Day 1 (Monday)
Genesis 18:16-33 (Judgment on Sodom, Abraham Bargains with God)
Last time we saw God come to Abraham and Sarah and promised that the long-promised son would be born within a year’s time. He came, however, together with two angels, and as they left they went toward Sodom. The Lord, however, remains behind, and speaks with Abraham, and tells him what is going to happen there…and then He is very patient with Abraham, as we will see.
Judgment Pronounced on Sodom
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! 21 I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.”
22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
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 of all that the text again makes explicit that it is God Himself Who is present talking with Abraham here, and that Abraham knows to Whom He is speaking. It is also good to note that, when the text shows God “talking to Himself,” this is simply the way in which it is explaining to us, the reader, and to Abraham Himself, what God’s purpose is in speaking about this to Abraham: namely, so that Abraham and his descendants know the cost of evil. This passage also shows us that God does not abandon the righteous; rather, He withholds or delays judgment for the sake of the righteous, and even when the time comes for judgment, He saves the righteous, as we will see next time.)
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)
Hymns from the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (November 21)
Every year on November 21st, we celebrate the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. This feast is coming up on Monday of next week, so we will talk about it this week. The story of this feast is that when the Virgin Mary was three years old, her parents dedicated her to serve in the Temple. When she was brought to the Temple, the Priest Zacharias (the father of St. John the Baptist) greeted her, but she walked straight into the Temple by herself, and went straight into the Holy Place, and beyond the curtain into the Holy of Holies, which is where the Ark of the Covenant had used to be, until it was lost. The Holy of Holies had therefore been empty for hundreds of years, since the Temple was rebuilt, and along with its absence, the people of God understood that God’s Presence had never returned to the Temple. With the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, the Fathers of the Church understand a transition, from the Temple of the Old Covenant, in which God had been pleased to dwell with His people, to the Temple of the New Covenant, as the Lord dwells in the Faithful, and first of all, of course, in His All-holy Mother. The following hymns reflect on this.
Doxastikon of the Liti
A joyous day has dawned, a most venerable feast day. For today, she who would be a virgin before childbirth, and who would remain a virgin after childbirth, is brought to the Temple. Zacharias the elder, the father of the Forerunner, rejoices and in ecstasy announces: "She has arrived, she who is anticipated by an afflicted people! She comes, as one holy, to the holy Temple, to be dedicated as the dwelling place of the King of all!" Let Joachim the forefather be glad, and let Anna be exultant, for they offered to God the blameless Maiden, like a three-year old heifer. Μothers, rejoice with them, and virgins, leap for joy, and barren women, join in dance; for the kingdom of heaven has been opened to us, by the girl who was fore-ordained to be the Queen of all. O people everywhere, rejoice and be glad!
Apolytikion of the Feast
Today is the prelude of God's good pleasure, and the proclamation of humanity's salvation. In the temple of God, the Virgin is presented openly, and in herself she announces Christ to all. Let us, then, with a great voice cry aloud to her: "Rejoice, you are the fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation."
1st Kathisma Hymn for the Feast
The feeder of our Life, now an infant in body, * the offspring of the just Joachim and Anna, * is offered to God today in the holy Sanctuary. * She was blessed therein by the priest Zacharias. * Therefore let us all, with faith, proclaim she is blessed,* for she is the Mother of the Lord.
Oikos of the Feast
Seeing the grace of God's ineffable and divine mysteries evident and manifestly fulfilled in the Virgin, I rejoice; and I am at a loss to understand the ineffable and strange manner in which the immaculate Maid alone proved to be chosen above all creation visible and invisible. Therefore, wishing to extol her, I am greatly perplexed in mind and speech. Nevertheless I dare to do it, and I proclaim and magnify: A heavenly tabernacle is she.
Hymn from Ode 2 of Canon 1 of the Feast
Today the Temple has become a wedding hall; ⁄ a fair chamber for the Virgin. ⁄ It receives the living Bridal Chamber of God, ⁄ the pure and spotless One Who shines more brightly than all creation.
Hymn from Ode 2 of Canon 1 of the Feast
David leaps in gladness, leading the dance, ⁄ and rejoicing with us, he calls you the Queen, ⁄ clad in raiment of many-colored needlework, ⁄ undefiled and all-pure Virgin, ⁄ standing in the Temple before the King and God.
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 all the promises that God has been making to Abraham in the Day 1 readings these past several weeks, about how all the nations of the world would be blessed by his descendants, are fulfilled precisely in the Virgin Mary, for as the 1st Kathisma Hymn says here, she is the one who feeds Jesus Christ, Who is our life, and the life of the entire world. It is a marvelous and amazing thing, that all the stories of the Old Testament, all the promises and mistakes, all the hopes and the doubts, arrive at their end point here, with this little girl walking into the Temple, to become herself the Temple of the Most High God, the vessel of His Presence in the world, the Mother of God-with-us, Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel. We should also note that this feastday is a perfect and fitting beginning to our Advent season, as we begin fasting this week, in preparation for the Feast of the Lord’s Nativity, which is to say, in preparation for Christmas.)
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)
Matthew 6:19-34 (Treasure in Heaven, Light and Darkness, Seek First the Kingdom of God)
Last time we saw Jesus talk to His disciples about the three essential disciplines of the Christian life (almsgiving, prayer, and fasting), and both teach them (and us) how to go about these efforts, but especially how important it is that we NOT do these things to impress or please other people, but should instead do these things in secret, so that only our Father in heaven knows what we are doing. This time, the Lord will extend the lesson, reminding us that what is important in life does not come from the people or from the world around us, but rather from above, from our Father in heaven.
Concerning Treasures
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Sound Eye
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Serving Two Masters
24 “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
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 how the Lord talked last time about religious actions, such as almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, and then moves on to talk about how the Christian should approach the “non-religious” matters of daily life, such as wealth, food, and clothing. The point in all of these things is the same, however: we need to remember that our life comes from God, not from the things of this world, and in the same way as we should not do “religious actions” for the sake of the good opinion of the people around us, so too we should not set the first priority on gaining the other good things of this world, such as treasure, food, and clothing. In all things, we need to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and entrust ourselves to God that He will be faithful and provide for us what we need in this life if we are indeed faithful to Him. This doesn’t mean that we don’t work, or that we don’t buy food or clothing, just as what the Lord said about the right way to fast, pray, and give alms doesn’t mean that we simply abandon fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. But in all that we do, we must put God first.)
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?