Our Venerable Mother Parasceva of Ternovo (11th c.); The Holy Martyrs Nazarius, Gervasius, Protasius and Celsus (64-68); Passing into eternal life of Blessed Roman Lysko, Pastor of Youth and Martyr of L’viv
Colossians 1:24-29; Luke 9:7-11
Read Luke 9:7-11
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
If we look carefully into today’s Gospel lesson we’ll see a foreshadowing of the Divine Liturgy. Verses 10-11 are the introduction to the miracle of the feeding of the Five Thousand. The Lord, first, gathers his disciples. These are the ones who have professed Jesus as the ‘Christ, the Son of the living God.’ (Matthew 16:16) and who believed in him. They came to know Jesus, while the world was still perplexed by him—is he Elijah, the prophet or John the Baptist? The disciples were called by the Lord and they answered the call—this is the first step in Liturgical participation. This was not an exclusive invitation, but the Lord welcomed everyone, so the crowds followed him also. The disciples and the crowds withdrew with the Lord to be with him and to hear from him. The effort of following the Lord, withdrawing to meet with him, is rewarded. First they are nourished and rewarded with the Word of the Kingdom—that is the Word of God. Our hearts long to hear his Word for it gives us direction, hope, meaning and life. The Word of God is filled with great power—Genesis 1 – The Lord spoke and it came into being. Whenever we hear the Word we need to approach it with awe, reverence and love. Even today these words are filled with great power for ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and for ever.’ (Hebrews 13:8). Tomorrow we will hear about the multiplication of the Loaves—the second half of the Divine Liturgy.