Friday, March 02 (O.S., February 17), 2018: Friday of the Second Week of Lent; Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit († c. 306); Finding of the relics of Martyr Menas Callicelados (“the beautiful-sounding”) of Alexandria († 867-889); Saint Mariamne, sister of the Apostle Philip (1st C); Holy Hierarch Auxibius, Bishop of Soli in Cyprus († 102); Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and Wonderworker of All Russia († 1612); Venerable Theodore the Silent of the Kiev Caves (13th C); Venerable Theodosius and Romanus of Bulgaria New Martyr Theodore (18th C).
Sixth Hour: Isaiah 7:1-14
Vespers: Genesis 5:32-6:8
Vespers: Proverbs 6:20-7:1
Hope and forgiveness are written into the very nature of reality. This means is why in each moment of our life we have the chance to begin again through repentance.
We can’t, however, lose sight of the fact that hope and forgiveness are necessary because we are fallen creatures living in a fallen world. Often the great promise with which we begin isn’t realized.
In the reading from Isaiah, we meet Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah. The renewal of the Jewish promised by a new king is threatened early on by war. “Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it.”
Though their enemies fail the people of Jerusalem are still paralyzed with fear. The heart of the people “shook as the trees … shake before the wind.” In the face of the enemy, they have lost hope!
And so God sends Isaiah and, not insignificantly his son Shearjashub, to encourage Ahaz and all Jerusalem. The prophet preaches hope, the prophet’s son is a reminder of hope.
After telling the king that his enemies will fail the Lord does something extraordinary. He tells Ahaz to ask for yet another sign of hope. “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
Ahaz refuses to do so not wanting to put “the Lord to the test.” Repenting of his fear, and calling Jerusalem to do so as well, Ahaz instead utters a prophecy of hope: “the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Like Jerusalem midst of war, in the midst of our ascetical struggles, we are reminded that hope and forgiveness aren’t merely human phenomenon and are more than metaphysical principles. They are embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ!
It is Jesus Who fulfills our hope through the forgiveness of our sins. He heals the corruption that by the time of Noah had begun to reach the heavens themselves. Seduced by a fallen angel, by the time of Noah humanity seems intent on seducing the angels in return.
The paralyzing fear of sin stands in stark contrast to the freedom that comes from obedience to God. Solomon reminds me that true freedom is found not in my willfulness but in my willingness to keep my “father’s commandments” and fidelity to my “mother’s teaching.”
Far from being an external standard to which I must conform, the will of God “is a lamp” that illumines my life and reveals to me the goodness and beauty of life. Paradoxical though it seems, obedience to God gives me the freedom to respond all of life with hope. Yes, I fail and fall into sin. But sin never has the last word, hope remains; through repentance, forgiveness is always possible.
Sin can’t undo what God has done; He has written hope into the very fabric of reality.
In Christ,
+Fr Gregory