- JOINT BIBLE STUDY OF HOLY TRINITY ORTHODOX
CHURCH AND
- CHRIST THE SAVIOR ORTHODOX CHURCH, HERNANDO
COUNTY, FL
Fr.
Michael Shuster, Host & Administrator – Fr. Stanley S. Harakas,
Presenter
- The First Unction Gospel: Luke 10:25-37 – Justifying
Ourselves (pp. 29-32).
- October 21, 2004
Opening Prayer – The “Hymns of Light” for Thursdays-
To the
Apostles
-
Disciples of the Savior, you have gone through the universe
preaching Christ’s holy Incarnation through the Virgin. You
enlightened the gentiles and brought them from error, teaching all
nations to worship the Holy Trinity!
-
To St.
Nicholas
-
Let
us all praise Nicholas, the great pastor and Archbishop; the
presiding Priest of Myra, for he saved a number of men unjustly
condemned to death and he was seen in a dream by the Emperor and
Avlabius setting at naught an unjust sentence.
-
To
theTheotokos
-
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now and
forever and to the ages of ages. Amen. Mary, you are the golden
brazier; a pure vessel for the uncontainable Trinity! The Father was
well pleased with you, and the Son took up His abode in You; the
Holy Spirit overshadowed you, making your, virgin, the Mother of
God! Amen.
-
- Text: Of Life and
Salvation: Reflections on Living the Christian Life- Based on the
Fourteen Scripture Readings of the Orthodox Christian Church’s
Sacrament of Holy Unction. (Minneapolis: Light and Life
Publishing Co., 1996, pp. 29-32.
- The First Unction Gospel: Luke 10:25-37 – Justifying
Ourselves (pp. 29-32).
- 25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test,
saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26
He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” 27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with
all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said
to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” 29
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my
neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him
and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by
chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he
passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he
came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he
saw him, he had compassion, 34 and went to him and bound up
his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own
beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And
the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper,
saying, `Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay
you when I come back.' 36 Which of these three, do you think,
proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He
said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go
and do likewise.”
-
-
- Outline of Reflection on 1st Unction Gospel
- A.
Getting Caught By The Truth: Accepting the truth when
we are wrong. The Lawyer’s dialogue with Christ shows what he
needed to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus asked him what was
written in the Old Testament law. The “two love commandment” – Love
for God and Love for Neighbor.
- B.
The Lord said, "You have answered right; do this, and you
will live," He had been caught!
- C.
Accepting The Truth: The Lawyer’s motive: "to put him
(Jesus) to the test." The Greek verb is “peirazo” and it
carries the meaning of tempting or trapping someone.
- Jesus' answer puts the lawyer on the spot. “If you know
what to do, why do you ask?” “Do it!” The man was a hypocrite! He
was being told a hard-to-accept truth. Desiring to justify himself,
the Lawyer said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?" A case
of . . .
- D. Justifying Ourselves: Jesus points to doing
Love! The story of the Good Samaritan. The Lawyer tried to put
himself in the right, pointing to the human unwillingness to hear
words of guidance and correction because they threaten our ego. Our
immediate response is to defend our threatened ego. But Jesus asks
him, “Which of these three (the priest, the levite, the Samaritan),
do you think, proved neighbor?” The Lawyer’ reluctant response: “
‘The one who showed mercy on him.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do
likewise.’"
- E. Personal Lessons:
Our instinctive reaction is to do what the lawyer did: get defensive
and to try to justify ourselves. Not the appropriate response.
Neither should we wallow in guilt.
- F.
What To Do? "You have answered right; do this,
and you will live." . . . “And Jesus said to him, "Go and do
likewise." Moments of vulnerability are great opportunities for
growth. If we react by protecting our bruised egos, we lose a
precious opportunity to change. Negative truths about ourselves are
challenges to grow, to really grow. This is the real meaning of
Repentance.
- Break
- Personal Reflection by
- Group Discussion
- Other Members’ Personal Reflections
- Last Week’s Motto: “Prayer is for healing.” Formulation of
new Weekly Motto
- prayer Before
Reading Scripture
- Illumine our hearts, O Master who
loves humankind, with the pure light of Your divine knowledge, and
open the eyes of our mind to understand Your Gospel teachings;
implant in us also the reverence for Your blessed commandments, that
trampling down all sinful desires, we may enter upon a spiritual
manner of living, both thinking and doing those things as please
You. For You are the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ
our God, and to You we ascribe glory together with Your eternal
Father and Your all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and
ever, and to ages of ages. Amen
-
- The Second Epistle Romans 15:1-6 Maintaining Unity
Among Christians
- 1 We who are strong ought to bear with the
failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; 2 let each
of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. 3
For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written,
"The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me." 4
For whatever was written in former days was written for
our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of
the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God
of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony
with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6
that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
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