Year 1a – Week 26 (February 22 – 28, 2026)

Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 16:1-36 (Bread from Heaven)

Last time we saw God’s people celebrate the crossing of the Red Sea with the singing of the 1st Biblical Ode, which becomes the theme for the 1st Ode of every Canon in the Church’s liturgical life, as we connect the crossing of the Red Sea with the Lord’s Resurrection and with His glory shining forth in all His saints. This time, we will see the people proceed from the place where God made the bitter water sweet for them, and as we enter upon the Great Fast, we will see God provide His people with food in the wilderness, to sustain them for the journey through the desert and to the Promised Land.

Bread from Heaven

16 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings against the Lord. For what are we, that you murmur against us?”

8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your murmurings which you murmur against him—what are we? Your murmurings are not against us but against the Lord.”

9 And Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your murmurings.’” 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, every man of you, as much as he can eat; you shall take an omer apiece, according to the number of the persons whom each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so; they gathered, some more, some less.

18 But when they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; each gathered according to what he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers apiece; and when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay by to be kept till the morning.’” 24 So they laid it by till the morning, as Moses bade them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it.

25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be none.” 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The Lord has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days; remain every man of you in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 And Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony, to be kept. 35 And the people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land; they ate the manna, till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

Reading 18
1030 words

Discussion Questions

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out basic plot, that Israel ran short of water and food, complained to Moses & Aaron, that God provided both water and food and instructions about them, and the people kept disobeying His instructions. Behind that plot, however, is a core and vital reality; having led His new people out of slavery and into the wilderness, God is now caring for them directly himself, making that wasteland function for them like the Garden of Eden, the throne-room of God, and they are living the same life as Adam and Eve lived; all they have to do is gather what God sends to them. The Sabbath Day that is established here emphasizes the point; God not only gives them food, but gives them a day to rest, as He provides for them enough on the prior day to sustain them for two days. And the obedience to the Sabbath Day is therefore vital, as it is for them an act of trust in God’s care for them. This is a beautiful reading to reflect upon as we begin Great Lent.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here? (Some answers might be that He takes care of His people, but that He expects His people to trust Him and obey Him).

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us? (Some answers might be that we have needs, and that we are very bad at trusting and obeying God).

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. One thought might be that sometimes we don’t like rules…and we especially don’t like it when we are called out for disobeying the rules. It may be worth pointing out that sometimes, even if we don’t understand the reason behind the rules, obeying the rules is an important way to show that we trust and love the person who makes the rules).

5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (This is an open question – but hopefully, for all ages, we are reminded of the importance of obedience and trust in God, and how those two things go hand in hand. It is a worthy reflection during the first week of the Fast).

6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the highest level, the anagogical reading (in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, opening up to us the grand scope of God’s great work of salvation in and for us) sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom on Prayer – 3

Last time, we saw Metropolitan Anthony begin to speak further about how it is that we encounter God, and what we need to change about that, how much attention, preparation, & engagement are actually needed from us to encounter God. It is the same as is required for any other relationship, if we wish for it to grow., He will continue to reflect in this way as we move forward.

Absence of God in Prayer – continued

Let us think of our prayers, yours and mine; think of the warmth, the depth and intensity of your prayer when it concerns someone you love or something which matters to your life. Then your heart is open, all your inner self is recollected in the prayer. Does it mean that God matters to you? No, it does not. It simply means that the subject matter of your prayer matters to you. For when you have made your passionate, deep, intense prayer concerning the person you love or the situation that worries you, and you turn to the next item, which does not matter so much – if you suddenly grow cold, what has changed?

Has God grown cold? Has He gone? No, it means that all the elation, all the intensity in your prayer was not born of God’s presence, of your faith in Him, of your longing for Him, of your awareness of Him; it was born of nothing but your concern for him or her or it, not for God. How can we feel surprised, then, that this absence of God affects us? It is we who make ourselves absent, it is we who grow cold the moment we are no longer concerned with God. Why? Because He does not matter so much.

There are other ways too in which God is ‘absent.’ As long as we ourselves are real, as long as we are truly ourselves, God can be present and can do something with us. But the moment we try to be what we are not, there is nothing left to say or have; we become a fictitious personality, an unreal presence, and this unreal presence cannot be approached by God.

In order to be able to pray, we must be within the situation which is defined as the kingdom of God. We must recognize that He is God, that He is King, we must surrender to Him. We must at least be concerned with His will, even if we are not yet capable of fulfilling it. But if we are not, if we treat God like the rich young man who could not follow Christ because he was too rich, then how can we meet Him?

So often what we would like to have through prayer, through the deep relationship with God which we long for, is simply another period of happiness; we are not prepared to sell all that we have in order to buy the pearl of great price. Then how should we get this pearl of great price? Is that what we expect to get? Is it not the same as in human relationships: when a man or a woman experiences love for another, other people no longer matter in the same way. To put it in a short formula from the ancient world, ‘When a man has a bride, he is no longer surrounded by men and women, but by people.’

Isn’t that what could, what should happen with regard to all our riches when we turn to God? Surely they should become pale and grey, just a general background against which the only figure that matters would appear in intense relief? We would like just one touch of heavenly blue in the general picture of our life, in which there are so many dark sides. God is prepared to be outside it, He is prepared to take it up completely as a cross, but He is not prepared to be simply part of our life.

So when we think of the absence of God, is it not worth while to ask ourselves whom we blame for it? We always blame God, we always accuse Him, either straight to His face or in front of people, for being absent, of never being there when He is needed, never answering when He is addressed. At times we are more ‘pious’ (ver much in inverted commas), and we say piously ‘God is testing my patience, my faith, my humility.’ We find all sorts of ways of turning God’s judgment on us into a new way of praising ourselves. We are so patient that we can put up even with God!

Is this not true? When I was a young priest I preached a sermon, one of the many I preached in a parish, and a young girl came up to me and said, ‘Father Anthony, you must be appallingly evil.’ I said, ‘I am certainly evil, but how do you know that?’ She said, ‘Because you have described our sins so well that you must have committed them all yourself!’ Of course, the shocking description of evil thoughts and evil attitudes which I am giving you now are probably mine and not yours, but perhaps they are yours too, however little.

798 words

Beginning to Pray – pg. 29-31

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out how the relationship with God can’t be approached half-heartedly. It is not possible for the Creator of the universe and the Savior of our souls to be merely “an important part of our life.” But this is hard for us; we struggle to recognize that God is Lord and King, and that we must submit to Him completely. We prefer to present Him with a “fictitious personality” that we somehow think He will like better than our genuine selves, because this allows us to keep our “genuine selves” under our own control. And then, when things don’t go well, we congratulate ourselves with being patient with God, while in fact we are simply avoiding actually being present with Him. This is often simply because we are hurt, or scared, but if we want to be healed…we have to move beyond this fear and acknowledge the truth, to ourselves, and then to God, and then we can begin to see what He will do in us. It may hurt…in fact it is pretty much guaranteed to hurt, just like surgery or any medical treatment or exercise…but it will heal 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)

Luke 21:5-38 (Destruction of Temple Foretold, Signs & Persecutions, Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold, Coming of the Son of Man, Lesson of the Fig Tree, Exhortation to Watch)

Last time Jesus spoke to the Sadducees and to the scribes (the Pharisees), and put both groups to shame, affirming the Resurrection to the Sadducees, and condemning the scribes as hypocrites. This time He will give an example of what true faithfulness looks like, and warn the people explicitly about the destruction that is coming to the temple.

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

5 And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Signs and Persecutions

10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.

13 This will be a time for you to bear testimony. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; 17 you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfil all that is written. 23 Alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! For great distress shall be upon the earth and wrath upon this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Exhortation to Watch

34 “But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; 35 for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. 36 But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.”

37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.

Reading 44
763 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that Jesus warns them that the Temple will be destroyed, not so that they can prevent its destruction, or even so that they can escape it (although His warning does give them the opportunity to escape the ruin that comes upon Jerusalem in 70 AD), but so that they don’t follow after earthly rulers and false messiahs. He tells them what the end of their lives will be; not in a rebellion against the Romans, but in persecutions for the sake of His name and the Gospel, that everyone will hate them, but that He will be faithful to them even to the end, and they will win everlasting life by following Him to the end. In short, He is telling them that the Kingdom of God is not to be found in this present life, but in the Resurrection, and urging them to endure to the end in faithfulness, laying aside the good things of this life in order to receive an inheritance with all the Saints in the Kingdom of God.)

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?

6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the anagogical reading, in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)

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Year 1a – Week 25 (February 15 – 21, 2026)

Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 15:1-27 (Song of Moses, Song of Miriam, Bitter Water Made Sweet)

Last week we saw the people of Israel saved from Egypt by the Lord, Who parted the Red Sea and led them across in safety, and then destroyed the armies of Egypt as they tried to follow them to bring them back into slavery. This week we see Moses and the children of Israel sing a song to the Lord to celebrate this deliverance and give thanks to God for His goodness to them, after which we will see how the Lord provides His people with the water to sustain life after leading them through water out of slavery into liberty, even as He leads them into the wilderness. As we prepare to begin Great Lent, I think we will find this particularly relevant.

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea;
and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods cover them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.

6 Thy right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of thy majesty thou overthrowest thy adversaries;
thou sendest forth thy fury, it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up,
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them;
they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

11 “Who is like thee, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like thee, majestic in holiness,
terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 Thou didst stretch out thy right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
13 “Thou hast led in thy steadfast love the people whom thou hast redeemed,
thou hast guided them by thy strength to thy holy abode.

14 The peoples have heard, they tremble;
pangs have seized on the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
the leaders of Moab, trembling seizes them;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of thy arm, they are as still as a stone,
till thy people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom thou hast purchased.

17 Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on thy own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thy abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign for ever and ever.”

The Song of Miriam

19 For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. 20 Then Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Bitter Water Made Sweet

22 Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur; they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he proved them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord, your healer.”

27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the water.

Reading 17
709 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out that there is an easy connection to draw between this story of the bitter waters of Marah and the death to which humankind is subject; and the Lord has sweetened even the “water” of death by means of the wood of the Cross. As we prepare for the Great Fast to begin, at the end of which we will celebrate the Lord’s death and resurrection, we also receive this same statute and ordinance, that if we listen to the Lord and follow Him, He will deliver us from all diseases, for He is indeed the One Who heals us. It is in this way that we should undertake the self-restraint and renunciation of the Fast, so that we may faithfully follow the Lord through the wilderness, sustained by Him, and arrive with joy at the Promised Land at Pascha. The Leader should also address the points noted in the Additional Discussion Questions below.)

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?

Additional Discussion questions:

1) What do you think of this song of triumph? What is Moses celebrating about God in this song? (This is an open question – obviously God’s victory is celebrated, as well as His faithfulness to His promises to Abraham and His loving care for His people. Also the destruction of His enemies is celebrated as well, without apology.)

2) What do you think of the fact that Moses celebrates the destruction of the Egyptians? (This may be a point of discomfort – but we have two choices when we see God judge people in the Bible. We can side with the people, and decide that God is unfair, although we don’t know all the details of their minds and hearts. Or we can conclude that, since God is punishing them, it must be just and right. Certainly in this story, with all the warnings and opportunities that God has given to Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the last several chapters of Exodus, it is clear that God has been entirely just and right, and at this point the people who are being destroyed are determined to be His enemies, no matter what.)

3) Who are God’s enemies in this passage? The Egyptians, or their gods? (The answer is given in verse 11, when Moses says, “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?” The fallen angels, the demons who were the gods of the Egyptians, had raised rebellion against their Creator and sought to turn humanity to their side, opposing God Himself. God has delivered His people, and anyone who was willing to come with them, from these evil gods, and has utterly defeated them, and those who refused to be delivered, here at the Red Sea.)

4) Do you know when we talk about this event in our Church services? (Most probably will not, but this song is the first of Nine Odes that we see throughout Scripture, which serve as the basis for the hymns of the Canons that are sung in the Orthros throughout the Church year. This First Ode talks about the Lord’s deliverance of His people at the Red Sea; the Ninth Ode is probably better known, as it is the Megalynarion, the song of the Virgin Mary after the Annunciation, which begins: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” The Katavasies, hymns that are based on these Nine Odes, are sung before the Gospel reading on most Sundays, and the Priest censes during the Ninth Ode, toward the end of the Orthros service and near the beginning of the Liturgy.)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom on Prayer – 2

Last time, we saw Metropolitan Anthony begin to speak about the apparent absence of God when we pray, and reflect on how sometimes God is absent to spare us the crisis, the moment of judgment, that would come if He presented Himself to us when we were not ready to respond toward salvation to that encounter. He will continue, this time, with an example.

Absence of God – continued

I would like to give you an example of this. Many years ago a man came to see me. He asked me to show him God. I told him I could not but I added that even if I could, he would not be able to see Him, because I thought – and I do think – that to meet God one must have something in common with Him, something that gives you eyes to see, perceptiveness to perceive. He asked me then why I thought as I did, and I suggested that he should think a few moments and tell me whether there was any passage in the Gospel that moved him particularly, to see what was the connection between him and God.

He said ‘Yes, in the eighth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, the passage concerning the woman taken in adultery.’ I said, ‘Good, this is one of the most beautiful and moving passages. Now sit back and ask yourself, who are you in the scene which is described? Are you the Lord, or at least on His side, full of mercy, of understanding and full of faith in this woman who can repent and become a new creature? Are you the woman taken in adultery? Are you one of the older men who walk out at once because they are aware of their own sins, or one of the young ones who wait?’ He thought for a few minutes, then said, ‘No, I feel I am the only Jew who would not have walked out but who would have stoned the woman.’ I said, ‘Thank God that He does not allow you to meet Him face to face.’

This may be an extreme example, but how often could we recognize similar situations in ourselves? Not that we flatly refuse God’s word or God’s example, but that in a less violent way we do what the soldiers did during the Passion. We would love to cover Christ’s eyes, to be able to deal Him blows freely without being seen. Do we not do this, to a certain extent, when we ignore the divine presence and act according to our own desires, our moods, contrary to everything which is God’s will? We try to blind Him, but in fact we blind ourselves. At such moments, how can we come into His presence? We can indeed, in repentance, broken-hearted; but we cannot come in the way in which we immediately wish to be received – with love, with friendship.

Look at the various passages in the Gospel. People much greater than ourselves hesitated to receive Christ. Remember the centurion who asked Christ to heal his servant. Christ said ‘I will come,’ but the centurion said ‘No, don’t. Say a word and he will be healed.’ Do we do that? Do we turn to God and say ‘Don’t make Yourself tangibly, perceptively present before me. It is enough for You to say a word and I will be healed. It is enough for You to say a word and things will happen. I do not need more for the moment.’ Or take Peter in his boat after the great catch of fish, when he fell on his knees and said ‘Leave me, O Lord, I am a sinner.’ He asked the Lord to leave his boat because he felt humble – and he felt humble because he had suddenly perceived the greatness of Jesus.

Do we ever do that? When we read the Gospel and the image of Christ becomes compelling, glorious, when we pray and we become aware of the greatness, the holiness of God, do we ever say ‘I am unworthy that He should come near me?’ Not to speak of all the occasions when we should be aware that He cannot come to us because we are not there to receive Him. We want something from Him, not Him at all. Is that a relationship? Do we behave in that way with our friends? Do we aim at what friendship can give us or is it the friend whom we love? Is this true with regard to the Lord?

690 words

Beginning to Pray – pg. 27-29

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should encourage further reflection on this, on how we approach God versus how we approach family, friends, employers, teachers…other relationships that are important to us. If we are approaching God in a fundamentally different way, as we might justify ourselves in doing because, of course, He is God and everyone else in our lives is not, we need to be attentive to whether that difference actually honors and acknowledges God’s holiness and greatness, or rather reflects a basic desire NOT to actually encounter Him, as we know that if He truly were present with us, we would not be able to remain as we are.)

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)

Luke 20:19-47; 21:1-4 (Questions about Paying Taxes, the Resurrection, & the Messiah as David’s Son; Jesus Denounces the Scribes and Praises a Widow’s Offering)

We saw Jesus begin to preach in the Temple last time, and how He answered the chief priests and the scribes, and condemned them for their faithless stewardship of the people entrusted to their care in the parable of the wicked tenants. This time we will see Him address the Sadducees in their turn, and further denounce those who have been in religious authority over the people.

The Question about Paying Taxes

19 The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people; for they perceived that he had told this parable against them. 20 So they watched him, and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might take hold of what he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”

23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me a coin. Whose likeness and inscription has it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him by what he said; but marveling at his answer they were silent.

The Question about the Resurrection

27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who say that there is no resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and died without children; 30 and the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him.” 39 And some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

The Question about David’s Son

41 But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
43 till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet.’

44 David thus calls him Lord; so how is he his son?”

Jesus Denounces the Scribes

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and love salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Offering

21 He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4 for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.”

Reading 43
652 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that the Lord’s answer to the Sadducees is concerned with two things. First, He is showing to them the foolishness of their thinking, believing that there is no resurrection from the dead, which is the point they are trying to prove with their little story. Second, He is telling them that what they consider marriage is a temporary and earthly and deeply selfish thing, made unnecessary by the reality of the Resurrection. For the Sadducees, the point of marriage was for a man to possess a woman as the means of gaining a sort of immortality, in having children to carry his name to the next generation. This is the sort of marriage that Jesus says will not exist in the Kingdom of God. In the Church, marriage, and life itself, is not about saving our life, but about giving up our life in love for the Lord and for those around us. This is why, in the Church, the husband and wife are equals, fellow travelers on the path of salvation, why women have a place of honor in the Church even if they have no children, and why monasticism is considered a good and a blessed way of life; because our hope is not in leaving behind a legacy for ourselves, but in becoming partakers of the Kingdom of God. For all of these things, there is no better and clearer example than Panagia herself, glorified even in her death, as we celebrate on the 15th of August.)

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?

6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the anagogical reading, in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)

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Year 1a – Week 24 (February 8 – 14, 2026)

Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 14:1-31 (Crossing the Red Sea, Pharaoh’s Army Drowned)

Last time we saw the Exodus begin; this time, we will see Pharaoh betray his word and make war against God one more time as he decides to chase after the the children of Israel and try to bring them back. And therefore, this week we will also see the Lord deliver His people and utterly defeat Pharaoh. This reading is especially fitting for this period, since we celebrated the Lord’s Baptism on January 6th and have been blessing homes since that time, and are also now preparing for the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection…and the Lord’s deliverance of His people from Egypt in the Passover foreshadows both Theophany and Pascha itself. This moment, when the Children of Israel are delivered from bondage in Egypt by a miracle, with the parting of the Red Sea and their passage through it, is one of the significant moments in the history of the people of Israel that anticipates the Lord’s baptism, and that itself is a sign of His death and resurrection, trampling down death by death. As we are baptized into His death and resurrection, then we may say that on both occasions, both at Theophany and at Pascha, the Lord saves His people by means of water.

Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-ha-hi′roth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Ba′al-zephon; you shall encamp over against it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the people of Israel as they went forth defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-ha-hi′roth, in front of Ba′al-zephon.

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were in great fear. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord; 11 and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still.” 15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go on dry ground through the sea. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness; and the night passed[a] without one coming near the other all night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians, 25 clogging[b] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel; for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

The Pursuers Drowned

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it, and the Lord routed[c] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host[d] of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. 31 And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did against the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord; and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Reading 16
909 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should address the points noted in the Additional Discussion Questions below.)

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?

Additional Discussion questions:

1) How many chariots did Pharaoh send after the Israelites when he decided that he shouldn’t have let Israel go? (It says he sent 600 picked chariots and ALL the other chariots of Egypt…so this was a large army, led by the elite forces of the king).

2) What did the Israelites say to Moses (and to the Lord) when they saw the Egyptians coming? (They asked if Moses had brought them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness because there weren’t graves for them in Egypt…this is a sarcastic way of saying that leaving Egypt was stupid, and they shouldn’t have listened to Moses at all, and slavery was at least better than dying).

3) What did Moses tell them? (He told them to not be afraid, and to stand firm, and that the Lord would fight for them, and they wouldn’t have to fight at all, only watch and see God would do to save them.)

4) What did God do? (He told Moses to stretch his staff over the sea, and He drove the sea back with a strong wind, and divided the waters, so the Israelites could cross over on dry land).

5) Why didn’t the Egyptians attack the Israelites while they were waiting for the waters to divide and waiting to cross over? (The Angel of the Lord, Who had been leading them, moved and went behind them, and blocked the way between them and the Egyptians with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night – so the Son of God Himself protected them during the night, in the form of a pillar of cloud and fire).

6) What happened to the Egyptians after the Israelites crossed over? (They tried to cross over as well, but the Lord told Moses to stretch his hand over the sea, and the division in the waters went away, and the waters came back and drowned the army of Pharaoh. The hymns of the Church talk about how Moses divided the waters moving his staff vertically, and brought them back together moving his staff horizontally, making the sign of the Cross above the waters and in that way anticipating the Lord’s deliverance of His people by both His baptism in the Jordan and by His crucifixion).

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom On Prayer – 1

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom was a bishop of a community of Russian Orthodox exiles in Western Europe in the late 20th century. He speaks clearly and beautifully about the realities of the Christian life. The following excerpt is from his book “Beginning to Pray.” He is talking toward the question of why it is that sometimes, indeed often, we feel that God is absent when we pray. We will be reading from the first chapter.

From chapter 1 – The Absence of God

As we start learning to pray, I would like to make it clear that what I mean by ‘learning to pray’ is not an attempt to justify or explain this in a speculative way. Rather, I would like to point out what one should be aware of, and what one can do if one wishes to pray. As I am a beginner myself, I will assume that you are also beginners, and we will try to begin together. I am not speaking to anyone who aims at mystical prayer or higher states of perfection, because these things will teach themselves. When God breaks through to us or when we break through to God in certain exceptional circumstances, either because things suddenly disclose themselves with a depth we have never before perceived or when we suddenly discover in ourselves a depth where prayer abides and out of which it can gush forth, there is no problem of prayer. When we are aware of God, we stand before Him, worship Him, speak to Him.

At the outset there is, then, one very important problem: the situation of one for whom God seems to be absent. This is what I would like to speak about now.

Obviously I am not speaking of a real absence – God is never really absent – but of the sense of absence which we have. We stand before God and we shout into an empty sky, out of which there is no reply. We turn in all directions and He is not to be found. What ought we to think of this situation?

First of all, it is very important to remember that prayer is an encounter and a relationship, a relationship which is deep, and this relationship cannot be forced either on us or on God. The fact that God can make Himself present or can leave us with the sense of His absence is part of this live and real relationship. If we could mechanically draw Him into an encounter, force Him to meet us, simply because we have chosen this moment to meet Him, there would be no relationship and no encounter. We can do that with an image, with the imagination, or with the various idols we can put in front of us instead of God; we can do nothing of the sort with the living God, any more than we can do it with a living person.

A relationship must begin and develop in mutual freedom. If you look at the relationship in terms of mutual relationship, you will see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does not make Himself present to us for the few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and a half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer ‘I am busy, I am sorry’ or when we do not answer at all because we do not even hear the knock at the door of our heart, of our minds, of our conscience, of our life. So there is a situation in which we have no right to complain of the absence of God, because we are a great deal more absent than He ever is.

The second very important thing is that a meeting face to face with God is always a moment of judgment for us. We cannot meet God in prayer or in meditation or in contemplation and not be either saved or condemned. I do not mean this in major terms of eternal damnation or eternal salvation already given and received, but it is always a critical moment, a crisis. ‘Crisis’ comes from the Greek and means ‘judgment.’ To meet God face to face in prayer is a critical moment in our lives, and thanks be to Him that He does not always present Himself to us when we wish to meet Him, because we might not be able to endure such a meeting.

Remember the many passages in Scripture in which we are told how bad it is to find oneself face to face with God, because God is power, God is truth, God is purity. Therefore, the first thought we ought to have when we do not tangibly perceive the divine presence, is a thought of gratitude. God is merciful; He does not come in an untimely way. He gives us a chance to judge ourselves, to understand, and not to come into His presence at a moment when it would mean condemnation.

759 words

Beginning to Pray – pages 25-27

Discussion questions:

1) What do you notice about this passage? What jumps out at you? (Each person should answer this question, and then the leader can give his/her answer as well. If this results in a discussion, it’s just fine if the other questions are skipped. Chances are what jumps out will involve answers to the other questions anyway.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here? (Among other things, that He is a real person, and that the laws of our relationship with Him are not so different from those that govern every other relationship in our lives. If we want someone else to be present with us, we have to be present with them. It reminds us, too, that God is Holy, and that therefore an encounter with Him is a moment of judgment; to comprehend, even in a small way, the holiness of God is to see ourselves truly, how much we fail and fall short of the glory of God)

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us? (It reminds us that we tend to be very bad at being present in our relationship with God. It reminds us, too, of the real ramifications of our limited nature. We can conceive of a Being greater than us, and can even begin to imagine a Being infinitely greater than all things…but it is another thing entirely to stand face to face with that Being)

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? (Hopefully, everyone will see the importance of changing whatever needs to change in our lives to be more present with God, perhaps in prayer, or church, or service to others, or all of these together. The idea that sometimes we should be grateful that God seems to be absent, because we simply aren’t ready to encounter Him, is humbling and challenging; if we can take that seriously, then a great number of changes to our lives become necessary.)

Day 3 (Friday)

Luke 20:1-18 (Authority of Jesus Questioned, Parable of the Wicked Tenants)

Last time we read the story of the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, as He came to His people and His city in mingled glory and humility, riding on a donkey, but receiving the acclamation of the people: Hosanna! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” After this He wept over Jerusalem, and entered the Temple to cleanse it. We’ll continue today with Luke 20, showing Jesus teaching in the Temple after Palm Sunday, in the final days before His betrayal and crucifixion.

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question; now tell me, 4 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know whence it was. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

9 And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, that they should give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he sent another servant; him also they beat and treated shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third; this one they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants, and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “God forbid!” 17 But he looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

‘The very stone which the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner’?

18 Every one who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but when it falls on any one it will crush him.”

Reading 42
405 words

Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that Jesus has basically taken over the Temple; after He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He went straight to the Temple and drove out the money-changers, purifying the House of God and making it His own. What God’s people had yearned for since the Babylonian Captivity has come to pass; God is dwelling once more in their midst, even in the Temple, teaching and ministering to the people and calling them and all nations to follow Him. Both of the stories in today’s reading make this same point; in a barely veiled way, Jesus is telling anyone who will listen Who He is. He is the One Who Came from Heaven and had sent John, and He is the Heir of the Master of the vineyard, come to claim back His inheritance from the evil tenants. He is the King of Israel, come to dwell among His people once more and forever.)

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?

6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the anagogical reading, in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)

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Year 1a – Week 23 (February 1 – 7, 2026)

Day 1 (Monday)

Exodus 13:1-22 (Festival of Unleavened Bread, Consecration of the Firstborn, Pillars of Cloud & Fire)

Last time we saw the death of the Firstborn, and the departure of the Israelites from where they had lived in Egypt, and the instructions for the killing and eating of the Passover. This time, we will see God give a new instruction to Moses about the firstborn of the Israelites, and then Moses will sum up to the people the commandment about the celebration of the Passover for coming generations, and then pass on God’s commandment about the firstborn.

The Festival of Unleavened Bread

13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

3 And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place; no leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 This day you are to go forth, in the month of Abib. 5 And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month.

6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 And you shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.

The Consecration of the Firstborn

11 “And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstlings of your cattle that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13 Every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every first-born of man among your sons you shall redeem.

14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born of cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.’ 16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes; for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

The Pillars of Cloud and Fire

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest the people repent when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people round by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for Joseph had solemnly sworn the people of Israel, saying, “God will visit you; then you must carry my bones with you from here.”

20 And they moved on from Succoth, and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night; 22 the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Reading 15
677 words

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 Yahweh is making clear to the children of Israel that they are His own firstborn, and does so by claiming every firstborn for Himself, and requiring them to redeem them with a sacrifice. The point of this is not to threaten them with death, as the Egyptians experienced, but rather to remind them of WHY this came upon the Egyptians, because Egypt had enslaved and mistreated His own Firstborn Son, the people of Israel, and He had redeemed all Israel from slavery. It is worth noting that “firstborn” signifies a certain legal status; the firstborn was the heir of the father and administered the inheritance to all other children. There is, of course, a prefigurement here of the Lord, the unique Son of God, the Firstborn of all creation (not that He is intrinsically part of the Creation, as He is rather co-eternal with the Father, but rather that He is Himself the one with the authority of the Firstborn, and administers the grace of the Father to all of us who are children by adoption. He should also point out that the text says clearly that Yahweh HIMSELF led the people out, veiled in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and that He was always with them. It is also important to note that, as they go toward the Red Sea, they carry with them the bones of Joseph, who had been buried in Egypt 400 years before, but who had trusted that Yahweh would fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would bring them back out of Egypt. So, trusting, albeit in a veiled way, in the Resurrection, they carry even the dead out of slavery to freedom, out of death into life.)

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. Gregory Palamas on Encountering God

St. Gregory Palamas was a saint of the 14th century, and the Archbishop of Thessaloniki. In his writings, he speaks a great deal about the practical reality of the Christian life. In this passage, he sums up how a Christian should respond to Jesus Christ’s coming into the world. Since we are celebrating the Feast of Ypapanti, the Meeting of the Lord with those who were waiting for Him in the Temple, it is good for us to consider this, how it is that we should behave ourselves as we encounter God. We join the saint as he is reflecting on the coming of death to humanity through our rebellion against God, and proceeding with wonder at how even this rebellion of ours becomes the instrument by which the Lord delivers us.

St. Gregory Palamas on Encountering God

54. O the depth of God’s riches, wisdom and compassion (cf. Rom. 11:33)! Had there been no death and had our race not become mortal prior to death – for it is from a mortal root – we should not in fact have been enriched with the firstfruit of immortality, nor should we have been called into the heavens, nor would our nature have been enthroned ‘above every principality and power’ (Eph. 1:21) ‘at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens’ (Heb. 8:1). Thus God in His wisdom, power and compassion knows how to change for the better the lapses we suffer as a result of our freely-willed perversion.

55. Many may blame Adam for being so easily persuaded by that wicked counselor and for rejecting the divine commandment, thus becoming the agent of death for us all. Yet to wish to taste a deadly plant before actually doing so, and to desire to eat of such a plant after having learned by experience that it is deadly, are not the same thing. The man who drinks poison knowing that it is poison, and so wretchedly causes his own death, is more culpable than he who takes poison and so kills himself without knowing beforehand that it is poison. Therefore each of us is more culpable and guilty than Adam.

But, you might ask, is that tree really within us? Do we still have a commandment from God forbidding us to eat from that tree? Perhaps exactly that same tree is not within us, yet the commandment of God is with us even now. And if we obey it, and try to lead our life in accordance with it, it frees us from punishment for all our sins, as well as from the ancestral curse and condemnation. But if we now reject it, and choose instead the provocation and counsel of the evil one, we cannot but fall away from the life and fellowship of paradise and be cast into the gehenna of everlasting fire with which we were threatened.

56. What, then, is the divine commandment now laid upon us? It is repentance, the essence of which is never again to touch forbidden things. We were expelled from the land of divine delight, we were justly shut out from God’s paradise, and we have fallen into this pit where we are condemned to dwell together with dumb creatures without hope of returning – in so far as it depends on us – to the paradise we have lost. But He who initially passed a just sentence of punishment or, rather, justly permitted punishment to come upon us, has now in His great goodness, compassion and mercy descended for our sake to us.

And He became a human being like us in all things except sin so that by His likeness to us He might teach us anew and rescue us; and He gave us the saving counsel and commandment of repentance, saying: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near’ (Matt. 3:2). Prior to the incarnation of the Logos of God the kingdom of heaven was as far from us as the sky is from the earth; but when the King of heaven came to dwell amongst us and chose to unite Himself with us, the kingdom of heaven drew near to us all.

57. Since the Logos of God through His descent to us has brought the kingdom of heaven close to us, let us not distance ourselves from it by leading an unrepentant life. Let us rather flee the wretchedness of those who sit ‘in darkness and the shadow of death’ (Isa. 9:2). Let us acquire the fruits of repentance: a humble disposition, compunction and spiritual grief, a gentle and merciful heart that loves righteousness and pursues purity, peaceful, peace-making, patient in toil, glad to endure persecution, loss, outrage, slander and suffering for the sake of truth and righteousness. For the kingdom of heaven or, rather, the King of heaven – ineffable in His generosity – is within us (cf. Luke 17:21); and to Him we should cleave through acts of repentance and patient endurance, loving as much as we can Him who so dearly has loved us.

Palmer, G. E. H.. The Philokalia Vol 4 (pp. 451-456). (Function). Kindle Edition.

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Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out that St. Gregory both thinks that repentance is the most essential way we should respond to God’s grace, AND that he sees many other virtues flowing from repentance as its natural fruit. That means these virtues can help us discern whether or not we are actually living in repentance.)

2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here? (We learn that He is with us and within us – and He calls us to be with Him.)

3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us? (We learn what the Christian life should look like, in very basic terms, and therefore what the blessed life, the fulfilled life, looks like.).

4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (In this case, it may be a good idea simply to define some of the words St. Gregory uses. Disposition means mood/character, compunction means regret for sin, ineffable means beyond knowledge or definition, cleave means hold tight).

5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life? (The list of virtues and habits that St. Gregory mentions is a good “measuring stick” for us to apply to our own lives. Not just once, but always.)

Day 3 (Friday)

Luke 19:28-48 (Palm Sunday, Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem, Cleanses the Temple)

Last time we saw the Lord enter Jericho and meet Zacchaeus, bringing salvation to this tax collected when he repented of his sins. The Lord also told a parable, of the master who had entrusted his servants with His money in order that they might put His wealth to work on His behalf.. This time, as we begin the period of Triodion, we will see the Lord enter Jerusalem and begin visibly to prepare for His Passion; in this way, we will reach the Crucifixion at Holy Week, and the Resurrection in Bright Week.

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

28 And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Beth′phage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. 31 If any one asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this, ‘The Lord has need of it.’”

32 So those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they set Jesus upon it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the road.

37 As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, 44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him; 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.

Reading 41
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Discussion questions:

1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out how, even though the people greet Jesus saying: “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord,” they clearly don’t understand who He is and what He comes to do. This is why He says that they “did not recognize the time of [their] visitation from God.” They were excited to welcome Him as a miracle-worker, or even as a potential Messiah, a king of the Jews to lead a rebellion against the Romans…but they didn’t realize that He was God Himself come to visit and save them. We need to be careful that we don’t miss the point of the Lord’s coming to us; it’s very easy to do.)

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?

6) “What is the a) literal, b) allegorical, c) moral/ethical, d) anagogical/eschatological meaning of this text? (Think of these questions as a mountain which we can ascend, or as layers of meaning upon which we can reflect. Oftentimes, as we reflect upon a text in this way, we may find that the anagogical reading, in which we see the text as revealing the glory of God and His kingdom in a deeper manner, sheds new insights on the lower levels of interpretation.)