The words of the day are “brother and sister.”  We would expect that the reading for today would be fasting since this is Meatfare Sunday.  And true, the topic of our reading of 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2 is eating meat, the very thing that we will abstain from throughout Great Lent. However, our reading is about eating “meat offered to idols” in pagan temples. This is not our question but a question for the Gentiles in the Roman Empire. The reason we do not eat meat in Great Lent has to do with the disciplines of repentance and control of the passions.  It would seem that the passage, therefore, has no application to us in the 21st century. However, we might…
The word of the day is “lawful.” In today’s reading of 1 Corinthians 10:23-28, St. Paul answers the question of eating meat once sacrificed to idols.  The apostle writes, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful” (vs. 23).  “All things are lawful…”?  Yes.  “For freedom, Christ has set us free” (Romans 13:9 CSB).  He has liberated us from the accusations, guilt, condemnation, and futile works of earning righteousness.  We are free of its control. And No.  The baptized have one overarching and all-encompassing commandment.  The Orthodox Study Bible comments, “Christians are obligated to obey only one law: the law of Christ, the law of love” (OSB fn. 1 Cor. 10:23-24). As the apostle says in Romans, “The…
The word of the day is “lose.” Scripture is full of instances of persons who lose something of great spiritual worth.  In today’s reading of 2 John 1:1-13, the Elder writes, “Look to yourself that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward” (vs. 8).  With this admonition, we hear the warning that we should be on guard against losing the doctrine, that is, the teachings on which our faith rests. What We Are In Danger of Losing What are we in danger of losing, according to our reading? We discover the answer when we consider that the Elder warns against the deceivers that are rising up against the faithful. Their threat to believers is…
When the Lord returns, what should we be doing? We might answer, “something religious that would show our piety.” But what should that be? Likewise, the Church has set aside the blessed time of Great Lent to concentrate on the “spiritual.” But what is “spiritual?” What qualifies as “spirituality?” What should be included in our Lenten “piety?” The parable of the Last Judgment we will hear next Sunday gives us a surprising and thought-provoking answer about a discipline that we might forget. It is the last of three parables in Chapter 25 of Matthew, which are set within Jesus’ prophecy of the tribulation at the end of the world (Chapter 24) and the plot of the religious authorities to kill…
The word of the day is “overcome.” At the Last Supper, on the night of His betrayal, the Lord Jesus assured His disciples of His victory over the world He would give Himself up to save.  He said, “These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In our reading of 1 John 4:20-5:21, John echoes this reassurance: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith” (vs. 4). In today’s study, we learn the source and nature of tribulations and how faith overcomes them. Because the World Hates Us…
The word of the day is “hear.” If you want to know the true character of a leader, look at those who are following him or her. Leaders will attract adherents who appeal to them, and over time they will mold their flocks after their teachings and example. In our reading of 1 John 3:21-4:6, the apostle contrasts those who are “of the world” and those who are “of God.” Those who are “of the world” pay attention to worldly things. Those who are “of God” are attentive to godly things.  Thus, the apostle writes, “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us” (vs. 6). Knowing the Spirit of Truth or Error?…
The word of the day is “condemn.” We believe that God forgives us when we turn to Him for mercy.   But though we receive this forgiveness from the Lord, do we forgive ourselves? Today’s reading of 1 John 3:11-20 proclaims our Heavenly Father’s answer to those of us who cannot let go of the guilt we carry. The apostle writes, “for if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (vs. 20). Becoming aware of our sins is a good thing. As the story of the Prodigal Son teaches, coming to terms with our trespasses propels us on the way back to the home of our Heavenly Father. As the parable of the Publican and…
The word of the day is “hope.”  There is a difference between hope and anticipation. To hope is to desire something with the expectation that you will receive it in the future. But to anticipate something is to experience what receiving it will be like in advance.  A child may hope for a birthday party. But if she anticipates it, she feels as if its reality has already come.  She is filled with the happiness of expectation. What We Shall Be In today’s reading of 1 John 2:18-3:10, the apostle notes that the hope to be “like Christ” can be so strong that believers anticipate it in the present. Accordingly, John reveals the hope of the vision of God, “ Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has…
The word of the day is “body.”  Of all the gifts of God, one of the most precious and yet neglected and mistreated is the body. Yet in our reading of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, the apostle writes, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and that you are not your own” (vs. 19). Today the apostle teaches us the proper reverence for the body that Christ has “bought with a price” (vs. 20). Many people have a complex relationship with their bodies. When it comes to the treatment of their bodies, many vacillate between self-indulgence and self-punishment. We have found in the current pandemic that our bodies are…
The word of the day is “truth.” In matters of faith more than any other, the truth is of utmost importance. But how do we arrive at the truth? Some think that they can achieve truth through constant study.  In our reading of 2 Timothy 3:1-9, the apostle teaches that those who rely on human inquiry are deluded and subject to delusion.  He observes that they are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (vs. 7). If we do a “close reading” of this verse, we can find suggestions about avoiding endless and fruitless pursuits of learning about the spiritual. At the same time, we can discover how to reach the truth of the sacred things of God and our salvation.…