Thursday of the First Week of Lent

The Gospel according to St. Mark (4:21-29)

    ”Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

    Today the Lord adds to His saying from yesterday a new light from the lantern of His word regarding the judgment and treatment of others.

    And it is that ”For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.“

Matthew 10:26 NKJV

    This is also worth considering. Even people's sins and the secrets of their hearts are exposed to Him and He will reveal them and announce them in time. This is something to definitely consider as all the sins of people and things hidden in their hearts are all apparent to Him, and He will reveal it all in His time.

    And now what is in my heart my Lord? And what will appear from what is hidden in my heart?

    The saints hid their virtues and the treasures of their hearts under the cover of humility and appeared from outside the destitutional, distressed, humiliated and poor. And so they passed through the days of their sojourning, with no one knowing their secret. As for my ignorance, I show off to others and try to appear virtuous so people can see me. This is also the origin of judgment, as in this case I see people other than what they are so I judge and condemn them…and I am guilty of the same sin.

    You are the revealer of secrets.. You are the only heart examiner.. What have I to do with other people?, and people's sins?, and people's secrets?

    The ignorant condemns others for the flaws he sees in them. And the wise contemplates the virtues of others and feels sacred jealousy.

    Oh my God.. I don't know the insides of people, so please stop me from always observing the failure of others. Make my sight focus on the inside of my heart to see my own flaws and shortcomings. And cover me with Your protection so that my flaws would not get exposed, and I would be disgraced.

    It is only the divine light that reveals things because it is the truth. If I live with the truth and the light, things are revealed. The first thing revealed to me will be my insides and my flaws, I will realize it in the light of truth, which will convict me of sin and lead me to repentance to reform my person.

    On the one hand, regarding of what is inside the human being, Christ directs my view that the kingdom of God is inside me. Like a plant that grows inside because it has a life force that does not go away, and the human being sleeps and rises and the plant grows…and bear fruit with grace.

    The Holy Fathers described the work of judgment as a worm that eats the plant, that is, it harms and kills its growth from within the person . The kingdom of God does not come with observation and does not grow with observation, it needs the purity of a heart so that the thorns of judgment do not disrupt the growth of the seed of the kingdom.

 + «Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear»

    O Lord, speak, for your servant hears.. I hear what the Lord God is saying. Give your servant a heeding ear. So I would listen to Your words and live.

    Make your kingdom inside me grow and flourish . And make your kingdom in me bear fruit and increase. You are the only one who develop.. ”I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.“

I Corinthians 3:6-7 NKJV

    Allow me to work with You in expanding Your kingdom within the hearts and the souls. Give me the Grace to plant or water the seeds of Your kingdom.

    Give me the grace to understand that it is not in my power to give the increase. I'm just a worker, a sower or a waterer.

    In You is life… and the life is the light of man.

Fr. Louka Sidarous

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