SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018

 SUNDAY OF THE PRODIGAL SON; HOLY APOSTLE TIMOTHY OF THE SEVENTY;
HOLY MONK-MARTYR ANASTASIUS THE PERSIAN

What do we find, then, in this book of preparation that we term the Lenten Triodion? It can most briefly be described as the book of the fast. Just as the children of Israel ate the ‗bread of affliction‘ (Deut. 16:3) in preparation for the Passover, so Christians prepare themselves for the celebration of the New Passover by observing a fast. But what is meant by this word ‗fast‘ (nisteia)? Here the utmost care is needed, so as to preserve a proper balance between the outward and the inward. On the outward level fasting involves physical abstinence from food and drink ...yet the rules about eating and drinking must never be treated as an end in themselves, for ascetic fasting has always an inward and unseen purpose. Man is a unity of body and soul, ‗a living creature fashioned from natures visible and invisible‘ ...Until the fourteenth century, most Western Christians, in common with their brethren in the Orthodox East, abstained during Lent not only from meat but from animal products, such as eggs, milk, butter and cheese. In East and West alike, the Lenten fast involved a severe physical effort ...One reason for [the] decline in fasting is surely a heretical attitude towards human nature, a false ‗spiritualism‘ which rejects or ignores the body, viewing man solely in terms of his reasoning brain ...forgetting St. Paul‘s affirmation: ‗Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit ...glorify God with your body‘ (I Cor. 6:19-20) ...The primary aim of fasting is to make us conscious of our dependence upon God ...to lead us in turn to a sense of inward brokenness and contrition; to bring us, that is, to the point where we appreciate the full force of Christ‘s statement, ‗Without Me you can do nothing‘ (John 15:5) ... Genesis describes the fall of man and his expulsion from Paradise, which is a dominant motif throughout the Triodion. The later chapters of Genesis tell the story of Joseph, who in his innocent sufferings serves as a type‘ of Christ. In the lessons from Exodus, Moses foreshadows Christ, the Old Passover anticipates the New, and the crossing of the Red Sea prefigures the redemptive death and the rising of the Saviour. The book of Isaiah begins with an appeal for repentance and fasting. The readings from Ezekiel speak of God‘s glory - the glory that is also manifested through the Cross and Resurrection: ‗Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him‘ (John 13:31). The ethical instruction in Proverbs reminds us that Lent is a time for moral effort ...to alter our way of life with the help of God‘s grace ...The patient sufferings of Job and his final vindication point forward to the Passion and resurrection of Christ. So it becomes apparent that the Old Testament lessons have not been chosen fortuitously, but each has its place in the all-embracing unity of the Triodion.

Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia. The Meaning of the Great Fast, The Lenten Triodion

THE READING FROM THE FIRST EPISTLE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS  (6: 12-20)

Brethren, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.  All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.  Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them.  Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?  Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!  Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her?  For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”  But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.  Flee sexual immorality.  Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

THE READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT LUKE  (15: 11-32)

Jesus said this parable: “A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.  But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’  And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still 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 to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here 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.  Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’  And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”

Читање из посланице Корићанима Светог Апостола Павла 6, 12-20

Све ми је слободно, али није све на корист; све ми је слободно, али нећу да шта овлада мноме. Јела су за трбух, и трбух је за јела; али ће Бог и ова и оног покварити. А тело није за блуд, него за Господа, и Господ за тело. А Бог и Господа подиже, и нас ће подићи силом својом. Не знате ли да су телеса ваша уди Христови? Хоћу ли дакле узети уде Христове и од њих начинити уде блуднице? Боже сачувај! Или не знате да ко се с блудницом свеже једно тело с њом постане? Јер, рече, биће двоје једно тело. А ко се Господа држи један је дух с Господом. Бежите од блуда; јер сваки грех који човек чини осим тела је; а који блудничи он греши свом телу. Или не знате да су телеса ваша црква Светог Духа који живи у вама, ког имате од Бога, и нисте своји?  Јер сте купљени скупо. Прославите дакле Бога у телесима својим и у душама својим, што је Божије.

Читање Светог Јеванђеља по Луки 15, 12-32

Рече Исус причу ову: Један човек имаше два сина, И рече млађи од њих оцу: Оче! Дај ми део имања што припада мени. И отац им подели имање. И потом до неколико дана покупи млађи син све своје, и отиде у далеку земљу; и онамо просу имање своје живећи беспутно. А кад потроши све, постаде велика глад у оној земљи, и он се нађе у невољи. И отишавши приби се код једног човека у оној земљи; и он га посла у поље своје да чува свиње. И жељаше напунити трбух свој рошчићима које свиње јеђаху, и нико му их не даваше. А кад дође к себи, рече: Колико најамника у оца мог имају хлеба и сувише, а ја умирем од глади! Устаћу и идем оцу свом, па ћу му рећи: Оче! Сагреших Небу и теби, И већ нисам достојан назвати се син твој: прими ме као једног од својих најамника. И уставши отиде оцу свом. А кад је још подалеко био, угледа га отац његов, и сажали му се, и потрчавши загрли га и целива га. А син му рече: Оче, сагреших Небу и теби, и већ нисам достојан назвати се син твој. А отац рече слугама својим: Изнесите најлепшу хаљину и обуците га, и подајте му прстен на руку и обућу на ноге. И доведите теле угојено те закољите, да једемо и да се веселимо. Јер овај мој син беше мртав, и оживе; и изгубљен беше, и нађе се. И стадоше се веселити. А син његов старији беше у пољу, и долазећи кад се приближи кући чу певање и подвикивање. И дозвавши једног од слугу запита: Шта је то? А он му рече: Брат твој дође; и отац твој закла теле угојено, што га је здравог видео. А он се расрди и не хтеде да уђе. Тада изиђе отац његов и мољаше га. А он одговарајући рече оцу: Ето те служим толико година, и никад не преступих твоје заповести, па мени никад ниси дао јаре да бих се провеселио са својим друштвом; А кад дође тај твој син који ти је имање просуо с курвама, заклао си му теле угојено. А он му рече: Сине! Ти си свагда са мном, и све је моје твоје. Требало се развеселити и обрадовати, јер овај брат твој мртав беше, и оживе; и изгубљен беше, и нађе се.

The second preparatory Sunday of Great Lent is termed the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. In the touching parable of the Prodigal Son read during the Liturgy, the Holy Church teaches us to rely on the mercy of God, provided we have sincerely repented of our sins. On this Sunday and the succeeding two Sundays, during the Polyeleos at the All‐night Vigil, Psalm 136 is chanted: By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Sion... This psalm describes the suffering of the Jews during the Babylonian captivity and their longing for their fatherland. The words of this psalm teach us about our spiritual captivity, the captivity to sin, and that we should aspire towards our spiritual fatherland, the Heavenly Kingdom. The final words of this psalm scandalise many with reference to Blessed shall be he who shall seize and dash thine infants (those of the Babylonians) against the rock! Of course, the literal meaning of these words is brutal and unacceptable for the Christian, for the Lord Himself taught us to love and bless our enemies and to worship God in spirit and truth. These words gain a pure and lofty significance with a Christian and spiritual nature, for they mean, “Blessed is he who has a firm resolve to break, on the rock of faith, the newly forming evil thoughts and desires (as it were in their infant state) before they mature into evil deeds and habits”.

Сретење Господње. У четрдесети дан по Рождеству донесе Пресвета Дева свог божанског Сина у храм јерусалимски да Га, сходно закону, посвети Богу и себе очисти (Левит 12, 2-7; Исход 12, 2). Иако ни једно ни друго није било потребно, ипак Законодавац није хтео никако да се огреши о Свој Закон, који је Он био дао кроз Свога слугу и пророка Мојсеја. У то време држао је чреду у храму првосвештеник Захарија, отац Јована Претече. Он стави Дјеву Марију не на место за жене, него на место за девојке у храму. Том приликом појаве се у храму две чудне личности: старац Симеон и Ана, кћи Фануилова. Праведни старац узе на руке своје Месију и рече: "Сад отпушташ у миру слугу својега, Господе, по ријечи својој..." Још рече Симеон за Христа Младенца: "Гле, овај лежи да многе обори и подигне у Израиљу, и да буде знак против кога ће се говорити" (Лк 2, 29 и 34). Ана пак која од младости служаше Богу у храму постом и молитвама, и сама познаде Месију, па прослави Бога и објави Јерусалимљанима о доласку Дугочеканога. А фарисеји, присутни у храму, који видеше и чуше све, расрдише се на Захарију што стави Деву Марију на место за девојке, доставише то цару Ироду. Уверен да је то Нови Цар, о коме су му звездари с Истока говорили, Ирод брзо посла да убију Исуса. Но у међувремену божанска породица беше већ измакла из града и упутила се у Мисир, по упутству ангела Божјег. Дан Сретења празнован је од самог почетка, но торжествено празновање овога дана установљено је нарочито 544. године у време цара Јустинијана.