This Daily Devotion is to help our members and others reflect on the understanding of Christian service to our Lord.

Devotion for Sunday, January 10, 2021

The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite, Msgr. George Appleyard

An Invitation to Prayer

On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
announces that the Lord is nigh.
-Wake up and listen, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of kings.

Psalm 66/67

Show us compassion, O God, and bless us,
and show your face to us
to know your way on earth
and your saving work among all peoples.

May the peoples proclaim you, O God;
may all the peoples proclaim you.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice
because you will judge all the people fairly
and guide all the nations on the earth.

May the peoples proclaim you, O God;
may all the peoples proclaim you.

The earth has produced its fruit,
may God, our God, bless us.
May God bless us,
and may the ends of the earth fear him.

A reading adapted from Basil’s, Homily on Proverbs 1;1-5

The second precept in the opening verse is to know discipline (παιδειαν-the discipline in pedagogy). Discipline is a kind of training that benefits the soul, which it purifies of wickedness, although it is often painful. As the Letter to the Hebrews says12:11, “True, the moment of discipline never seems pleasant, but rather painful; yet later it yields the fruit of peace to those trained in it, in other words, righteousness.” And so, not just any mind can inculcate this discipline. Many people grow tired of the discomfort, and out of ignorance do not wait for the benefit it brings. They become exasperated by the chronic discomfort and remain sick with ignorance. As Isaiah says50:5, “The discipline of the Lord-yes, of the Lord-opens my ears.” Like children who do not learn their lessons until punished by their teachers, some disobey the commandments of the Lord until God disciplines them and then they finally hear what they had disregarded for so long, as if for the first time.

A Prayer

Open the ear of my heart to hear your message long before my deafness brings you to discipline me more forcefully because your love impels you to save me from myself. Once I have heard you, may I act swiftly to do those things which are useful and beneficial, not only to my own improvement, but for the improvement of all I love and with whom I share this world. Come, Lord Jesus!I Cor 16:22
Amen!