Day 1 (Monday)
Tobit 1:1-22
As we move into the summer, we will read one of the books from the so-called Apocrypha, books that we don’t read aloud in the Church, and which aren’t included in many English-language Bibles, but which have always been understood to be a part of the Old Testament in the Orthodox Church. The book of Tobit lets us see what happens to a family that is faithful to God in the northern nation of Israel, even after the sins of the kings and majority of the people result in God giving them into the hands of the Assyrian Empire. The nation of Israel is gone as we begin the book of Tobit, but God is still faithful to those who hold fast to Him.
Introduction
1 The book of the acts of Tobit the son of To′biel, son of Anan′iel, son of Ad′uel, son of Gab′ael, of the descendants of As′iel and the tribe of Naph′tali, 2 who in the days of Shalmane′ser, king of the Assyrians, was taken into captivity from Thisbe, which is to the south of Kedesh Naph′tali in Galilee above Asher.
Tobit’s Youth and Virtuous Life
3 I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life, and I performed many acts of charity to my brethren and countrymen who went with me into the land of the Assyrians, to Nin′eveh. 4 Now when I was in my own country, in the land of Israel, while I was still a young man, the whole tribe of Naph′tali my forefather deserted the house of Jerusalem. This was the place which had been chosen from among all the tribes of Israel, where all the tribes should sacrifice and where the temple of the dwelling of the Most High was consecrated and established for all generations for ever.
5 All the tribes that joined in apostasy used to sacrifice to the calf Ba′al, and so did the house of Naph′tali my forefather. 6 But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the feasts, as it is ordained for all Israel by an everlasting decree. Taking the first fruits and the tithes of my produce and the first shearings, I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar. 7 Of all my produce I would give a tenth to the sons of Levi who ministered at Jerusalem; a second tenth I would sell, and I would go and spend the proceeds each year at Jerusalem; 8 the third tenth I would give to those to whom it was my duty, as Deb′orah my father’s mother had commanded me, for I was left an orphan by my father. 9 When I became a man I married Anna, a member of our family, and by her I became the father of Tobi′as.
Taken Captive to Nineveh
10 Now when I was carried away captive to Nin′eveh, all my brethren and my relatives ate the food of the Gentiles; 11 but I kept myself from eating it, 12 because I remembered God with all my heart. 13 Then the Most High gave me favor and good appearance in the sight of Shalmane′ser, and I was his buyer of provisions. 14 So I used to go into Media, and once at Rages in Media I left ten talents of silver in trust with Gab′ael, the brother of Gabri′as. 15 But when Shalmane′ser died, Sennach′erib his son reigned in his place; and under him the highways were unsafe, so that I could no longer go into Media.
Courage in Burying the Dead
16 In the days of Shalmane′ser I performed many acts of charity to my brethren. 17 I would give my bread to the hungry and my clothing to the naked; and if I saw any one of my people dead and thrown out behind the wall of Nin′eveh, I would bury him. 18 And if Sennach′erib the king put to death any who came fleeing from Judea, I buried them secretly. For in his anger he put many to death. When the bodies were sought by the king, they were not found. 19 Then one of the men of Nin′eveh went and informed the king about me, that I was burying them; so I hid myself. When I learned that I was being searched for, to be put to death, I left home in fear. 20 Then all my property was confiscated and nothing was left to me except my wife Anna and my son Tobi′as.
21 But not fifty days passed before two of Sennach′erib’s sons killed him, and they fled to the mountains of Ar′arat. Then Esarhad′don, his son, reigned in his place; and he appointed Ahi′kar, the son of my brother An′ael, over all the accounts of his kingdom and over the entire administration. 22 Ahi′kar interceded for me, and I returned to Nin′eveh. Now Ahi′kar was cupbearer, keeper of the signet, and in charge of administration of the accounts, for Esarhad′don had appointed him second to himself. He was my nephew.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that we are seeing Tobit sum up the final result of the sins that Ahab and Jezebel led the nation of Israel into; the kingdom was conquered by the surrounding nations, bit by bit, until the Assyrian Empire completely overthrew the Hebrew kings of Israel, and led them into captivity. The Assyrians conquered many people, and what they did to pacify those peoples was a series of population exchanges, so that half of the people from any given region would be resettled elsewhere, throughout the Assyrian Empire, and replaced with people similarly displaced from other conquered areas. This is how, for instance, Tobit ends up in Ninevah, but Gabael ends up in Rages in Media. The other thing to point out is what Tobit does that shows his faithfulness. While he is still in Israel, he does not worship Jereboam’s golden calves, but instead goes to the Temple in Jerusalem, and gives three tithes of all his produce as commanded in the Law. After he goes into exile, he does not eat the food sacrificed to idols, and he cares for poor and needy Jews, and he buries those who are denied burial, at the risk of his own life and freedom and prosperity. In short – he remains faithful to God, even in exile.)
2) What do we learn about God in this reading?
3) What do we learn about human beings in this reading?
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)
Letter of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians – 1
Now that we have read the Didache, we’ll take the chance this summer to read another piece of early Christian writing, from the letters of St. Ignatios of Antioch. St. Ignatios was the bishop of Antioch in the period just after the Apostles; he was himself a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, and possibly of Sts. Peter and Paul as well. During the reign of the Emperor Trajan, between A.D. 98 and 117, he was arrested and tried, and when he refused to renounce Christ before the Emperor himself, he was condemned to death by wild beasts in Rome, since the emperor didn’t want to martyr him in his own city, but in a distant and humiliating obscurity far away. During the long journey to Rome, as he passed through the cities of Asia Minor, he was visited by delegations from several of the churches in that region, and in turn he wrote letters to several of them, as well as a letter to the Church in Rome. These letters have been preserved in the Church since that time, and give us a priceless glimpse of the life of the Church in the first decades of the 2nd century. We will be reading his letter to the Ephesians.
Salutation
Ignatius the God-bearer to the church at Ephesus in Asia, blessed with greatness through the fullness of God the Father, predestined before the ages for lasting and unchangeable glory forever, united and elect through genuine suffering by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our God, a church most worthy of blessing: heartiest greetings in Jesus Christ and in blameless joy.
Thanks for Visit and Assistance
I welcomed in God your well-beloved name, which you possess by reason of your righteous nature, characterized by faith in and love of Christ Jesus our Savior. Being imitators of God, once you took on new life through the blood of God you completed perfectly the task so natural to you. For when you heard that I was on my way from Syria in chains for the sake of our shared name and hope, and was hoping through your prayers to succeed in fighting with wild beasts in Rome – in order that by so succeeding I might be able to be a disciple – you hurried to visit me.
Since, therefore, I have received in God’s name your whole congregation in the person of Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love who is also your earthly bishop, I pray that you will love him in accordance with the standard set by Jesus Christ and that all of you will be like him. For blessed is the one who has graciously allowed you, worthy as you are, to have such a bishop.
Now concerning my fellow servant Burrhus, who is by God’s will your deacon, blessed in every respect, I pray that he may remain with me both for your honor and the bishop’s. And Crocus also, who is worthy of God and of you, whom I received as a living example of your love, has refreshed me in every way; may the Father of Jesus Christ likewise refresh him, together with Onesimus, Burrhus, Euplus, and Fronto, in whom I saw all of you with respect to love. May I always have joy in you – if, that is, I am worthy. It is proper, therefore, in every way to glorify Jesus Christ, who has glorified you, so that you, joined together in a united obedience and subject to the bishop and the council of presbyters, may be sanctified in every respect.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note that we see Ignatius present himself as a man facing death as a test, a trial, a completion of a life lived in faithfulness to Jesus Christ. He calls himself the God-bearer, and does not come across as a man who is afraid of death, but rather as a man who is intent on finishing his chosen course well, but also is concerned about the well-being of those he leaves behind. He is writing to this church to encourage them to be faithful themselves, and giving them specific instructions in how to do so. One final point – the bishop of Ephesus, Onesimus, is one of the many disciples of St. Paul that are named in the New Testament, which emphasizes for us the closeness of this time to that of the Apostles, as not only Ignatius himself, but many of the other leaders of the Church in Asia Minor and throughout the world, would have been themselves catechized and baptized by the Apostles.)
2) What do we learn about God in this reading?
3) What do we learn about human beings in this reading?
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 14:1-35
We have now read all of the Gospel of Luke, except for chapters 14 through 21 (we actually read the latter part of Luke 19, which describes Palm Sunday, but the rest of it has not been read yet). These chapters cover the final actions and teachings of the Lord before His Passion, both before He went to Jerusalem, and in the final days before the Last Supper. We will cover these remaining chapters over the course of the summer.
Jesus Heals the Man with Dropsy
14 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. 2 Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” 4 But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. 5 Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” 6 And they could not reply to this.
Humility and Hospitality
7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Parable of the Great Dinner
15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ 20 Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’”
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
About Salt
34 “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
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) What do we learn about God in this story?
3) What do we learn about human beings in this story?
4) What do you find difficult about this story? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always.).
5) Does this story make you think that you need to change anything in your life?