This Daily Devotion is to help our members and others reflect on the understanding of Christian service to our Lord.
Devotion for Saturday, January 13, 2024
The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite, Msgr. George Appleyard
An Invitation to Prayer, The Baptism of the Lord
Jesus is baptized for us
in the flowing Jordan
-that we may be baptized into him
and be vested in him! Cf. Romans 6
Psalm 76/77:16-21
The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw and feared;
the depths were troubled,
with a great roaring of waters.
The clouds gave voice
as your arrows flew about.
The sound of your thunder was everywhere
as your lightening flashes lit up the world
and the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was in the sea,
your paths through flooding waters,
and yet your footprints were not seen.
You led your people like sheep
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
A reading adapted from Basil’s, Homily on Proverbs 1:1-5
The next phrase says the Proverbs lead us to recognize true justice; that is, to give to all as they deserve. But that is a difficult task. Some lack prudence and never learn how to do this. Others are prejudiced by social assumptions and look down on the poor but tolerate the misdeeds of the powerful. Some look for the adulation of the masses, and so they loudly call for equality and justice while covertly indulging in greed and injustice. Someone schooled in the Proverbs knows which justice is fraudulent and spurious and which is true and sincere. Some can make injustice seem good and right. This book promises a knowledge of real justice so that we may not be taken in by sophisticated arguments for injustice.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, your baptism marks the beginning of your public ministry, which you inaugurated by responding to the Spirit’s push into the desert to face Satan and three temptations centered on our misuse of the material world, our own ego and our feelings, and the allure of power, both political and personal. May your Holy Spirit push me deeper into enemy territory, and allow me to go with you into the desert of deep personal reflection, so that I may-like a good soldier-learn to track the enemy of my own soul, to confront him, and to vanquish him.
Amen!