How many times have you stood over the grave of a recently departed friend or loved one? When was the last time you tasted grief and separation from someone you dearly loved? I don't know about you, but I am so thankful that the Bible identifies death as one of Jesus' enemies. I am thankful that he hates death, and the damage and separation it causes, even more than I do. I am filled with joy to know that death will be destroyed and immortality and life will be given to the children of God!
My Prayer...
Holy Father, please triumph with life and mercy in the lives of those I know that are wrestling with emotional, spiritual, and physical death. Triumph in their lives through your power and your grace. I look forward to the day, dear Father, when death is no more. Lord Jesus, I not only pray this in your name, but I ask you to speed this day. Amen.
Day 10 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramoudah, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.
The Tenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Departure of Anba Isaac, the Disciple of Anba Apollo
On this day the holy father Anba Isaac the Disciple of the great father Anba Apollo, departed. This holy man renounced the world since his young age. He became a monk in the wilderness of Sheahat (Scetis), and a disciple of Anba Apollo for twenty five years. He fought a strenuous fight that weakened his body to kill his body desires, and control his will. He mastered the virtue of silence and quietness especially during the prayers and the Liturgies. He used to stand during the liturgy with his hands clasped and his head bent until the end of the prayer then he returned to his cell, shutting his door, and did not associate with any one that day. When they asked him: "Why do you not talk to anyone who wish to talk to you during prayers or the Liturgy?" He answered saying: "There is time for talking and there is time for praying." When his departure drew near the fathers the monks gathered around him to receive his blessing and they asked him: "Why did you flee from men." He answered them: "I was not fleeing from men but from Satan. If a man hold a lighted lamp in the wind, it will be extinguished. So, it is with us when our hearts and minds shine because of the prayers and the Liturgy then we talk with each other, our hearts and minds become dark." And this holy father having finished his good spiritual strife, departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of Pope Gabriel II, the Seventy Pope of Alexandria, who was known as Ibn Turaik
On this day also of the year 861 A.M. (April 5th., 1145 A.D.) the great and holy father Pope Gabriel II, the seventy Pope of the See of St. Mark, who was known as Ibn Turaik, departed. This Pope was from the nobles of Cairo, and he was a writer, scribe, distinguished scholar, with a commendable conduct. He transcribed with his hand many Arabic and Coptic books, he retained its contents and comprehended its interpretations. The elders of the people and the clergy chose him for the Patriarchal Chair, and his enthronement was on the 9th. of Amshir, 847 A.M. (February 3rd., 1131 A.D.). When he prayed his first Divine Liturgy in St. Macarius monastery as the custom of the previous Patriarchs, at the end of the Liturgy, he added to the profession after the saying: "I believe and confess to the last breath, that this is the life-giving Flesh that Thine Only-Begotten Son, our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, took from our Lady, the Lady of us all, the holy Mother of God, Saint Mary," this sentence "He made it one with His Divinity." The monks objected, lest it would be understood from that there was mingling between His Divinity and His Humanity, and asked him to refrain from using it. He refused saying: "This statement was added by a decree from the council of bishops." After a great and lengthy discussion, they decided to add this sentence: "Without mingling, without confusion, and without alteration," because of the fear of falling in the heresy of Eutyches, and he agreed with them. During his papacy, he ordained 53 bishops and many priests, he drew up Canons and laws concerning inheritance, and many other matters. He never took any money from anyone, nor he touched the revenue of the churches, or that of the religious endowments for the poor. When the governor of that time asked him for money, the nobles and people collected three hundred Dinars in gold and gave them to the governor on his behalf. He remained on the Episcopal Chair for fourteen years, two month and two days, then departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.
Readings for Thursday of sixth week of Great Lent
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 144 : 5,7
Chapter 144
| 5 | Bow down Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. |
| 7 | Stretch out Your hand from above; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, From the hand of foreigners, |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Vespers Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 7 : 36 - 50
Chapter 7
| 36 | Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. |
| 37 | And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, |
| 38 | and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. |
| 39 | Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner." |
| 40 | And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it." |
| 41 | "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. |
| 42 | And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" |
| 43 | Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged." |
| 44 | Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. |
| 45 | You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. |
| 46 | You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. |
| 47 | Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." |
| 48 | Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." |
| 49 | And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" |
| 50 | Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." |
And Glory be to God forever.
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 72 : 6 - 7
Chapter 72
| 6 | He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth. |
| 7 | In His days the righteous shall flourish, And abundance of peace, Until the moon is no more. |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Matins Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 11 : 20 - 28
Chapter 11
| 20 | But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. |
| 21 | When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. |
| 22 | But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. |
| 23 | He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. |
| 24 | "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, "I will return to my house from which I came.' |
| 25 | And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. |
| 26 | Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." |
| 27 | And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" |
| 28 | But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" |
And Glory be to God forever.
Liturgy Gospel
Paulines Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God.
A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Romans .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Romans 3 : 1 - 31
Chapter 3
| 1 | What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? |
| 2 | Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. |
| 3 | For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? |
| 4 | Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged." |
| 5 | But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) |
| 6 | Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? |
| 7 | For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? |
| 8 | And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"?--as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. |
| 9 | What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. |
| 10 | As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; |
| 11 | There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. |
| 12 | They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." |
| 13 | "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; |
| 14 | "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." |
| 15 | "Their feet are swift to shed blood; |
| 16 | Destruction and misery are in their ways; |
| 17 | And the way of peace they have not known." |
| 18 | "There is no fear of God before their eyes." |
| 19 | Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. |
| 20 | Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. |
| 21 | But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, |
| 22 | even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; |
| 23 | for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, |
| 24 | being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, |
| 25 | whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, |
| 26 | to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. |
| 27 | Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. |
| 28 | Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. |
| 29 | Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, |
| 30 | since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. |
| 31 | Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. John .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 John 1 : 1 - end
Chapter 1
| 1 | That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- |
| 2 | the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- |
| 3 | that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. |
| 4 | And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. |
| 5 | This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. |
| 6 | If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. |
| 7 | But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. |
| 8 | If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. |
| 9 | If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. |
| 10 | If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. |
1 John 2 : 1 - 6
Chapter 2
| 1 | My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. |
| 2 | And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. |
| 3 | Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. |
| 4 | He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. |
| 5 | But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. |
| 6 | He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. |
Do not love the world or the things in the world.
The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Amen.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 7 : 23 - 34
Chapter 7
| 23 | "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. |
| 24 | And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. |
| 25 | For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. |
| 26 | And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, "Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?' |
| 27 | But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? |
| 28 | Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?' |
| 29 | Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. |
| 30 | "And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. |
| 31 | When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, |
| 32 | saying, "I am the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses trembled and dared not look. |
| 33 | "Then the LORD said to him, "Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. |
| 34 | I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt."' |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Divine Psalm
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet, and the Good King.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 45 : 10 - 11
Chapter 45
| 10 | Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father's house; |
| 11 | So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him. |
Hallelujah.
Divine Gospel
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Luke 1 : 26 - 38
Chapter 1
| 26 | Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, |
| 27 | to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. |
| 28 | And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" |
| 29 | But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. |
| 30 | Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. |
| 31 | And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. |
| 32 | He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. |
| 33 | And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." |
| 34 | Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" |
| 35 | And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. |
| 36 | Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. |
| 37 | For with God nothing will be impossible." |
| 38 | Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Since it is now clear to you from the example both of the Lord and his subjects that the value of fasting is considerable, and that great benefit accrues to the soul from it, I beg you, my dear people, now that you know its benefit not to resist its saving power through indifference nor lose heart at its approach, but rejoice and be glad, as blessed Paul says, “The more our external selves are destroyed, the more the inner person is renewed” (2Cor. 4:16). Fasting is nourishment for the soul, you see, and just as bodily nourishment fattens the body, so fasting invigorates the soul, provides it with nimble wings, lifts it on high, enables it to contemplate things that are above, and renders it superior to the pleasures and attractions of this present life.
Homily on Genesis, on the beginning of the Holy Lent, 9