The readings of this day declare that repentance is the door to our survival and salvation.

So the Psalms assure us that our God has our salvation (the Vespers prayer), He has rich mercies (Matins), and He also has forgiveness (liturgy).

The Psalms calls every penitent to confess to the God of salvation.

“let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”(Vespers psalm), and may the God of mercy and compassion bless “Bless the Lord, O my soul.The Lord is merciful and gracious” (Matins psalm), and we rely on the God of forgiveness”But there is forgiveness with You I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope” (liturgy psalm).

 

In the Gospel of Vespers, the Lord declares with the utmost clarity and power the importance of repentance instead of philosophies of searching into things and analyzing the causes of people’s misfortunes, and that every person should review his repentance.

“And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

 

As for the book of Jonah, the Lord calls the prophet to preach to the Gentiles, calling them to repent in order to survive destruction, and how Jonah tries to escape and God offers him an opportunity to repent.

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…..And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me….Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.”

 

The gospel of Matins warns us not to underestimate the sanctity of God in us and His divine role and put it up to be defiled by the pigs of the world. “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine”

But at the same time He encourages us to ask for His rich gifts.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

 

Pauline Epistle gives us a clear example of the beauty, fruit and effect of repentance in the Romans.

“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered….

But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Catholic Epistle also assure penitents that their call is preserved by divine love, but it needs constant striving and diligence from the minister and the ministered, from the Shepherd and the flock.

” Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for

the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”

 

But at the same time he declares the fate of the unrepentant.

“He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

 

Therefore, St. Peter invites the multitudes in Praxis for repentance and baptism in order to receive salvation and the gift of the spirit.

“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

 

He also declares that the church’s daily mission is to invite and accept penitents and non-believers into the fold,” And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

The Gospel of the liturgy concludes with a call to all to cleanse the source, which is the heart, of any evil and the penitent’s keenness on every word that comes out of his mouth.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

 

He also warns of the emptiness of the heart, of the spirit of repentance and of Grace, becoming a theater for the forces of darkness.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

 

The summary of the readings

Psalm of Vespers,Matins and Liturgy	We confess to the God of salvation, bless the God of mercy and trust in the God of   forgiveness
The Vespers Gospel	The seriousness of analyzing the causes of other people’s misfortunes and neglecting repentance.
Jonah  Ch.1	God’s call to Jonah to go to Nineveh.
Matins gospel	God is rich in His gifts, but it is dangerous to underestimate the divine sanctities.
Pauline Epistle	The fruits of repentance and its effectiveness in the soul.
Catholic Epistle	The struggle of repentance and the fate of   unrepentant peoples.
Praxis	Repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Liturgy Gospel	Repentance is the purity of the source (heart) and the danger of the emptiness of the heart from grace.

 

The church in today’s readings

Catholic Epistle		Struggle in faith and in a life of salvation
Catholic Epistle		The judgment of the fallen angels and the judgment of all men
Catholic Epistle		Tradition-Michael the archangel when he  fought the devil …
Praxis		The connection of repentance with baptism by   the action of the Holy Spirit
	Praxis	The bread-breaking communion – the Eucharist
	The Liturgy Gospel	Jonah in the belly of the great fish is a symbol of the death and resurrection of the Lord

 

Inspired by the readings

Running away from God

“But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3)

• We often run away from the face of the Lord when we do not devote time to sitting with Him.

• We run away when we postpone our solitude with Him.

• We run away when we block our ears from the call of those around us.

• We are running away .. We understand that the whale and storm are an unnecessary punishment, while his loving hands are trying to pick us up from the lost, we pay the fare of our escape with satisfaction, walk with strangers in indifference, and unknowingly descend to the bottom.

We are running away from His love, from His commandment, from His call !!