The Procession with the Holy Relics of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord; the Seven Holy Martyred Maccabees, Their Mother Solome and Their Teacher Eleazar
Beginning of the Dormition Fast; Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
2 Corinthians 3:4-11; Matthew 23:29-39
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Mother hen? It seems odd that Jesus would refer to himself this way, doesn’t it? This mother bird is facing some very vicious foxes. Herod and the Pharisees are seeking to have Jesus killed for the way he is causing trouble throughout Galilee. He is preaching to the people the Good News about God as accepting all people, loving the unlovable, the unclean, the contaminated, the annoying. It’s not enough that Jesus is saying that all these undesirable individuals should be allowed into our churches, into God’s kingdom. Now Jesus has to go and call himself a mother hen. That’s downright offensive. Nobody likes a mother hen. Mother hens are overprotective, interfering, overbearing. They cluck and pick and watch constantly. Nobody likes a mother hen. Unless… you are a vulnerable chick in need of protection. Unless all your life you’ve been deprived of a mother’s care and true sacrificial love. Unless all you’ve known is the feeling of being abandoned, left to your own devices, stranded to face the fox all by yourself.
Let us run quickly under the wings of our Lord’s protection, love, care to find a peaceful and safe haven and shelter for our storm-tossed lives.
“He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge;his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” Psalm 91:4