Church New Year and Dwelling Places of God

(image source)

September 1/14 is the beginning of the Church New Year.  

The church year show us how much God loves us and how the life He wants to give us is the doorway to life with Christ where we are loved, where we can be glad and always be with God.

Question to ask the kids:

Did you know that this day Jesus began His ministry? Does anyone know how He began it? 

We read about this beginning in St. Nikolai's Prologue of Ohrid.  The church new year is when Christ reads these words:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Isaiah 6:1-2

and then Christ says, after reading this:

And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (see Luke 4: 16-21 NKJV).

So the beginning of the Church Year is when Christ Himself announces not only who He is but begins His ministry and defines it.

When looking further at Luke in what the Blessed Theophylact says we understand who Christ's ministry is to us and the healing He speaks of is what we also need.

Saint Theophylact says that the Israelites (who the prophet Isaiah was talking to), were at first "the dwelling place of God" but later "their hearts were broken and crushed" because they "committed many sins" and then were no longer the dwelling place of God.

So Jesus came so that our hearts can be healed so we can be the dwelling place of God.  As baptised Christians we have the Holy Spirit in us and Christ came to heal our hearts so that Christ through the Holy Spirit can dwell more and more with us.

Do you know the story of Saint Simeon the Stylite? His day is also today! When he was a young man, 18 years old, he was told "you will not go anywhere without effort"

So to have our hearts become a beautiful dwelling place of God effort is needed!

Question:

What are ways that you can make an effort to grow to love Christ more so you can be a dwelling place of God?

Possible answers:

• Pray ~ talk to God
• Be nice to others
• Share
• Listen to your parents 
• Forgive quickly
• Read the Bible and Saint stories
• Pray to God or His Mother or your Saint Icon
• Pray the Jesus Prayer