We are gathered together today: the first Sunday after the Ascension of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We are met with the words of the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapters 7 and 9. In chapter 7: 1-2, St. Paul talks about how a man and a woman should have a spouse, albeit because otherwise we might fall into sexual immorality. In chapter 7: 25-34, he talks about those who are married and unmarried. He also talks explicitly about how the unmarried can focus on God; and how the married must focus on their spouse. In chapter 9: 1-10, he mentions that he and Barnabas are not married but that the other apostles are. The content of chapter 7 and 9 are being read today, partial because it is the Sunday of Monks, but also because the Church is attempting to explain the three "journeys" that we all have in life; that is, either we are single, or we are living a celibate life (unmarried), or we are married. These are NO three different paths or roads, but a "journey" that an individual takes on the same road. The Scriptures do not point to singlehood, celibacy, or married-life as being different roads that we take that are isolated from each other; instead, it is the same road that each one has chosen to take. Although the path or road is the same, the journey has different struggles and experiences. Let me explain this a little bit further.

In the Bible, we read about building the first Temple, which is described in chapter 6 of 1 Kings. But such a Temple would not last because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army entered Jerusalem and burned down the Temple. The Temple was in utter ruin, but in God’s time, the Temple was rebuilt with the decree of King Cyrus, under the reign of King Darius 1, as described in Ezra 5: 1-7. But again, in 70 AD, as Our Lord had prophesied (Mark 13: 3-4), the Second Temple was utterly destroyed by the Romans. After that, no attempt was made to rebuild the Temple, and it remains so till the present.

The Eagles Training Camp begins in August, followed by the preseason and then, what the NFL calls, the "regular season." These distinctions are made because each area of football has a meaning and purpose. The training camp's focus is to identify critical plays and acclimate the players and the coaching staff to the rigor and toughness necessary for the regular season play. Although the points and scores begin to count in the regular season, the regular season has a high probability of failure without a proper training camp and preseason. Even though we are speaking of football, much of what I said relates to our Great Lent experience, which we just completed last week.