Another Reflection for the Day: There are the most beautiful words found in the Scripture readings for Orthodox New Years (Sept. 1st): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…”… “…that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” In reading them we can feel the full-force of God’s love for us and the life He wants to lead us in to—or better yet—the Kingdom He desires to build within each and every one of us. A Kingdom that is built on and completely driven with sharing the love of God with others. In both we are given the exterior and interior elements of building the Kingdom of God with in us. The start is to live each moment of the “Now” wrapped in the presence of the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… .” It does not say, “I ‘was’ in the Spirit,” or “…’when’ the Spirit comes… ,” but, “The Spirit ‘is’ upon me.” The beginning of the building the Kingdom within begins with living in the “Now” with the Holy Spirit. This is the teaching of the Fathers, it is not some new age mum-bo-gum-bo. We are call to live, think and speak every moment as an outpouring of the God Who lives within us. How is this done? It is done with mindfulness—being mindful at every moment that God is in us—being mindful of every thought, word and action. Too often our minds lock onto a past event or spends all its time racing ahead to what comes next. To live in the Spirit is to stop take a breath and acknowledge the indwelling of a loving God. The second is to understand just what this “Good News” is. I can only speak for myself, and I am not a theologian, but my years in Orthodoxy has lead me to this conclusion—the “Good News” is that “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8), that, “…we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16), and that “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear… (1 John 4:18).” This is the “Good News” we are to preach and it is what I believe is at the heart of the Orthodox Christian way of life—if we choose to live it on a daily basis. If we do that we will begin living “a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Have a Blessed Day, Fr. Stephen Epistle Reading The reading is from St. Pauls First Letter to Timothy 2:1-7 TIMOTHY, my son, first of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Gospel Reading The reading is from Luke 4:16-22 At that time, Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Sent from Windows Mail
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 14:38:52 +0000