5th Week After Holy Cross

1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ). God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 16:1-12
Then he also said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?

Prayer of the Faithful, vol. III
SAFRO – THIRD PRAYER

Lord, have mercy on us and save us.
O Lord,
guard our thoughts from the errors of this troubled world
and awaken spiritual life within us,
through meditation on your life-giving commandments.
Thus, with enlightened thoughts, the reflections of your grace, our hearts will be purified of vain endeavors,
and we shall glorify you in the holy temple of your majesty,
now and forever.
Amen.

Saint of the Day: Saint Abo of Tblisi (also known as: Abo of Tibileli, Abo of Tiflis, Abo the Perfumer). Born 8th century Baghdad, martyred 6 January 786.
Grew up Muslim. Perfumer to Nerses, the prince of Kartli, a region of eastern Georgia. As a young adult, Abo became convinced of the truth of Christianity, but was afraid to convert openly as Georgia was under Muslim rule and conversion was a capital offense. For political reasons, his prince had to seek shelter in Khazaria north of the Caspian Sea, an area free of Muslim control; Abo and 300 other members of the court accompanied him, and Abo was baptized there. The prince and his party returned to Tblisi in 782, and for a few years Abo lived quietly as a “closet” Christian. However, in 786 he was exposed as a Christian, and tried for being an apostate from Islam. He confessed his faith at trial, was imprisoned, and martyred.

Meditation:
“Let us not be troubled when it befalls us to be plunged into darkness, especially if we are not responsible for it. You must realize that this darkness enshrouding you has been given you by God’s providence for reasons known to Him alone. Sometimes indeed our soul is engulfed by the waves and drowned. Whether we give ourselves to the reading of Scripture or to prayer, whatever we do we are increasingly imprisoned in darkness…it is an hour filled with despair and fear. The soul is utterly deprived of hope in God and the consolation of faith. It is entirely filled with perplexity and anguish. But those who have been tested by the distress of such an hour know that in the end it is followed by a change. God never leaves the soul for a whole day in such a state, for then hope would be destroyed…rather He allows it to emerge very soon from the darkness. Blessed is he who endures such temptations. For, as the Fathers say, great will be the stability and the strength to which he will come after that. However, it is not in one hour or at one stroke that such a combat is concluded. Nor is it at one moment, but gradually, that grace comes to take up indwelling completely in the soul. After grace, the trial returns. There is a time for trial. And there is a time for consolation.”
Saint Isaac of Nineveh, 7th century A.D.