Blessed Martyrs of Pratulyn: Vincent, Nykyta, Ivan, Constantine, Michael, Onuphriy, Philip, Maxim, Daniel, Constantine, Bartholomew, Luke, and Ignatius; The Holy Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Ancyra; The Holy Martyr Agathangel. A day when the faithful are highly encouraged to participate in the Divine Liturgy.
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
2 Peter 1:1-10; Mark 13:1-8.
Read Mark 13:1-8
The call to repentance is a major theme that emerges from this passage. When tragedies occur it is often viewed as a punishment for sinful and destructive behavior, however, Jesus tells us to see these tragedies rather as a wake up call to conversion. We are all sinners and guilty before the Lord. God does not spare us from a tragic death because we are less sinful than others, no, it is because He desires that we repent and be saved. To truly repent though means that we must change our actions and try to stop committing those sins that we have become aware of through God’s grace. God will help us but we must do our part by sacrificing our way of doing things to conform to His way of doing things. When we set out on the path towards salvation, God is aware of the effort that we put in and will reward us according to that effort even if we don’t succeed in overcoming our sinful behavior totally.