Epistle Reading: James 1:19-27
Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath;
for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness,
and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your
souls.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is
like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets
what kind of man he was.
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues
in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will
be blessed in what he does.
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not
bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is
useless.
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this:
to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted
from the world.
Gospel Reading: Mark 10:17-27
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt
before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may
inherit eternal life?"
So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good
but One, that is, God.
"You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do
not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not
defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' "
And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these I have
observed from my youth."
Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One
thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and
follow Me."
But he was sad at this word, and went away grieved, for he had
great possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard
it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"
And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus
answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who
trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
And they were astonished beyond measure, saying among
themselves, "Who then can be saved?"
But looking at them, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible,
but not with God; for with God all things are possible."
Saints and Feasts
Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople; The Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Russia
