Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Schedule for this week:

• Wednesday, September 26, 5:30 p.m.: Small Compline, followed by Bible Study (led by Fr. Henry)

• Saturday, September 28, 5:00 pm: Great Vespers

• Sunday, September 29, 10:00 am: Divine Liturgy (preceded by the Third Hour, 9:45 am)

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Quote for the Week:

“God belongs to all free beings. He is the life of all, the salvation of all — faithful and unfaithful, just and unjust, pious and impious, passionate and dispassionate, monks and laymen, wise and simple, healthy and sick, young and old — just as the effusion of light, the sight of the sun, and the changes of the seasons are for all alike; ‘for there is no respect of persons with God.'”

– St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 1, Passage 3

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THE EPISTLE

Thou, O Lord, wilt keep and preserve us. Save me, O Lord, for the godly man has failed.
The Reading from the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
Brethren, it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

(2 Corinthians 1:21-2:4, ESV)

THE GOSPEL
The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. (6:31-36)

At that time the Lord Jesus said:

“As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

(Luke 6:31-36, ESV)

Commemorated this Sunday:

Venerable Kyriakos the hermit of Palestine
Martyr Petronia and those with her in Palestine

Mother Mary the hermit of Palestine
Martyrs Gudelia, Casdous, Casdoa, Gargalus, Dada and Gobdelaas of Persia

Icon from The Orthodox Pages by Father Christopher Klitou