Our Venerable Fathers Martyred by the Saracens at the Monastery of St. Sabbas (580-97)
Great Fast Day 37. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read
Sixth Hour – Isaiah 49:6-10
Vespers – Genesis 31:3-16; Proverbs 21:3-21
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Jacob the trickster is getting a taste of his own medicine. After being tricked into marrying the older daughter and working another seven years for the woman he had intended to marry in the first place, Jacob is having his wages changed continually by his father-in-law. He’s fed up of working for Laban and feels like it’s time to go. And it’s not until the Lord intervenes and speaks to Jacob, telling him its time to return home that he departs. Laban’s own daughters, Rachel and Leah, who don’t agree on much at the best of times, realize that there is nothing left for them with their father, and that if they are to have anything left for their children they need to leave with Jacob as well.
How do we know what to do and when? This is a complicated question leading to discernment, which basically means listening to God and to His desires for us. In Jacob’s already difficult situation it could have been very easy to make up his mind earlier to escape, but he interprets his duty by listening to the Lord and His plan.
A few years ago, someone asked a friend of mine involved in seminary formation about the “crisis in vocations”- “why wasn’t God calling men to the priesthood?” My friend answered that there was no vocation crisis, only a listening crisis. People are so busy, distracted and disintegrated that they fail to make time to listen for the Lord.
As we continue with this last week of this Holy Fast, take time to prepare to listen during Holy Week. Mute your digital distractions, simplify your calendar and make time for silence- both literal and figurative, in order to become aware of the God who loves you and who has great plans for your life.