Today’s Scripture (at OCA)

Today’s Saints (at OCA)

Orthodox Word Podcast

Today is the Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meatfare). 

Kontakion - Tone 1

When You, O God, shall come to earth with glory,
all things shall tremble
and the river of fire shall flow before Your judgment seat;
the books shall be opened and the hidden things disclosed!
Then deliver me from the unquenchable fire,
and make me worthy to stand at Your right hand, righteous Judge!

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When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand,

Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying,

Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?

And the King will answer and say to them,

Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

Then He will also say to those on the left hand,

Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.

Then they also will answer Him, saying,

Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?

Then He will answer them, saying,

Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.

And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

~ Matthew 25:31-46

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For to Everyone Who Hath

The gospel immediately preceding today’s reading is the Parable of the Talents. Listen to what St. Gregory the Great says about these verses:

To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. Whoever has love receives other gifts as well. Whoever does not have love loses even the gifts he appeared to have received. Hence, it is necessary, my friends, that in everything you do, be vigilant about guarding love. True love is to love your friend in God, and your enemy for the sake of God.

Whoever does not have love loses every good that he has. He is deprived of the talent he received; and according to the Lord’s sentence he is cast into the external darkness. External darkness comes as a punishment to one who has fallen voluntarily into internal darkness through his own sin. The one who freely enjoyed pleasurable darkness in this world will be constrained to suffer punishing darkness in the next. (Parables of the Gospel, in Holy Apostles Convent, The Holy Gospels, p. 123)

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The Icon of the Last Judgment

The Greek Archdiocese of America has a nice explanation of the icon, with detailed pictures.

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Am I Human?

Read this short sermon by Metr. Anthony Bloom. It begins:

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Today, on our preparation journey towards Lent, we have come to an ultimate stage: we are confronted with judgement. If we pay attention to it, next week our spiritual destiny will be in our own hands, because next week is the day of Forgiveness.

The link between these two days is too obvious. If we only could become aware that all and each of us stand before the judgement of God and the judgement of men, if we could remember and realise with depth, wholeheartedly, in earnest that we are, all of us, indebted to each other, all responsible to each other for some of the pain and the heaviness of life, then we would find it easy, when we are asked to forgive, not only to forgive, but, in response to this request, to ask for forgiveness ourselves…

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Woe to You, O My Darkened Soul!

Woe, to you, O my darkened soul!
Your life is stained by depravity and laziness;
your folly makes you shun all thought of death.
How complacent you remain!
How can you flee the awesome thought of Judgment Day?
When will you change your way of life?
On that day your sins will rise against you.
What will your answer be then?
Your acts will condemn you; your deeds will expose you.
The time is at hand, O my soul.
Turn to the good and loving Savior!
Beg Him to forgive your malice and weakness, as you cry in faith:
“I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned against You,
but I know Your love for all mankind.
O good Shepherd, call me to enjoy Your lasting presence on Your right hand!”

~ Aposticha, Sunday of the Last Judgment

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Read from The River of Fire.