Day 1 (Monday)
Leviticus 20:1-10, 22-27; 21:1-17; 21-24 (Holiness Code 3 – Penalties for Violations of Holiness, Holiness of Priests)
Last time we saw the commandments that God gave to the children of Israel in particular about what they were to do to set themselves apart as holy unto Him. It involved many things that we have seen before, with what was basically a recapitulation of the Ten Commandments, and further details about how to tend a field or an orchard and how to treat non-Israelites living among them. This time, we will see the penalties for idolatry, eating blood, and sexual immorality, and then will see some of the particular requirements established for the priests.
Penalties for Violations of Holiness
20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Say further to the people of Israel:
Any of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside in Israel, who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death. 3 I myself will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people, because they have given of their offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should ever close their eyes to them, when they give of their offspring to Molech, and do not put them to death, 5 I myself will set my face against them and against their family, and will cut them off from among their people, them and all who follow them in prostituting themselves to Molech.
6 If any turn to mediums and wizards, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people. 7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the Lord; I sanctify you. 9 All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their blood is upon them.
10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
…then details are given of other adulterous and forbidden relationships that are met with the same penalty…
22 You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out. 23 You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24 But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.
27 A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned to death, their blood is upon them.
The Holiness of Priests
21 The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his relatives, 2 except for his nearest kin: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother; 3 likewise, for a virgin sister, close to him because she has had no husband, he may defile himself for her. 4 But he shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 They shall not make bald spots upon their heads, or shave off the edges of their beards, or make any gashes in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the Lord’s offerings by fire, the food of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband. For they are holy to their God, 8 and you shall treat them as holy, since they offer the food of your God; they shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, I who sanctify you, am holy. 9 When the daughter of a priest profanes herself through prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned to death.
10 The priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the vestments, shall not dishevel his hair, nor tear his vestments. 11 He shall not go where there is a dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother. 12 He shall not go outside the sanctuary and thus profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. 13 He shall marry only a woman who is a virgin. 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, a prostitute, these he shall not marry. He shall marry a virgin of his own kin, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his kin; for I am the Lord; I sanctify him.
16 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 17 Speak to Aaron and say: No one of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the food of his God.
…then various sorts of blemishes are listed…
21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the food of his God, of the most holy as well as of the holy. 23 But he shall not come near the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries; for I am the Lord; I sanctify them. 24 Thus Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.
Chapter 22 speaks of the use of the offerings, that they are to be treated as holy, and that only unblemished offerings are to be given, and that newborn animals are not to be sacrificed until they are a little older, and that they are never to be sacrificed together with their mothers.
Reading 10 – Holiness Code 3
1053 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader can point out first how strange a coincidence that our reading this week last year was about the medium to whom King Saul turned when he wanted to speak with Samuel; we talked then the sort of blood-soaked, corrupted rituals were involved in calling up a spirit. But more generally, we should recognize how this passage shows us two things. First, in the Holiness Code over the last two weeks, we saw the commandments that God had given to the people of Israel and those non-Israelites who lived among them, but we didn't see what the people were supposed to do if they found someone among them practicing these things. That is what we see this week; the people are commanded not to endure such behavior among them, lest they be vomited out together with the sinners. Second, we should note how the standards and requirements are higher for the priests than for the people at large; this point helps us to understand why the people of Israel themselves are held to a higher standard than the nations at large. It is not necessarily a question of sin or morality (although in some cases it is), but more generally it is a matter of being set apart, of dwelling near to or coming directly into the presence of God. Those who do so are to behave differently; even if a loved one dies, they are not to grieve in the way that others do, because they are holy to the Lord. The details, once again, are not quite the same, but we see in the Church that the Clergy are held to a higher standard than the people at large, because they, too, are set apart as holy to the Lord.)
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)
Saint Theophan the Recluse – The Path of Prayer – Sermon 4-1
As we move more deeply into Great Lent, it is good that we should read something regarding the spiritual effort of prayer in which we are engaged. For the last three years, we have read three of four little sermons preached by St. Theophan the Recluse on the subject of prayer, and this year, we will read the last. These four sermons were published in the little book “The Path of Prayer” by Praxis Press, translated by Esther Williams. St. Theophan will provide us with an introduction himself, connecting this sermon to the prior three.
Saint Theophan the Recluse – A Life of Prayer – 1
I have no spoken to you about techniques of prayer three times:
1. About the method of reciting prayers with attention.
2. About the method of ascending to God with mind and heart in accord.
3. And about the method of standing constantly in the presence of God with burning spirit.
In order that everyone can take part in the blessing of prayer to the measure of his capacity, the Lord has showed us different steps and different kinds of prayer. Because the work of prayer is a great labour, it is, as I said earlier, the proof of the life of the spirit, as well as its food. Because of this, above all else, we should strive for perfection in prayer.
I have described to you briefly how you can succeed in different kinds of prayer. Now I want to add to that a reminder, and also a warning, for it is difficult and even almost impossible to succeed in prayer if one does not at the same time strive for other virtues.
If we compare prayer to a perfume, and the soul to a flask, it becomes clear that just as it is impossible to store a perfume in a flask that is full of holes, so, in a soul which lacks may of the virtues and which is therefore not whole, it is impossible to preserve the perfume of prayer.
If we compare a man of prayer to the structure of the body, we can learn the following lesson: just as – for example – a man with only one leg cannot walk, even if the rest of his body is in good health, so a man who is not active in good works cannot come near to God, nor can he reach Him in prayer. Penetrate to the heart of the apostolic teachings, and you will see that they never speak of prayer alone. It is always accompanied by good works. For example, listen how the Apostle Paul summons the Christian to the spiritual struggle and arms him with all the weapons of God.
Examine what these weapons are. The Christian must:
– Gird his loins with Truth and put on the breastplate of Righteousness
– His feet must be shod with the Truth of the gospel of Peace.
– His shield is Faith.
– His helmet is Hope.
– His sword is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:14-17)
These are your weapons!
Only as a result of all this has he established his warrior in prayer, as in a fortress, about whom he says: “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18).
It is only by prayer – of course – that all the enemies can be overcome. But before we can be strong in prayer, we must succeed in Faith, in Hope, and in Knowledge of the Truth, in Truthfulness – and in everything else.
In another place the same apostle, investing the soul with wedding garments, as if it were the bride of Christ, says:
“Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forgiveness of one another, love, peace…and the Word of Christ…in wisdom” (Colossians 3:12-16a).
Then, like a crowning virtue, he puts prayer at the head:
“…teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, with hymns and spiritual songs, singing – with grace in your hearts – unto God” (Colossians 3:16b)
In many other places in the Word of God, prayer is placed in absolute interdependence with all good works, regarded as their queen to whom all of them minister, and who calls them all to follow her. Better still, she is known as their fragrant blossom. As the blossom – in order to catch the eye – must stand out from leaf and branch, trunk and root, so prayer, the blossom of the soul, surpasses its entourage of virtues and good works, as if they were its roots. Faith is its trunk, Charity forms the branches, and spiritual and physical labours are its leaves.
When such a tree is rooted in our soul, it will blossom with prayer all day long, filling the whole temple within us with its fragrance.
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 virtues that St. Theophan mentions dovetail with what we have been reading from the Holiness Code in Leviticus. Righteousness and virtue is not simply a matter of abstaining from sin (although it is certainly that) but of active faithfulness to God, in loving our neighbor as ourselves, generosity to those in need, and all the other virtues that we see in both the Old and the New Testament. We cannot simply pray, and then live in whatever way we wish; we must actively follow the Lord, taking up our Cross, and walking in the newness of life to which He calls us.)
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)
Acts 15:22-41 (Council’s Letter to Gentile Christians, Paul & Barnabas Separate)
Last time we saw the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem address the question of whether Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised and follow every detail of the Torah, the Law of Moses, in order to be partakers of the Eucharist. We saw Peter bear witness to what had happened in the house of Cornelius the Centurion, when the Holy Spirit fell upon all the Gentiles gathered there even before they had been baptized, and we saw Paul and Barnabas bear witness to all that the Lord had done in the Churches they had established and ministered to throughout Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Syria. Then we saw James the brother of the Lord speak the decision of the council, that Gentile Faithful are only to be held to the three points of Leviticus 17 & 18, to abstain from idolatry, eating of blood, and sexual immorality. This time, we will see the Jerusalem Council prepare a message to send to the Church in Antioch and throughout the Church in all the world.
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
22 Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, 25 we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
27 “We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
30 So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. 32 Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas Separate
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Reading 28 – 440 words
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 the enormity of the statement that the Council in Jerusalem makes in verse 28: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” They assert that they are sending through the decision of the Holy Spirit, as well as their own, in making this ruling about what Gentile Christians are required to do. There are two elements of this that are notable. The first is that the Church claims the authority of the Holy Spirit with their decision. The second, however, is that they are not claiming that the Holy Spirit backs THEIR decision, but that they have discerned and received the decision of the Holy Spirit. This was what we saw happen in the council when the critical testimony was that of St. Peter, describing the Gentile Pentecost, as the Holy Spirit descended upon men who had been neither circumcised nor baptized, and of St. Paul, describing the mighty works that God had done among the Gentile Churches in Asia Minor. The Council read the Scriptures, and recognized what God had done in the Churches, and then submitted to it. This is the principle that we see in subsequent councils. They do not MAKE decisions or CREATE theology, but they UPHOLD the truth delivered once for all to the Apostles, and witnessed and maintained by the working of the Holy Spirit in the Church from that day to this.)
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?