The holy great martyr Procopius was born Neanius, raised by his pagan mother, and worked in service of the emperor Diocletian. He was sent to Alexandria to persecute the Church of God. On his way there he had a vision, similar to that of Saul on his voyage to Damascus, and the Lord Jesus appeared asking him, “Why do you persecute Me?” At that moment a radiant Cross appeared in the air. Neanius felt an inexpressible joy and spiritual happiness in his heart and he was transformed from being a persecutor into a zealous follower of Christ. When it was discovered that Neanius was no longer worshiping pagan idols, he was brought before a judge and handed the decree of Diocletian which the saint read through and tore to pieces in front of the court. He was sent in chains to Caesarea in Palestine. There he was tortured and thrown into a dark prison cell. On his first night there, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself came to him again and baptized the suffering confessor, and gave him the name Procopius. Procopius suffered greatly as he was tormented, but he refused to renounce Christ. He was beheaded in the year 303.
Receiving heaven’s invitation, O holy one, you turned from the errors of your ancestors and their ancient ways to being zealous for Christ like Paul. You endured many tortures and wounds, and you have been repaid with a crown of glory. Therefore, pray to Christ to save us, O great martyr Procopius.
Inflamed with a heavenly zeal for Christ and protected by the might of the Cross, you leveled the rages and bitterness of the foe. You raised up the Church, O Procopius, by the strength of your faith. You enlightened us by your example.
2nd Timothy 2: 1-10
Timothy, my son: You must be strong in the grace which is ours in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me through many witnesses you must hand on to trustworthy men who will be able to teach others. Bear hardship along with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier becomes entangled in the affairs of civilian life; he avoids this in order to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if one takes part in an athletic contest, he cannot receive the winner’s crown unless he has kept the rules. The hardworking farmer is the one who should have the first share of the crop. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will make my meaning fully clear.
Remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, was raised from the dead. This is the gospel I preach; in preaching it I suffer as a criminal, even to the point of being thrown into chains–but there is no chaining the word of God! Therefore I bear with all of this for the sake of those whom God has chosen, in order that they may obtain the salvation to be found in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.
Matthew 10:37 – 11:1
The Lord said to his disciples: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive the prophet’s reward, and whoever receives the righteous man because he is righteous will receive the righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple–amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and preach in other towns.
1 Corinthians 7: 12b-24
Brothers and sisters: If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever but is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever but is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. The unbelieving husband is consecrated by his believing wife; the unbelieving wife is consecrated by her believing husband. If it were otherwise, your children should be unclean; but as it is, they are holy.
If the unbeliever wished to separate, however, let him do so. The unbelieving husband or wife is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. Wife, how do you know that you will not save your husband; or you, husband, that you will not save your wife?
The general rule is that each one should lead the life the Lord has assigned him, continuing as he was when the Lord called him. This is the rule I give in all the churches. Was someone called after he had been circumcised? He should not try to hide his circumcision. Did the call come to another who had never been circumcised? He is not to be circumcised. Circumcision counts for nothing, and its lack makes no difference either. What matters is keeping God’s commandments. Everyone ought to continue as he was when he was called. Were you a slave when your name came? Give it no thought. Even supposing you could go free, you would be better off making the most of your slavery. The slave called in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, just as the freeman who has been called is a slave of Christ. You have been bought at a price! Do not enslave yourselves to men. Brothers and sisters, each of you should continue before God in the condition of life that was his when he was called.
Matthew 14:34 – 15:11
At that time making the crossing Jesus and the disciples reached the shore at Gennesaret; and when the men of that place recognized him they spread the word throughout the region. People brought him all the afflicted, with the plea that he let them do no more than touch the tassel of his cloak. As many as touched it were fully restored to health.
Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem approached Jesus with the question: “Why do your discipled act contrary to the tradition of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands, for example, before eating a meal.” In reply Jesus said to them: “Why do you for your part act contrary to the commandments of God for the sake of your ‘traditions’? For instance, God has said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father and mother shall be put to death.’ Yet you declare, ‘Whoever says to his father or his mother, Any support you might have had from me is dedicated to God, need not honor his father or mother.’ This means that for the sake of your tradition you have nullified God’s word.
“You hypocrites! How accurately did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said: ‘This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me. They do me empty reverence, making dogmas out of human precepts.’”
Jesus summoned the crowd and said to them: “Give ear and try to understand. It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes him impure; it is what comes out of his mouth.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Tuesday, July 7 –
