Our Venerable Father Leo, Bishop of Catania
Great Fast Day 9. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read
Genesis 4:8-15
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
If at first you do not succeed…try try again.
The Lord did not accept Cain’s sacrifice, and just before we begin our reading for today we hear the Lord tell Cain not to give up, that if he does well his sacrifice will be accepted, but also that sin is a real possibility, one which Cain must overcome.
Cain does not recover well and takes his anger out on his brother Abel and kills him. When he is confronted by God he acts like its none of his business! But God does not smite him. In fact, God puts a mark on him- to protect him! Even in the midst of this tragedy and his sin, God gives Cain a tremendous gift, the chance to repent, to change and to eventually come back to the Lord.
What about us brothers and sisters? Do we recognize this time of the Great Fast as a time to try and try again? Do we realize that we are “marked” men and women with the seal of baptism and the blood of Christ? Over the period of this Fast do your best to be aware of your sins and bring them to the Lord in the confessional. God came to find us in our exile and bring us home!