The Morning Offering

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever!

The Morning Offering
Monday, June 15 / June 2 (Church Calendar)

Saints of the Day:

June 2 / 15. St. Nicephorus the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople. Great-Martyr John the New of Sochi, who suffered at Belgrade. New-Martyr Demetrius of Philadelphia. Hieromartyr Photinus (Pothimus), Bishop of Lyons. New-Martyr Constantine of the Hagarenes (Mt. Athos). (Greek Calendar: Hieromartyr Erasmus of Ochrid, who reposed in peace, and 8,000 Martyrs with him. New-Martyr John of Trebizond.)

Photo of the Day:

I took this photo a few days ago during an outing for our holy brotherhood, to Hurricane Ridge in the nearby Olympic Mountains, of in the Olympic National Forest.

Thought for the Day:

There is only one God of my heart, my Lord and my God, and He is everything to me, as He is also everything to the whole world, visible and invisible, which was created by Him from nothing. Therefore, I ought not to cling to anything but to my God; I ought to part from everything that I have without regret, as from the dust which we trample under feet, and ought only to have in my heart love for God, and my brethren who are received in Christ into union with the Divine nature. "Ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (Peter i, 4). "Now are we the sons of God." (I Cor. x. 17). Whilst malice is the child of the Devil, may it never, neither pride, nor self-exaltation, and envy, touch our heart, even for a single moment!
St. John of Kronstadt

"My Life in Christ"

Scripture Readings for the Day:

Romans 2:28-3:18

²⁸ For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Romans 3

God's Judgment Defended

 ¹ What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ² Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. ³ For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? ⁴ Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written:

      " That You may be justified in Your words,
      And may overcome when You are judged."

⁵ But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) ⁶ Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?
⁷ For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

All Have Sinned

   
⁹ What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
¹⁰ As it is written:


      " There is none righteous, no, not one;
       ¹¹ There is none who understands;
      There is none who seeks after God.
       ¹² They have all turned aside;
      They have together become unprofitable;
      There is none who does good, no, not one."
       ¹³ " Their throat is an open tomb;
       With their tongues they have practiced deceit";

      " The poison of asps is under their lips";
       ¹⁴ " Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
       ¹⁵ " Their feet are swift to shed blood;
       ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways;
       ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known."
       ¹⁸ " There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Matthew 6:31-34

³¹ "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 7:9-11

⁹ Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!