Thursday, March 15, 2012

Holiness
Sharing Orthodoxy with the staff of Trinity Lutheran College

The Struggle for Holiness


We are powerless to change those bad habits that dominate our lives without help from God. However we may attempt to change behavior, we can not do battle with the passions unless we surrender ourselves in humility to God, for such change can only come about by God's grace. Struggle as we may, our flesh will resist until that moment we seek help from the Lord of Mercy, Who is quick to hear our plea for help.

Many years ago, while teaching, I worked with another instructor who was arrogant, and condescending to anyone whom he felt was beneath him. There was a wonderful black woman who served as the head cook in the school's cafeteria, a woman of wisdom, and with whom I enjoyed countless conversations (I was the disciplinarian during the two lunch periods in an all boys high school). I'd often sit with the cook, enjoy a cup of coffee, along with her wonderful home made cookies. This other teacher walked into the cafeteria to ask me about one of the students, and while speaking to me he totally ignored the cook. Race had nothing to do with it, for he was also black.

As he walked away, I found myself apologizing for his behavior, only to have the cook tell me that she loved him regardless of his treatment of her, for she knew Jesus loved him. "He doesn't have to love me, for me to love him", she told me. The cook was the only one on the staff who seemed to like him, and she was the one he totally ignored. This was a lesson I've never forgot. I don't always succeed in loving everyone, and there are certain people that I sometimes find myself wishing I could avoid, but the cook's words linger in my heart, and I try to love everyone, and try to return good for evil.

The holy Apostle Paul tells us, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)", for he said of himself, "For that which I do I know not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I (Romans 7:15)." He said of himself,  "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20)."

When Christ is invited into our hearts, it is important that we keep His commandments, and follow His example. To expect Christ to change our behavior, without making an effort of our own, is to invite failure. The Christian life is one of ascetic struggle, and not just in regards to keeping the fasts, and standing in prayerful vigil. If we are to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, we must live the Gospels, and must put the message of the Gospels into practice. 

If there is someone we don't like, we must put on Christ, interacting with this person as though we do love them, for by being obedient to Christ, we will find that we can, indeed, love them. If we find ourselves being jealous of another person, say an office co-worker who's received a promotion, we must congratulate them, and offer our support. Even if others are telling us we should have been the one who received the promotion, we embrace the decision of office management, as though it came from God, and as an opportunity to grow in humility.

It is easy to compartmentalize our Christian faith, reserving the "spiritual" for times spent in church. However, it is in the day to day, often mundane, moments that we can find the opportunities to grow in Christ. These are the moments when we must put into action what we've received during the services, knowing that Christ is providing us the means by which we can attain the sanctification that makes us one with Him. If we think our journey into the heart should be easy, we are fooling ourselves.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon


Thursday March 15, 2012 / March 2, 2012
Third Week of the Great Lent. Tone six.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Food without Oil

Appearance of the Kolomenskoye Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, "Reigning" (1917).
Hieromartyr Theodotus, bishop of Cyrenia (315).
St. Arsenius, bishop of Tver (1409).
Virgin-martyr Euthalia of Sicily (257).
Martyr Troadius of Neo-Caesarea (3rd c.).
Venerable Agatho of Egypt, monk (5th c.).
440 Martyrs slain by the Lombards (579).
St. Sabbatius, monk, of Tver (1434), and his disciple St. Euphrosynus (1460).
Sts. Barsanuphius (1459) and Sabbas (1467), abbots, of Tver.
St. Chad, bishop of Lichtfield, England (672) (Celtic & British).
Righteous Father Nicholas Planas (1932) (Greek).
St. Quintus of Phrygia, confessor and wonderworker (283) (Greek).
Martyr Andronicus and the virgin Athanasia (Greek).
Hieromartyrs Nestor the bishop and Tribimius the deacon of Perga in Pamphylia (250).
Martyr Hesychius the Palatine of Antioch (304).
New Martyr Theodore Sladich of Komogovina (1788).
St. Joachim (Papoulakis) of Vatopedi, Mt. Athos and Ithaca (1868).


We are hoping to retire the mortgage debt of $250,000.00. Having this hanging over our heads, and knowing the bank owns the monastery, is not a good thing. Your prayers are most appreciated, as we need a miracle.

Donations can be made directly to the monastery through PayPal, or you may send donations to:

All-Merciful Saviour Monastery
PO Box 2420

Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420 USA





Isaiah 11:10-12:2


10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”
11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the people of the East;
They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over dry-shod.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

A Hymn of Praise

12 And in that day you will say:
“O Lord, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’”

Genesis 7:11-8:3


11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Noah’s Deliverance

8 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.

Proverbs 10:1-22


Wise Sayings of Solomon

10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,
But righteousness delivers from death.
The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish,
But He casts away the desire of the wicked.
He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
He who gathers in summer is a wise son;
He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.
Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
The memory of the righteous is blessed,
But the name of the wicked will rot.
The wise in heart will receive commands,
But a prating fool will fall.
He who walks with integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will become known.
10 He who winks with the eye causes trouble,
But a prating fool will fall.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a well of life,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
12 Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all sins.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding,
But a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding.
14 Wise people store up knowledge,
But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
15 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city;
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
16 The labor of the righteous leads to life,
The wages of the wicked to sin.
17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life,
But he who refuses correction goes astray.
18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,
And whoever spreads slander is a fool.
19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
The heart of the wicked is worth little.
21 The lips of the righteous feed many,
But fools die for lack of wisdom.
22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.


The PodCast is always different than the blog article.

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