Our Venerable Mother Macrina, Sister of Saint Basil the Great (379); Our Venerable Father Dios (c. 431)
Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
1 Corinthians 4:5-8; Matthew 13:44-54
This rapid-fire set of parables speak of the preciousness of the kingdom of heaven. The coming of the kingdom Jesus associates with himself. He is the beautiful synthesis of all the prophecies of scriptures. To get a grip on the kingdom requires that we search the scriptures in the light of Christ. St. Irenaeus tells us that Christ is the “treasure buried in the field” of the scriptures. Searching him out earnestly, like the pearl of great price is of great value. For, if we can see him in every word on the written page, we will get better at seeing him at work in our lives. The training ground for understanding the work of God is in the scriptures. If Christ acts in his earthly life “according to the scriptures,” then he, who is a whole lot more consistent then we fickle humans, will act in our lives in the same manner. Searching out the kingdom here and now shall be impossible without great attention to his presence in the living word of God. Seeing him up close and personal, as in the gospel book at the great entrance, attunes us to his more humble procession in our every day lives.