from antiochan.org and dynamispublications.org:
Daily Readings:
Saints/Feasts/Fasts to be commemmorated/celebrated: The Nativity Fast
Scriptural Readings:
2 Timothy 2:20-26
2 Timothy 2:20-2620In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. 21All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work.
22Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, 25correcting opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, 26and that they may escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
Luke 19:37-44
Luke 19:37-4437As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
41As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Judges 2:1-5, 11-23 (11/29-12/12) First Reading in Kellia from the Book of Judges
Being Tested: Judges 2:1-5, 11-23, especially vss. 16-17 SAAS: “...the Lord raised up judges and the Lord saved them from the hand of those who plundered them. But even so, they would not listen to their judges, but instead they played the harlot with other gods and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so.” This passage provides something of a prelude to the Book of Judges. Initially, the Angel of the Lord “...came up from Gilgal to the place of weeping and to Bethel and to the house of Israel” (vs. 1), bringing a word from the Lord, “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land I promised to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; nor shall you worship their gods, but you will destroy their graven images and you shall tear down their altars.’ But you did not obey My voice, for you did these things” (vss. 1,2). Also, the Angel declared God’s judgment: “I will not drive them out before you, and they shall become as snares, and their gods shall be a cause for stumbling for you” (vs. 3). But even as the People wept and sacrificed to God, they still “...did evil before the Lord and served the Baals” (vs. 11).
The text is clear that the Angel spoke to Israel at the place of weeping (vss. 1, 5) and not at Gilgal where the People originally entered the land and first encamped (Jos. 4:19). At Gilgal they set up twelve stones “...that all the nations of the land might know that the power of the Lord is mighty; and that [they] might worship the Lord...in every age” (Jos. 4:24).
To repeat: the Angel did not deliver God’s judgment at Gilgal. Rather, he ‘came up’ from Gilgal to Bethel, earlier called “...the house of God...and the gate of heaven” (Gn. 28:17). At Bethel, the Lord had promised the land to them, so that they might be a blessing to “...all the tribes of the earth...” (Gen. 28:14). However, now, it was being called ‘the place of weeping’ (Jdg. 2:1), for God’s People had joined the pagans in worshiping “...other gods from among the gods of the nations all around them...” which only “...provoked the Lord to anger (vs. 12).
The Lord’s promise remained, yet in forsaking “...the Lord God of their fathers...” they now must weep. Beloved, the promises that you and I have in Christ are far greater than a land; yet they require tears because of our sins and ask that we struggle to attain life-giving purity.
Understand the Lord and why He tested Israel’s walk before Him (vss. 21-23). It was because they “...did evil before the Lord and served the Baals” (vs. 11). Sins always are the cause of trials that the Lord allows to come upon His People. Examine the worship of “Baal and the Ashtoreths” (vs. 13). Baal was a god and the Baalim (the plural) were gods worshiped by the Canaanite peoples. The pagans believed these gods gave fertility to the womb. As a result, prostitution was made a regular part of their worship, with occasional infant sacrifice. Among their goddesses, or Ashtoreths, were deities called Astarte, Aphrodite, or Venus. Their worship included all sorts of lascivious practices, including sodomy, bestiality, and infanticide.
It is clear why serving these gods “...provoked the Lord...” (vs. 12). And we know them in the world today. Different names are used for serving ‘lust’ or for performing ‘abortions.’ The present world like the world of ancient Israel is saturated in sensuality, but life in Christ asks us to struggle to keep “...unspotted from the world” (Jas. 1:27). The Lord left idolatry in place to test His ancient People, and He allows hedonism today that we may choose to “...keep the ways of the Lord...” (Jdg. 2:22). Anciently, “...the Lord raised up judges...” to save Israel (vs. 16). Now He provides the Church, Scripture, the Fathers and the Holy Mysteries for our salvation.
O my Lord, may Thy Communion cause all evil and passion to flee away from me as from fire, through the intercession of all the Saints, the Bodiless Powers and of Thy pure Mother.
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