Day 1 (Monday)

1 Kingdoms 23:1-29; 24:1-22 (David Saves, then Flees from, the City of Keilah, Spares Saul's Life)

Last time we saw David in flight from Saul; he went to the priests at Nob, and asked for food, and for the sword of Goliath, which he took from that place, as he proceeded to find a stronghold to dwell in, where his familiy and about 400 men who were in various kinds of trouble joined him. Unfortunately, although the priests at Nob had helped him under the assumption that he was a loyal servant of Saul (as in fact he still was, apart from the fact that Saul was trying to kill him), Saul still took vengeance on them, and had all of them killed but one, who escaped with an ephod and fled to David. This time, we will see how David conducts himself while in exile.

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 Now they told David, “The Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the Lord again. The Lord answered him, “Yes, go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 So David and his men went to Keilah, fought with the Philistines, brought away their livestock, and dealt them a heavy defeat. Thus David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

6 When Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand. 7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand; for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9 When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.”

10 David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 And now, will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant.” The Lord said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” The Lord said, “They will surrender you.”

13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they wandered wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14 David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but the Lord[c] did not give him into his hand.

David Eludes Saul in the Wilderness

15 David was in the Wilderness of Ziph at Horesh when he learned that Saul had come out to seek his life. 16 Saul’s son Jonathan set out and came to David at Horesh; there he strengthened his hand through the Lord. 17 He said to him, “Do not be afraid; for the hand of my father Saul shall not find you; you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be second to you; my father Saul also knows that this is so.” 18 Then the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

19 Then some Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is hiding among us in the strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon. 20 Now, O king, whenever you wish to come down, do so; and our part will be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” 21 Saul said, “May you be blessed by the Lord for showing me compassion! 22 Go and make sure once more; find out exactly where he is, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning. 23 Look around and learn all the hiding places where he lurks, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24 So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. 25 Saul and his men went to search for him. When David was told, he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard that, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. 27 Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.” 28 So Saul stopped pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 29 David then went up from there, and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.

David Spares Saul’s Life

24 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to look for David and his men in the direction of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheepfolds beside the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.

4 The men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’” Then David went and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak. 5 Afterward David was stricken to the heart because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to raise my hand against him; for he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 So David scolded his men severely and did not permit them to attack Saul. Then Saul got up and left the cave, and went on his way.

8 Afterwards David also rose up and went out of the cave and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. 9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of those who say, ‘David seeks to do you harm’? 10 This very day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you into my hand in the cave; and some urged me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not raise my hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed.’”

“11 See, my father, see the corner of your cloak in my hand; for by the fact that I cut off the corner of your cloak, and did not kill you, you may know for certain that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you are hunting me to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between me and you! May the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the ancient proverb says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. 14 Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A single flea? 15 May the Lord therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you. May he see to it, and plead my cause, and vindicate me against you.”

16 When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 Today you have explained how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For who has ever found an enemy, and sent the enemy safely away?”

“So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 Now I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not wipe out my name from my father’s house.” 22 So David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home; but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out at this point, with the rescue of the city of Keilah, is already acting more like the King of Israel than Saul is; and yet, because of Saul's anger, even the people that David has just rescued are prepared to hand him over to Saul. So we see here the fruit of righteousness, on the one hand, and the fruit of sin, on the other. More importantly, we see how far David is willing to sustain his faithfulness to Saul. The words "I will not raise my hand against the Lord's anointed" are words to remember; David is radical and perfect in his trust in God, and his refusal to seize the kingdom for himself. When we say "Thy will be done" in the Lord's Prayer, we should understand ourselves to be committing ourselves to a trust like David, and of course like the Lord Jesus Christ.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

St. Anthony the Great – 6

Last time, we saw St. Anthony lay bare the tricks and devices behind the “miracles” often accomplished by the demons, especially those of “prophecy” (which he showed were really simply the bringing of news more quickly than other messengers were able) and “prediction,” (which he showed was founded on guessing what the outcome of an illness or other situation might be based on prior experience and observation). This time, he will continue to urge his hearers to give no heed to the words of these evil spirits.

St. Anthony the Great on the Evil Spirits

Reading 6

35. “So when they come to you at night and they wish to tell what the future holds, or they say, ‘We are the angels,’ disregard them, for they are lying. And should they commend your asceticism and call you blessed, ignore them and have nothing at all to do with them. Instead, sign yourselves and your dwelling. And pray, and you will watch even as they become invisible.

The truth is, they are cowards, and they are utterly terrified by the sign of the Lord’s cross, because in it the Savior, stripping their armor, made an example of them (Col. 2:15). But if they recklessly hold their ground, dancing around and producing various apparitions, neither dread them, nor cower in fear, nor pay attention to them on the chance that they are good. For discrimination between the presence of the good and the evil is easy and possible, when God so grants it.

A vision of the holy ones is not subject to disturbance, for he will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will any one hear his voice” (Matthew 12:19, cf. Isaiah 42:2). But it comes with such tranquillity and gentleness that immediately joy and delight and courage enter the soul, for the Lord who is our joy, the power of God the Father (1 Cor. 1:24), accompanies them. And the thoughts of the soul remain untroubled and calm so that, shining brightly, it sees those who appear by its own light. The soul is overcome by a desire for divine and future realities, and it desires to be entirely united with these beings, if only it could depart in their company.

But if some, being human, are frightened by the vision of the good spirits, those who appear remove their fear by means of love, as Gabriel did for Zacharias (Luke 1:13), and the angel who appeared in the holy sepulchre did for the women (Mark 16:6), and as did the one who said to the shepherds in the Gospel, fear not (Luke 2:10). The fear of those people does not stem from the soul’s cowardice, but from awareness of the presence of superior beings. Such, then, is the vision of the holy ones.

36. “The assault and appearance of the evil ones, on the other hand, is something troubling, with crashing and noise and shouting—the sort of disturbance one might expect from tough youths and robbers. From this come immediately terror of soul, confusion and disorder of thoughts, dejection, enmity toward ascetics, listlessness, grief, memory of relatives, and fear of death; and finally there is craving for evil, contempt for virtue, and instability of character.

When, therefore, you are frightened on seeing someone, if the fear is instantly removed, and its place is taken by unspeakable joy and cheerfulness and confidence and renewed strength, and calmness of thought, and by the other things I mentioned before, both bravery and love of God, be of good courage and say your prayers. For the joy and the stability of the soul attest to the holiness of the one who is in your presence.

So when Abraham saw the Lord he rejoiced, and John jumped for joy at the voice of Mary the God-bearer. But if, when certain ones appear, a disturbance occurs and noise from outside, and an apparition of a worldly kind, and threat of death, and things I spoke of before, know that the visit is from the wicked.

37. “And let this too be a sign to you: When the soul remains in fear, that is due to the presence of the enemies. For the demons do not remove the fear caused by such appearances, as the great Archangel Gabriel did for Mary and for Zacharias, and the angel who appeared at the tomb did for the women. On the contrary, when they see people who are fearful, they multiply the apparitions so as to terrify them all the more, and then descend in order to malign them, saying, ‘Fall down and worship me’ (Matthew 4:9). In this way they deceived the Greeks, who considered them to be gods, as they are falsely named.

But the Lord did not allow us to be beguiled by the devil, and censuring him whenever he made such appearances, he said, Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’ (Matthew 4:10). Therefore let the crafty one be despised by us more and more, for what the Lord has said, this he has done for our sakes, so that when the demons hear sayings of this sort from us they may be chased away through the Lord, who in these words censured them.

38. “We ought not to boast about expelling demons, nor become proud on account of healings performed; we are not to marvel only at him who casts out a demon, and treat with disdain him who does not. Let one learn well the discipline of each, and let him either copy and emulate it, or correct it. For the performance of signs does not belong to us—this is the Savior’s work. So he said to the disciples: Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). The fact that the names are written in heaven is a witness to our virtue and manner of life, but the ability to expel demons is itself a gift from the Savior, who bestowed it.

So to those boasting, not in virtue, but in signs, and saying, Lord, did we not cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? he answered, ‘Amen. I say to you, I do not know you!” (Matthew 7:22). For the Lord does not know the ways of the ungodly (Psalm 1:6). Certainly one must pray, as I said earlier, to receive the gift of the discernment of spirits, so that we might not, as Scripture says, believe every spirit (1 John 4:1).

39. “It was my wish to remain silent and to say nothing of my own contest, but be satisfied with these remarks alone. However, lest you think that I am talking about these things in general terms, and in order that you might be sure that I describe these matters from experience and fact—for this reason, even if I become like a fool (the Lord who hears me knows that my conscience is pure, and that it’s not for myself, but for the sake of your love and advancement that I speak), I am telling you what cunning pursuits of the demons I myself have seen (2 Corinthians 10-12).

How many times they have called me blessed, and I cursed them in the Lord’s name! How often they have prophesied about the water of the River, and I said to them: What concern is that of yours? Once they came with their threats and encircled me like warriors in battle array. On another occasion they filled my dwelling with horses and beasts and serpents, and I sang, Some glory in chariots, and some in horses; but we will glory in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 19:7), and in these prayers they were repelled by the Lord. Once they came in darkness, having the appearance of light, and saying, ‘We have come to bring light to you, Antony.’ But shutting my eyes, I prayed and immediately the light of the impious ones was extinguished.

And after a few months they came as ones chanting and quoting from the Scriptures. But I, as a deaf man, did not hear (Psalm 37:13). Once they shook the cell, but I prayed, remaining unshaken in my purpose. And after these things, when they visited again, they made crashing noises, they whistled and they leaped about. As I prayed and lay chanting psalms to myself, they immediately began to wail and cry out, as though they were severely weakened, and I glorified the Lord, who came and made an example of their audacity and madness.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how St. Anthony has further reiterated his prior points about the demons having no power, and has given his own experience of these things as a demonstration of the truth of what he says. The further point, however, that one can discern demonic attack or deception from the presence and resolution of fear, is an important one. God, as the Scripture says, does not give to us a spirit of fear, and any true visitation will immediately see our fear addressed and relieved. If this is not present, then our task is to ignore the attack and turn toward the Lord, not giving ourselves over to the fear that the demons are seeking to inspire in us.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 10:7-21 (Jesus the Good Shepherd, Continued)

Last time we saw Jesus speak again with the man who had been blind, whom He had healed, and whom the Pharisees had cast out of the synagogue, calling him to follow Him, and revealing Himself to him as the Messiah, the Son of Man. Following this conversation, He began to speak to those around Him about Himself as the Good Shepherd. He will continue that discourse today.

Jesus the Good Shepherd, continued

7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note two things. The first is that this passage is read each time we celebrate the feastday of a Hierarch saint, that is to say, of a bishop who was a faithful and worthy shepherd of the flock of the Lord, the Good Shepherd, who served not as a hireling, but as a true icon of the Good Shepherd. The second is the element in verse 16, about how the Lord has other sheep. This has been treated as an obscure and troubling passage, but it is not in fact difficult. There are two possible interpretations for it. The first is a reminder that the Lord comes not only to the "lost sheep of Israel," but also to draw all peoples to Himself. The second, and the one that the larger context indicates here, is that He is speaking of the departed, those who are bound up in Hades, to whom He will go, and lead them out of that bondage and into everlasting life. But these two are ultimately connected, as everyone who is outside the house of Israel is at this time also enslaved and oppressed by sin and death and evil spirits, and He comes to overthrow all that power and bring all into the Church, so that indeed, there will be one flock, and one shepherd.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

1 Kingdoms 21:1-15; 22:1-23 (David and the Holy Bread, David Flees, Saul Slaughters the Priests)

Last time, we saw David finally flee from Saul, having learned, with Jonathan’s help, that Saul was indeed determined to kill him. He left Jonathan after they promised to remain friends, loyal to one another, with Jonathan especially acknowledging David as the one who would be king, and asking David to show mercy to his children in the time to come. This time, we will see David begin to be on the run, and what will come of the matter.

David and the Holy Bread

21 David came to Nob to the priest Ahimelech. Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 David said to the priest Ahimelech, “The king has charged me with a matter, and said to me, ‘No one must know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what have you at hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.”

4 The priest answered David, “I have no ordinary bread at hand, only holy bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 David answered the priest, “Indeed women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition; the vessels of the young men are holy even when it is a common journey; how much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

8 David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no spear or sword here with you? I did not bring my sword or my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 The priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you will take that, take it, for there is none here except that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

10 David rose and fled that day from Saul; he went to King Achish of Gath. 11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”

12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of King Achish of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them; he pretended to be mad when in their presence. He scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is mad; why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

David and His Followers at Adullam

22 David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; when his brothers and all his father’s house heard of it, they went down there to him. 2 Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Those who were with him numbered about four hundred.

3 David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come to you, until I know what God will do for me.” 4 He left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; leave, and go into the land of Judah.” So David left, and went into the forest of Hereth.

Saul Slaughters the Priests at Nob

6 Saul heard that David and those who were with him had been located. Saul was sitting at Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. 7 Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Hear now, you Benjaminites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 Is that why all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, none of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as he is doing today.”

9 Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s servants, answered, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech son of Ahitub; 10 he inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

11 The king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and for all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob; and all of them came to the king. 12 Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” He answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, by giving him bread and a sword, and by inquiring of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as he is doing today?”

14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, “Who among all your servants is so faithful as David? He is the king’s son-in-law, and is quick[b] to do your bidding, and is honored in your house. 15 Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? By no means! Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any member of my father’s house; for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” 16 The king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” 17 The king said to the guard who stood around him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David; they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not raise their hand to attack the priests of the Lord. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You, Doeg, turn and attack the priests.” Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests; on that day he killed eighty-five who wore the linen ephod. 19 Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep, he put to the sword.

20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22 David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible for the lives of all your father’s house. 23 Stay with me, and do not be afraid; for the one who seeks my life seeks your life; you will be safe with me.”

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (This is a long reading, and shows us a lot of how David is functioning in the early period of his fleeing from Saul. We see him gathering others to himself, including those who have been rejected, in a foreshadowing of the Lord going to the rejected and despised, and of His words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). But in particular, the incident with the holy bread is the one that Jesus makes reference to when speaking to the Pharisees in Mark 2:26, when they criticize Him and His disciples when they are plucking and eating heads of grain on the Sabbath Day. The point being that the rule for what is holy is not intended to deny sustenance to those who are hungry. The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

St. Anthony the Great – 5

Last time, we saw St. Anthony explain very clearly how even the attacks of the evil spirits upon the Faithful show that they have no power over us. He noted that if they had true power, they would not threaten or cajole, but would simply destroy us; that they do not do so is a strong sign of their utter weakness before the Lord whose name we bear. This time, he will explain how it is that they accomplish what often appears to be their most powerful “trick,” the foretelling of the future.

St. Anthony the Great on the Evil Spirits

Reading 5

31. “Furthermore, should they pretend to prophesy, let no one be won over. It frequently happens that they tell us days in advance about brothers who are to travel our way some days later—and these people do arrive. The demons do this not out of any concern for their hearers, but in order to persuade them to trust them, and after that, having brought them under control, to destroy them. Therefore we must not pay attention to them, but overthrow them even while they are speaking, since we have no need of them.

For what is so marvelous, if they who use bodies thinner in substance than those of humans, spying those who begin their journey, get a head start in the running and announce their arrival? This sort of thing someone riding a horse also foretells, preceding those who journey on foot. So it is not necessary to marvel at them in this case. They have no foreknowledge of things that have not yet occurred; God is the only one who knows all things before their birth (cf. Susanna 42).

But these, like thieves, run ahead and report what they see. To how many do they right now give signs regarding our affairs—that we are gathered together and that we are speaking against them—before someone could leave from among us and make a report! But some boy swift of foot could do this, outrunning one who is slower.

“What I am saying is this. Should someone begin to travel from the Thebaid, or from some other place, they do not know before he begins to walk if he will walk. But after they see him walking, they run ahead, and before he comes they announce him. And so it is that these travelers arrive after a few days. But often, when people on a journey turn back, the demons are caught in a lie.

32. “So, too, there are times when they talk nonsense about the water of the River. For when they observe numerous rains occurring in parts of Ethiopia, knowing how the flooding of the River originates there, before the water enters Egypt they rush ahead and report it. But even men could have told this, if they were able to run as fast as these. David’s watchman, when he ascended to a height, saw the person approaching better than the man who remained below, and he, as the one running ahead, told before the others not the things that had not taken place but the things already underway and happening (2 Samuel 18:24).

In just that way these demons also choose to hurry ahead and declare signs to others for the sole purpose of deceiving. But if, meanwhile, providence plans something different concerning the waters or the travelers—for this is within its power—then the demons have spoken falsely, and those who have listened to them are deceived.

33. “So it was that the oracles of the Greeks arose and they were led astray in former times by the demons. But so also has this deceit been brought to an end from this time forward, for the Lord came, who reduced to impotency not only their villainy, but the demons themselves. For they know nothing by their own power, but like thieves they pass along what they pick up from others, and they are more nearly speculators than prognosticators. If, therefore, they sometimes speak the truth, do not let anyone marvel at them for this.

It happens also that physicians who deal with illnesses, observing the same disease in different people, offer a prognosis, frequently conjecturing from what is familiar to them. And again, ships’ helmsmen and farmers, looking at the weather conditions with practiced eyes, can predict if it will be stormy or fair. Now someone would not say on this account that they are foretelling through divine inspiration, but rather, on the basis of experience and practice. So if the demons also sometimes say these same things by conjecture, let no one, for this reason, be amazed at them or pay attention to them.

For what good is it to the hearers to learn from them days in advance what is going to happen? And what is the purpose of the enthusiasm for knowing such things, even if one could, in truth, know them? This does not produce virtue, nor represent any evidence at all of good character. None of us is judged for what he does not know, any more than one is counted blessed because he is learned and possesses knowledge. It is rather in regard to these questions that each faces judgment: whether he has kept the faith and sincerely observed the commandments.

34. “Therefore we are not to attach much importance to these other things, and not for the purpose of gaining foreknowledge are we to train ourselves and labor—but rather in order that we may please God in the way we lead our lives. And we ought neither to pray that we might have the power to know things before they occur, nor ought we to ask this as a reward for our discipline—but rather that the Lord may be our fellow worker for the conquest of the devil.

But if sometime the capacity for foreknowledge matters to us, let us be pure in understanding. For I believe that when a soul is pure in every way and in its natural state, it is able, having become clearsighted, to see more and farther than the demons, since it has the Lord who reveals things to it. Elisha’s soul was like this, when it saw the things involving Giezi (2 Kings 5:26) and the armies that stood nearby (2 Kings 6:17).

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note that in all these things, St. Anthony is speaking from experience, and is explaining what he has observed about the attacks and temptations of evil spirits, and how they make use of their swiftness of movement, on the one hand, and of their long experience of human beings, on the other, to deceive and to lead astray. His words in this portion of the discourse are like someone pulling aside the curtain to show how a “magic” trick is accomplished.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 9:35-41; 10:1-6 (Spiritual Blindness, Jesus the Good Shepherd)

Last time we saw the man who had been born blind, whom the Lord had healed, making mud from dust and spittle and sending him to wash at Siloam, as he came under examination from the Pharisees, and bore witness that the man who healed him must be from God, because otherwise he could not do such a work, which had never happened since the world was made. The Pharisees mocked him for his lack of education and cast him out of the synagogue. This time, we will see what follows.

Spiritual Blindness

35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

10 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point how this entire episode is yet another opportunity that the Lord gives to the Pharisees. When they sought to kill Him for claiming to be Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the Temple, the Lord restrained them from doing what they intended, but went immediately and accomplished this sign, to bear witness to the truth of what He had said. After the healing, the man who had been granted his sight bore witness to Jesus, just as they had been demanding, but the Pharisees rejected that witness and cast him out. Thus, they have condemned themselves, yet again, and even at the end, when they claim not to be blind, the Lord shows them this, saying that if they were blind, they would be innocent of what they do, but in claiming to see, they bring that condemnation upon themselves. They are therefore identified with those who enter the sheepfold by another way, whom the sheep do not know, and thus the sheep that had been entrusted to them will be taken away when the Good Shepherd comes. Nonetheless, even so, we remember the Lord's words on the Cross, after all of this, praying that they be forgiven, because they don't know what they are doing. What we see here most profoundly is the patience and mercy of the Lord.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

1 Kingdoms 20:1-42 (The Friendship of David & Jonathan)

Last time we saw flee from Saul once again after Saul gave himself over to jealousy and tried to kill David with a spear. Saul sent messengers after him three times, but the Spirit of the Lord came upon them and they prophesied instead of killing David, and when Saul himself came after David, the same thing happened to him. In this way, God has showed Saul very very clearly that what he is seeking with David is against God's will. We will see whether that makes a difference in this reading.

The Friendship of David and Jonathan

20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life?” 2 He said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me; and why should my father hide this from me? Never!” 3 But David also swore, “Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal; but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?” 9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11 Jonathan replied to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.

12 Jonathan said to David, “By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die, 15 never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord seek out the enemies of David.” 17 Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life.

18 Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty. 19 On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 Then I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, collect them,’ then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go; for the Lord has sent you away. 23 As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the Lord is witness between you and me forever.”

24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. 25 The king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, while Abner sat by Saul’s side; but David’s place was empty.

26 Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, “Something has befallen him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean.” 27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem; 29 he said, ‘Let me go; for our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, let me get away, and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan. He said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul threw his spear at him to strike him; so Jonathan knew that it was the decision of his father to put David to death. 34 Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, and because his father had disgraced him.

35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him was a little boy. 36 He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38 Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not linger.” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.’” He got up and left; and Jonathan went into the city.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how this story sets two ways of approaching power and authority against one another. Saul's perspective is that there is only room for one person at the top. He is determined to be that person, and any threat, real or imagined, must be destroyed. Jonathan, who is indeed Saul's heir and ought to inherit, is not treating the kingship as a thing to be seized or grasped; he knows and loves David, and knows that David is anointed to be king, and he willingly gives up what he could, but does not, consider to be his birthright. As at the beginning of Jonathan's story, so now, he entrusts himself to God's will, and himself chooses the one that God has chosen to support and to defend and to love with all his heart. The contrast between the seizure and protection of power, and the faithfulness to God above all, is profound. In all this, the action and initiative belongs to Jonathan, and he has shown himself faithful to God throughout. David's action has been in choosing not to act; although Saul is seeking to kill him, David is not raising a hand against Saul. If we ever wonder what it looks like to wait upon the Lord…these two men give us a good example.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

St. Anthony the Great – 4

Last time, we saw St. Anthony complete his account of the attacks that the demons will make against humanity, and especially against the monastics, by speaking of how they appear even like the great Leviathan, the great serpent or dragon, threatening to destroy us, but proceeding with the reminder that the Lord has overthrown the power even of such dragons, and has hooked them and bound them. Thus, he says, the evil spirits will act instead by deception, pretending to be pious, and try to lead us astray by trying to be too pious, or not pious enough, in order to overthrow us. So he urged his hearers to ignore them, whether they threaten or lead astray. We will see how he continues from this point.

St. Anthony the Great on the Evil Spirits

Reading 4

28. “I have so far spoken of this matter in passing, but now I must not hesitate to give a fuller account of the things concerning them, for the reminder will work for your safety.
“Since the Lord made his sojourn with us, the enemy is fallen and his powers have diminished. For this reason, though he is able to do nothing, nevertheless like a tyrant fallen from power he does not remain quiet, but issues threats, even if they are only words. Let every one of you consider this, and he will be empowered to treat the demons with contempt. Now if they were bound to bodies of the sort we have, they might have to say, ‘We cannot find the men who hide themselves, but when we do find them, we inflict injury.’ By hiding, then, we would be able to escape them, locking doors against them.

However, even if they are not like this, but have the power to enter through locked doors, and they are met everywhere in the air—both they and their leader, the devil—and though they intend malice and are ready to do harm, and as the Savior said, ‘The devil, the father of evil, is a murderer from the beginning,’ (John 8:44) nevertheless we are now living, and indeed we lead our lives in opposition to him. It is evident that they possess no strength! For a place does not prevent them from planning treachery, and they do not look on us as friends, in order to show us mercy, and they are not lovers of the good, with the intention of being reformed.

On the contrary, they are evil, and they desire nothing so much as inflicting injury on those who love virtue and honor God. But because they have no power to act, they do nothing except issue threats. If they had the power, they would not delay, but immediately would perform the evil for which they have a ready inclination—especially evil directed against us. Take note, then, that we who are gathered here now speak against them, and they know that as we advance they are weakened. Indeed, if they had authority, they would not permit one of us Christians to live, for godliness is an abomination to the sinner (Sirach 1:24). But since they are powerless, they wound themselves instead, because the things they threaten they are unable to perform.

“To end our fear of them, we ought to ponder this: If the capability were theirs, they would not come in great mobs, nor create phantasms, nor would they work their fraud by being transfigured. It would suffice for only one to come and do what he can and wills—especially because everyone who actually possesses the power does not destroy with apparitions, nor arouse fear with large mobs, but exercises his might directly, as he wishes. The demons, however, unable to effect anything, play parts as if they were on stage, changing their forms and striking fear in children by the illusion of the hordes and their shapes.

For these antics they deserve instead to be ridiculed as weaklings. The true angel of the Lord, at least, who was sent by the Lord to the Assyrians, had no need of hordes, nor of visible apparitions, nor of crashing sounds and rattling noises. He wielded his authority quietly, and at once destroyed a hundred and eighty-five thousand foes (2 Kings 19:35). But the demons, who lack the power to do anything, these are the sort who must try to frighten, even if through illusions.

29. “Now if anyone considers the events of Job’s life, and says: ‘Why then did the devil set forth and do all those things to him? Did he not strip him of his possessions, destroy his children and strike him with painful boils?’ (Job 1-2)—let such a questioner know that the devil was not the one possessing strength, but it was God who turned over the testing of Job to him. It is clear that because he was capable of doing nothing, he asked this, and when he was granted his request, he acted. So on this ground also the enemy is to be condemned, that even when he desired it, he did not prevail against one righteous man.

If he possessed strength, he would not have made the request. But in asking—not once, but twice—he showed himself weak and capable of nothing. It is not remarkable if he had no might against Job, when indeed destruction would not befall even the man’s cattle unless God allowed it. In fact, the devil has no authority over swine, for, as it is written in the Gospel, they begged the Lord, saying, ‘Send us to the swine.’ But if they held no sway over the swine, how much less do they hold over people made in the image of God!

30. “We need, therefore, to fear God alone, holding them in contempt and fearing them not at all. Indeed, the more they do these things, let us all the more exert ourselves in the discipline that opposes them, for a great weapon against them is a just life and trust in God. They are afraid of the ascetics on several counts—for their fasting, the vigils, the prayers, the meekness and gentleness, the contempt for money, the lack of vanity, the humility, the love of the poor, the almsgiving, the freedom from wrath, and most of all for their devotion to Christ.

It is for this reason that they do all they do—in order not to have those monks trampling them underfoot. For they know the grace that has been given to the faithful for combat against them by the Savior, in his saying, Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note the summary of St. Anthony’s point; he is showing to his contemporary monastics, and also to us, how the evil spirits have no power at all, and how all their threatening and noise and disruption is a sign of their powerlessness, because if they had power, they would simply annihilate or overthrow everyone opposed to them. But since they do not, we see in that simple fact the proof of what God has revealed to us, that their power is overthrown, and they are constrained by His will and His power. We should therefore indeed walk in loyalty and faithfulness to the Lord, and reject every assault or temptation of the evil ones.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 9:13-34 (Pharisees Investigate the Healing)

Last week, we saw the Lord after leaving the Temple with the Pharisees determined to stone Him for His statement that “before Abraham was, I am.” On the way, He encountered a man who had been blind from his birth, and He spat on the ground, made mud with the dust and the spittle, and placed the mud in the man’s eye sockets, sending him to the pool of Siloam to wash. When the man obeyed, he received his sight, and when the people afterward asked him how he had received his sight, he answered that Jesus had healed him, telling the story. This time, we will see the Pharisees get involved.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how Jesus, in performing this miracle, has given a proof of exactly Who He Is, in making new eyes for the man born blind, showing Himself to be indeed Yahweh, the Creator of all things, He Who Is and Brings into Being. As the Pharisees investigate, we see them divided, at least until the man healed of blindness begins to teach and instruct them, upending their sense of the right order and hierarchy of things. At that point, they reject his reasoning, make an appeal to their own authority, and drive him out of the synagogue, expelling him from the community. But he, the uneducated, unlettered one, has perceived what they have so far been entirely unwilling or unable to recognize, that God is with us.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 1 (Monday)

1 Kingdoms 19:1-24 (Saul Tries to Kill David, Saul’s Children Defend David)

Last time, we saw David serve Saul, and meet with great success, both in battle against the Philistines, and in gaining the love of Israel at large, and of Saul’s family in particular. David became fast friends with Saul’s son Jonathan, and won the hand of Saul’s daughter Michal, so that by the end of our last reading, David is Saul’s son-in-law, as well as one of his top military leaders. Unfortunately, however, the reason that Saul offered his daughter to David was that he hoped David would be killed in the task Saul set him to win her; instead, David succeeded. So Saul is jealous of David, and is seeking to destroy him, although David has done nothing but serve Saul faithfully. We will see how matters develop this week.

Jonathan Intercedes for David

19 Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David. 2 Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.”

4 Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; 5 for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?” 6 Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

Michal Helps David Escape from Saul

8 Again there was war, and David went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them, so that they fled before him. 9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. 10 Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.

11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed; she put a net of goats’ hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes.

14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 When the messengers came in, the idol was in the bed, with the covering of goats’ hair on its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go; why should I kill you?’”

David Joins Samuel in Ramah

18 Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth. 19 Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge of them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. 21 When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also fell into a frenzy. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also fell into a frenzy.

22 Then he himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well that is in Secu; he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 He went there, toward Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of God came upon him. As he was going, he fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He too stripped off his clothes, and he too fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that this passage is more about Saul’s continued fall than about David; David is the Lord’s Anointed, His Christ, His Messiah (these words are all the same, from English, Greek, and Hebrew respectively), and God has rejected Saul in choosing David, but…God is not commanding David to seize the throne. Rather, David is a firm and loyal supporter of Saul’s rule, beloved to Saul’s children, and a leader of Saul’s armies…but Saul is jealous of him, and is determined to destroy him. The Lord, in bringing first Saul’s messengers, and finally Saul himself, into the ranks of the prophets, is showing Saul clearly that David is favored, and that Saul is wrong…but Saul refuses to receive this message and repent. Saul could have had his kingdom firmly upheld and confirmed, could have had his son rule after him, perhaps in a joint rule with David, could have been protected from evil spirits, could have continued to be blessed. He has undone himself.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 2 (Wednesday)

St. Anthony the Great

In mid-January, we began to read through a discourse delivered by St. Anthony to other monastics in the Egyptian desert at some point in the 4th century; we paused last week to read elements from the services for the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, but we return to that discouse of the saint this week. Last time, St. Anthony was explaining the way in which the evil spirits attack the Faithful, how they begin with evil thoughts, and proceed to apparitions and visions intended to frighten us, and how, if they fail in this as well, they bring forward their leader, the devil. We continue at this point.

St. Anthony the Great on the Evil Spirits

Reading 3

24. Antony continued: “Frequently they appear to be like the devil, which the Lord revealed to Job saying, “His eyes are like the appearance of the morning star. Out of his mouth proceed burning lamps and hearths of fire are cast forth. Out of his nostrils proceeds smoke of a furnace burning with fire of coals. His breath is live coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth” (Job 41:9-12). When the prince of the demons appears in this form, the deceitful one seeks to terrify, as I said earlier, making grand statements, as the Lord described him to Job saying, “For he considers iron as chaff, and brass as rotten wood … and he regards the sea as a pot of ointment, and the lowest part of the deep as a captive; he reckons the deep as a place for walking” (Job 41:22-23), and through the prophet, “The enemy said: I will pursue, I will overtake” (Exodus 15:9), and through another, “and I will take with my hand all the world as a nest, and I will even take them as eggs that have been left” (Isaiah 10:14).

In short, they set about their boasting with claims of this sort, and they profess them in order to deceive the pious. But again there is no need for us, the faithful, to fear his manifestations nor to worry about his words, for he lies—he speaks no truth whatever. Although he speaks such and so many things, and is overbold, never mind—like a serpent he was drawn in with a hook by the Savior, and like a beast of burden he received a halter around the snout, and like a runaway he was bound by a ring for his nostrils, and his lips were pierced by an iron clasp (Job 40:20). He was also bound by the Lord like a sparrow, to receive our mockery (Job 40:24). And, like scorpions and snakes, he and his fellow demons have been put in a position to be trampled underfoot by us Christians.

The evidence of this is that we now conduct our lives in opposition to him. For he who threatened to dry up the sea and seize the world, take note that now he is unable to hinder your asceticism, or even my speaking against him. Therefore let us not pay attention to what he might say—for he lies—nor let us be frightened by his apparitions, which themselves are also deceptions. What appears in them is not true light; rather, they contain the initial elements and likenesses of the fire prepared for them, and in those elements in which they are soon to be consumed they attempt to terrify mankind. They do, without doubt, appear, but they disappear again at once, harming none of the faithful, but carrying with themselves the likeness of the fire that is about to receive them. So here it is not necessary to fear them, for by the grace of Christ all their pursuits come to nothing.

25. “But they are treacherous and prepared to be changed and transformed into all shapes. Frequently, without becoming visible, they pretend to chant with sacred songs, and they recite sayings from the Scriptures. And even when we are reading, they are able to say right away and repeatedly, as if in echo, the same things we have read. While we are sleeping they arouse us for prayers, and they do this incessantly, hardly allowing us to sleep. It is possible, when they model themselves after the form of monks, for them to pretend to speak like the devout, so that by means of the similarity of form they deceive, and then drag those whom they have beguiled wherever they wish.

Nevertheless it is unnecessary to heed them, even if they awaken you for prayer, or counsel you to eat nothing at all, or pretend to level accusations and reproaches concerning actions for which, at another time, they excused us. They do not do these things for the sake of piety or truth, but so that they might bring the simple to despair, and declare the discipline useless, and make men sick of the solitary life as something burdensome and very oppressive, and trip up those who, opposing them, lead it.

26. “The prophet sent by the Lord called such creatures wretched when he said, “Woe to him that gives his neighbor a troubled drink” (Habbakuk 2:15). For such practices and thoughts are subversive of the way that leads to virtue. The Lord himself, even if the demons spoke the truth (for they said truly, “You are the Son of God” (Luke 4:41)), still silenced them and prevented their speaking, so they would not sow their own evil with the truth, and in order that he might train us never to heed such as these, even if they seem to speak the truth. For it is not fitting for us, who possess the holy Scriptures and the freedom of the Savior, to be taught by the devil, the one who did not maintain his own rank (Jude 6), but has turned his mind in one direction after another.

For this reason, even when he utters sayings from the Scriptures, the Lord stops him by saying: “But to the sinner God has said, Why do you declare my ordinances, and take up my covenant in your mouth?” (Psalm 49:16). For everything they do—they talk, they cause mass confusion, they pretend to be others than themselves, and they create disturbances—all this is for the deception of the simple. They also make crashing sounds and laugh madly, and hiss. But if one should pay no attention to them, they cry out and lament as though vanquished.

27. “Therefore the Lord, as God, silenced the demons. But it is fitting for us, since we have learned from the holy ones, to act as they acted and to emulate their courage. For when they saw these things, they used to say, “When the sinner stood in my presence, I was dumb, and humbled myself, and kept silence from good words” (Psalm 38:1-2), and again, “But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and was as a deaf man not opening his mouth. And I was as a man that hears not” (Psalm 38:13). Therefore let us also pay them no heed, treating them as strangers to us, and let us not obey them, even in the event that they arouse us for prayer, or talk to us about fasting. Rather, let us devote ourselves to our own purpose in the discipline, and not be led astray by them, though they do all things with cunning. We must not fear them, even though they seem to assault us or threaten us with death, for they are weak and have power to do nothing except hurl threats.

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how St. Anthony is, on the one hand, outlining how frightening the evil spirits can be in their attacks on the Faithful, and in this, is effectively recounting his own experiences. But on the other hand, he is affirming clearly that even the extremity of this attack shows that they have no power over us, for the Lord has trampled and destroyed their power, and we stand under His protection. Thus he turns and speaks rather of their craftiness, and of how they make a pretence of piety and prayer, in order to lead astray those who are seeking to draw near to the Lord. He doesn't make this point expressly here, but it is worth noting that this reality of deception and delusion is a strong part of the reason that monastics especially, who are usually the ones attacked in this way, live in such strict obedience to their spiritual father, as the spiritual father's guidance is a safeguard against the deceptions used by the demons. There is a great wisdom to a simple rule of faithfulness, and to give no heed to any voices, whether they urge us to be more strict, or less strict, with ourselves.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?

Day 3 (Friday)

John 9:1-12 (Man Born Blind Receives Sight)

Last week, we saw the end of the Lord's interaction with the people and the Pharisees in the Temple. After the conversation had gone back and forth several times, the Lord conclude by telling them explicitly Who He Is, saying: "Before Abraham was, I AM." At this point, they all took up stones to kill Him, but He passed through the midst of them, as it was not yet His time to offer Himself for us, and for the life of the world. This time, we will see what comes next, as He proceeds from the Temple along His way.

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

9 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”

He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out how this brief story connects with everything that Jesus has been saying just before in the Temple. He repeats here that He is the Light of the world, and then He gives sight to a man blind from birth. He has just told the Pharisees and all the people that He Himself is Yahweh, the God of Israel, and then He does what only the Most-High God could do, in creating new eyes from clay for the man born without eyes. In all of this, the Lord is showing Himself clearly to be Who He says that He Is.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?

4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?