Spirituality

One of the most important lessons from the Gospels is the parable of the Great Feast, (Luke 14: 16-24) in which a certain man was preparing a banquet for his invited guests. He instructs his servant to go out and tell the guests to come for everything has been prepared; however, after so doing, the servant told him of all the excuses he had heard and received saying I did as you instructed but there is still room.

We are already well into the Nativity Fast which began November 15 and have already celebrated the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple (November 21). Today our gospel lesson from Luke 17:12- 19, is the account of the healing of the ten lepers while He was preaching in Galilee, along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

We are in the midst of the Nativity Fast and have already celebrated the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple. The hymns of the Church have already begun to usher in the anticipation of the Birth of the Christ Child. We hear the words of exhortation that “God is with Us: Understand all ye nations and submit yourselves for God is with Us!”

On this Sunday November 21, 2021, we celebrate the second great Feastday of the Most Holy Theotokos: The Entry of the Mother of God Into the Temple.

The Gospel lesson for the 8th Sunday of the Evangelist Luke, chapter 10:25-37, is known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. We all know the story, but it behooves us to hear the Blessed Augustine and his interpretation.

This Sunday November 6, 2021 we read the Gospel of the Evangelist Luke (8:41-56), which tells the story of Jairus’ daughter and the women with the issue of blood, who touched Jesus’ cloak. The power of faith is demonstrated by this gospel lesson whose essence is the Biblical exhortation, “Believe and you will live. Seek the Lord and you will find your true life!”

This Sunday we read the story of the Gadarene, a strange and fearsome man, who lived in the first century Palestine, and who experienced a decisive moment when he met Christ and was completely changed. The real question about this passage is of what importance is it to us who live in an entirely different circumstance and modern time?

Today’s gospel lesson from Luke 16:19-31 tells the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in which Jesus contrasts the uncaring rich man and the needy Lazarus. It is the story of the rich man and the poor man. It was neither the rich man’s wealth nor Lazarus’ poverty that the Parable speaks, but rather their personal relationship to each other and God. Neither wealth nor poverty sends someone to heaven or hell, but rather the manner in which they live in their own situation.

This Sunday in the ecclesiastical gospel lectionary of the Church we commemorate the affirmation of icon Veneration at the Seventh Ecumenical Council 787 AD and the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. The gospel assigned for this Sunday relates to the Holy Fathers working in the field of the Lord.  This is the Parable of the Sower, Luke 8:4-15, where the Sowers seed fell into four distinct types of ground. The Church Fathers, “by giving their time to doing good deeds” and “providing for real needs”, were not only receptive to God’s Word but were also Sowers of the Word for others.

Today we hear the Gospel for the 3rd Sunday of Luke which is entitled, “Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son”. This lesson teaches us that the Resurrection power of Jesus was already at work in His earthly ministry. Actually, this is an account of Jesus’s first resurrection miracle.