This Daily Devotion is to help our members and others reflect on the understanding of Christian service to our Lord.
Devotion for Saturday, February 3, 2024
The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite, Msgr. George Appleyard
An Invitation to Prayer
The Lord is in his holy Temple,
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes gaze on the poor.
—He examines the human race,
the Lord scrutinizes the just and the unjust. Ps 10/11:4-5
Come, let us conform to Christ, the perfect image of God!
Psalm 99 (100)
Raise a shout of joy for the Lord all the earth,
serve the Lord gladly,
enter before him with glee.
Realize that the Lord is God.
He made us, and not we ourselves—
his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with gratitude,
his courts with hymns.
Acknowledge him and praise his name.
For the Lord is kind—
his mercy is for the ages,
his truth for generations of generations.
From Basil’s letter to Sozopolis, #261
I received you letter, honorable brethren, concerning your circumstances. I thank the Lord that you let me share in your anxiety over things that need and deserve serious attention. I was distressed to hear that, over and above the disturbance brought on the churches by the Arians, and the confusion they caused in understanding the faith, something else has developed, throwing the brotherhood into great depression because—as you have informed me—certain people are spouting, in the hearing of the faithful, novel and strange doctrines which they allege are found in Scripture. You write that there are people among you trying to gut the saving incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and, so far as they can, are disabling the grace of the great mystery hidden from before time but revealed in his own time. When the Lord had done everything needed for the remedy of the human race, he bestowed on all of us the gift of his own sojourn among us. He helped his own creation, first through the patriarchs, whose lives were to serve as examples and rules for all willing to follow in the footsteps of the saints, and to reach the perfection of good works with zeal like theirs. Then, he gave the Law to help us, ordaining it by angels at the hand of Moses; then the prophets, foretelling the salvation to come; judges, kings, and righteous people, doing great works with a mighty hand. After all these, in the final age of time, he revealed himself in the flesh taken from a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law, that we might be granted adoption as God’s children. Cf. Galatians 4:4-5
A Prayer
O Father, keep me faithful to your Word who appeared in this world with a human nature, with its soul, mind, and physical body, enduring temptation like us but never succumbing to sin. That I may follow his perfect example, keep my mind attuned to the divine truth reveled to us as a precious gift; truly aware of the divine love that is reflected in so much around us; and then to prove strong in keeping to the path that leads to eternal life and happiness. Amen.