The Morning Offering

Dads

 On Being a Good Father

I'll forever be grateful for the love and support I received from my own father. He never let a day pass without giving his two sons assurance of his love and acceptance, and always demonstrated the importance of living an honest life. He was kind to everyone, generous almost to a fault, forgiving the wrongs done to him by others, looking for the good in everyone, and always demonstrating the importance of being true to oneself.

My father converted to the Orthodox Faith while in his mid seventies, along with my mother. Although I was raised in the Lutheran Church, by a devout mother, my dad was not much for "formal church", as he put it. His way of worshiping God, he would say, was to enjoy God's creation on the golf course. My dad would say he felt God's presence in nature, but felt his boys needed to attend church, just as he'd been required to do when he was a boy (he'd been raised in the Episcopal Church). He always supported my mother in her commitment to our Lutheran parish, where she served for years as the choir director and organist.

I taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, while still in the eighth grade, and intended to one day become a Lutheran minister. Both my parents were proud of me, and supportive of my future goals. Since my father believed everyone should be free to go with their heart, he never pressed either me, or my brother, to push for a career that would somehow make him proud. He didn't believe any parent should live vicariously through their children, but should encourage them to live a life that was grounded in their own heart of hearts.

It is always a joy for me to meet a father who visibly encourages his children, speaks proudly of his kids accomplishments, even though their life choices may not have been his own, encourages them to be true to themselves. Being a good father, especially in these difficult times of economic and moral decline, is not an easy task. Yet, the father who keeps his eyes focused on Christ, prays for his children, and demonstrates his unconditional love for them, will, in the end, have been a good father.

With love in Christ,

Abbot Tryphon

Friday June 15, 2012 / June 2, 2012

2^nd Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Apostles' (Peter & Paul) Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)

Venerable Barlaam of Khutyn (1192) (movable holiday on the 1st Friday of Apostles' Fast).
"Tabynsk" and "Kursk-Root" Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos (movable holiday on the 9th Friday of Pascha).
St. Nicephorus the Confessor, patriarch of Constantinople (829).
Great-martyr John the New of Suceava, at Belgorod (Cetatea Alba) (1332).
Finding of the relics (1815) of St. Juliana, princess of Vyasma (1406).
"Kiev-Bratsk" Icon of the Mother of God (1654).
New Martyr Demetrius of Philadelphia (1657) (Greek).
Hieromartyr Pothinus, bishop of Lyons (177) (Gaul).
St. Odo, archbishop of Canterbury (959)) (Celtic & British).
New Martyr Constantine of the Hagarenes (Mt. Athos) (1819) (Greek).
Hieromartyr Erasmus of Ochrid, who reposed in peace, and 20,000 Martyrs with him (303) (Greek).
New Martyr John of Trebizond (Greek).
New Martyr Asprocastron (White Castle).

You can read the life of the saint in green, by click on the name.

Our thanks and gratitude to all of you who have contributed to the monastery through your generous contributions. May God richly bless you for your kindness, and support, of this monastery.
With love and blessings,
Abbot Tryphon

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

Romans 5:17-6:2

¹⁷ For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
¹⁸ Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
²⁰ Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ²¹ so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Matthew 9:14-17

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

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