Our Holy Father Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem (386)
Isaiah 13:2-13; Genesis 8:4-21; Proverbs 10:31-11:12
Great Fast Day 19. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read Proverbs 10:31-11:12
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Do you know what is a persimmon? It is a small berry fruit that originated in China a long time ago. It is known for its astringent and pungent taste. If you eat one, you will most likely experience what some call cottonmouth; it causes an extreme dryness in the mouth which leads to an almost uncontrollable puckering of your mouth. There was a Christian comedian from the 1970s who stated that some Christians live their lives trying to attain a righteous state and they look like they have been sucking persimmons. It was a funny way of stating that they wore their attempts of being righteous on their sleeves for the world to see.
In our prescribed selection from Proverbs for today, we find a running contrast between a righteous person and one who is not. A righteous person is one who tries to live a virtuous life. You will find that in all the contrasting descriptions, most of who a righteous person is and does is done in secret, and most of what an unrighteous person (one who does not seek virtue but is rather self-serving) does is done for all to see. I am reminded of the verse from Matthew’s Gospel: “[W]hen you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
Whatever good we do today, let it be intentionally unseen. Resist the temptation to seek recognition afterwards. Let us go to our prayer closets and thank the Lord for the opportunity to serve Him in serving others.