Our Venerable Father Mark, Bishop of Arethusa, the Deacon Cyril and Others Martyred During the Reign of Julian the Apostate (360-63)
Sixth Hour – Isaiah 40:18-31; Vespers – Genesis 15:1-15; Proverbs 15:7-19
Great Fast Day 30. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read Proverbs 15:7-19
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but He loves the one who pursues righteousness.
These verses from Proverbs remind me of the story of Cain and Abel from the Book of Genesis which we read during the second week of the Great Fast. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God but his brother Cain’s was not. In his anger, Cain murdered Abel. Cain was cursed for shedding his brother’s blood, but God in His loving mercy still protected him (see Gen. 4:15). God loves and pours out His mercy even upon the unrighteous. “[Your Father in heaven] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt. 5:45). God sends His blessings upon everyone indiscriminately, but that does not change the fact that “the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord” (Pr. 15:9).
The fifth of the Ten Commandments is to honour our father and our mother (see Ex. 20:12). As adopted children of our Heavenly Father, we need to honour Him. We must seek to please Him. What delights God are not empty acts of piety and burnt offerings but rather “a broken and a contrite heart” in the context of repentance (Ps. 50(51):16-17). As God did not respect Cain’s sacrifice, God will not respect our sacrifices if our hearts are unrepentant and turned towards evil. We are called to continual repentance throughout our entire life, always being in the process of rejecting evil and better conforming our way of life towards God so that we may grow ever closer to Him. God desires “the sacrifices of righteousness” (Ps. 50[51]:19) which require that we lead righteous lives.
Are we on the way of the wicked, or are we pursuing righteousness?