21
st
Week After Pentecost Á-? Tuesday
T
ODAY
Á-?
S
READINGS
,
FOLLOWED
BY
A
FEW
SMALL
PASTORAL
AND
PERSONAL
THOUGHTS
.
Colossians 1:1-2, 7-11 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
2
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
7
As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who
is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
8
Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
9
For this
cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be
filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10
That ye might walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God;
11
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience
and longsuffering with joyfulness;
Luke 8:1-3 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching
and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
2
And certain
women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom
went seven devils,
3
And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others,
which ministered unto him of their substance.
Colossians1:9-11
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for
you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding;
10
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and
longsuffering with joyfulness;
The Apostle provides us with a Á-°templateÁ-? for how to pray for others. See how vehemently he prays for
others! When I read this passage, I am convicted about how little I pray for others, and how weak my
prayers are compared to the Apostle.
Things are definitely better now that I have some time to breathe and am not either working at night,
sleeping, feeling like a Á-°zombieÁ-?, or at church. I have a regular prayer rule in which I pray for everyone
in my flock, by name, every day. I want my prayer to be as warm and intense as the Apostle, and also
as often, but at this point in time, I am what I am. So, I pray, knowing that I should be better, and also
knowing that if I pray, I will become better (at prayer, and everything else in the spiritual life).
There are few of us who can pray with the depth of emotion, empathy and longing for the well-being of
others that the Apostle possesses, but we must pray. A Christian principle is that if we try, with GodÁ-?s
help, we will become better (I believe that this principle is so important that I have said something like
this maybe a zillion times in my homilies). So, let us as least pray for others.
I have recommended to many personally to make a small list of loved ones and to pray for everyone on
that list everyday (I will send my dyptichs, which have all the parish memberÁ-?s names, to those who
ask). I should be on that list, because I am your unworthy pastor, and I need the grace of God to guide
my flock wisely.
We should begin by merely saying the Jesus prayer for each person, i.e.