Friday Readings

Acts 8:26-40
Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. This was the scripture passage he was reading: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In (his) humiliation justice was denied him. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth.” Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him. As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued on his way rejoicing. Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

Prayer of the Faithful, vol. III:
Safro – OPENING PRAYER

Lord,
great and just Judge,
on the Morning of the world to come you will sit in judgment
and repay each one according to his deeds.
Deliver us from shame and confusion,
and invite us to share the joy and exultation of your
blessed ones,
who dwell in indescribable light.
We shall glorify you, your Father and your Holy Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen.

Saint of the Day: Aaron the Illustrious (c.4th century) was a Christian monk of Mesopotamia.
He came from Sarug in Osrhoene, and was a disciple of Saint Eugene. He built two monasteries near Melitene in Armenia in the 4th century. He is included in the Syrian Martyrology of Rabban Silba.

Meditation:
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”- Romans 10:12-13

The Scriptures are clear in their proclamation of the necessity for unity among the followers of Christ. In the Garden of Gethsemane as he is about to fulfill his ministry of High Priest of a new and eternal covenant, Jesus says, “…that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21). It is interesting to observe here that Our Lord not only prays for our unity, but he adds, “that the world may believe that You sent Me”; as if to say, the Truth will not be embraced by the world, if his disciples do not find unity among themselves. Christian evangelization, which proclaims a God of love and forgiveness, will fall on deaf ears and closed hearts, if those who proclaim find no love and unity amongst themselves.
Genetically we all belong to the same human race. We may have different climate adaptations, different skin complexions, some are tall, some are short, curly hair, and straight hair, blondes, brunettes, and red heads; yet we are all children of the same creator, and we all stand before God, seeking self-understanding, love, forgiveness, and ultimately the grace of salvation, won for us by the God-Man, Jesus Christ. As Genesis 1:26-27 instructs us, “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness;’…So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”.
In the Book of Revelation we are offered a glimpse of the eternity we will spend together in the Kingdom of Heaven; “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.” (Rev. 7:9) If we cannot embrace each other as brother and sister on earth, how can we in heaven; if we reject “the other” for being “different” or not from “our tribe” – do we not stand the risk of losing our invitation to the eternal banquet, that celebrates rather than denigrates our God given uniquenesses.