Hear Now. We’ll now be together with the day by day studying of Epistle and Gospel with The Prayer Workforce.
Sunday Earlier than Theophany
The start of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it’s written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I ship my messenger earlier than thy face, who shall put together thy approach; the voice of 1 crying within the wilderness: Put together the way in which of the Lord, make his paths straight—” John the baptizer appeared within the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all of the nation of Judea, and all of the folks of Jerusalem; they usually have been baptized by him within the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather-based girdle round his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes He who’s mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie. I’ve baptized you with water; however He’ll baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mark 1:1-8 (Gospel of the Sunday Earlier than Theophany)
Good morning Prayer Workforce!
It’s attention-grabbing to notice that the Gospel of Mark is the one Gospel that doesn’t start by making reference to the Nativity. Saint Matthew lists the family tree of Christ, adopted by the start of Jesus and the go to of the Magi. Saint Luke begins with the start of John the Baptist, the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, the start of Jesus and the go to of the Shepherds. Saint John begins with an theological rationalization of the Holy Trinity, noting in John 1:14 that “the Phrase turned flesh and dwelt amongst us,” a reference to the Nativity.
Saint Mark begins his Gospel with the phrases of St. John the Baptist, asserting the approaching of the Messiah. And within the verses that comply with at this time’s collection of Scripture, Christ shall be recognized by God because the “beloved Son” (Mark 1:11) on the Baptism by John within the Jordan.
at this time’s Gospel studying, we learn of the ministry of St. John the Baptist. God selected two very particular folks for 2 distinctive roles. The Virgin Mary was chosen by God to bear Christ in her womb, thus permitting Him to enter life as a child. Saint John the Baptist was chosen to be the Forerunner of Christ, making ready the way in which, and finally figuring out Jesus because the Christ. John lived a solitary life within the wilderness. He lived a really Godly life, nonetheless, and was bringing folks nearer to God by baptism, which at the moment, was a ritual washing, much like how we do confession, that the Jews got here to do periodically. His primary message is present in verses 7-8, “After me comes He who’s mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie. I’ve baptized you with water; however He’ll baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
One phrase from at this time’s Gospel that all the time jumps out at me is “the voice of 1 crying within the wilderness.” (1:3) Have you ever ever put your self within the “sandals” of John the Baptist? Think about going for a hike, and each individual you encounter, you inform them about Jesus. Some folks will run away, some will most likely have interaction in dialog, some may even need extra info. And that is in a society the place nearly everybody has a minimum of heard the title “Jesus.” Now think about if you happen to have been strolling in a spot the place nobody had heard of Jesus. To attempt to speak to folks about somebody they’d by no means heard of would most actually be even more durable.
Generally, I do know I really feel like this as a priest, and maybe you do as Christians, it looks like we’re the voice of 1, or few, within the wilderness. Like nobody actually cares about Christianity, like the entire world is in opposition to us. In case you actually really feel just like the voice of ONE, the most effective factor to do is to get round another voices that share the love, pleasure and hope of Christianity, so that you simply a minimum of really feel just like the voice of some. After which these few voices must be like John—they must be daring, dynamic, assured, and inspiring. In addition they must be humble. The lesson of John the Baptist was that he wasn’t afraid to be daring, he had confidence in what he was saying, however what he was saying was a message of humility, not of energy and aggrandizement.
John the Baptist was the final of the Prophets, the final one who foretold of the approaching of Christ. He ended the interval of expectation. We now stay in one other interval of expectation. We await Christ to come back once more. We await His guarantees to be fulfilled. However in our ready, we want voices of pleasure, hope and encouragement. We want voices which can be daring. We want folks to share the excellent news within the spirit and zeal of John the Baptist. And it’s not simply priest who can do that—it’s everybody.
There’s an previous saying, if a tree falls within the forest and nobody is there, does it make a sound? Effectively, we stay in a world the place it’s simply the alternative. There are many folks dwelling within the forest. We want extra folks to supply the “sound” of Christianity to them.
Blood and fireplace and a cloud of smoke, portents on earth that Joel foresaw: blood, the incarnation; fireplace, the divinity; and the cloud of smoke, the Holy Spirit that came across the Virgin and crammed the world with perfume. Nice is the thriller of Your turning into human! Glory to You, O Lord. (Doxastikon of the Sunday after the Nativity of Christ, Trans. by Fr. Seraphim Dedes)
Be daring, assured, hopeful and humble in your religion.
+Fr. Stavros
With Roger Hunt offering at this time’s Every day Studying: Hear Now.
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