Confidence before God. That's sort of an oxymoron if you meditate upon it. Yet through the presence of Jesus at the Father's right hand and the intercession of the Holy Spirit, we can have confidence and come boldly before the Creator of the universe and know that he not only hears us, but also cares for us. Wow, what an audience! Oh, and one final thing, he also ACTS on what we ask.
Day 29 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramoudah, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.
The Twenty-Ninth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramoudah
Departure of St.Erastus, the Apostle
On this day, St. Erastus, one of the Seventy Apostles, departed. He received the grace of the holy spirit in the upper room of Zion with the Disciples. He preached, ministered, and suffered along with them frequently. They laid the hands on him, and ordained him bishop for Jerusalem. He taught there and in many other places, and God worked great signs and wonders on his hands. As example he changed bitter salty water to sweet water. He labored with St. Paul the apostle in his many journeys, for he ministered unto him. He is mentioned in chapter nineteen of the Acts of the Apostles. After he reached a good old age, he departed in peace.
May His prayers be with us. Amen.
Departure of St.Acacius, Bishop of Jerusalem
On this day also, St. Acacius, Bishop of Jerusalem, departed. He was a pure and righteous man. He was persecuted for a long time, and God wrought many signs and wonders by his hands, then departed in peace.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
Vespers
Vespers Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 44 : 23,26
Chapter 44
| 23 | Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. |
| 26 | Arise for our help, And redeem us for Your mercies' sake. |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Vespers Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 20 : 29 - 33
Chapter 20
| 29 | Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. |
| 30 | And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" |
| 31 | Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" |
| 32 | So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" |
| 33 | They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." |
And Glory be to God forever.
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 57 : 8 - 10
Chapter 57
| 8 | Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. |
| 9 | I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. |
| 10 | For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Matins Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Matthew the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Matthew 20 : 17 - 19
Chapter 20
| 17 | Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, |
| 18 | "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, |
| 19 | and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again." |
And Glory be to God forever.
Liturgy Gospel
Paulines Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God.
A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Romans .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Romans 2 : 14 - 16
Chapter 2
| 14 | for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, |
| 15 | who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) |
| 16 | in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. John .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 John 2 : 21 - 25
Chapter 2
| 21 | I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. |
| 22 | Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. |
| 23 | Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. |
| 24 | Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. |
| 25 | And this is the promise that He has promised us--eternal life. |
Do not love the world or the things in the world.
The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Amen.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 4 : 32 - 35
Chapter 4
| 32 | Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. |
| 33 | And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. |
| 34 | Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, |
| 35 | and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Divine Psalm
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet, and the Good King.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 18 : 46,49
Chapter 18
| 46 | The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. |
| 49 | Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. |
Hallelujah.
Divine Gospel
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
John 8 : 23 - 26
Chapter 8
| 23 | And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. |
| 24 | Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." |
| 25 | Then they said to Him, "Who are You?" And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. |
| 26 | I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." |
And Glory be to God forever.
I’m convinced that beneath the ugly manifestations of our present evils—political corruption, ecological devastation, warring against one another, hating each other based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality—the greatest dis-ease facing humanity right now is our profound and painful sense of disconnection. We feel disconnected from God, certainly, but also from ourselves (especially our bodies), from each other, and from our world. Our sense of this fourfold isolation is plunging our species into increasingly destructive behavior and much mental illness.
Yet many are discovering that the Infinite Flow of the Trinity—and our practical, felt experience of this gift—offers the utterly grounded reconnection with God, with self, with others, and with our world that all spirituality, and arguably, even politics, is aiming for, but which conventional religion and politics fail to access.
Trinity overcomes the foundational philosophical problem of “the One and the Many.” Serious seekers invariably wonder how things can be both deeply connected and yet clearly distinct. In the paradigm of Trinity, we have three autonomous “Persons,” as we call them, who are nevertheless in perfect communion, given and surrendered to each other with an Infinite Love. With the endless diversity in creation, it is clear that God is not at all committed to uniformity but instead desires unity—which is the great work of the Spirit—or diversity overcome by love. Uniformity is mere conformity and obedience to law and custom; whereas spiritual unity is that very diversity embraced and protected by an infinitely generous love. This is the problem that our politics and most superficial religion are still unable to resolve.
Trinity is all about relationship and connection. We know the Trinity through experiencing the flow itself, which dissolves our sense of disconnection. The principle of one is lonely; the principle of two is oppositional and moves us toward preference and exclusion; the principle of three is inherently moving, dynamic, and generative. Trinity was made to order to undercut all dualistic thinking. Yet Christianity shelved it for all practical purposes because our dualistic theologies could not process it. [1]
God is not a being among other beings, but rather the Ground of Being itself which then flows through all beings. As Paul says to the intellectuals in Athens, this God “is not far from us, but is the one in whom we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:27-28). The God whom Jesus reveals is presented as unhindered dialogue, a positive and inclusive flow, and a waterwheel of outpouring love that never stops! St. Bonaventure (c. 1221–1274) called God a “fountain fullness” of love. [2]
Our sense of disconnection is only an illusion. Nothing can stop the flow of divine love; we cannot undo the eternal pattern even by our worst sin. God is always winning, and God’s love will finally win in the end. Nothing humans can do can stop the relentless outpouring force that is the divine dance. Love does not lose, nor does God lose. That’s what it means to be God!
References:
[1] See Cynthia Bourgeault, The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three: Discovering the Radical Truth at the Heart of Christianity (Shambhala: 2013); and The Shape of God: Deepening the Mystery of Trinity (CAC: 2004), CD, DVD, MP3 download.