The Holy and Great-Martyr Theodore the Recruit (286-305)
Read
3 John 1:1-15; Luke 19:29-40; 22:7-39
Do you remember the first time that life really knocked you around? It might have been an extraordinary failure; it might have been the first time you confronted real violence or real hatred; it might have been a massive disappointment; it might have been the death of someone that you loved. If you want concrete examples, look at some really dysfunctional families; look at the Downtown East Side of Vancouver or anywhere in the Middle East. This mess, this problem, bedevils all of us.
The biblical approach is clear: God sets about a rescue operation—the formation of a holy people Israel who would follow his commands, worship him aright, and thereby become a magnet to the world. They would teach and show the way out of the dilemma.
He would form a people ready to receive him; he would gradually effect a unity between divinity and humanity; and one day, a servant of Yahweh would appear, someone despised and reviled by men. And this mysterious figure would solve the problem by bearing away the sins of the world, by carrying them off through his suffering.
Reflect: Do you remember the first time that life really knocked you around? What role did faith play in how you got through it?