Leave-taking of Pascha. Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. Our Venerable Father Arsenius the Great (408-50). Arsenius the Great (450).
All-Night Vigil Feast.
Acts 18:22-28. 1 John 1:1-7. John 12:36-47. John 19:25-27. 21:24-25.
Read Acts 18:22-28
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
Today’s Epistle lesson is fascinating as it teaches us the importance of having a humble disposition and willingness to continually learn about the faith. Here we have Apollos who was a Jew and was gifted with the intellect to memorize, understand and proclaim the Scriptures in a powerful way. He understood a part of the fullness of faith. Notice that the Lord was working with him even though he was not Sacramentally initiated into the fullness of the faith—“he knew only the baptism of John.” Interesting to notice that today, like in the first century, there are many Protestant preachers who like Apollos are gifted and preach Christ with great zeal, but are not fully initiated into the fullness of faith. Reaching out to those who are like Apollos is a special ministry that some are called to by the Lord; regardless of our gifts and talents we are all called to be zealous for the faith and have a humble disposition of discipleship. We should all be hungry to learn about Jesus and be willing to accept correction when needed. Priscilla and Aquila helped lead Apollos into the faith more accurately, but they first had to be initiated by St. Paul before they could help others into a fuller union with our Risen Saviour. We are all called to take this step.