Today is Saturday, the fourteenth of November, the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost. There is no fast, so we may simply be close to those we love. In the Gospel, the Lord sends the twelve disciples out to preach and to heal, and He tells them to take nothing with them on the road. They had to trust in the people they went to.
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Today, on Friday, the Church remembers the Lord's words that nothing hidden will remain concealed. He bids us not to fear those who can only kill the body. He reminds us that not even the sparrows are forgotten by God, and that the very hairs of our head are all numbered. So we are worth more to Him than many sparrows.
Today is Thursday, the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, a day without fasting. In the Gospel, Christ rebukes the Pharisees, who scrupulously tithe their mint and rue but neglect justice and the love of God. Outward purity is worth nothing without mercy, and He tells us to give alms from what we have. Let us ask ourselves: what can I give without expecting either praise or an answer?
Today is Wednesday, the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, and the Gospel read in church tells of the Pharisees, who scrupulously tithed mint and rue but neglected justice and the love of God. You know how easy it is to fall into the same mistake: keep the rule and leave the heart cold. The Lord does not abolish the small things, but He asks that every deed be rooted in love.
Today, Tuesday, 10 November, we are living in the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost. The Church reads the Lord's words that the lamp of the body is the eye: if the eye is clear, the whole body is full of light. The Lord tells the Pharisees that they clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and wickedness. Purity does not begin with washing hands but with the heart.
Today, Monday, the Church commemorates many saints, among them Nectarios of Aegina. We read Christ's words about the sign of Jonah and about the lamp that is set on a lampstand so that its light may be seen by those who come in. People long for miracles, but the greatest sign has already been given: the Lord Himself, and His life shines in us, provided we do not hide it under haste and fear.
Today is the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, and the Church commemorates the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers of Heaven. The Gospel tells how the Lord, in the country of the Gadarenes, met a man who had been tormented by demons for many years. He lived among the tombs and cried out, but Jesus did not turn away from him. Having cast out the demons, He restored the poor man's mind and peace, and the man, sitting at the Saviour's feet, begged to go with Him. The Lord sent him home to tell of the mercy of God.
Today, 7 November, we are in the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. In the Gospel of the day, the Lord speaks of a lamp: no one who lights a candle hides it under a vessel, but sets it on a lampstand so that its light is seen by all. Our faith is no different. It is not meant to be kept hidden, but to shine in our ordinary affairs. Those who hear the word of God and keep it become the Lord's kinsfolk.
Today is Friday, the sixth of November, the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel tells us that the heart must not be left empty: when the unclean spirit returns to a house that has been swept and set in order but stands empty, he brings with him seven others even more wicked than himself. That is why we try, little by little, to fill our lives with prayer and good works.
Today is the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, and the Gospel read is the account of how the Lord healed a mute man from whom a demon had been cast out. The crowd was amazed, and some began to say that He drives out demons by the power of the prince of demons. The Lord answers plainly: a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.
Today, on Wednesday of the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, the Church reads the Lord's words about prayer: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." The Lord simply calls us to come to the Father and not to be afraid to ask. Just as a child tugs at a father's hand, we too can bring our needs before God, knowing that He will not give us a stone in place of bread.
Today is Tuesday, 3 November, the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. There is no special feast, but the Gospel contains words that I find myself rereading with real emotion. The Lord tells His disciples that they will be persecuted for His name, yet not a hair of their heads will perish. This is not a promise of an easy life. It is a promise that through patience a soul can be preserved.
Today, Monday, the Church observes the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel tells us that the Son reveals the Father to whomever He wills, and that the disciples see what many prophets only longed to see. To see God with the heart is a gift, and we must await it with an open soul.
Today is the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, and the Church reads the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man feasted every day, while at his gate lay a beggar whom even the dogs pitied more than he did. Both died, and their fortunes were reversed. The parable is not about money. It is about whether we see the person beside us while there is still time.
Today, on Saturday, the Church reads the Gospel about the centurion of Capernaum. He did not presume to come to Jesus himself, but said that he was not worthy for the Lord to enter under his roof. A single word was enough, and his servant was healed. Jesus marveled at such faith, and the simplicity of that faith still gladdens Him.
Today is Friday, the thirtieth of October, the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost. In the Gospel the Lord sends out seventy disciples two by two, like lambs among wolves, with no purse and no sandals. They enter a house and say, "Peace be to this house." What matters most in our lives is not what we carry with us, but the peace we bring across a stranger's threshold.
Today is Thursday, the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, an ordinary day without fasting. In the Gospel, the disciples wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village that had refused to receive Jesus. He rebuked them: the Son of Man came not to destroy but to save. It is a story about our own anger. It is so easy to decide that someone does not deserve mercy, and so hard to remember that we, too, were once saved without any merit of our own.
Today is Wednesday, the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, and the Church reads of how the disciples argued over which of them was the greatest. Jesus took a child, set him in their midst, and said that whoever is least among them is the one who will be great. In these words lies the whole meaning of our life: to learn humble openness, the way a child has it.
Today is Tuesday, the 27th of October. We are in the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, and the Church reads the Lord's words that to follow Him means taking up your cross every day. He does not speak of great feats but of something simple: telling the truth instead of a convenient lie, forgiving the one who hurt you, not walking past someone else's trouble.
Today is Monday, the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, and the Church recalls the Gospel words about how the Lord asked His disciples who people said He was. Peter answered: the Christ of God. But the Lord at once told them that He must suffer many things. In this question and answer lies the whole of our faith: Christ is recognized beside Him, in prayer and on the way.
Today is the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. In church we hear the parable of the sower. One seed fell by the roadside and the birds ate it. Another fell on rocky ground and withered. A third was choked by thorns, and a fourth landed in good soil and bore fruit a hundredfold. The seed is the word of God, and each of us decides what kind of soil our heart will be.
Today the Gospel speaks of the Sabbath: the disciples pluck ears of grain, the Pharisees reproach them, and the Lord recalls David and says that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Then in the synagogue He restores health to the man with the withered hand, for good may always be done.
In today’s Gospel the disciples see that the day has turned toward evening and the people are hungry. Christ says to them: you give them something to eat. And with five loaves and two fish he feeds thousands, and twelve baskets are left over. This is not about how little we have, but about how close he is.
Today the Church commemorates the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and the Gospel reading tells of Martha and Mary. Martha busies herself with the serving, while Mary sits at the feet of Christ and listens. The Lord does not rebuke Martha, but gently reminds her: only one thing is needed. Sometimes we too are anxious about many things, while the most important passes us by.
In today’s Gospel, the disciples are crossing the lake when a storm rises around them. Christ is asleep in the stern, and in their fear they wake Him: we are perishing. He rises, rebukes the wind, and silence falls. And He asks them quietly: where is your faith?
Today in the Gospel we hear how Christ goes through towns and villages, preaching the Kingdom of God, and with Him the twelve and the women whom He had healed, who served Him with their substance. Such a quiet, faithful love, which does not seek its own, but simply stays near.
Today the Gospel reading tells of the woman who came to Jesus in the Pharisee's house with precious ointment. She wept at His feet, wiped them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee looked on and thought to himself: if He were a prophet, He would know who and what kind of woman is touching Him. But the Lord saw not her sin but her love, and said: her many sins are forgiven, for she loved much.
Today the Gospel reading tells of how Christ came to the city gate of Nain, where a dead young man was being carried out, the only son of a widow. The Lord saw her tears, had compassion, and said: Do not weep. He touched the bier, and the son returned to his mother alive.
Today the Gospel offers a short scene: Jesus passes by Levi the tax collector, sitting at the toll booth, and simply says to him: follow Me. And he, leaving everything, rises and follows. Then he invites the Guest into his home, and at the table are those whom no one expected.
In today’s Gospel the Lord compares people to children in the street: some play the flute, and others do not dance; they sing something mournful, and those others do not weep. So too we sometimes respond neither to joy nor to pain, as if the heart were locked shut. And the wisdom of God, Christ says, is justified by all who have received it.