Hospice or Hospital?
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| Abbot Tryphon serving the chapel service at Trinity Lutheran College |
Spiritual Pain Control or Spiritual Healing?
Saturday November 19, 2011 / November 6, 2011
4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Since the Church is a hospital for the soul wherein we come for healing, it is important that we take full advantage of all the resources the Church offers us for such healing. Frequent confession, where we bare our sins before God with the priest as the witness is an important beginning to the healing process. Receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ's Body and Blood on a regular basis gives us the grace needed for the healing of the soul, freeing it from the bondage that comes from the sin that has weighted us down.
Keeping to a regular Prayer Rule, given to us by our priest, confessor, or spiritual father or mother, also contributes to the healing process. Reading spiritually uplifting books, as well as the lives of the saints, also greatly contributes to the transformation that can be ours if we take our faith seriously. As well, the fasting rules of the Church are designed to help us become whole, furthering the healing process that began when we first made a commitment to living a life in Christ.
If we fail to follow these time tested spiritual practices that are meant to bring about healing of body and soul, we will not find the healing that is available to us. Instead, we will find ourselves treating the Church as though she were simply a hospice, where we get a quick fix for the pain and sin that keeps us from becoming whole, and find ourselves with short term results that only mask the sin and sickness that rule our lives.
It is up to us to decide if we will allow the Church to be a hospital that brings about the cure, or simply use the Church as a hospice that only masks the pain and sin. The choice is ours.
Keeping to a regular Prayer Rule, given to us by our priest, confessor, or spiritual father or mother, also contributes to the healing process. Reading spiritually uplifting books, as well as the lives of the saints, also greatly contributes to the transformation that can be ours if we take our faith seriously. As well, the fasting rules of the Church are designed to help us become whole, furthering the healing process that began when we first made a commitment to living a life in Christ.
If we fail to follow these time tested spiritual practices that are meant to bring about healing of body and soul, we will not find the healing that is available to us. Instead, we will find ourselves treating the Church as though she were simply a hospice, where we get a quick fix for the pain and sin that keeps us from becoming whole, and find ourselves with short term results that only mask the sin and sickness that rule our lives.
It is up to us to decide if we will allow the Church to be a hospital that brings about the cure, or simply use the Church as a hospice that only masks the pain and sin. The choice is ours.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Abbot Tryphon
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| Abbot Tryphon delivering the homily |
Saturday November 19, 2011 / November 6, 2011
23rd Week after Pentecost. Tone five.
Synaxis of saints of Karelia (movable holiday on the Saturday between October 31st and November 6th).
St. Paul the Confessor, archbishop of Constantinople (350).
Venerable Barlaam, abbot of Khoutyn (Novgorod) (1192).
New Hieromartyrs Nicitas bishop of Orekhovo-Zuev, Anatoly, Arsenius, Nicholas, Nicholas, Constantine priests, Hieromartyrs Barlaam, Gabriel, Gabriel, Woman Hieromartyrs Nina and Seraphima (1937).
New Martyr Gregory the Cross-bearer (1936).
New Hieromartyr Basil priest (1938).
St. Elias Fondaminskii of Paris (1942).
Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Sarov: Anatole, Basil, Hierotheus, Isaac, and Rufinus.
Repose of St. Herman, archbishop of Kazan (1567).
Venerable Luke, steward of the Kiev Caves (13th c.).
Venerable Barlaam of Keret Lake (16th c.).
Virgin-martyrs Tecusa, Alexandra, Claudia, Matrona, Polactia, Euphrosyne, and Athanasia of Ancyra (303).
Venerable Luke, monk, of Sicily (820).
Venerable Winnocus, abbot (716) (Neth.).
St. Leonard of Noblac (559) (Gaul).
Venerable Illtyd, abbot of Llanilltyd Fawr, disciple of St. Germanus of Auxerre (England) (6th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Cowey of Portaferry, abbot of Moville (8th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Demetrianus, bishop of Cytheria in Cyprus (915).
Synaxis of saints of Karelia (movable holiday on the Saturday between October 31st and November 6th).
St. Paul the Confessor, archbishop of Constantinople (350).
Venerable Barlaam, abbot of Khoutyn (Novgorod) (1192).
New Hieromartyrs Nicitas bishop of Orekhovo-Zuev, Anatoly, Arsenius, Nicholas, Nicholas, Constantine priests, Hieromartyrs Barlaam, Gabriel, Gabriel, Woman Hieromartyrs Nina and Seraphima (1937).
New Martyr Gregory the Cross-bearer (1936).
New Hieromartyr Basil priest (1938).
St. Elias Fondaminskii of Paris (1942).
Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Sarov: Anatole, Basil, Hierotheus, Isaac, and Rufinus.
Repose of St. Herman, archbishop of Kazan (1567).
Venerable Luke, steward of the Kiev Caves (13th c.).
Venerable Barlaam of Keret Lake (16th c.).
Virgin-martyrs Tecusa, Alexandra, Claudia, Matrona, Polactia, Euphrosyne, and Athanasia of Ancyra (303).
Venerable Luke, monk, of Sicily (820).
Venerable Winnocus, abbot (716) (Neth.).
St. Leonard of Noblac (559) (Gaul).
Venerable Illtyd, abbot of Llanilltyd Fawr, disciple of St. Germanus of Auxerre (England) (6th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Cowey of Portaferry, abbot of Moville (8th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Demetrianus, bishop of Cytheria in Cyprus (915).
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| Blessing the Trinity Lutheran College Soccer Team |
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| Students from the Everett, WA college visit the monastery |
click on photos to enlarge
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
Excel in Giving
1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: 2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.Luke 9:1-6
Sending Out the Twelve
1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
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