Lenten Meditation
Listen to a Lenten devotion from Metropolitan Yohan (1950-2024) of blessed memory.
Lord God, whose blessed Son our Saviour gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scripture Readings
Isaiah 50:4–9a
“The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away. I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
“For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. Surely the Lord God will help Me; Who is he who will condemn Me?
Psalm 70
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader. Of David, for the memorial offering.
Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me! Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonour who desire to hurt me. Let those who say, ‘Aha, Aha!’ turn back because of their shame.
Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, ‘God is great!’ But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!
Hebrews 12:1–3
The Race of Faith
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Discipline of God
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
St. John 13:21–32
When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.
Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.
Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.
The New Commandment
So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.
A Saint's Prayer:
Even the best of life in this world is full of troubles and sorrows. The prayer of a Saint goes like this, "Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I will cry to you, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock athat is higher than I" (Psalm 61:1-2). Make this your prayer.
Metropolitan Yohan
An old man was asked, “How can I find God?” He said, “In fasting, in watching, in labours, in devotion, and, above all, in discernment. I tell you, many have injured their bodies without discernment and have gone away from us having achieved nothing. Our mouths smell bad through fasting, we know the Scriptures by heart, we recite all the Psalms of David, but we have not that which God seeks: charity and humility”
Apophthegmata Patrum
Donatus had many children and a wife to provide for, so he did his best to lead them. An old man, he had been faithful to his traditional religion all his life. His wife and eldest son, Jedrek, were also very devout. One of his other sons, Byurak, chose to follow Christ, became a national missionary and spoke often with his father about his faith, but Donatus stood firm.
“I am old now, and why should I reject my faith and accept [another] religion at this age?” he asked his son. “Do you want to follow it? I have no problem. Be a good person.”
However, the conversation of Christianity repeated over time. Perhaps it was the respect Byurak displayed toward his father, even during these discussions. Perhaps it was how his son and other believers treated those around them with kindness and compassion. Perhaps it was a combination or something different altogether. Whatever the reason, something in Donatus’s heart shifted, and he began to follow Christ. His family pushed back. Then pushed harder when tragedy struck the family.
Source for Collects: The Collects are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
Source for Scripture Passages: Scripture texts are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
