This Daily Devotion is to help our members and others reflect on the understanding of Christian service to our Lord.
Devotion for Monday, December 11, 2023
The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite, Msgr. George Appleyard
An Invitation to Prayer
The wolf will become the guest of the lamb,
the leopard will rest with the kid,
the calf and the lion shall graze together,
with a little child to lead them.Isaiah 11:6
-Come, let us welcome him!
Kaphv
My soul faints for your salvation;
I have pinned my hope on your word.
My eyes fail (searching) your word,
saying, when will you comfort me?
I have become like a wineskin in the smoke
but I have not forgotten your decrees.
How many days does your servant have?
When will you decide for me against those who prosecute me?
Those who speak nonsense prattle on,
but not so your law, O Lord.
All your decrees are fair;
yet they treat me unjustly, help me.
They almost wiped me from the earth,
but I did not abandon your decrees.
Enliven me by your mercy
and I shall keep every dictate you have uttered.
A reading adapted from Basil’s, On the Human Condition
“Fill the earth” does not mean populate the deserts and the frozen wastes. Humans are not required to populate such areas. God has made us masters so as to fill the earth, and we fill it by our intellect. And by choosing what is useful we rejected what is useless. So the command to fill the earth has made us masters. In choosing what to reject we still exercise dominion over it. When you buy grain, are you not the master of it, even though you will winnow it and discard any chaff and bad kernels? It is similar with the earth itself. One part-the better-is reserved for human habitation, another for cultivation, and the rest left for the animals. “Multiply and rule the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and the wild beasts on the land.” This is the blessing, this is the legislation, this is the honor given us by God.
A Prayer
O God almighty, who set the boundaries of the land and the sea, who arranged the heavenly lights and set out seasons and times, climates and regions, give us the knowledge to rule our affairs by your Spirit. Let us choose wisely the course of our own times and seasons, and the regions in which we shall march, that all ways may lead to you in loving service and mature hope; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen!