Commentary on the Daily Lectionary of the Orthodox Church
Author: Fr. Basil
Now retired, the Very Rev. Archpriest Basil Ross Aden has served as a parish priest, parish pastor, diocesan mission director, writer, and college teacher of New Testament and Religious Studies. He has a Master of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Chicago and has published daily devotional and stewardship materials as well as a college textbook on Religious Studies. He also has published papers and/or lectured on the Orthodox perspective on Luther and the Reformation. religious freedom, current issues of religion and society, and St. John Chrysostom. He is married to Sandra and has two sons and three grandchildren. He is still active as a priest as well as a writer of articles and materials on Orthodoxy and topics of faith and life today.
Christ is risen. The word of the day is “hand.” A prevailing belief about God is that He is a kind and benevolent spectator who watches over people on earth. He wants everyone to be good and happy. But he does not get involved in people’s lives except in dire emergencies. Today we hear to the contrary, and how the hand of the Almighty worked throughout Old Testament history and the early church. In our reading of Acts 11:19-26, 29-30, we learn how Gentiles first became members of the fellowship of faith. When persecution scattered the believers in Jerusalem, some sought refuge in distant places, preaching the Word of Christ as they went. Some of these Hellenists, that is, Greek-speaking…
Christ is risen! The word of the day is “delivered.” When we observe the many deplorable events of our times, it is easy to be discouraged. We lament the state of immorality, injustice, insincerity, and impiety of our nation and our world. And we wonder what the Almighty could do to advance the Gospel, bring the lost to Christ, and preserve the church in peace and security. Unrestrained evil is what we see if we view the world through earthly eyes. Yet, if we look at our times with eyes of faith, we see God’s hand at work in everything. Today in our reading of Acts 12:1-11, we learn of the miraculous escape of St. Peter from prison. Luke, the…
Christ is risen, The word of the day is “withstand.”  Whenever something new arises, some will cling to the old ways whether the new is good or bad. Thus, when something new appears, the wisdom of the Jewish sage Gamaliel applies: you must beware “lest you be found to fight against God” (OSB Acts 5:39). Today in our reading of Acts 10:44-11:10, Peter had to stand before the apostles in Jerusalem and defend his action of baptizing the first Gentile and his household (OCB vs. 11-18). Peter explained that while he was preaching to the Gentile Cornelius and his family the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He had rested on the apostles on the day of Pentecost…” (OSB…
Christ is risen! The word of the day is “remission.” One temptation of the faithful is hardly ever excuse us. But that presumption of God’s mercy forgets one important article of the Creed. In our reading of Acts 10:34-43, we find this essential element of our faith. There in his sermon to the Gentile Cornelius and his household, Peter witnessed to the Risen Christ and that He is the one “ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” (OSB vs. 42).  It is only after the apostle has referred to the Judgment of Christ that he concludes: “… through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive the remission of sins” (OSB vs. 43). By this Word, we understand that…
Christ is risen! The word of the day is “witness.” The farther away we are from God, the more we forget about His goodness and lovingkindness. Yet, the signs of His mercy are everywhere to be seen by believers and nonbelievers alike. Today in our reading of Acts 14:6-18, Paul preaches to pagans who think that he and Barnabas are gods come down to earth. Paul proclaims that they should turn to the One Creator. He teaches that the “Living God” has “not left Himself without a witness in every place.”  Everywhere, “He did good, gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling [our] hearts with food and gladness” (OSB vs. 15). Today we learn how we become blind to these…
Christ is risen, The word of the day is “common.” One thing is for sure, the Holy Spirit, who is “everywhere and fills all things” hates limitations. If you doubt it, just test Him, for the Lord Jesus said, “…with God all things are possible (OSB 19:26). But though led by the Holy Spirit, the early church had one great limitation that had to be overcome. The fellowship of faith was held captive within the boundaries of its origins in Judaism. Today in Acts 10:21-23, we read Luke’s report of how the Holy Spirit directed the early church to leap over that limit. In response to a vision, we hear Peter preach, “In truth, I perceive that God shows no…
Christ is risen! The word of the day is “vision.” The turning points of our lives have various causes. They may be life events such as births, graduations, weddings, divorces, or deaths. They may be disruptions to our situation, such as changes of work or moves to new locations. They may be new interests or new senses of direction. In today’s reading of Acts 10:1-16, we learn of another turning point in the growth of the church. As often happens in scripture, visions set the change of course in motion. Cornelius, the Gentile and Roman Centurion, “saw clearly in a vision an angel of God” (NKJV vs. 3). Likewise, the apostle Peter “fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and…
Christ is risen! The word of the day is “arise.”  The Lord has the power to lift the fallen and to command those who are lying prone in sickness, sin, and death to arise. Today on this Sunday of the Paralytic, we learn about three incidents when those who are bound to their beds heard the command to “Rise up.” Two of those who heard the order to arise were paralytics, one in our Gospel and one in our Epistle reading. The last and most spectacular example was the beloved believer Dorcas who had died. In our reading of Acts 9:32-42, Peter said, “Tabitha, arise,” and she opened her eyes, looked at Peter, and sat up (OSB vs. 40). Today as we hear of…
Christ is risen! The word of the day is “brought.” If we are strangers to a group, it is helpful to have someone who will introduce us to its members.  For instance, it was necessary for the newly changed Saul (Paul) to be introduced to the circle of believers in Jerusalem. Today in our reading of Acts 9:20-31, we find that the believers in Jerusalem were hesitant to receive the former persecutor of the church into their fellowship. But Luke reports that a “good man” named Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. Today we learn the importance of those who act in the role of Barnabas and introduce strangers to the faith in Christ and His church. Our reading…
Christ is risen! The word of the day is “vessel.” By the grace of God, some of the most hostile opponents of Christianity have become its most ardent followers. For instance, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was raised as an Orthodox Christian. But in his youth, he turned against Orthodoxy and embraced the atheism of Marxist-Leninism. Yet during his imprisonment in the Soviet Gulag, he returned to his faith and became a fervent believer. However, today in our reading of Acts 8:40-9:19, we read about the most prominent of all enemies of Christ who embraced the faith he once persecuted. Luke, the writer of Acts, reports that God had selected a man named Saul to extend the outreach of the Gospel beyond its…