Day 1 (Monday)
Genesis 31:22-55; 32:1-2 (Laban Overtakes Jacob, Laban & Jacob Make a Covenant)
Last week, we saw the Lord call Jacob to leave Laban, and to return to the land that He had promised to Abraham, and to Isaac, and some 20 years before to Jacob himself at Bethel. We saw how Jacob had been cheated time and again by his father-in-law, and how God had blessed him anyway, and how Jacob had given glory to God for all that he had gained, counting it as the fulfillment of God’s promise to him. This time, we will see how Laban responds.
Laban Overtakes Jacob
22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 So he took his kinsfolk with him and pursued him for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, “Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad.”
25 Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsfolk camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword. 27 Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre. 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? What you have done is foolish. 29 It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ 30 Even though you had to go because you longed greatly for your father’s house, why did you steal my gods?”
31 Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsfolk, point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt all about in the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched, but did not find the household gods.
36 Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 Although you have felt about through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsfolk and your kinsfolk, so that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.”
“40 It was like this with me: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, Whom Isaac feared, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
Laban and Jacob Make a Covenant
43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about their children whom they have borne? 44 Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a witness between you and me.” 45 So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his kinsfolk, “Gather stones,” and they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap.
47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he called it Galeed, 49 and the pillar Mizpah, for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other. 50 If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, though no one else is with us, remember that God is witness between you and me.”
51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and see the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor”—the God of their father—“judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the God Whom his father Isaac feared, 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the height and called his kinsfolk to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill country.
55 Early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.
32 Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him; 2 and when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called that place Mahanaim.
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 what this text reveals is, perhaps, the reason that Laban has treated Jacob so poorly. Although his father Nahor was a worshipper of Yahweh, Laban has fallen away from this, and worships the idols he keeps in his home. This was indicated last week as well, when Laban refused to send Jacob home the first time he asked, after 14 years of labor, but said that he had learned by divination that Jacob staying in his employ was good for business. We see it this week in that Laban keeps household idols, but also every time he speaks of the Lord as Jacob’s god, or the God of Abraham of Nahor…but never as his own god. As for the idols that Rachel stole, we aren’t given a reason for the theft, but the language used to describe Rachel stealing the gods, and Jacob “stealing the heart of Laban,” which is the idiom used to describe Jacob’s deceit of Laban, stealing away with his whole family and his flocks without telling Laban about it, are similar, and indicates that they are kindred spirits. Some other commentators have noted that Rachel does not want to use the household gods for idolatry, and that her sitting on them while menstruating is a sign of mockery and disrespect for them. I am myself less certain of this; she may not be telling the truth about this, and simply concealing the matter from her father. Regardless, this is not quite the last time we see Laban’s household gods.)
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)
St. Porphyrios On Prayer
St. Porphyrios is a saint of the 20th century, who was tonsured as a monk on Mount Athos at age 14, but left the Holy Mountain due to poor health, and eventually ended up serving as a hospital chaplain in Athens. He was renowned for his gentleness, piety, and wisdom, and was spiritual father to many, until he fell asleep in the Lord on December 2nd, 1991. He was canonized as a saint by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2013, and is commemorated on the day of his falling asleep, December 2nd. The reading for today provides some of his thoughts on the subject of prayer, from the book: “Wounded by Love.”
St. Porphyrios On Prayer
Pray for the Church, for the world, for everyone. The whole of Christendom is contained in prayer. If we pray only for ourselves, that conceals self-interest. But when you pray for the Church, you also are embraced within the Church. In the Church is Christ, united with the Church and with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity and the Church are one. Your desire must be for this: for the world to be sanctified and for everything to belong to Christ. Then you enter into the Church and you live in the joy of Paradise. You live with God, because the whole fullness of divinity dwells in the Church.
We are all one body with Christ as the head. We all constitute the Church. Our religion has this magnificent quality of uniting the world spiritually. The power of prayer is great, very great, especially when done by many together. All are united in common prayer. We feel that our neighbor is as our self. This is our life, our exaltation and our treasure. All things are easy in Christ. Christ is the centre; all move towards the centre and are united in one spirit and one heart.
Something like this happens at Pentecost. When we all hear the Psalter and the readings at the same time and in the same place, we are united in hearing by the grace of God, because what the reader says is heard by everyone and we all participate in it. The power of the many individuals is multiplied – as when they see something beautiful and they all admire it together with profound desire. Their vision, which converges on that beautiful object, unites them. The freeing of Saint Peter the Apostle from prison is an example of this: Prayer was made by the Church without ceasing (Acts 12:5). This prayer released Peter from the fetters of prison.
Love, worship of God, desire, union with God and union with the Church constitute Paradise on earth. If we acquire divine grace, all things are easy, joyful and a blessing from God. Come now and find me a religion that makes man perfect and happy! And what a pity we don’t comprehend this extraordinary quality in our religion!
When we or someone else are facing some problem, let us ask others for their prayers and let us all entreat God with faith and love. Be sure that God is pleased with these prayers and intervenes with miracles. This is something we haven’t understood properly. We say, ‘Say a prayer for me’, but without realizing the power of common prayer.
Pray for others more than for yourself. Say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’, and you will always have others in your mind. We are all children of the same Father; we are all one. And so, when we pray for others, we say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’, and not, ‘have mercy on them’. In this way we make them one with ourselves.
Prayer for others which is made gently and with deep love is selfless and has great spiritual benefit. It brings grace to the person who prays and also to the person for whom he is praying. When you have great love and this love moves you to prayer, then the waves of love are transmitted and affect the person for whom you are praying and you create around him a shield of protection and you influence him, you lead him towards what is good. When He sees your efforts, God bestows His grace abundantly on both you and on the person you are praying for. But we must die to ourselves. Do you understand?”
Wounded By Love – pages 131-132
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (Leader should point out the strange contradiction that is present here, as St. Porphyrios urges us to pray for others more than ourselves, but to do so by using words that pray for ourselves. This reality, that those we love are not separated from us, but that we are, or are all called to be, one in the Lord, is a profound mystery; it is this mystery that we are called to make a reality in our prayer for ourselves, and for one another.)
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)
John 4:16-38 (Jesus & the Woman of Samaria continued)
Last time we saw the Lord go to a city in Samaria, where He met a woman at the well, and asked her for water. When she replied with neither a yes or a no, but with a surprised question as to why He, a Jew, was talking to her, a Samaritan, He proceeded to proclaim Himself to her, telling her that if she knew who He was, she would ask Him for water; and when she replies that the water in the well was given to them by Jacob the Patriarch, and asks if He is greater than Jacob, the Lord effectively says yes, assuring her that the water that He gives will become a spring of water for everlasting life in anyone who drinks of it. She asks him for some of that water…and this week, we will see His response to her.
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (continued)
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
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 unusual is the response of the Samaritan Woman (her name, according to the tradition of the Church, is Fotini). The Lord names all her sins bluntly and succinctly, and her response is “I see that you are a prophet,” and she proceeds to ask the question that burns in her heart. It is good for us to discern the reality in many of the people who seem farthest away from the Lord, that they may also have this burning desire for truth and peace, if we can simply see them as the icons of the Lord that they are. And it is essential that we stoke this desire in our own hearts, not just to know the right thing to do at any point, but to seek the peace and love of the Lord with all our being. For those who seek will surely find.)
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?