Day 1 (Monday)
Philippians 1:1-30; 2:1-11
Up to this point, for our Day 1 readings we have been reading from the Old Testament, covering the narrative from the Creation through the call of Israel, the problems once they entered the Promised Land, the evil kings and the prophets God sent to call the people to repentance, and finally the exile, which was where we found Tobit and his family, living in Ninevah after the fall of the nation of Israel. We’ve spent the Day 3 readings on the Gospel of Luke, and have seen what Jesus said and did during his ministry, as the fulfillment of the expectation of the Faithful of the Old Testament. For the last few weeks of this first year, then, we’ll use the Day 1 readings to see what happened after Jesus ascended into heaven, and get a glimpse of the life of the early Church through one of the letters of St. Paul. We should note that St. Paul began his life as a Pharisee, and an opponent of Jesus and His teachings. He was converted while in the act of persecuting the early Christians, and ended up establishing churches throughout the world, especially in the Greek world. For the final weeks of August, we will read his (short) letter to the Church in the city of Philippi, located near Thessaloniki in Greece. The Church there was the first Christian community established in Greece. At the time St. Paul wrote this, he was a prisoner under house arrest in Rome, writing to express pastoral care and concern for the churches he had founded.
Salutation
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
7 It is right for me to feel thus about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Paul’s Present Circumstances
12 I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ; 14 and most of the brethren have been made confident in the Lord because of my imprisonment, and are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of partisanship, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.
19 Yes, and I shall rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear omen to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict which you saw and now hear to be mine.
Imitating Christ’s Humility
2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
885 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader can note a few things. First, Paul considers his imprisonment an advantage; he is using it to preach Christ to the soldiers guarding him, and even to the household of the emperor. Second, in verse 19 he talks about how his deliverance, but we need to understand that he isn’t talking about freedom from imprisonment, but that he complete his life faithfully. He sounds a lot like St. Ignatius talking about his death. Third, what he urges them to do is also similar: he wants them to be faithful, he wants them to maintain their unity with one another, and he wants them to imitate Christ, most especially in humility and suffering, understanding that victory for Christ was won by means of the Cross, by humiliation and suffering.)
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. Proclus On the Holy Virgin Theotokos – 4
This week we will conclude the sermon of St. Proclus on the holiness of the Theotokos, and the honor due to her, which he preached in the presence of Nestorius during the controversy which led to the 3rd Ecumenical Council at Ephesus, and the condemnation of Nestorianism.
Proclus of Constantinople
Homily 1: On the Holy Virgin Theotokos, Delivered while Nestorius was seated in the Great Church of Constantinople – 4
VIII
So he who bought us was no mere man, you Jew! For the nature of man was enslaved to sin. Nor was he solely God, without humanity. For he had a body, you Manichee! Had he not clothed himself in me, he would not have saved me. Rather, when he appeared in the Virgin’s womb he clothed himself in him who was condemned; there it was that the awesome contract was concluded. He gave spirit and took flesh. The same one was both with the Virgin and of the Virgin; by his “overshadowing” (cf. Lk. 1.35 ), he was with her; by becoming incarnate, he was of her.
If Christ is one (person) and God the Word another, then there is no longer a Trinity, but a quaternity. Do not rend the robe of the incarnation which was “woven from above” (cf. Jn. 19.23). Do not be the disciple of Arius, for he in his impiety divided the divine essence; you must take care not to sunder the union, lest you be sundered from God. Who was it that “shone on those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Lk. 1.79)? A man? But how? For men dwelt in “darkness,” as Paul says: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness” (Col. 1.13), and again: “Once you were darkness” (Eph. 5.8). Then who was it who “shone”?
David teaches you when he says, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Ps. 117.26)! Tell us plainly, David: “Cry with strength and spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet (Is. 58.1),” and tell us who this is. The Lord the God of hosts! “The Lord is God, and he has shined upon us” (Ps. 117.27)! For “the Word became flesh” (Jn. 1.14), the natures came together and the union remained unconfused.
IX
He came to save, but he also had to suffer. How were both possible? Mere man had no power to save. One who was solely God could not suffer. What happened then? He who was God became man. By what he was, he saved; and by what he became, he suffered. When therefore the church saw the synagogue crowning him with thorns, she bewailed the outrage in these words: “Daughters of Jerusalem, go forth and behold the crown with which his mother crowned him” (Song 3.11). For he both wore the crown of thorns and undid the sentence of the thorns (cf. Gen. 3.18–19).
For the same one was in the “Father’s bosom” (cf. Jn. 1.18) and in the Virgin’s womb, in his mother’s arms and on the “wings of the wind” (Ps. 103.3), adored by angels (Heb. 1.6 ) and “dining with tax collectors” (Mt. 9.10; Mk. 2.15). Seraphim would not look at him (cf. Is. 6.2), and “Pilate interrogated him” (Mk. 15.2, 4). A “servant struck him” (Jn. 18.22), and creation trembled. While nailed on the cross, he did not depart from his throne; while shut in the tomb, he was “stretching out the heavens like a curtain” (Ps. 103.2); while numbered with the dead, he was plundering Hades. Below he was accused as a “deceiver” (Mt. 27.63), above he was glorified as the Holy One.
What a mystery! Beholding his miracles, I extol his divinity; seeing the sufferings, I cannot deny his humanity. As man, Emmanuel opened the gates of human nature; as God, he left the bars of virginity unbroken. As he entered through the ear, so too did he come out from the womb; as he was conceived, so was he born. His entering in was altogether without passion, and his coming out was altogether beyond understanding—as the prophet Ezekiel said:
“The Lord brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. And the Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, this gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened. No one shall pass through it, but the Lord, the God of Israel, he alone shall enter and come out, and the gate shall be shut’ (Ezek. 44.1–2).”
There you have a clear testimony to the Holy and ‘God-bearing’ Mary. Let all contradiction now cease, and let us be enlightened by the teaching of the Scriptures, so that we may attain to the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading 4
739 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note how St. Proclus’ words echo and reflect the iconography and the hymnography of the Church. We hear language such as this on all the feasts of the Lord’s Incarnation, at Pascha, and constantly and consistently in the Divine Liturgy. The Platytera icon in the Apse explicitly communicates the precise point. St. Proclus is deeply grounded in the worship of the Church, and stands as a relay point for that ancient tradition through this controversy into the subsequent centuries. As we encounter the challenges and questions of our present age, we should take him as a model for the task that falls to us, and answer according to the tradition delivered once for all to the Apostles.)
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 18:1-17 (Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge, Pharisee & the Tax Collector, Jesus Blesses Little Children)
Last time Jesus warned His disciples about the many troubles that would come after His Passion, including the destruction of Jerusalem, and the need for them to flee when their fellow Jews proclaimed the coming of the Messiah and the time for a rebellion against the Romans. This time, He will offer them encouragement, and guide them in how to find strength in every trouble.
The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge
18 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; 3 and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children
15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
Reading 38
390 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 in all three of these sayings, the two parables AND the response to the children, Jesus is making the same point. The remedy to trouble in the world is prayer, putting our trust in the Lord. The first parable reminds them that persistence in prayer pays off even when the judge is unjust, so how much more will it “work” when the judge is our Father, Who loves us. The second reminds them what sort of prayer is valuable; not the sort that congratulates themselves for their holiness, but rather the sort that confesses sin and places trust wholly in the Lord for salvation. The third point, with the children, further illustrates this point, that even when if we have not sinned greatly, we are always still small and weak and needy before the Lord, like children, and that if we cannot approach God with the humility of children, we can have no part in His Kingdom.)
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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