The Holy Priest-Martyr Basil, Presbyter of Ancyra (363)
Great Fast Day 36
Sixth Hour – Isaiah 48:17-49:4; Vespers – Genesis 27:1-41; Proverbs 19:16-25
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read Isaiah 48:17-49:4
Thus says the Lord who delivers you, the Holy One of Israel: “I am your God, who showed you how to find the way wherein you should walk. If only you had heeded My commandments, then your peace would be like a river, and your righteousness as a wave of the sea.
The Lord promised to show the path to walk to Israel. Alas, they chose another path in which they did not heed to the commandments of the Lord. How many times have we done exactly as Israel in our journey with the Lord to His Kingdom? We have the good set before us, but we choose another path for what is only seemingly good. Like Israel, the Lord does not abandon. Rather, with a permissive will that allows some suffering, He corrects our preconceptions so that when we return to Him, we are ready to do His will and live a life of peace and righteousness.