Thy Will be Done
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| Together with my brother, Abba Melake Birhanat |
Are these the End Times?
The
cultural and spiritual warfare that is taking place between the
"Christian" West, and the Islamic Middle East, together with the extreme
climate changes taking place around the world, have become a source of
concern for many. Coupled with the polarization of the populous within
the United States, and the mass apostasy from Christianity in the West, many Christians are now thinking we must be entering the period of the End
Times.
Yet when we consider the words of the Our Father, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven", we must know, as Christians, that our prayers do make a difference. Just as the faithful of the Early Church looked at events taking place in their world as possible signs of the imminent Second Coming of Christ, they, nevertheless, kept their focus on the possibility that there could be a "first resurrection", as described in the 20th chapter of the Book of Revelation, where the Church could experience a triumph, even in this world.
It is this hope that must be the ground of our daily living, for as Christians we are not to be giving ourselves over to fate, but to the hope that comes from Christ. God IS in charge, and He is NOT bound by anything. When we pray, "Thy will be done", we must mean it!
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Yet when we consider the words of the Our Father, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven", we must know, as Christians, that our prayers do make a difference. Just as the faithful of the Early Church looked at events taking place in their world as possible signs of the imminent Second Coming of Christ, they, nevertheless, kept their focus on the possibility that there could be a "first resurrection", as described in the 20th chapter of the Book of Revelation, where the Church could experience a triumph, even in this world.
It is this hope that must be the ground of our daily living, for as Christians we are not to be giving ourselves over to fate, but to the hope that comes from Christ. God IS in charge, and He is NOT bound by anything. When we pray, "Thy will be done", we must mean it!
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Next Saturday: The Planting of a Monastery (chapter 12)
Monday October 29, 2012 / October 16, 2012
22nd Week after Pentecost. Tone four.
Venerable Longinus the Centurion, who stood at the Cross of the Lord (1st c.).
St. Gregory confessor, priest (1931).
New Hieromartyr Eugine priest (1918).
New Hieromartyr Alexis priest (1938).
New Hieromartyr John priest (1942).
Venerable Longinus the Gate-keeper of the Kiev Caves (13th c.).
St. Longinus of Yaranga (1544).
Venerable Longinus, monk, of Koryazhemka (Vologda) (1540).
Venerable Eupraxia, abbess, before tonsure Princess Euphrosyne of Pskov (1243).
Venerable Malus the Hermit.
Venerable Gall, Irish monk and enlightener of Switzerland (646) (Celtic & British).
Venerable Sabinus, monk (Greek).
Martyrs Isaurus and Aphrodisius, who suffered with St. Longinus (1st. c.).
St. Domna, fool-for-Christ of Tomsk (1872).
You can read the life of the saint in green, by click on the name.
For those who would like to be kept informed about the persecution that is taking place against Christians throughout the Middle East, I recommend you subscribe to: http://www.jihadwatch.org/
THANK
YOU, to all of you who have been able to contribute towards the support
of the monastery. These difficult times of economic hardship have
impacted the monastery, and those of you who have been able to donate,
have been our lifeline. May God bless you for your generosity, and
kindness.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
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
13 And
you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all
trespasses, 14 having
wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which
was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it
to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—
19 So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
All-Merciful Saviour Monastery
PO Box 2420
Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420 USA
Colossians 2:13-20
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—
Luke 9:18-22
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”19 So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
I invite my readers to listen to my Ancient Faith Radio podcasts.
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