The Morning Offering

Unbelief

Unbelief: The Ultimate Sickness 

Humankind's ultimate sickness, is that of unbelief. This world is the place of preparation for our life in eternity, the place where we are prepared for the Kingdom that is to come. Within this world, Our Lord Jesus Christ established a hospital in which the medicine for the cure of our sickness is available, and this hospital of the soul is none other than the Church.

This world does not provide the medicine for that which ails us, for the only medicine that can heal us, is Christ Himself. If we are unwilling to receive this medicine, we will never be healed, and will never know the joys of the eternal Kingdom that awaits us. This illness that awaits a cure is unbelief, and this unbelief is based on our failure to avail ourselves to the medicine that is abundantly available within the life of the Church.

Belief comes as a free gift from a God Who "so love us that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, will have eternal life (John 3:16)". All we need to do is cooperate with God's grace, and unbelief will disappear. 

When we receive the Word of God into our heart, we, like the Apostle Thomas, will have touched His wounds, and will know the Lord, personally. When we confess our sins, and receive Christ into our life, we will have thrust our hand into His side, and we will believe. Unbelief, at this very moment in time, will have no place to reside in our heart, and like the Apostle Thomas, we will know the peace that comes with a life in Christ.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photos: A group of Coptic youth are visiting the monastery for a weekend retreat.

click on photo to enlarge

Sunday September 1, 2013 / August 19, 2013
10^th Sunday after Pentecost. Tone one.

Afterfeast of the Dormition.
Martyr Andrew Stratelates and 2,593 soldiers with him in Cilicia (3rd c.).
St. Nicholas priest (1933).
St. Pitirim, bishop of Perm (1455).
Martyrs Timothy, Agapius, and Thecla of Palestine (304).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Of the Don" (1591).
Uncovering of the relics of Venerable Gennadius, abbot of Kostroma (1565).
Venerable Theophanes, new wonderworker of Macedonia (Mt. Athos) (15th c.) (Greek).
St. Credan, abbot of Evesham. You can read the life of the saint in red, by clicking on the name.

THANKS 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

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

The Scripture Readings for the Day

1 Corinthians 4:9-16

⁹ For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! ¹¹ To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. ¹² And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³ being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Paul’s Paternal Care

¹⁴ I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. ¹⁵ For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

Matthew 17:14-23

A Boy Is Healed

¹⁴ And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
²⁰ So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ²¹ However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection

²² Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, ²³ and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.