Day 1 (Monday)
Proverbs 2:1-22
This reading and reflection marks the beginning of the second year of the Religious Education Initiative at St. George. Each week, we will provide three readings for the parish. Everyone is urged to participate; families should participate together, reading the selections Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (or three other days/times, if they work better). Anyone can take the lead, but we recommend that the father and mother in each household do so, and, since fathers often get left out of religious matters in the home, because of their other responsibilities and obligations outside of the home, we strongly recommend that each household take this opportunity to make it a priority to do these readings and reflections as an entire and whole family, all together. Wherever possible, it is best if the father takes the lead, either reading the selection and guiding the discussion himself, or delegating the reading to someone else.
As we begin the new Church year, and our second year of the Religious Education Initiative, we will start with another selection from the book of Proverbs. In this passage, the writer of Proverbs urges his son (and by extension all of us) to receive wisdom, and to treasure it and to seek it with dedication and zeal, promising that all those who seek the Lord faithfully will be saved and preserved from sin, and find all good things from God.
The Value of Wisdom
2 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you cry out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures;
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and preserving the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you;
understanding will guard you;
12 delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
13 who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14 who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil;
15 men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.
16 You will be saved from the loose woman,
from the adventuress with her smooth words,
17 who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
18 for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the shades;
19 none who go to her come back
nor do they regain the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will inhabit the land,
and men of integrity will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should note both what is being warned against, what is being advised, and what is being promised: what we should avoid, what we should do, and what we will receive if we do these things.)
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)
Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Last week, as we finished the Church year, we read a selection of the hymns that were sung during the celebration of the Feast of the Koimisis of the Theotokos on August 15th, celebrating the end of her life and her resurrection and elevation to the Divine Council. This week, as we begin the new Church year, we will read a selection of the hymns that are sung for the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Thus, we begin the Church year with her birth, and end the Church year with her death. In celebrating her birth, we thus begin with a meditation on the beginning of the Lord’s work of salvation in the world.
6th Hymn of the Kekragaria
Today, Anne the barren one gives birth to the Maiden of God, who had been chosen from all the human generations to become the dwelling-place of the Creator, Christ our God and King of all. In her He fulfilled His divine plan, through which our human nature was renewed, and by which we were to be transferred from corruption to eternal life.
Doxastikon of the Liti
On this solemn day of our feast, let us proclaim, with a spiritual lyre, that from the seed of David, the mother of Life, who dispelled the darkness, is born today. She is the recreation of Adam and restoration of Eve, the spring of incorruption and the deliverance from corruption. Through her we have been deified and have been freed from death. Let us, the faithful, cry out to her with Gabriel: "Rejoice, O Lady full of grace, the Lord is with you, and through you He grants us the great mercy."
Apolytikion of the Feast
Your Nativity, O Theotokos, imparted joy to the entire earth, for out of you has risen the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God. He nullified the curse and instead gave His blessing; and causing death to be neutralized, He granted us eternal life.
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 Virgin Mary is spoken of as the fulfillment of many expectations and plans. She is the vessel of God’s plan to save humankind, she is the dwelling place of God on earth, she is the descendant of David, she is the recreation of Adam and restoration of Eve, she is the renewal of human nature, and the source of the blessing of God upon us, through her Son, Jesus Christ. In praising her, we confess that she is an active agent, that her will and intent was involved, and not only hers, but that of her parents as well. This is a reminder to all of us both of how salvation has come to us, and of what our life in Christ must go: we need to be active agents as well, submitting our lives to the Lord, so that He can be at work in us as well for the salvation and blessing of all the world.)
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)
1 Peter 1:1-12
In Year 2 of the REI, we will read the Gospel according to Mark. This Gospel is much shorter than the Gospel of Luke, so we’ll be able to complete the entire Gospel in about 35 weeks, leaving some time here at the beginning of the Church year, and at the end, to read some other materials. The Gospel according to Mark is generally understood to represent the St. Peter’s account of the Lord’s ministry, since Mark was known to be a disciple of Peter’s in Rome, and to have written the Gospel in Alexandria prior to his own martyrdom. Therefore, for these first few weeks, between the beginning of September and the beginning of Sunday School in October, we’ll read from the first general Epistle of St. Peter, to get a sense of what he thought was most important about the Christian Faith.
Salutation
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
A Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, 11 inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look!
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note first the audience of this letter: all the places named in the introduction are in what we now call Asia Minor, mostly within the modern state of Turkey, but comprising the heartland of the Greek-speaking world at the time. Second, we should note that St. Peter is emphasizing to them that they have an inheritance that cannot be taken away from them, in which they should rejoice, even as they are suffering persecutions in this life. He is encouraging them by reminding them that they are citizens of the Kingdom of God, and that it is only to be expected that the kingdoms of this world will hate them and reject them. Even when hated and rejected, they need not be afraid, for the Lord is with them, and will be with them always.)
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?