33rd Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday of Zacchaeus - 1/25/26
Sunday, January 25th, is the 33rd Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday of Zacchaeus.
The paschal season of the Church is preceded by the season of Great Lent, which is also preceded by its own liturgical preparation. The first sign of the approach of Great Lent comes five Sundays before its beginning. On this Sunday the Gospel reading is about Zacchaeus the tax-collector whose life was changed simply because he “sought to see who Jesus was” (Luke 19:3). The desire and effort to see Jesus begins the entire movement through Lent towards Pascha. It is the first movement of salvation.
On this day, the Church remembers:
The New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia
St. Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople (389)
St. Moses, Archbishop of Novgorod (1362)
Martyrs Felicitas of Rome, and seven sons: Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis and Martial (ca. 164)
Ven. Publius, Ascetic, of Syria (ca. 380)
St. Mares the Singer, of Syria (ca. 430)
Icons of the Mother of God, “ASSUAGE MY SORROW” (translation to Moscow in 1640), and “THE UNEXPECTED JOY”
Saint Vetranion of Tomis (4th c.).
Read more about the lives of these saints here.
Readings for Sunday, January 25th:
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1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (Epistle, Saint)
7
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8
for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10
to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
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9
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
12
But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13
The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
14
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15
As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
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9
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.
10
For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
11
These things command and teach.
12
Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
13
Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
14
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.
15
Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.
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1
Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
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Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
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And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
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So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
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And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
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So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
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But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
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Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
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And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
10
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The Holy Scriptures are part of the Church’s Holy Tradition. Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of blessed memory wrote:
In the words of Father Alexander Schmemann, “A Christian is the one who, wherever he looks, finds everywhere Christ, and rejoices in Him.” This is true in particular of the biblical Christian. Wherever he looks, on every page, he finds everywhere Christ.
See Metropolitan Ware’s article How to Read the Bible for more on an Orthodox approach to scripture.