{"id":60499,"date":"2016-01-24T23:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T06:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=60499"},"modified":"2016-01-24T23:07:14","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T06:07:14","slug":"sunday-school-24-jan-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2016\/01\/24\/sunday-school-24-jan-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday School: 24-Jan-2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re a regular visitor to this site, you’ll know that\u00a0there are certain\u00a0kinds posts which regularly appear each week. There’s “Music Monday” where I post some Christian music which I have been enjoying that week. There’s “Wise Words on Wednesday” where I share a quotation which I find insightful. Finally, there’s “Friday Frivolity” where I post a joke, goofy\u00a0video or funny image.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Well, today I’d like to introduce a new\u00a0staple to Restless Pilgrim: “Sunday School”.\u00a0For a while now I’ve been reading the catechesis material produced in my parish for the teens and been very impressed. I’ve asked those involved for their permission and they’ve graciously agreed for me to post it here each week so that it can reach a wider audience. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

At the moment, the teens are reviewing the material from the previous weeks, but here are the notes concerning the Saints and martyrs from this week…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"StJohnSeattle\"<\/p>\n

Jan 17 \u2013 Our Holy Father Anthony the Great<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anthony was an Egyptian and was born about the year 250 A.D. in the village of Koman near Herculea. Following the\u00a0demise of his noble and wealthy parents, he divided the inherited estate with his sister, who was a minor, and\u00a0provided for her with some relatives. Anthony distributed his half of the estate to the poor and, he, in his twentieth\u00a0year, dedicated himself to the ascetical life for which he yearned from his childhood.<\/p>\n

In the beginning Anthony lived\u00a0a life of asceticism in the proximity of his village but, in order to flee the disturbances of people, he withdrew into\u00a0the wilderness on the shore of the Red Sea, where he spent twenty years as a recluse not associating with anyone\u00a0except with God through constant prayer, reflection and contemplation, patiently enduring unspeakable\u00a0temptations from the devil. His fame spread throughout the entire world and many disciples gathered around him\u00a0whom he placed on the path of salvation by his example and words.<\/p>\n

During the eighty-five years of his ascetical life,\u00a0only twice did he go to Alexandria. The first time to seek martyrdom during the time of the persecution of the\u00a0Church and, the second time at the invitation of St. Athanasius, in order to refute the accusation of the Arians:\u00a0supposedly that he, too, was an adherent of the Arian heresy.<\/p>\n

Anthony died in the one-hundred fifth year of his life,\u00a0leaving behind an entire army of his disciples and imitators. Even though Anthony was not a scholar, nevertheless,\u00a0he was a counselor and teacher of the most learned men of that time, as was St. Athanasius the Great. When certain\u00a0Greek philosophers tempted him with literary wisdom, Anthony shamed them with the question: “Which is older,\u00a0the understanding or the book? Which of these two was the cause of the other?” Ashamed, the philosophers\u00a0dispersed for they perceived that they only had literary knowledge without understanding and Anthony had\u00a0understanding.<\/p>\n

Here is a man who attained perfection in as far as man, in general, can attain on earth. Here is an\u00a0instructor to instructors and a teacher to teachers, who, for a full eighty five years perfected himself and only in that\u00a0way was he able to perfect many others. Filled with many years of life and great works, Anthony died in the Lord in\u00a0the year 335 A.D.<\/p>\n

Jan 26 \u2013 The Venerable Xenophont and Maria and their Sons John and Arcadius<\/strong><\/p>\n

They were prominent and wealthy citizens of Constantinople. Xenophont and his wife Maria lived a God-pleasing life\u00a0and dedicated all their attention to the Christian upbringing of their sons. When their sons reached majority, they\u00a0were sent to study in Beirut; but it so happened that a storm capsized their boat. By the Providence of God, John\u00a0and Arcadius were somehow saved. They were tossed ashore by the waves but in two different places so that each\u00a0thought the other was drowned.<\/p>\n

Out of grief for each other, they both became monks in two different monasteries.\u00a0After two years, their grieving parents came to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to pay homage before the holy shrines.\u00a0There, with the help of the “discernment” of a spiritual father, first the brothers met and, after that, the parents\u00a0with their children. Out of gratitude to God, Xenophont and Maria distributed their entire estate to the poor and\u00a0both of them were tonsured.<\/p>\n

The history of these four souls is touching and it shows how the Lord wonderfully\u00a0guides the fate of those who believe in Him; how He permits pain and sorrow upon them that they may, later on, be\u00a0strengthened in faith, in order to lead them into still greater joy. They lived and died in the Lord in the fifth century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re a regular visitor to this site, you’ll know that\u00a0there are certain\u00a0kinds posts which regularly appear each week. There’s “Music Monday” where I post some Christian music which I have been enjoying that week. There’s “Wise Words on Wednesday” where I share a quotation which I find insightful. Finally, there’s “Friday Frivolity” where I post a joke, goofy\u00a0video or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[3547,2658,146,3548],"class_list":["post-60499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","tag-ecf","tag-seattle","tag-st-john-chrysostom","tag-teenagers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60499"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60556,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60499\/revisions\/60556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}