sunday readings and sermon for 10/03/2013

7/29/2019 Sunday Readings and Sermon for 10/03/2013

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EEPPIISSTTLLEE RREEAADDIINNGG1 Cor. 8:8-9:2rethren, food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do noteat, and no better off if we do. Only take care that this liberty of yours does notsomehow become a stumbling block for the weak. For if someone sees you, whohave knowledge, sitting at table in an idols temple, may they not be encouraged, iftheir conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge theweak person is destroyed; the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, by sinningagainst your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin

against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brothers stumbling, I will nevereat meat, lest I cause my brother to stumble. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?Have I not seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If toothers I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of myapostleship in the Lord.

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BB

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATEARCHDIOCESE OFTHYATEIRA & GREAT BRITAIN

BBUULLLLEETTIINN OOFF SSPPIIRRIITTUUAALL EEDDIIFFIICCAATTIIOONNMEATFARE SUNDAY

10 March 2013Varys Mode. No. 1274

10 2013. . 1274

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Matt. 25:31-46he Lord said, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angelswith him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will begathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherdseparates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand andthe goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, Come, youthat are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from thefoundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty andyou gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and youclothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.Then the just will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and gave youfood, or thirsty and gave you drink? And when did we see you a stranger andwelcomed you, or naked and clothed you? And when did we see you sick or inprison and visited you? And the king will answer them, Amen I tell you, just as youdid it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Then he will say tothose at his left hand, You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fireprepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, Iwas thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did notwelcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did notvisit me. Then they too will answer, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry orthirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve you? Then hewill answer them, Amen I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least ofthese, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, butthe just into eternal life.Let us observe a fast acceptable and pleasing to the Lord. True fasting is to put away all evil, tocontrol the tongue, to forbear from anger, to abstain from lust, slander, falsehood, and perjury. Ifwe renounce these things, then is our fasting true and acceptable to God. (The Lenten Triodion)

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, , , , ... !Consider well, my soul: do you fast? Do not despise your neighbour.

Do youabstain from food?Do not condemnyour brother (The Lenten Triodion)


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SSEERRMMOONN OONN TTHHEE GGOOSSPPEELL RREEAADDIINNGG

ast Sunday, the parable of the Prodigal Son assured us of our heavenly Fatherscomplete mercy towards all who repent and return to Him. But lest we should fallinto negligence by remembering Gods mercy while forgetting our own need forrepentance, the fearful parable of the Last Judgement today reminds us that oursalvation is not an easy matter.We can readily be tempted to avoid this uncomfortable issue with vague hopesthat, if we have not actually murdered anyone or robbed a bank, we shall probably bealright and allowed to slip in with the sheep. But let us not forget that the root of allsin, the cause of all strife and trouble in the world, is selfishness; and which of us cansay that we are never selfish? Moreover, the mere avoidance of sin is not the criterionapplied by Christ in separating the sheep from the goats. He expects something muchhigher of us for salvation - the active presence of love and compassion towards othersin need, whose hunger, thirst, illness, imprisonment or nakedness may be physical,emotional or spiritual. Indeed, even more than that is required. For those who inheritGods kingdom, in asking with surprise when they had ever helped in this way, reveal

that they did so with a love which springs from a pure and selfless heart, withoutseeking recognition from others, without desiring to feel good about themselves,without thinking of their own convenience, but helping simply because they could notdo otherwise in the face of others need, so that they were unaware of having done anygood at all. Those, on the other hand, who are condemned, are equally surprised, butbecause they were so wrapped up in themselves during life that they were blind to theneeds of others and so remain unaware that they had done no good; they evidentlyexpect to be saved because they are not conscious of having done any wrong.Gods ultimate judgement of our life is a prospect which should instil a healthyfear in us all. God is indeed love, but His love is so dazzlingly pure and selfless thatwhen, at the end of our time we all meet it face to face, it will either bathe us in bliss orscorch us like fire, in proportion to the quality of our own love for both God and ourneighbour. The righteousness of God is nothing like human justice, and He knowsperfectly what each of us is capable of, and what our circumstances are in this life. Butlet us not tempt Gods mercy, either with our laziness if we make little effort, or withour pride if we make a big effort. As St Isaac the Syrian reminds us: when a sinnerbecomes aware of his failings and begins to repent, he is righteous; when a righteousman becomes aware of his righteousness and his conscience is persuaded of it, he is asinner.Our salvation depends entirely on the inscrutable judgement of God, who seesand knows everything. We are mere creatures, and cannot see God; but we can, withGods help, achieve a human kind of perfection by forgetting ourselves and seeing andresponding to the needs of the person in front of us instead of our own. That way, weshall learn humility and love, and so live in peace both in this life and in all eternity.You were commanded to keep the body as a servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures

(St. Thalassios the Libyan)

Sin is a blazing fire. The less fuel you give it, the faster it dies down; the more you feed it, the more it burns

(St. Mark the Ascetic)ArchdioceseofThyateira&GreatBritain,5CravenHill,LondonW23EN

Tel.:02077234787.Fax:02072249301.Email:[email protected]:www.thyateira.org.ukP r i n t e d b y S t P a u l s P r e s s

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sunday readings and sermon for 10/03/2013

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