FEAST OF SAINT EPHREM, DEACON AND DOCTOR – 9th JUNE
June 9, 2024
MONTHLY DEVOTIONAL FOR 9th JUNE
June 9, 2024
9 June, 2024
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. – Mark 2:27
God, our Father, Righteous and Kind, Compassionate and Merciful, you are a God of Bounty and grant graces and favors in absolute abundance. So also, when you created man, you allotted to him a day of complete rest and restoration from toil, from the worries and anxieties of the world, to afford him a time of meditation, reflection, dwelling in the Truth of your Word and giving thanks, in assembly, to the God of all, Creator, Provider, Deliverer, Savior.
Thus, resting from earthly concerns, this Sabbath day was given to man, as provision of turning our eyes heavenward, giving our attention to eternity, resting and being invigorated by your Holy Word, and relaxed and rejuvenated, giving praise and adoration to our Mighty, Eternal God. Lord, you have commissioned an earthly, yet spiritual task to Christians, to propagate the good news of your Heavenly Kingdom, which is open to all who believe your message of salvation.
The Sabbath helps us mingle and have community prayer and conference, to increase peace and harmony, to provide for the sick, poor and needy, to educate the ignorant, to pray for those who need healing of the body and the spirit and to inculcate in the young moral values, your precepts and way of salvation to be followed. Without the Sabbath, there would be an increase in vice, dangerous liaisons and ignorance of the importance of having the Holy Spirit dwell within us, to teach, lead, guide, preserve, counsel and save sinners, in Jesus’ Name. Amen
