The Holy Hieromartyr Autonomus.
Leave-taking of the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Galatians 2:6-10; Mark 5:22-24; 5:35-6:1.
Read Mark 5:22-24; 5:35-6:1
One of the things to notice in this passage is how Jesus refers to death as sleep. Most people when they hear that someone has died speak or act in a way that indicates that this is a permanent and final ending. Jesus wants to change the way people think of death by indicating to them that the person has basically fallen asleep. For in reality, the death and decay of a persons body is only a temporary thing. There will be a reawakining at the end of time and a resurrection of the body of every person that has ever existed. Jesus wants us to be hopeful in the face of death and not despairing. Do we also when we speak of the death of a person do so in such a way that we give the impression that this a terrible thing or do we speak in a way that indicates that we believe in the future resurrection and that death is only a temporary thing? Something else to take notice of is do we also speak of death as a day of reckoning or just simply as a transfer to a better place? For while the death of the body is only a temporary thing the spiritual death of a person is an eternal reality and so we must be prepared to give an account to the Lord at the time of our depatrure from the body.