Eighth Sunday After Pentecost - 7/26/26
Sunday, July 26th, is the eighth Sunday after Pentecost. On this day, we remember:
The Repose of St. Jacob (Netsvetov), Enlightener of the Peoples of Alaska (1864)
Hieromartyr Hermolaus and Martyrs Hermippus and Hermocrates at Nicomedia (ca. 305)
Ven. Moses the Hungarian, of the Kiev Caves (Near Caves—ca. 1043)
Martyr Paraskevi of Rome (2nd c.)
Ven. Gerontius of St. Anne Skete (Mt. Athos)
The “EMVOLON” Icon of the Mother of God in Constantinople.
Readings for Sunday, July 26th:
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7
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
8
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ,
9
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
10
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
11
if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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29
So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s,
30
who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life.
31
But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
42
But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43
Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
44
And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.
45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
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10
Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11
For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12
Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”
13
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15
lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.
16
Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
17
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
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14
And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
15
When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
16
But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17
And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18
He said, “Bring them here to Me.”
19
Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
20
So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
21
Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
22
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
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.