Reading Scripture in Lent with the Church Fathers: Monday of the First Week of Lent

Today’s Scripture Readings in the Orthodox Church
Isaiah 1:1-20; Genesis 1:1-13; Proverbs 1:1-20
A day of beginnings – not only of Lent, but in the Holy Scriptures: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: For the Lord has spoken….In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And God said, ‘Let there be light.’….The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

The [people] inquire of [the prophet]: “What can we do?” And he orders, Wash and be clean; remove the evils of your works from my sight; cease from evil and learn how to do good. Seek out judgment and do good to the afflicted. Judge the case of the orphans and widows (Isaiah 1:16–17). Again they ask the prophet: “When we have done this, what will happen to us?” He responds: Thus says the Lord: When you have done these things, come and we will speak with each other (1:18). And how do men speak with God, except in prayer which is without blemish? For prayer that is impure cannot converse with God. As it is written, God said in reply: Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; for your hands are full of blood (1:15). (Aphrahat, 4th century)

Disciples of the New Testament and partakers of the mysteries of Christ, as yet by calling only, but before long by grace also, make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! (Ezek 18:31), that there may be gladness among the inhabitants of heaven. For if there is joy over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7), according to the Gospel, how much more shall the salvation of so many souls move the inhabitants of heaven to gladness. As you have entered upon a good and most glorious path, run with reverence the race of godliness. For the only-begotten Son of God is present here ready to redeem you, saying, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28). You who are clothed with the rough garment of your offenses, who are held with the cords of your own sins (Prov 5:22), hear the voice of the prophet commanding: Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove your iniquities from before my eyes (1:16). And the choir of angels may chant over you: Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered (Ps 32:1). You who have just lighted the torches of faith, guard them carefully in your hands unquenched, that he, who once on this all-holy Golgotha opened paradise to the robber on account of his faith, may grant to you to sing the bridal song. (St Cyril of Jerusalem, 4th century).

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ Astonishment at the thought checks my utterance. What shall I say first? Whence shall I begin my narration? Shall I refute the vanity of the heathens? Or shall I proclaim our truth? … He who described the creation of the world immediately, in the very first words, enlightened our mind with the name of God, saying: ‘In the beginning God created.’ How beautiful an arrangement! He placed first ‘the beginning,’ that no one might believe that it was without a beginning. Then he added the word, ‘created,’ that it might be shown that what was made required a very small part of the power of the Creator. In fact, as the potter, although he has formed innumerable vessels by the same art, has exhausted neither his art nor his power, so also the Creator of the universe, possessing creative power not commensurate with one world, but infinitely greater, by the weight of His will alone brought the mighty creations of the visible world into existence. If, then, the world has a beginning and was created, inquire: ‘Who is He that gave it the beginning, and who is the Creator?’ Rather, lest in seeking through human reasoning you might perhaps turn aside from the truth, Moses has taught us beforehand, imprinting upon our hearts as a seal and a security, the highly honored name of God, saying: ‘In the beginning God created.’ The blessed Nature, the bounteous Goodness, the Beloved of all who are endowed with reason, the much desired Beauty, the Origin of things created, the Fount of life, the spiritual Light, the inaccessible Wisdom, He is the One who ‘in the beginning created the heavens and the earth.’ (St Basil of Caesarea, On the Hexaemeron, Homily 1, A. C. Way, Trans.).

Virtuous living is really the source and root of wisdom, just as all wickedness has its source in folly. I say this because the braggart and the slave of passion are taken captive by these vices as a result of a lack of wisdom. For this reason the prophet has said, “There is no health in my flesh. My sores are foul and festering because of my folly,” to indicate that all sin takes its beginning from a lack of wisdom; just as the virtuous person who fears God is wisest of all. That is why a certain wise man also says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” If, then, to fear God is to have wisdom, and the evildoer does not possess this fear, he is really bereft of wisdom; and he who is bereft of wisdom is truly the most foolish of all. (St John Chrysostom)