The holy martyr Sozon was a shepherd of Lycaonia who taught his family and friends the law of God. Sozon destroyed an idol, and was tortured and then burned for his Christian faith in the year 304 in Popeiopolis in Cilicia.
Today is born to us from the root of Jesse and the loins of David, Mary, the godly child. Therefore, all creation rejoices and is renewed. Heaven and earth rejoice together. You families of nations sing her praise. Joachim is elated and Anna cries out in celebration: The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos and the Sustainer of our life.
Your martyr Sozon, O Lord our God, in his struggle, received an incorruptible crown from you. With your strength, he brought down the tyrants and broke the cowardly valor of demons. Through his prayer, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Today the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, is born from a barren womb according to the divine plan. She is the inviolate bridal chamber of the heavenly Bridegroom. The chariot of the Word is made ready, for this is why she was preordained to be the gateway of God and truly the Mother of life.
Let us gather together and loudly sing to Sozon, the holy and genuine martyr, expert fighter for the faith, mystical seer of divine grace, generous provider of healing; for he is our intercessor before God.
Galatians 4:28 – 5:10
Brothers and sisters: You are children of the promise, as Isaac was. But just as in those days the son born in nature’s course persecuted the one whose birth was in the realm of the spirit, so do we find it now. What does Scripture say on the point? “Cast out slave girl and son together; for the slave girl’s son shall never be heir on equal terms with the son” of the one born free.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave girl but of a mother who is free.
It was for liberty that Christ freed us. So stand firm, and so not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time! Pay close attention to me, Paul, when I tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no use to you! I point out once more to all who receive circumcision that they are bound to the law in its entirety. Any of you who seek your justification in the law have severed yourselves from Christ and fallen from God’s favor! It is in the spirit that we eagerly await the justification we hope for, and only faith can yield it. In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor the lack of it counts for anything; only faith, which expresses itself through love.
You were progressing so very well; who diverted you from the path of truth? Such enticement does not come from him who calls you. “A little yeast can affect the entire dough.” I trust that, in the Lord, you will not adopt a different view. May condemnation fall on whoever it is that is unsettling you.
Mark 6:54 – 7:8
At that time as Jesus and the disciples were leaving the boat the people immediately recognized him. The crowds scurried about the adjacent area and began to bring in the sick on bedrolls to the place where they heard he was. Wherever he put in an appearance, in villages, in towns, or at crossroads, they laid the sick in the market places and begged him to let them touch just the tassel of his cloak. All who touched him got well.
The Pharisees and some of the experts in the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They had observed a few of his disciples eating meals without having purified–that is to say, washed–their hands. The Pharisees, and in fact all Jews, cling to the custom of their ancestors and never eat without scrupulously washing their hands. Moreover, they never eat anything from the market without first sprinkling it. There are many other traditions they observe–for example, the watching of cups and jugs and kettles. So the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of our ancestors, but instead take food without purifying their hands?” He said to them: “How accurately Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites when he wrote, ‘This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me. Empty is the reverence they do me because they teach as dogmas mere human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandment and cling to what is human tradition.”
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Sunday, September 6 –
