The Morning Offering

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Thursday

February 3, 2011 / January 21, 2011

37^th Week after Pentecost. Tone three.

Venerable Maximus the Confessor (662).
Martyr Neophytus of Nicaea (305).
Martyrs Eugene, Candidus, Valerian, and Aquila at Trebizond (303).
Venerable Maximus the Greek of Russia (1556).
New Hieromartyr Elias priest (1938).
Virgin-martyr Agnes of Rome (304).
Martyr Anastasius, disciple of St. Maximus the Confessor (662).
Wonderworking Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Paramythia (Vatopedi, Mt. Athos).
Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos "Stabbed" ("Zaklannaya") and "Xenophite Hodegetria".
Venerable Neophytes of Vatopedi on Mt Athos (Greek).
St. Zosimas, bishop of Syracuse (662).
Synaxis of the Church of Holy Peace by the Sea in Constantinople.
St. Timon, monk of Nadeyev and Kostroma (1840).

Quote for the Day:

 

"He who has no love cannot be called a Christian...The whole Gospel is summarized in compassion. And this secures immortality and eternal
life to man."

Saint Justin Popvitch

Scripture Readings for the Day:
James 4:7-5:9

Humility Cures Worldliness

⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Do Not Judge a Brother

¹¹ Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
¹⁷ Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 5

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

 ¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

Mark 11:27-33

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

²⁷ Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. ²⁸ And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: ³⁰ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
³¹ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. ³³ So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”