Advent Meditations: Tuesday 5 December
| Tues Dec 5 |
am: 1, 2, 3
pm: 4, 7 |
Amos 2:6-16 | 2 Peter 1:1-11 | Matt 21:1-11 |
TUESDAY OF ADVENT I: Feast of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified, Monastic and Church Counselor, 533
ON THE CHRUCH CALENDAR: From the calendar of the Eastern Church we have St. Sabbas who entered the vocation of the monastic life from childhood and was under that master of monastics, Euthymius, the Great, the teacher of the desert. He became the spiritual Father of many monks and an instructor for the monasteries in Palestine, and was appointed leader (archimandrite) of the desert-dwellers of Palestine by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. In his old age he went to Constantinople, to the Emperors Anastasius and Saint Justinian the Great, in behalf of the Orthodox Faith and the dogmas of the Council of Chalcedon. Having lived ninety-four years, he reposed in 533..
MEDITATION OF THE DAY:
In Amos’ day (8th century BC) the court of the northern kings of Israel employed prophets whose job was to tell the King what he wanted to know, but Amos was determined to speak only the truth of God’s Word, knowing that it could lead to immense conflict. So, when one reads the word of Amos today one should remember that the prophet speaking of their errors and sin (Amos 2:6-8) was not the normal course. He also recalls for the Hebrews what God has done for them by raising them up as a special people despite the pending judgment which loomed. In many respects, we can see our stories here in this OT account. We do not wish to hear of how we have deviated from God’s grace to a way of sin. We especially don’t care for people to remind us of such things, but that does not mitigate our accountability. If we want to be embraced by the generous grace of God, we must also be embraced by the grace of his judgment by being accountable. Perhaps Amos offers us a good reminder that to accept and take responsibility for ourselves and our relationships with God and others is the only real way for spiritual growth.
PRAYER: Lord, give us your Grace to witness authenticity and accountability as we consider our baptismal call to have love and concern for every human being.
Help us not to put profit above any other person’s health, dignity or well-being. In this way we lay the building blocks for the coming of your kingdom. Amen.
Activity/Spiritual Discipline – – As part of the Advent journey consider making it with an accountability partner, a person whom you wholeheartedly trust. You should feel comfortable praying for and with them, and they should feel the same about you. This should be a person you know won’t be gossiping about your personal struggles or joys. The person should be a healthy balance for you; in other words, you should feel like you can seek support from them as much as they do from you.
ANCIENT WORDS/PRESENT GRACE: “Necessity urges us to pray for ourselves. Fraternal Charity obliges us to pray for others. God finds the prayer motivated by charity to be more meritorious than the prayer motivated by necessity”. — St. John Chrysostom
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