Today the readings of Great Lent conclude with the perfection of the King’s work, the proximity of His second coming and His judgment for unbelievers and refusers of salvation.Today is the day of the great reward for the righteous and the day of joy for God’s visitation for them, and at the same time it is the day of judgment of the wicked and the just judgment of God for them.
So the readings begin with the book of Genesis and Joseph’s prophecy about God’s visitation of His people.
” God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”(Genesis 50)
In the proverbs of Solomon, he explains that salvation requires the struggle of man to preserve his place and position in Christ.
“If the righteous can hardly be saved, where the sinner and the hypocrite appear, ”
In the book of Isaiah, he preaches to believers the joy of salvation and the perfection of His salvation and warns the wicked of the coming judgment.
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her,
For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
For behold, the Lord will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire and by His sword The Lord will judge all flesh;” ( Isaiah 66)
In the book of Job, Job’s repentance and forgiveness of his companions are perfect, and God’s compensations are multiplied for him.
“And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;” ( Job 42)
And in the Matins psalm the whole earth rejoices at the salvation that is to be.
“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.” (Psalms 98)
In the Matins gospel, the Lord rebukes the Pharisees for waiting for the kingdom of God while the son of man is in their midst and warns them that the absence of repentance makes fate as dark as the days of Noah at the time of the flood and the days of Lot in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;the kingdom of God is within you.”
For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.
Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17)
Pauline Epistle warns against the formality of the Christian life and its impending judgment.
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Timothy 4)
Catholic Epistle emphasizes the coming of the Lord and the importance of waiting for His coming with our hearts steadfast in Him, not bearing the whining of anyone and patiently enduring hardships.
“You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5)
Praxis speaks of God’s visitation of nations and the perfection of the proclamation of salvation to all peoples, which has been in God’s plan since eternity.
“Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up;
So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the Lord who does all these things.’
“Known to God from eternity are all His works.”
(Acts 15)
The psalm of the liturgy proclaims the great joy of the coming of the Lord and the Lord’s judgment of the just and upright being.
“Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.” (Psalms 98)
The Gospel of the liturgy concludes with the perfection of the divine work of healing and salvation, the perfection of the
rejection of the Jewish nation and the perfection of God’s judgment.
“Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’
How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!
See! Your house is left to you desolate; ” (Luke 13)
The summary of the readings
Joseph’s prophecy about God’s visitation of His people. Genesis
The Righteous strive for his salvation. Proverbs
The perfection of the joy of the righteous and the perfection of the judgment of the wicked. The book of Isaiah
The perfection of Job’s forgiveness for his companions and the perfection of God’s compensations for him. The Book of Job
All the Earth cheers for salvation. The Matins Psalm
The coming of the son of man is like lightning, like the days of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah. The Matins gospel
The whining of brothers can expose us to judgment.
Catholic Epistle
The complete declaration of the salvation of the nations and God’s visitation for them. Praxis
The judgment of the earth and the peoples with Justice and righteousness. The lituegy psalm
The perfection of divine healing and salvation by the death and resurrection of Christ and the rejection of the Jewish nation. The Gospel of the liturgy