Day 1 (Monday)
Tobit 5:1-23 (Tobias Obeys His Father)
Last time we saw Tobit give Tobias his inheritance; which is to say, he passed on to him all the wisdom about how to live a faithful and blessed life that he had, and then gave him instructions where to find the last money that he had saved for him. This time, we will start to get to know Tobias as he responds; and we will also see God’s messenger, the angel Raphael, enter the scene.
Tobias Obeys His Father
1 Tobias answered him and said, “O father, I will do everything you have commanded me. 2 But how will I be able to obtain the silver, for I do not know him?” 3 Then he gave him the record of the debt and said to him, “Find for yourself a man who will travel with you, and I will pay him his wages as long as I remain alive. Now go and obtain the silver.” 4 Then Tobias went to look for a man and found Raphael, who was an angel. But he did not know it.
5 So Tobias said to him, “Can you go with me to Rages of Media? Are you acquainted with those places?” 6 The angel said to him, “I will go with you. I am acquainted with the roadways and I have lodged with our brother Gabael.” 7 Tobias said to him, “Wait for me and I will tell my father.” 8 He said to him, “Do so, but do not delay.” 9 So he went to his father and said, “Behold, I have found someone who will go with me.” But his father said, “Call him to me, that I may know what tribe he belongs to, and if he is trustworthy enough to go with you.”
10 So he invited him, and Raphael came in. They greeted one another cordially. 11 Tobit then said to him, “Brother, to what tribe and kindred do you belong?” 12 Raphael responded, “Do you seek a tribe and a family, or a hired man to go with your son?” Tobit replied, “Brother, I wish to know your people and your name.” 13 Then he said, “I am Azarias, the son of Ananias the Great, one of your relatives.”
14 So Tobit said to him, “You are most welcome, my brother. Do be not angry with me for seeking to learn of your tribe and your family. As it turns out, you are a brother of mine from a good and upright family. For I knew Ananias and Jonathan, the sons of Shemiah the Great, since we would journey in common to Jerusalem to worship and to offer the firstborn and the tenth of our harvest. They were not led astray in the deception of our brothers. My brother, you are from a good root. 15 “But tell me, what shall I give you as wages? A drachma a day and expenses for you and my son? 16 I will even add more to your pay, if you both return in good health.” 17 Thus they were well pleased.
Then he said to Tobias, “Prepare for the journey, and may it be prosperous.” So his son prepared the things for the journey. Then his father said to him, “Go with this man, and may the God who dwells in heaven prosper your journey. May His angel journey with you.” They both departed, and the young man’s dog went with them.
18 But Anna his mother wept and said to Tobit, “Why have you sent our son away, or is he not the staff of our hands when he goes in and out before us? 19 Do not attain silver upon silver, but may it be dirt compared to our son. 20 For as he was given to us to live by the Lord, this is sufficient for our existence.” 21 Tobit said to her, “My sister, do not be concerned. He shall return in good health, and your eyes will see him. 22 For a good angel will go with him, and his journey shall be prosperous. He will return in good health.” 23 So she ceased weeping.
616 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note the exchange between the angel and Tobit about what tribe he is from. Tobit is, as it turns out, trying to figure out what kind of person this “man” is, and most especially whether he is faithful, or faithless. Raphael calls attention to this for us, asking him why he cares, if he’s just looking for a hired man. When Tobit persists (without giving a reason, but still insisting), Raphael gives him the name of another faithful Israelite, and Tobit rejoices, specifically for this reason. This allows us to see how carefully Tobit guards against faithlessness; he works hard not to allow even any evil influence to come to his son. We can point out, too, that Tobit’s faith, that God will protect his son by “sending a good angel with him” doesn’t mean that he knows Raphael is an angel himself, but only that he trusts God to protect his son. That he’s already spoken with that angel God is sending is unknown to him…but he’s not wrong in the least about God’s faithfulness.)
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 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)
St. Andrew of Crete on St. John the Forerunner – Part 2
St. Andrew of Crete was born in Damascus in the late 600’s A.D., and became a monastic at the monastery of St. Savvas in the Holy Land. There he began to compose canons for liturgical services, which poetic form eventually became normative for Orthodox worship services; the Canon remains one of the central elements of the Orthros service (although it is often omitted in parish practice for reasons of time). Because of his many talents, he was one of the representative sent from the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to the 6th Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 680; after the council ended, he remained in Constantinople, and in ~700 he was elevated to be the Metropolitan bishop of Gortyna in Crete. He lived out his remaining days there, and fell asleep in the Lord some years later. His Great Canon of Repentance is a central feature of the Lenten services of the first week of the Great 40 Days of Lent. Last week we began to read a homily which he preached on St. John the Forerunner, the feast of whose Nativity we celebrated last Wednesday; we will finish that homily today.
https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2020/01/epithets-of-saint-john-baptist-in.html
Homily on the Beheading of the Honorable Forerunner – Part 2
John received such great and important names. He is honored by these because his works were in accordance with his titles. Thus John was “greater than among those born of women.” (Matt. 6:11). This is the one for whom the prophet David really chants, as if borrowing the mouth of God and Father and says: “I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. On him, the Grace of the Holy Spirit will be revealed and will shine, who will anoint him Messiah and king” (Ps. 131:17-18).
This is that great Elijah, not the Tishbite, but the one who stood between the Law and Grace and became the forerunner of the first coming of Christ, although historically, he lived after Elijah the Tishbite, the one who had the same inspiration as him and strength, as the archangel told his father Zechariah (Luke 1:17).
And to which Zechariah did the angel say these things? To the Zechariah whose blood cries out louder than the blood of righteous Abel (Matthew 23:35).
He is the one who leaped in his mother’s womb, before he even saw the light of day, because he was informed of the presence of his Master in the womb. He used the language of his mother and, while he was still in her womb, announced the birth of the Son and Word of God from the Theotokos Mary, saying: “But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43).
He is the one who, with the preaching of repentance, will soften the hearts of the parents and bring them back to their children and “will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
This was the fruit of a divine promise, the joyful message of Gabriel, the tender branch given by God, to the tree withered by age. The fertile flower of barrenness. The prophet who is the son of a prophet. The resident of the desert. The one who prepared and prepares the people of the whole world for the spiritual battles and for the welcoming of the Lord. The bright moon of the Sun, which shines forever. The lamp of the divine Light. The soldier of the eternal king. The Nymphagogos of the Bridegroom. The servant of the Master. The voice of the Word, who was a priest forever like Melchizedek, as without a father, without a mother and without a genealogy. The priest who was found worthy to officiate even the Baptism of God Himself. He who heard God the Father speak with his own ears. He who baptized the Son and He who saw the Holy Spirit.
He who was the end of the law. He who mediated between the Grace of God and men. He who was the greatest of all the prophets and in whose person all prophetic ministry is exhausted. The herald of the kingdom of heaven. The forerunner of Christ, who is Himself the truth. The door through which we enter the place of repentance. He who was the jewel and the splendor of the virgins. He who prepared our salvation. The one who legislated temperance and became a bridle to the lawless and wicked and even the one who guided those who respected the divine law.
This is the great John. The name that came out of the mouth of God and was conveyed from the heavens to Zechariah with the archangel’s voice. This is the voice that was born from the deaf and mute father. He who, with his father’s silence, abolished his mother’s barrenness. He revealed the “Lamb of God” with his finger, giving it greater power than even the best orator. He who in his person has the right to boast about self-control. The one who lived his earthly life as an incorporeal one, who was found like a precious pearl in the mud.
He who, like a precious treasure, was found in a fragile and cheap treasury. The one who threatened the unfruitful souls with the axe of Divine justice, the desert-loving turtledove of the Church, the unstoppable mouth, the voice of the one who cries in the wilderness and resounds thunderingly to the ends of the world, saying “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the way” on which the Lord will pass into the souls of men (Matthew 3:3; John 1:23).
This is the tongue that with its divine words and its pure voice, even after his death, rebukes Herod and preaches Christ, saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).
To God belong the glory and the majesty forever and ever. Amen
812 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note the structure of St. Andrew’s homily. In the first portion, which we read last week, he went through all the titles and names by which St. John is known, connecting them to the points in Scripture where they are fulfilled and demonstrated. In this section, he speaks not of the names of the Forerunner, but rather of his role and significance in the Lord’s economy of salvation, and the actions of his life, so that this sermon effectively collects everything about St. John the Baptist into a singe place.)
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 14:7-24 (Jesus Teaches at the Banquet on Humility, Hospitality and the Great Dinner)
Last time we saw the Lord continuing on His way up to Jerusalem, teaching His disciples and preaching to the people in the towns and villages along the way, warning them that the time is drawing short and that everyone is faced with the decision of whether to follow Him and be faithful to God or not. Notably, some Pharisees came and warned Him not to go to Jerusalem, because Herod was planning to kill Him, but He said He must go, and lamented over Jerusalem for its unwillingness to be faithful. After this He was invited to a dinner by one of the Pharisees, where He healed a man on the Sabbath. This time, we will see Him continue to teach at that dinner.
Humility and Hospitality
7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come, and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
The Parable of the Great Dinner
15 When one of those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; 17 and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for all is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
Reading 32
481 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 Jesus is continuing to make the same points we have been seeing so far, that His coming is a critical moment for everyone there, and that they must not treat it as just another every day, but must choose to follow Him, or not. This is the particular point of the parable of the banquet; all of the excuses that the people give are, in general, normal, everyday life, good reasons to miss a party. That the excuses are not accepted does not show the master of the house to be strict or crazy, but indicates that the banquet is far, far more important than the people who are being invited realize, and that they are making a terrible mistake in treating it as just another party. Then he continues the point by speaking still more clearly to them about the cost of discipleship, and how those who follow Him need to choose Him above all other values, desires, and possessions.)
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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