This Daily Devotion is to help our members and others reflect on the understanding of Christian service to our Lord.
Devotion for Thursday, February 1, 2024
The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite, Msgr. George Appleyard
An Invitation to Prayer
Your eye is the lamp for your body. Matt 6:22
—May the eyes of our mind and heart be healthy and clear,
that we may know your way upon earth
and come to recognize you.
Psalm 83/84:9-13
O Lord God of Powers, hear my prayer;
listen, O God of Jacob.
Look, O God our protector;
see the face of your Anointed!
One day in your courts is better than a thousand others!
I would rather stand outside the House of God
than make a home in the tents of sinners.
For the Lord loves mercy and truth,
and God bestows grace and glory.
He will not withhold good things
from those who continue in innocence.
Lord of Powers, blessed is the one who trusts you!
A reading from Basil’s book, On the Holy Spirit
Our Lord tells us in the Gospel how to live here and now as a preparation for our life after resurrection. He teaches us to be peaceable, patient, undefiled by a desire for pleasure and detached from worldly wealth. In this way, by our own choice, we can achieve the kind of life that will be natural in the world to come. Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to Paradise, we ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven, and we are reinstated as God’s adopted children. Thanks to the Spirit we obtain the right to call God our Father, we come to share in the grace of Christ, we are called children of light, and we share in everlasting glory. In a word, every blessing is showered upon us—both in this world and in the world to come. As we consider them even now—like looking at a picture—it is as though we already possess the good things that our faith tells us we will enjoy one day. If this is the pledge, what will the full payment be? If these are the first-fruits, what will the complete harvest be?
A Prayer
Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, coming down from you, the Father of Lights James I:17; and no one has ever seen the like, and no one has heard—nor even imagined—the things you have prepared for those who love you. I Cor 2:9 Bring me to love you in all sincerity, with full devotion, through my family, my colleagues and the people around me. May I see you more clearly and follow you more nearly, until at last I come into your perfect presence. Amen.