Day 1 (Monday)
Leviticus 26:1-46 ( Rewards for Obedience, Penalties for Disobedience)
Last time, we read the beginning of Leviticus chapter 25, as the Lord commanded His people to observe a sabbath year of rest every seventh year, and a year of jubilee every 50th year. We discussed how this commandment emphasized the Lord’s care for His people (and their trust in Him), as well as His requirement that no one should be allowed to be permanently impoverished, and every blessing that the Lord gave to them was to be shared with the poor and the stranger living among them. This time we will see the blessings that God promises to them when they are faithful, and the penalties for disobedience.
Rewards for Obedience
26 You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no carved images or pillars, and you shall not place figured stones in your land, to worship at them; for I am the Lord your God. 2 You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
3 If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully, 4 I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land. 6 And I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid; I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword shall go through your land.
7 You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will look with favor upon you and make you fruitful and multiply you; and I will maintain my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old grain long stored, and you shall have to clear out the old to make way for the new.
11 I will place my dwelling in your midst, and I shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
Penalties for Disobedience
14 But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, 16 I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not obey me, I will continue to punish you sevenfold for your sins. 19 I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. 20 Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.
21 If you continue hostile to me, and will not obey me, I will continue to plague you sevenfold for your sins. 22 I will let loose wild animals against you, and they shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock; they shall make you few in number, and your roads shall be deserted.
23 If in spite of these punishments you have not turned back to me, but continue hostile to me, 24 then I too will continue hostile to you: I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 I will bring the sword against you, executing vengeance for the covenant; and if you withdraw within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into enemy hands. 26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven, and they shall dole out your bread by weight; and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied.
27 But if, despite this, you disobey me, and continue hostile to me, 28 I will continue hostile to you in fury; I in turn will punish you myself sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars; I will heap your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols. I will abhor you. 31 I will lay your cities waste, will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing odors. 32 I will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And you I will scatter among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword against you; your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste.
34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbath years as long as it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbath years. 35 As long as it lies desolate, it shall have the rest it did not have on your sabbaths when you were living on it. 36 And as for those of you who survive, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall though no one pursues.
37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand against your enemies. 38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall devour you. 39 And those of you who survive shall languish in the land of your enemies because of their iniquities; also they shall languish because of the iniquities of their ancestors.
40 But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors, in that they committed treachery against me and, moreover, that they continued hostile to me— 41 so that I, in turn, continued hostile to them and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
43 For the land shall be deserted by them, and enjoy its sabbath years by lying desolate without them, while they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they dared to spurn my ordinances, and they abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, or abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God; 45 but I will remember in their favor the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, to be their God: I am the Lord.
46 These are the statutes and ordinances and laws that the Lord established between himself and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses.
Reading 15
1230 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 that these prophecies were fulfilled, effectively word for word, in the conquest of first Israel and then Judah by the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, respectively. They had spent 490 years in Promised Land when Jerusalem was finally sacked, and then they remained in captivity for 70 years, as God says in verses 34 & 35, so that every Sabbath Year that they had neglected and refused would be observed during the period of the exile of the great and powerful of the land. We may see, too, the fulfillment of the promise that God makes in verse 40, that if they confess their sins, God will remember them. We have seen such prayers of confession and repentance in the books of Esther and Daniel, and we know that God brought His people back to Judaea and Jerusalem after the 70 years were completed. But ultimately, it is in His coming in the flesh that His promise is finally fulfilled in full, as He remembers them and comes to dwell with them, to restore them and to save them. We will see this promise made anew next week in an excerpt from the prophecy of Jeremiah.)
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)
Akathist Hymn – Stases 1 & 2
As we move past the mid-point of Great Lent and approach Holy Week, we will take the next couple weeks to read aloud the Akathist Hymn. As is well known, the Akathist Hymn, so-called because everyone stands, and does not sit, during the exclamation and proclamation of the Stanzas, as attributed to St. Romanos the Melodist, from sometime in the 6th century. We read one Stanza each week, for four weeks, and then on the fifth Friday of Great Lent, we read the entire Akathist Hymn at once. In all of this, we are meditating through the poetry of the Akathist Hymn upon the Incarnation of the Lord, with our focus on the vessel of His Incarnation: His all-holy mother, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.
Akathist Hymn – First Stanza
Kontakion 1
O Champion General, I your City now inscribe to you triumphant anthems as the tokens of my gratitude, being rescued from the terrors, O Theotokos. Inasmuch as you have power unassailable, from all kinds of perils free me, so that unto you I may cry aloud: Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.
Oikos 1
A prince of the angels was sent from heaven to say to the Theotokos, “Rejoice!” and beholding you, Lord, embodied, he was astounded and halted, and with his bodiless voice stood crying out to her thus:
‘Rejoice, you through whom the Joy will shine forth, Rejoice, through whom the curse is abolished henceforth,
Rejoice, recalling of the fallen Adam: Rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve.
Rejoice, height hard to climb by mortal surmise: Rejoice, depth hard to plumb for even angelic eyes.
Rejoice, for you are a throne for the King, Rejoice, for you carry the One who carries all things.
Rejoice, star that makes visible the Sun, Rejoice, womb of divine incarnation.
Rejoice, you through whom creation is created afresh: Rejoice, you through whom the Creator as a babe becomes flesh.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Kontakion 2
Because the holy Woman perceived herself wholly pure, she boldly addressed Gabriel: 'It seems hard to my spirit to give admittance to the paradox of your utterance: for you foretell pregnancy from a seedless conception, crying: ‘Alleluia.’
Oikos 2
Calling to the ministering angel, the Virgin sought to know unknown knowledge, ‘From a pure womb how can a son be born? Tell me.’ He spoke to her in fear, only crying out:
‘Rejoice, initiate of God’s ineffable deliberation, Rejoice, assurance of men’s silent supplication.
Rejoice, beginning of Christ’s marvels, Rejoice, O crowning of his gospel,
Rejoice, heavenly ladder by which God did descend, Rejoice, bridge leading those from earth to heaven.
Rejoice, wonder who is well-known among angels, Rejoice, wound that is lamented by demons.
Rejoice, for ineffably you gave birth to the Light, Rejoice, for you revealed the mystery to no-one outright.
Rejoice, who surpass the knowledge of the wise, Rejoice, who illuminate the minds of the faithful.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!
Kontakion 3
Divine power of the Most High then overshadowed her untried in marriage, making her conceive: and her fruitful womb he revealed as a pleasant field for all wishing to harvest a yield of salvation through chanting thus: Alleluia.
Oikos 3
Enclosing God within her womb, the Virgin hurried to Elizabeth: the unborn child of the latter, at once recognizing the greeting of the former, rejoiced, and, springing as if singing, cried to the Theotokos:
'Rejoice, vine with unwithering shoot: rejoice, farm with untainted fruit.
Rejoice, you who cultivate the cultivator loving mankind: rejoice, you who grow in your garden the gardener of our life.
Rejoice, arable yielding a bountiful stack of pity: rejoice, table wielding a plentiful stock of mercy.
Rejoice, because you are furbishing a lush pasturage: rejoice, because you are furnishing for souls an anchorage.
Rejoice, accepted incense of mediation: rejoice, the whole world's propitiation.
Rejoice, goodwill of God towards mortals: rejoice, free speech of mortals towards God.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.
Kontakion 4
Feeling within himself a whirl of doubtful thoughts, prudent Joseph was disturbed, seeing that you were un-mated and suspecting a secret coupling, Ο Blameless One: but on ascertaining that your conceiving was from the Holy Spirit, he exclaimed: 'Alleluia!’
Akathist Hymn – Second Stanza
Oikos 4
God's incarnate presence the angels sang in hymns, the shepherds heard and, running as though towards a shepherd, they saw him as a blameless lamb pastured in the womb of Mary, and hymning her they declaimed:
'Rejoice, mother of lamb and shepherd: rejoice, fold of sensible sheep.
Rejoice, buttress against invisible predators: rejoice, portress of the gates of paradise.
Rejoice, because heaven exults with earth: rejoice, because earth dances with the heavens.
Rejoice, loquacity of the apostles that cannot be struck dumb: rejoice, audacity of the victorious martyrs that cannot be overcome.
Rejoice, solid fortification of faith: rejoice, lucid indication of grace.
Rejoice, through whom Hades has been stripped bare: rejoice, through whom we have been clothed in glory.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.
Kontakion 5
Having seen a star leading to God, wise men followed its brightness, and retaining it as a torch searched with its aid for a mighty king: and when they attained the unattainable, they rejoiced, crying to him: "Alleluia!"
Oikos 5
In the hands of the Virgin, sons of the Chaldaeans saw him who with his hands made men: and sensing him to be their Master, even though he had taken on the form of a servant, they hastened to honour him with their gifts and to cry to the Blessed Woman:
'Rejoice, mother of an unsetting star: rejoice, dawn of a mystic day.
Rejoice, who extinguish the furnace of duplicity: rejoice, who illumine the initiates of the Trinity.
Rejoice, who depose from rule an inhuman tyrant: rejoice, who expose to view Christ, our mankind-loving Lord.
Rejoice, who liberate us from the pagan religion: rejoice, who extricate us from the clay of burdens.
Rejoice, who quench the worship of fire: rejoice, who deliver us from the flame of passions.
Rejoice, leader of the faithful towards piety: rejoice, breeder, in all people, of gaiety.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.
Kontakion 6
Journeying back to Babylon, having become god-bearing heralds, the wise men fulfilled your oracle, proclaiming you to everyone as the Christ, abandoning Herod as horrid, for he did not know how to chant: 'Alleluia!'
Oikos 6
Κindling in Egypt the light of truth, you banished the darkness of falsehood: for, Saviour, the idols of that land, unable to withstand your strength, collapsed: and those who were delivered from them cried to the God-bearer:
'Rejoice, restitution of humans: rejoice, destitution of demons.
Rejoice, who patrol the ambages of trickery: rejoice, who control the images' treachery.
Rejoice, sea slaughtering the Pharaoh of the mind: rejoice, rock watering those thirsty for life.
Rejoice, pillar of fire, guiding those in darkness: rejoice, canopy of the world, broader than a cloud.
Rejoice, substitutor of Manna as food: rejoice, distributor of what is holy and good.
Rejoice, promised land: rejoice, from whom flow honey and milk.
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.
Kontakion 7
Lord, when Symeon was about to begone from this present deceitful eon, you were given to him as an infant, but you were recognized by him even as perfect God: wherefore he was astonished at your ineffable wisdom, crying: 'Alleluia!’
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 this hymn sums up, in the two stanzas that we read today, the entirety of the Lord’s life on earth until He was twelve years old, beginning with the Annunciation and concluding with His time in the Temple that during that Passover pilgrimage when He remained in Jerusalem, discoursing with the teachers of the Law in the Temple, while His mother and Joseph the Betrothed began to return home without Him. We see, too, the way in which our meditation upon the person of the Virgin Mary functions for us as a confession of the Lord’s Incarnation, of His divinity and humanity that met and united in her womb without confusion, without change, without division & without separation, as the Council of Chalcedon proclaimed. What the Council proclaims in theological terms, then, we reflect upon in poetic and iconographic terms, meditating upon our God Who has come to us and saved us even as we keep the Fast and prepare to celebrate His Resurrection.)
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 16:16-40 (Paul & Silas in Prison)
Last time, we saw Paul and Silas, accompanied by Timothy, reach the far west of Asia Minor and then cross over to Europe, coming to Macedonia, to the city of Philippi. There they met and baptized a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple, who invited them to stay in her home with her household. They agreed, and were tending the new Church in the city for a time; we will see what happened next this week.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.”
22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
35 When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, un-condemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.”
38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens; 39 so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.
Reading 30 – 603 words
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note how Paul and Silas conduct themselves in the prison. We must understand that this prison was most assuredly a deeply unpleasant place, as it was the place where they put people with no rights, non-citizens who were effectively non-persons. Nonetheless, in that place, we see Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to the Lord, giving us an example of what the Lord commanded in Matthew 5:12, that we should “rejoice and be glad” when we are reviled and persecuted, and indeed that we should “be of good cheer” when we have tribulation in the world, because the Lord has “overcome the world (John 16:33).)
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?