Epistle Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the
Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of
every one of you all abounds toward each other,
so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches
of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and
tribulations that you endure,
which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment
of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you
also suffer;
since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with
tribulation those who trouble you,
and to give you who are troubled rest with us when
the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not
know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His
saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony
among you was believed.
Gospel Reading: Luke 12:13-15,22-31
Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother
to divide the inheritance with me."
But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator
over you?"
And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness,
for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."
And He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not
worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will
put on.
"Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
"Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which
have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more
value are you than the birds?
"And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his
stature?
"If you then are not able to do the least, why are you
anxious for the rest?
"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor
spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these.
"If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the
field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe
you, O you of little faith?
"And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink,
nor have an anxious mind.
"For all these things the nations of the world seek after,
and your Father knows that you need these things.
"But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be
added to you.
Saints and Feasts
Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople
