St. LukeDiocese Orthodox Christian Church of the South, Orthodox Church in America The Rev. Father Basil Henry, Priest 1415 Woodstock Ave. • Anniston, Alabama • www.stlukeanniston.org/ basilncana@yahoo.com • (256) 235-3893
Sunday, February 20, 2011 • 39th Sunday after Pentecost Sunday of the Prodigal Son St. Leo, bishop of Catania in Sicily (ca. 780). Hieromartyr Eleutherius, bishop in Byzantium (2nd c.). Hieromartyr Sadoc (Sadoth), bishop of Persia,
and 128 Martyrs with him (342). St. Eleutherius, bishop of Tournai (531). St. Agatho, pope of Rome (682). St. Eucherius, bishop of Orleans (ca. 740). St. Agatho, wonderworker of the Kiev Caves (13th-14th c.). Martyrdom of St. Cornelius, abbot of the Pskov Caves Monastery, and his disciple St. Bassian of Murom (1570). Abbot Macarius and 34 monks and novices of Valaam Monastery martyred by the Lutherans: hieromonk Titus, schemamonk Tikhon, monks Gelasius, Sergius, Varlaam, Sabbas, Conon, Sylvester, Cyprian, Pimen, John, Simonas, Jonah, David, Cornelius, Niphon, Athanasius, and Serapion, and novices Varlaam, Athanasius, Anthony, Luke, Leontius, Thomas, Dionysius, Philip, Ignatius, Basil, Pachomius, Basil, Theophilus, John, Theodore, and John (1578). (Gr. Cal.: St. Bessarion the Great, wonderworker of Egypt [466]. St. Cindeus, bishop of Pisidia.)
Announcements Many Years
Those who have registered for the Lenten Retreat will be in Birmingham Friday and Saturday.
Joshua celebrates his birthday on Tuesday, January 22.
The cover photo is of the the bell tower of St. Sophia Cathedral in Vologda, Russia, built 1568-1570.
THIS WEEK’S SERVICE SCHEDULE & SCRIPTURE READINGS Monday, 2/21
NO SERVICE Vespers 4 p.m.
Tuesday, 2/22
1 John 2:18-3:10
Mark 11:1-11
1 John 3:11-20
Mark 14:10-42
Wednesday, 2/23
Matins 8 a.m.
1 John 3:21-4:6
Mark 14:43-15:1
Thursday, 2/24
Matins 8 a.m.
1 John 4:20-5:21
Mark 15:1-15
Matins 8 a.m.
2 John 1:1-13
Mark 15:2225,33-41
Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist
Friday, 2/25
Vespers 1 Cor. 4 p.m. 10:23-28
Saturday, 2/26
Memorial Sat. — Sat. of Meatfare
Sunday, 2/27
Hours
Sunday of the Last Judgement Repose of St. Raphael of Brooklyn 9:40 a.m.
Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.
1 Cor. 8:8-9:2
Luke 21:89,25-27,33-36
Matt. 25:31-36
2 Cor. 4:6-15
Matt. 11:2-15
1 Thess. 4:13-17
John 5:24-30
Hebrews John 13:17-21 10:9-16
Service times are subject to change. Please check with Fr. Basil if in any doubt.
THIS WEEK’S FASTS Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
“Lord, I Call”
Great Vespers
Sunday of the
PRODIGAL SON (Tone 1)
From the morning watch even to the night, let Israel hope in the Lord!
SUNDAY (Tone 6)
Lead forth my soul from prison, that I may confess Thy name!
Possessing victory over hell, O Christ, since Thou art Rich and fertile was the earth allotted to us, but all we free among the dead, Thou didst ascend the Cross, planted were the seeds of sin. We reaped the sheaves of raising with Thyself those who sat in the shades of evil with the sickle of laziness; we failed to place them death. Drawing life from Thy light, O Almighty Sav- on the threshing floor of sorrow. Now we beg Thee, O Lord, eternal Master of the harvest: “May Thy love ior, have mercy on us! become the breeze to winnow the straw of our worthThe righteous await me, till Thou shalt reward me. less deeds! Make us like the precious wheat to be Today Christ tramples on death, for He is risen as He stored in heaven, and save us all!” said! Let us all sing this song, for He has granted joy For with the Lord there is mercy and with Him is plenteous to the world: “O Light unapproachable, O Fountain redemption, and He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. of life! O Savior Almighty, have mercy on us!” Rich and fertile was the earth allotted to us… Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice!
O praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise Him, all ye people!
Where shall we sinners flee from Thee Who art in all creation? In heaven Thou dwellest! In hell Thou didst trample on death! In the depths of the sea? Even there is Thy hand, O Master! To Thee we flee, and falling before Thee, we pray: “O Thou Who didst rise from the dead, have mercy on us!” Let Thine ears give heed to the voice of my prayer!
In Thy Cross, we glory, O Christ. We sing and glorify Thy Resurrection. For Thou art our God, and we know no other than Thee!
Brothers, our purpose is to know the power of God’s goodness. For when the Prodigal Son abandoned his sin, he hastened to the refuge of his father. That good man embraced him and welcomed him; he killed the fatted calf and celebrated with heavenly joy. Let us learn from this example to offer thanks to the Father, Who loves all men, and to the glorious Victim, the Savior of our souls! For His mercy hath been confirmed upon us and the truth of the Lord remaineth forever.
Brothers, our purpose is to know… Sunday of the
If Thou observest transgression, Lord, O Lord, who shall stand? For with Thee is propitiation.
PRODIGAL SON (Tone 2)
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit…
What great blessings have I forsaken, wretch that I am? We will always bless the Lord by singing of His Resur- From what kingdom have I miserably fallen? I have rection! For He endured the Cross, trampling down squandered the riches that were given me; I have death by death. transgressed the commandments. Woe to me when I shall be condemned to eternal fire! Cry out to Christ, For Thy name’s sake have I waited upon Thee, O Lord; my soul hath waited upon Thy word; my soul hath hoped in the Lord. O my soul, before the end draws nigh: “Receive me as Glory to Thy might, O Lord, for Thou didst over- the Prodigal, O God, and have mercy on me!” throw the prince of death! By Thy Cross renewing us, DOGMATIKON (Tone 6) granting us life and incorruption. Both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Who will not bless thee, O most holy Virgin? Who will not sing of thy most pure childbearing? The onlybegotten Son shone timelessly from the Father, but from thee He was ineffably incarnate. God by nature yet man for our sake; not two persons, but One known in two natures. Entreat Him, O pure and all-blessed Lady, to have mercy on our souls!
~3~
Aposticha
Sunday of the
PRODIGAL SON (Tone 6)
SUNDAY (Tone 6)
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit…
For He hath established the world, which shall not be moved.
Christ the Maker, Redeemer, and Lord proceeded from thy womb, O All-Pure Virgin. And putting on my nature, set man free from the ancestral curse. So we sing to thee without ceasing, O All-Pure Virgin, as Mother of God! With the salutation of the angel: Rejoice, O Sovereign Lady, Protection, Refuge, and Salvation of our souls!
Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior, the Angels in I, a wretched man, hide my face in shame: I have squanheaven sing! Enable us on earth to glorify Thee in pu- dered the riches my Father gave to me; I went to live with senseless beasts; I sought their food and hungered, rity of heart! for I had not enough to eat. I will arise, I will return to The Lord hath become King; with beauty hath he clothed himself. my compassionate Father; He will accept my tears, as I Destroying the gates of hell; breaking the chains of kneel before Him, crying: “In Thy tender love for all death; Thou didst resurrect the fallen human race as men, receive me as one of Thy servants and save me!” Almighty God! O Lord, Who didst rise from the dead, THEOTOKION (Tone 6) glory to Thee! Desiring to return us to Paradise, Christ was nailed to the Cross and placed in a tomb. The Myrrhbearing Women sought Him with tears, crying, “Woe to us, O Savior! How dost Thou deign to descend to death? What place can hold Thy life-bearing body? Come to us as Thou didst promise! Take away our wailing and tears!” Then the Angel appeared to them: “Stop your lamentations! Go, proclaim to the Apostles: ‘The Lord is risen, granting us purification and great mercy!’”
Bothnow and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Troparia
SUNDAY (Tone 6)
The angelic powers were at Thy tomb, and the guards became as dead men. Mary stood by Thy grave, seekHoliness belongeth to Thy house, O Lord, unto length of days! ing Thine immaculate body, Thou didst despoil hell, Having been crucified as Thou didst will, by Thy burinot being tempted by it. Thou didst go to meet the al Thou didst capture death, O Christ, and arise on Virgin, granting life. O Lord, who didst rise from the the third day as God in glory, granting the world undead, glory to Thee. ending life and great mercy!
Resurrectional Dismissal Theotokion (Tone 5) Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Thou Who called Thy Mother blessed, came of Thine own will to the Passion. Shining on the Cross, desiring to recall Adam, Thou didst say to the Angels: “Rejoice with Me for the lost coin has been found.” Thou Who hast ordered all things in wisdom our God, glory to Thee!!
“The Lenten worship is...a school of repentance. It teaches us what is repentance and how to acquire the spirit of repentance. It prepares us for and leads us to the spiritual regeneration without which ‘absolution’ remains meaningless. It is, in short, both teaching about repentance and the way of repentance. And since there can be no real Christian life without repentance, without this constant ‘re-evaluation’ of life, the Lenten worship is an essential part of the liturgical tradition of the Church.” Fr. Alexander Schmemann (1921–1983) ~4~
Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Beatitude Verses
Troparia
SUNDAY
Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
SUNDAY (Tone 6)
The angelic Powers were at thy tomb and the guards Remember me, my God and Savior, when Thou became as dead men. Mary stood by thy grave, seeking comest into Thy kingdom and save me as Thou alone thine immaculate Body. Thou didst despoil hell, not lovest mankind. being tempted by it. Thou didst go to meet the Virgin granting life. O Lord, who didst rise from the dead, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Through the wood of the cross Thou hast saved again glory to thee. Adam who was beguiled by the tree and the thief as he ST. LUKE the Evangelist (Tone 5) cried aloud: ‘Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom.’ The Holy Apostle, the all-hymned Luke, who is acBlessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. knowledged by the Church of Christ as the recorder of O Giver of life, having broken the gates and chains of the Acts of the Apostles and the splendid author of the hell; Thou, Savior, hast made all men rise crying aloud: Gospel of Christ, let us praise with sacred hymns as a ‘Glory to Thy resurrection.’ Physician who healeth the infirmities of man and the Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, ailments of nature, who cleanseth spiritual wounds for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. and prayeth unceasingly for our souls. Do Thou Who hast by Thy burial and Thy resurrection despoiled death, and filled all things with joy, re- Kontakia SUNDAY (Tone 6) member me as Thou art compassionate. With His life-creating palm, from the valleys of gloom, Sunday of the PRODIGAL SON the life-giver Christ God hath raised all the dead. He Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. hath bestowed resurrection on the human dough, for The depth of sin ever holds me fast, and a tempest of He is the Saviour of all: the Resurrection, and Life, transgressions drags me down. Pilot me, Christ my and God of all. God, to the harbour of life and save me, King of glory.
ST. LUKE the Evangelist (Tone 4)
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit…
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit…
Both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
I have wickedly squandered my Father’s wealth, and Thou becamest a disciple of God the Word, with Paul reduced to poverty, I am filled with shame, enslaved to thou didst enlighten all the world, casting out its darkfruitless thoughts. Therefore I cry to thee who lovest ness by composing the Holy Gospel of Christ. mankind, ‘Take pity on me and save me’. Sunday of the PRODIGAL SON (Tone 3) I have recklessly forgotten Thy glory, O Father; and among sinners I have scattered the riches which Thou hadst given me. Therefore I cry to Thee like the Prodigal: “I have sinned before Thee, O compassionate Father; receive me a penitent, and make me as one of Thy Both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Maiden, who conceived Christ the Saviour and Master, hired servants!” count me, beggared of every kind of good, worthy of salvation, pure Virgin, that I may sing the praise of your mighty acts.
I am wasted with starvation of every good, and estranged from thee, O Christ supremely good. Take pity on me as I now return, and save me as I sing the praise of thy love for mankind.
~5~
Prokeimenon
SUNDAY (Tone 6)
Save, O Lord, Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance. Vs: To thee, O Lord, will I cry; O my God, keep thou not silent toward me.
Epistle Reading
SUNDAY
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Brethren, All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall detroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what Alleluia Verses these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brothSUNDAY (Tone 6) er is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, Vs: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will because he hath received him safe and sound. And he abide in the shadow of the heavenly God. was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his Vs: He will say to the Lord: “My Protector and my father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neiRefuge; my God, in Whom I trust.” ther transgressed I at any time thy commandment: Gospel Reading and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was SUNDAY Luke 15:11-32 come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, The Lord said this parable: A certain man had two thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Fa- unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I ther, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, And he divided unto them his living. And not many and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive days after the younger son gathered all together, and again; and was lost, and is found. ~6~
O
Sunday of the Prodigal Son
On the third Sunday of preparation for Lent, we hear the parable of the Prodigal Son (LK. 15:11-32). Together with the hymns on this day, the parable reveals to us the time of repentance as man’s return from exile. The prodigal son, we are told, went to a far country and there spent all that he had. A far country! It is this unique definition of our human condition that we must assume and make ours as we begin our approach to God. A man who has never had that experience, be it only very briefly, who has never felt that he is exiled from God and from real life, will never understand what Christianity is about. And the one who is perfectly “at home” in this world and its life, who has never been wounded by the nostalgic desire for another Reality, will not understand what is repentance. Repentance is often simply identified as a cool and “objective” enumeration of sins and transgressions, as the act of “pleading guilty” to a legal indictment. Confession and absolution are seen as being of a juridical nature. But something very essential is overlooked-- without which neither confession nor absolution have any real meaning or power. This “something” is precisely the feeling of alienation from God, from the joy of communion with Him, from
the real life as created and given by God. It is easy indeed to confess that I have not fasted on prescribed days, or missed my prayers, or become angry. It is quite a different thing, however, to realize suddenly that I have defiled and lost my spiritual beauty, that I am far away from my real home, my real life, and that something precious and pure and beautiful has been hopelessly broken in the very texture of my existence. Yet this, and only this, is repentance, and therefore it is also a deep desire to return, to go back, to recover that lost home.... One liturgical peculiarity of this “Sunday of the Prodigal Son” must be especially mentioned here. At Sunday Matins, following the solemn and joyful Psalms of the Polyeleion, we sing the sad and nostalgic Psalm 137:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and we wept when we remembered Zion... How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy... It is the Psalm of exile. It was sung by the Jews in their Babylonian captivity as they thought of their holy city of Jerusalem. It has become forever the song of man as he realizes his exile form God, and realizing it, becomes man again: the one who can never be fully satisfied by anything in this fallen world, for by nature and vocation he is a pilgrim of the Absolute. This Psalm will be sung twice more: on the last two Sundays before Lent. It reveals Lent itself as pilgrimage and repentance—as return. The preceding was an excerpt from Great Lent, by Fr. Alexander Schmemann from Chapter 2: Preparation for Lent ~7~
S
St Leo the Bishop of Catania in Sicily
Saint Leo was bishop of the city of Catania, in Sicily. He was famed for his benevolence and charity, and his Christian love for the poor and the vagrant. The Lord granted him the gifts of healing various illnesses, and working miracles.
When St Leo was Bishop of Catania, there was a certain sorcerer named Heliodorus, who impressed people with his fake miracles. This fellow was originally a Christian, but then he rejected Christ and became a servant of the devil. St Leo often urged Heliodorus to repent of his wicked deeds and return to God, but in vain. Once, Heliodorus impudently entered the church where the bishop was serving, and tried to create a disturbance, sowing confusion and temptation by his sorcery. Seeing the people beset by devils under the sorcer’s spell, St Leo realized that the time for gentle persuasion had passed. He calmly emerged from the altar and, tying his omophorion around the
magician’s neck, he led him out of the church into the city square. There he forced Heliodorus to admit to all his wicked deeds. He commanded that a fire be lit, and jumped into the fire with the sorcerer. Thus they stood in the fire until Heliodorus got burnt. St Leo, by the power of God, remained unharmed. This miracle brought St Leo great renown during his lifetime. When he died, a woman with an issue of blood received healing at his grave. The body of the saint was placed in a church of the holy Martyr Lucy (December 13), which he himself had built. Later on, his relics were transferred into the church of St Martin the Merciful, Bishop of Tours (November 11).
Theology of Lay Ministries - Volume II, 1996
Finding One’s Vocation in Life By Fr. Thomas Hopko
In addition to the direct help of God, so to speak, we also need His help as it comes to us through others. We need the guidance of those who are experienced in His ways, particularly our fathers and mothers in the faith. “Ask your fathers, and they will show you; your elders and they will teach you.” (Dt. 32:7) The saints of the Church love to repeat this line from the song of Moses. To hear God’s voice, to discern His desires for us, to discover His purposes for our lives, we need the help of those who have found Him, or, perhaps more accurately, those who have been found by Him. We receive this help in the life of the Church, first of all by our participation in the services and sacraments. We find it also in the Bible and in the lives and teachings of the saints. And we find it in the pastors and teachers whom God gives us. God promises that those who seek instruction will never be left without it. He Himself will see to
it, as the saying goes, that “when the disciple is ready, the Master will appear.” Without obedience to God’s Word and Spirit in the services, sacraments, scriptures and saints of the Church, we who claim to be Christians will never discover our calling in life. For we will have rejected the means that God has given us to find it.
~8~
We Must Be Faithful Where We Are
Finally, we are taught that to discover God’s will for us, we must be faithful to Him where we are, faithful to and in the conditions in which He has placed us. One of the greatest obstacles to the discovery of one’s vocation in life, which is a clear expression of our disobedience and self-will, is the desire to be someone else, someplace else, sometime else. We have all heard people say that if only they lived in another place, or in another time, or with other people...then they could be holy. Or, if only they were married. Or, if only they were not married. If only this, and if only that! We must come to see how sinful such an attitude is, how crazy and deluded. It is simply blasphemy. And it may well be the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which Christ says cannot be forgiven, for it dares to tell God that our failures in life are His fault for making us the way we are. (Cf. Mt. 12:31; Lk. 12:10)
God’s will for our lives. The struggle to “blossom where we are planted,” as the saying goes, is the way to discern God’s presence and power in our lives, to hear His voice, to accomplish His purposes, to share His holiness. Jesus said that only those who are “faithful in little” inherit much and get set over much. Those who are not faithful in the little things of life, and thereby fail to accept and to use what God provides, end up losing the little that they have, or—as Jesus says in St. Luke’s gospel—the little that they think that they have, for even that “little” may exist only in their own deluded imaginations. (Cf. Mt. 25:14-30; Lk. 19:11-27, 8:18)
So the summary of the whole thing is this: We must labor to do the smallest good and to avoid the smallest sin in the smallest, seemingly most insignificant details of life. We must accept who we are, where we are, when we are and how we are, and struggle to sanctify our real state of existence by the grace of God; resisting God has made us who we are. He has put us where we are, even when it is our own self-will that has moved us. the world, the flesh and the devil and gaining the Spirit He has given us our time and our place. He has given us of God through Christ in the Church. We must particiour specific destiny. We must come to the point when pate in the services and sacraments, be fed on the scripwe do not merely resign ourselves to these realities, but tures and imitate the saints. We must seek out the help when we love them, bless them, give thanks to God for of the experienced, and heed their counsel and advice. them as the conditions for our self-fulfillment as per- And we must go to God Himself and say with a pure heart: “Thy will be done! And He will see that we find sons, the means to our sanctity and salvation. our vocation and calling in life, and become the saints Being faithful where we are is the basic sign that we will that he has willed us to be from the beginning.
The Orthodox Faith > Doctrine > The Symbol of Faith
Nicene Creed It is also used as the formal statement of faith by a non-Orthodox Christian entering the communion of the Orthodox Church. In the same way the creed became part of the life of Orthodox Christians and an essential element of the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church at which each person formally and officially accepts and renews his baptism and membership in the Church. Thus, the Symbol of Faith is the only part of the liturgy To be an Orthodox Christian is to affirm the Orthodox (repeated in another form just before Holy Commu- Christian faith—not merely the words, but the essennion) which is in the first person. All other songs and tial meaning of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan symbol prayers of the liturgy are plural, beginning with “we”. of faith. It means as well to affirm all that this stateOnly the credal statement begins with “I.” This, as we ment implies, and all that has been expressly developed shall see, is because faith is first personal, and only then from it and built upon it in the history of the Orthodox corporate and communal. Church over the centuries down to the present day. ~9~
Having the Guest Room Ready This weekly bulletin insert complements the curriculum published by the Department of Christian Education of the Orthodox Church in America. This and many other Christian Education resources are available at http://dce.oca.org.
On February 22 we read about the preparations for the Passover meal that Jesus instructs His disciples to make in Mark 14:10-42. There's a good bit of mystery in the opening verses of this passage. Jesus sends two of the disciples into the city, and tells them in amazingly specific detail what will happen there. He says that a man carrying a jar of water will meet them—they don't even have to look for him, or be told what he looks like so that they will recognize him! Then they are to follow him "wherever he goes" and speak to the owner of the house he enters. This owner or householder will show them an upper room that is "furnished and ready" for them. This is the room in which they should prepare for the meal that Jesus and His beloved disciples will share.
The disciples follow the Lord's instructions—they go to the city and find everything "as He had told them," and they make their preparations. But the mysterious quality of it all must have occurred to them. Who is this householder? How and when were these plans made? Most important, who but the Lord could have done this? We will soon enter the period of Great Lent, and many more things will be found to be "as He had told us"—His fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, His Passion and Crucifixion, and ultimately His Resurrection. When the disciples meet the householder, they pose the question that Jesus, the Teacher, has directed them to ask: "Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with My disciples?" (14:14). There isn't a moment of hesitation; the guest room is ready and waiting, as Jesus knew it would be. Yet the householder is never identified. He has an important place in the story of the Last Supper, and he seems to be perfectly willing to fulfill his role without having his actions praised, or his name known. Perhaps he didn't even comprehend the significance of what he was being asked to do for the Lord, but he did it faithfully and obediently. "Where is my guest room?" is a question, many Bible commentators suggest, that the Lord also asks us. Great Lent will offer us a chance to consider whether we have a place in our hearts "furnished and ready" for Him, or whether we'll need to scramble around to clean up the place, and push other things out of the way to make room for Him to enter. Another question follows, too. Will we look for praise and attention because we have prepared a place, or can we be satisfied to be like the householder, simply making ready for Him out of love and obedience with no expectation of reward? Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, "I stand at the door and knock." If the room is ready, we can invite Him in, and begin to live in the Kingdom with Him today.
~10~
Crossword Puzzle–The Poor Across
2. Proverbs 14:31 He who ______ the poor reproaches his Maker
5. Proverbs 19:22 What is desired in a man is _______ 7. Proverbs 19:17 He who has _____ on the poor lends to the LORD
3. James 2:5 Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in ______ 4. Proverbs 14:21 But he who has _____ on the poor, happy is he 6. Luke 6:20 Blessed are you poor, For yours is the ________ of God.
9. 2 Corinthians 8:9 for your sakes He became poor, that you through His _______ might become rich
8. Proverbs 19:17 Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the ____ Will also cry himself and not be heard
Down
1. Psalm 10:2 The ____ in his pride persecutes the poor
~11~
One of the oldest churches in Romania, near Buzau; built around the year 500; made in a single piece of bazalt. St. Luke Orthodox Christian Church 1415 Woodstock Ave. Anniston, AL 36207