Each week of the liturgical year, a reading from Second Advent Scripture is delivered as part of the Saturday Communion of Fellowship Service held in the Chapel of the Holy Child. This reading follows the Sacred Calendar of the Church; that is, Prophecies and Revelations that have been received by The Church on sacred dates are recalled in a liturgical context during the appropriate season each year. This reading is delivered just before the final blessings. Each service also includes a reading from the ancient scriptures, prayers, or wisdom sayings of various world religions past and present and is usually thematically related to the Second Advent Reading. This reading is delivered by the Reader right after the announcements that begin the service and is thus the first reading of the service. An audio recording of the reading from Second Advent Scripture delivered on the date above is provided here below together with a transcript of the first reading of the service that day.
Click here to watch this week’s readings on YouTube. (20:51 minutes)
SECOND ADVENT PROPHECY AND REVELATION
A Reading from Prophecy of the Universal Theocracy, Chapter 87: The Voice of India (pp. 863-874).
ANCIENT SCRIPTURE AND WISDOM SAYINGS
A Reading from the Gospel of Thomas (83-87, 90-94, 96, 99-101, 110-111, 113):
(83) Jesus said, You see images but the light within them is hidden in the image of the father’s light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light.
(84) …When you see your likeness you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you and that neither die nor become visible, how much will you bear!
(85) …Adam came from great power and wealth, but he was not worthy of you. Had he been worthy, he would not have tasted death.
(86) …Foxes have their dens and birds have their nests, but the human child has no place to lay his head and rest.
(87) …How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on both.(90) Jesus said, Come to me, for my yoke is easy and my mastery gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.(91) They said to him, Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you. He said to them, You examine the face of heaven and earth but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine this moment.
(92) Jesus said, Seek and you will find….
(93) Do not give what is holy to dogs. They might thrown them on the manure pile. Do not throw pearls to swine. They might grind it to bits.
(94) …One who seeks will find. For one who knocks it will be opened.(96) Jesus said, The father’s kingdom is like a woman who took a little yeast , hid it in dough, and made large loaves of bread. Whoever has ears should hear.
(99) (His) students said to him, Your brothers and your mother are outside. He said to them, Those here who do the will of my father are my brothers and my mother. They will enter my father’s kingdom.
(100) They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, Caesar’s people demand taxes from us. He said to them, Give Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, give god the things that are god’s, and give me what is mine.
(101) Those who do not (despise) their father and mother as I do cannot be my students, and those who do not love their father and mother as I do cannot be my students. For my mother brought me forth but my true mother gave me life.(108) Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to that one.
(110) …You who have found the world and become wealthy, renounce the world.
(111) The heavens and earth will roll up in your presence and you who live from the living one will not see death. Shame on the flesh that depends on the soul. Shame on the soul that depends on the flesh.(113) His students said to him, When will the kingdom come? Jesus said, It will not come because you are watching for it. No one will announce, “Look, here it is.” or “Look, there it is.” The father’s kingdom is spread out upon the earth and people do not see it.
Click here to watch this week’s readings on YouTube. (20:51 minutes)