36As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
37But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
43He took them, and ate in front of them.
44He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.”
45Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
46He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48You are witnesses of these things.
49Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
51While he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.
52They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Hebrews 1.10-2.3 (Epistle)
10And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands.
11They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does.
12You will roll them up like a mantle, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years won’t fail.”
13But which of the angels has he told at any time, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?”
14Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
1Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.
2For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,
3how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard,
Hebrews 7.26-8.2
(Epistle, St Gregory)
26For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself.
28For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son forever who has been perfected.
1Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this: we have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man.
Mark 2.1-12 (Gospel)
1When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was at home.
2Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them.
3Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him.
4When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on.
5Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7“Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts?
9Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk’?
10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—
11“I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.”
12He arose, and immediately took up the mat and went out in front of them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
John 10.9-16
(Gospel, St Gregory)
9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.
10The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.
13The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
15even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
Commemorations
St Eustathius, archbishop of Antioch (337)
He was consecrated Bishop of Berea (Aleppo) in Syria, then of Antioch in 324. He took an active part in the Council of Nicea against the Arian heresy. His zeal for the Faith aroused the hatred of various heretics, who convened a council in Antioch where, by means of slanders and false witnesses, they were able to have the holy bishop deposed and exiled to Thrace, where he died a few years later.
The deposition of the Saint caused a schism in the Church of Antioch which was not healed until 414 (see St Meletius, Feb. 12). Saint John Chrysostom publicly praised Eustathius as a Martyr, and his relics were finally brought back to Antioch in 482. The Synaxarion says “The people then went in jubilation to meet him with lights and incense, and escorted him as he made a triumphal entry into his city, which thus recovered its unity in the Faith and in the veneration of this champion of Orthodoxy.”
St John the Scholastic, patriarch of Constantinople (577)
He came from the region of Antioch, and only became a clergyman at the age of fifty. He won a wide reputation as representative of the Patriarchate of Antioch at Constantinople, and was elected Patriarch of Constantinople following the deposition of Eutyches in 565. He compiled the Nomocanon, a collection of Church canons, and added the Communion hymn “Of Thy Mystical Supper…” to the Divine Liturgy. He reposed in peace.
Saint Zachariah, Patriarch of Jerusalem (632)
He was the Skevophylax, keeper of the sacred vessels in the Church of Constantinople, then was made Patriarch of Jerusalem in 609. When the Persians took Jerusalem in 614 and took the Precious Cross of our Lord as a trophy, Zachariah went to Persia with the Cross, clasping it in his arms. In 631 the Emperor Heraclius conquered the Persians and recovered the Cross, bringing it to Constantinople. According to one account, Zachariah returned with the Cross, then returned to governing the Church in Jerusalem until his repose in 632 when Modestus (who had been acting in his absence) succeeded him. According to another account, Saint Zachariah died in exile, and Modestus was made Patriarch when the Holy Cross returned to Jerusalem.