Thoughts for Cheesefare Tuesday with the Readings and Comments
"If we dare to call ourselves
Orthodox Christians, if we are bold enough to utter even a single prayer
to God, then we must first examine ourselves and see if we are truly
humble. We must carefully inspect our relationships at home, at work and
in the parish. Where we see conflict, we know that we still lack
humility. The perfectly humble man or woman has no such animosities
towards his or her brethren."
-- His Eminence, Archbishop JOSEPH
In the Liturgical Year from which St. Theophan the Recluse' Thoughts for Every Day of the Church Year were compiled, Cheesefare Tuesday coincided with the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord because the Old Calendar which St. Theophan followed is thirteen days later than the New Calendar. For this reason, in his book, the readings are for the Feast of the Presentation rather than for Cheesefare Tuesday. The following are the readings for Cheesefare Tuesday:
Jude 1:1-10
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: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 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. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, 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. Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
It is important that we heed the warning of this short
Epistle of St. Jude: We must “content
earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” because
“certain men have crept in unnoticed, [such as Arius and other heretics] that “turn
the grace of God in to licentiousness [saying that the grace of God allows us
to sin with impunity and without serious consequence; that since God will forgive
us, we can sin presuming on God’s grace] and deny the only Lord God and our Lord
Jesus Christ [denying the dogmas of Trinity and the Incarnation]. Thus we are reminded that many of
Israel who were led out of Egypt were destroyed because they sinned in the wilderness and many of
God’s righteous angels, because they rebelled are “reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” Contending for the true faith means
that each of us, in our own lives, struggle to live according to the Orthodox
Christian Faith as “once and for all delivered” to us by the Apostles and their
successors and not be led astray to the teachings and traditions of men who
deny and replace this faith with innovations that destroy the soul.
Luke 22:39-42; 45-23:1
Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? “When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.” But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly. Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?” And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him. As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. “And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go. “Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.” Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.” And they said, “What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.” Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate.
On the soul-destructive nature of making false and malicious
statements (calumny) about others
[Part 6 of 6]
"A soldier has his whole body encased in a suit of armor; yet, if a single very small aperture appears in the armor, and provides an arrow with a point of entry, it brings death upon a brave man. So also with the door of the ear: if a calumniator finds it open, the man who accepts his words suffers the most terrible destruction. This door is so great that death, in all of its immensity, went through it and entered the world. It has since been swallowing all the generations of mankind, and still remains insatiable. Your ears should be shut with bolts and bars, so that no accusation may enter them. Do not ignore calumny as something trivial and incapable of causing destruction."
--St. Ephraim the Syrian
That we must always avoid dwelling on the sins of others
and gossiping about them
"One who busies himself with the sins of others, or who condemns his brother out of suspicion, has not yet begun to repent; and does not seek to know his own sins, which are - in truth - heavier than a quantity of lead weighing many talents. [In addition, he does not] realize why it is that a man becomes slow of heart, loving vanity and questing after falsehood. For this reason, as one foolish and walking in darkness, he disregards his own sins, and becomes preoccupied - in his imagination - with the sins of others --- whether they really have occurred, or he merely suspects they have."
St. Maximos the Confessor
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