leo, by God's grace, remained unharmed. This miracle brought the Hierarch great renown during his lifetime, therefore, the Saint was invited to visit Constantinople by Emperors Leo IV (775 - 780) and Constantine VI (780 - 798), where he received many honors. Saint Leo reposed peacefully in 785.
After his death, a woman with an issue of blood received healing at his grave. The Saint's body was placed in the church of the holy Martyr Lucy (December 13), which he himself had built. Later on, his relics were transferred to the church of Saint Martin, the Bishop of Tours (November 11) in Rome.
St. Symeon on Christlikeness
The Beatitudes are well known blessings bestowed by Christ on the circle of His disciples and all His followers. The version of the Beatitudes as presented by Matthew (Mat. 5:3-12), rather than that by Luke (Luke 6:20-26), is preeminent because of its poetic and liturgical artistry. In Matthew the Beatitudes enjoy a primacy of honor as the first unit of teaching by Jesus at the beginning of the great Sermon on the Mount (Mat. Chaps. 5-7).
More than precious words of wisdom, the Beatitudes present a moment of revelation of grace. They are blessings actively taking hold and actualized just as they are pronounced by the Messiah Jesus. For those who have eyes to see, they are palpable signs of the presence and power of God’s kingdom, the new world that Christ brings into history. They express the new life of grace and truth as defined by the qualities and traits of discipleship blessed by Christ.
These qualities and traits define the earmarks of the Christian: humility, patient mourning in an unjust world, meekness, longing for God’s justice, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, faithfulness when persecuted as Christians. The list is not necessarily a closed list and we can add love, goodness, generosity, self-sacrifice, wisdom, joy and the like. All these traits are bestowed on the disciples by Jesus as both blessings and responsibilities, both gifts and tasks. They make up the content of the charge by Christ to all Christians to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world in Christ’s name (Mat. 5:13-14) in Christ’s name.
When St. Symeon crafted his talk based on the Beatitudes, he intended to lead monastics to the mystery of the risen Christ. In its original publication the discourse was introduced as an exhortation to flee corruptive ways and instead to examine whether all of us as Christians reflect the blessings and qualities of the Beatitudes. Symeon’s own aim is not to provide a detailed exegesis but rather to highlight the blessings of the Beatitudes as criteria of the authentic Christian living. More specifically, as he tells us, his aim was to define the way by which a true disciple of Christ can come to know and be united with the risen and living Christ, through the practice of the Beatitudes. For him the Beatitudes are powerful divine words which, when embraced and lived, lead straight to the mystery of the risen Christ, the source of all life and truth for humanity.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 2/17: Matins 8:30 am
Tuesday 2/18: no services or events
Wednesday 2/19: no services or events
Thursday 2/20: Matins 8:30 am; Men’s Group 7 pm
Friday 2/21: Matins 8:30 am
Saturday 2/22: Catechumen Class 4:30 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 2/23: Divine Liturgy 9:15am; Meatfare Sunday; Greg Stevenson Baptism
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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