7th Week of Holy Cross Readings Sunday

Romans 12:9-21
Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute (you), bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live at peace with all. Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.

Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Prayer of the Faithful, vol. III
EVENING PRAYER – SEDRO
Christ Jesus our Lord,
you do not desire the death of the sinner,
but that he repent of his evil conduct and have life.
Hope of the despairing and Savior of those who have fallen,
you promise:
“Ask and I shall give to you, knock and I shall open
to you;
I shall stretch forth my hand and pardon your faults
of ignorance.”
Strengthened by the hope of your kindness,
we who are faltering under the yoke of sin cry out for your
mercy,
for willingly we have offended you and we do not know how to
call upon you.
Like the publican we pray:
“O God, have mercy on your sinful servants.”
Receive us, in spite of our sin,
do not be angry with us and do not turn your face from us.
Pardon us and have mercy on us, O our Creator.
If you desire, you can purify us.
We have sinned against heaven and against you,
and no longer deserve to be called your servants.
Let your kindness reach us;
do not reject us, nor abandon us, like the foolish virgins,
to the darkness.
Do not leave us in our shame and confusion, outside the
gate of your paradise,
and do not extinguish our lamps at your festal banquet.
Do not shut the door of your goodness, nor reject us according to your justice,
but rather cover us with the mantle of your compassion.,
that we may be sheltered from your awesome justice.
With the penitent sinner who returned justified,
and the evildoers who believed in you and entered paradise,
may we obtain the pardon of our faults and forgiveness
of our sins,
and enter the garden of light on the great and awesome Day
of your second coming.
To you we shall lift our voices in praise and glory,
now and forever.
Amen.

Meditation:
“Death trampled our Lord underfoot, but he in his turn treated death as a highroad for his own feet. He submitted to it, enduring it willingly, because by this means he would be able to destroy death in spite of itself. Death had its own way when our Lord went out from Jerusalem carrying his cross; but when by a loud cry from that cross he summoned the dead from the underworld, death was powerless to prevent it.
Death slew him by means of the body which he had assumed, but that same body proved to be the weapon with which he conquered death. Concealed beneath the cloak of his manhood, his godhead engaged death in combat; but in slaying our Lord, death itself was slain. It was able to kill natural human life, but was itself killed by the life that is above the nature of man.
Death could not devour our Lord unless he possessed a body, neither could hell swallow him up unless he bore our flesh; and so he came in search of a chariot in which to ride to the underworld. This chariot was the body which he received from the Virgin; in it he invaded death’s fortress, broke open its strong-room and scattered all its treasure.” – St. Ephrem the Syrian, (Sermo de Domino Nostro)