The Holy Martyr Codratus and Those with Him (249-51)
Isaiah 6:1-12; Genesis 5:1-24; Proverbs 6:3-20
Great Fast Day 11. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read Proverbs 6:3-20
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Today’s reading instructs us to contemplate a tiny little creature that is lauded for being prudent, hardworking and industrious: the little ant. It uses the present opportunity wisely to prepare itself not only for its daily needs, but also for future seasons. St. Augustine connects this image of the ant into the spiritual life in a very profound way:
“What do I mean by ‘while it was summer’? While he had quietude of life, while he had this world’s prosperity, when he had leisure; when he was being called happy by all, while it was summer. He should have imitated the ant, he should have heard the Word of God, he should have gathered grains, and he should have stored them within. But there came the trial of tribulation, there came upon him a winner of numbness, a tempest of fear, the cold of sorrow, whether it were loss, or any danger to his safety, or any bereavement of his family; or any dishonour and humiliation. In winter; the ant falls back upon that which in summer it has gathered together; and within its secret store, where no one can see, it is replenished by its summer toils. See the ant of God. He rises day by day, he hastens to the church of God, he prays, he hears a reading, he chants a hymn, he digests that which he has heard, he thinks to himself about all this, and inside he is storing up grains gathered from the threshing floor.” Explanations of the Psalms 67.3).
While we have the opportunity to store up the grain of Grace and the Word of God we should work hard to do so. Building up the inner reservoir of Grace and the knowledge of the Word of God is what will continue to nourish us during the difficulties of the hardships of life. We can be assured that hardships will come, but when they do will we face them alone, or will we be strengthened and equipped with the Word of God.