If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Day 21 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 Twenty-First Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Commemoration of the Lady the Theotokos
On this day, we celebrate the commemoration of the Lady Virgin Mary, the Mother of God the Word.
May her intercession be for us all. Amen.
Departure of St.Hierotheos, of Athens
On this day also, St. Hierotheos (Berutawos) of Athens, departed. This father was one of the learned men in the city of Athens. He met the Apostle St. Paul, and many discussions took place between them which led to his belief on the Apostle's hand. He baptized him, taught him the Ordinances and Law of the church, and then ordained him a priest for this city. He frequently visited St. Dionysius the Areopagite, who was also one of the learned men in Athens. This Saint was present at the time of the departure of the Lady Virgin Mary, and he stood in the midst of the apostles and comforted them with spiritual songs and hymns which he sang accompanied with musical instruments. He converted many Jews and Gentiles to the knowledge of the Lord Christ. When the people wished to ordain him a bishop, he refused saying: "I just wish to be able to perform the duties of a priest." Having finished his good strife, he went to the Lord Whom he loved.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Readings for Tuesday of second week of fifty Joyous Days
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 9 : 19
Chapter 9
| 19 | Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. |
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 Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 17 : 19 - 23
Chapter 17
| 19 | Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" |
| 20 | So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. |
| 21 | However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." |
| 22 | Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, |
| 23 | and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. |
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 7 : 6,8
Chapter 7
| 6 | Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! |
| 8 | The LORD shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me. |
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 Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 9 : 27 - 31
Chapter 9
| 27 | When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" |
| 28 | And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." |
| 29 | Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." |
| 30 | And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it." |
| 31 | But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. |
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 1 : 7 - 10
Chapter 1
| 7 | To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 8 | First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. |
| 9 | For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, |
| 10 | making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. |
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 : 6 - 10
Chapter 1
| 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. |
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 4 : 5 - 7
Chapter 4
| 5 | And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, |
| 6 | as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. |
| 7 | And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" |
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 7 : 6,8
Chapter 7
| 6 | Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! |
| 8 | The LORD shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me. |
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.
John 5 : 22 - 24
Chapter 5
| 22 | For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, |
| 23 | that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. |
| 24 | "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. |
And Glory be to God forever.
I’m convinced that beneath the ugly manifestations of our present evils—political corruption, ecological devastation, warring against one another, hating each other based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality—the greatest dis-ease facing humanity right now is our profound and painful sense of disconnection. We feel disconnected from God, certainly, but also from ourselves (especially our bodies), from each other, and from our world. Our sense of this fourfold isolation is plunging our species into increasingly destructive behavior and much mental illness.
Yet many are discovering that the Infinite Flow of the Trinity—and our practical, felt experience of this gift—offers the utterly grounded reconnection with God, with self, with others, and with our world that all spirituality, and arguably, even politics, is aiming for, but which conventional religion and politics fail to access.
Trinity overcomes the foundational philosophical problem of “the One and the Many.” Serious seekers invariably wonder how things can be both deeply connected and yet clearly distinct. In the paradigm of Trinity, we have three autonomous “Persons,” as we call them, who are nevertheless in perfect communion, given and surrendered to each other with an Infinite Love. With the endless diversity in creation, it is clear that God is not at all committed to uniformity but instead desires unity—which is the great work of the Spirit—or diversity overcome by love. Uniformity is mere conformity and obedience to law and custom; whereas spiritual unity is that very diversity embraced and protected by an infinitely generous love. This is the problem that our politics and most superficial religion are still unable to resolve.
Trinity is all about relationship and connection. We know the Trinity through experiencing the flow itself, which dissolves our sense of disconnection. The principle of one is lonely; the principle of two is oppositional and moves us toward preference and exclusion; the principle of three is inherently moving, dynamic, and generative. Trinity was made to order to undercut all dualistic thinking. Yet Christianity shelved it for all practical purposes because our dualistic theologies could not process it. [1]
God is not a being among other beings, but rather the Ground of Being itself which then flows through all beings. As Paul says to the intellectuals in Athens, this God “is not far from us, but is the one in whom we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:27-28). The God whom Jesus reveals is presented as unhindered dialogue, a positive and inclusive flow, and a waterwheel of outpouring love that never stops! St. Bonaventure (c. 1221–1274) called God a “fountain fullness” of love. [2]
Our sense of disconnection is only an illusion. Nothing can stop the flow of divine love; we cannot undo the eternal pattern even by our worst sin. God is always winning, and God’s love will finally win in the end. Nothing humans can do can stop the relentless outpouring force that is the divine dance. Love does not lose, nor does God lose. That’s what it means to be God!
References:
[1] See Cynthia Bourgeault, The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three: Discovering the Radical Truth at the Heart of Christianity (Shambhala: 2013); and The Shape of God: Deepening the Mystery of Trinity (CAC: 2004), CD, DVD, MP3 download.