The Morning Offering

An Undermined
Christianity

 And the Rise of the Church

The public scandal of bishops protecting clergy and church workers, in  the wake of the sexual abuse of countless children, have shocked the world, and undermined the spiritual and moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church. This, together with the very public moral failings of some well-known televangelists, have left many wondering if Christianity has any credibility left. Some have even suggested that Christianity, as we know it, is dying.

For Christianity to thrive into the next century, we must see a return to the very roots of the faith, where the Church proclaims the Good News of Christ, in all its purity, and centers herself in the mystical and sacramental core of her very being. She must offer the transformational healing that comes only with God's grace, and through the life of His Church, fulfilling her Gospel vocation.

Perhaps what is being born in all this scandal within the Western expression of Christianity, is a renewed calling for the Eastern Church to take more seriously her mystical and sacramental roots. If we Orthodox look closely at the amazing resurrection of our Church, following the fall of communism, with the thousands of new churches being reopened, new ones built, and monasteries growing at a phenomenal rate, we can see that the twenty first century could well be the Age of Orthodoxy.

If this is to take place, we must put off everything that has brought down Western Christianity. Accountability must be foremost in how we operate as religious institutions. Bishops and priests must be accountable to one another, transgressions against the Body of Christ must be rooted out, and the clergy (including our bishops) must be the humble servants the Gospels have called us to be. Pompous, medieval behavior must be put aside, and the humble, co-suffering Saviour must be seen in how we serve. The transformative power of the Good News of Christ, must be allowed to change the world, and the view of an "institutional" Church, ripped from our mindset, replaced with the gospel vision of the Church as Hospital of the Soul.

The Holy Orthodox Church will thrive in the twenty-first century, only if we do not hinder her life and ministry by allowing our own love of power and authority, to hinder our true vocation, as ministers of Christ's mercy and love.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Saturday June 23, 2012 / June 10, 2012

3^rd Week after Pentecost. Tone one.
Apostles' (Peter & Paul) Fast. Fish Allowed

Hieromartyr Timothy, bishop of Prusa (362).
Finding of the relics (1609) of St. Basil, bishop of Ryazan (1295).
Synaxis of All Saints of Riazan.
St. John Maximovitch, Metropolitan of Tobolsk (1715).
Synaxis of All Saints of Siberia: St. Innocent, bishop of Irkutsk (1731); St. Macarius (Glukharev) of Altai (1847); St. Macarius (Nevsky), metropolitan of Moscow, apostle to Altai (1926); and others.
New Hieromartyr Nicholas, Basil priests and Martyr Paul (1918).
New Hieromartyr Timothy priest (1940).
Venerable Silvanus of the Far Caves in Kiev (14th c.).
Martyr Alexander and Virgin-martyr Antonina at Constantinople (313).
Venerable Theophanes, monk, of Antioch (363), and St. Pansemne, the former harlot of Antioch.
St. Bassian, bishop of Lodi in Lombardy (409).
St. Paul, metropolitan of Tobolsk (1770).
Hieromartyr Metrophanes, the first Chinese priest, and the Chinese New Martyrs of the Boxer Uprising, at Peking and other places in 1900.
Martyr Neaniscus the Wise of Alexandria (Greek).
St. Canides, monk, of Cappadocia (460) (Greek).
St. Apollo, bishop (Greek).
St. Alexius of Bithynia, bishop (Greek).
St. Asterius, bishop of Petra (4th c.). 

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

THANK YOU, to all of you who have been able to contribute towards the purchase price of my new MacBook Air laptop. As you know, my five year old Mac was showing signs of failure, so with the help, guidance, and technical support of my friend, Father Photios Dumont, I am now able to continue this on-line ministry.
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 3:28-4:3

²⁸ Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. ²⁹ Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, ³⁰ since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹ Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Matthew 7:24-8:4

Build on the Rock

²⁴ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, ²⁹ for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

8 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. ² And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
³ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
⁴ And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”