There are two major populations within our society that are seeing a statistical rise in the number of suicides. At a time when a growing body of research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those with little such power, our nation's youth, and the elderly, are suffering the most. A whole generation of young people are without hope for the future, and are without hope of ever fulfilling their dreams. Even with college degrees, many will not find work that gives them a sense of fulfillment, and they are increasingly feeling a hopelessness that has become overpowering.
Turning a blind eye to the plight of these young people, our society is also ignoring the same growing despair that is overwhelming large numbers of our senior citizens. Many of our seniors feel discounted, and feel as though they are now an invisible segment of our society, with nothing to offer. Both of these populations are experiencing poverty, marginalized from the job market, and feeling an increased sense of worthlessness. Both segments have been disenfranchised, and made to feel they have little to offer, and with no hope for the future.
The social distance between those with greater power and those with less is bad enough, but our youth and our seniors have become the most disenfranchised, of a nation that has seen the middle class wiped out, while the interpersonal interactions between the generations has grown epidemic. Inequality is soaring in the United States, and these two bodies of our population are suffering the most.
A prerequisite to the empathy that would help alleviate the pain of our young and our old, requires that we all start paying attention to those around us who are suffering. If we are to turn this horrid societal downturn around, we must make sure we do not ignore the cause of this suffering. We must be compassionate regarding the despair experienced by our young and our old, and find solutions that unite all of us.
We must find solutions that rekindle a sense of hope for the future, that involves both our young and our old. In past generations, these two segments of our society were interwoven in everyday life. The young experienced the love and support of senior citizens, valued members of our communities. The young knew they had a future because the rest of society affirmed them, loved them, respected them, and offered them hope for the future. Such affirmation must begin anew.
A healthy society values both their old and their young, and we must return to those root values that instilled in all of us a sense of belonging. We need to promote the all important inter exchange between our young and our old, while demonstrating the importance of living and working together, united in our common humanity, where age does not divide us, and where we see the innate value in everyone, regardless of financial status, race, education, or age.
Tuning in to the needs and feelings of another person is a prerequisite to empathy, which is so desperately needed in these difficult times. The very old offer us a wisdom that comes with age, while our young offer hope for a future that will be better for all of us. The old can help us avoid the pitfalls and dangers of societal mistakes of the past, while our youth can energize a future that gives hope to a humanity that has lost its way. Dismissing as inconvenient either of these generations, dooms us to no future, and to a lost past.
Turning a blind eye to the plight of others, be they the poor, the young, the racially different, the old, or any other human being, is simply to ignore God created all of us in His image and likeness, and we are as one family, even if religion, or sociological differences seem to separate us. To ignore even one family member is to go against God's plan for His children. That even one member of this family would feel worthless, reflects on our own failure to love.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Friday October 11, 2013 / September 28, 2013
16th Week after Pentecost. Tone six.
Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Venerable Chariton the Confessor, abbot of Palestine (350).
Venerables Cyril, schemamonk and Maria, schemanun (1337) (parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh).
Martyress Anna (1925).
New Martyr Hilarion, Virgin-martyr Michaela (1937).
Virgin-martyr Tatiana (1942).
Synaxis of the Saints of the Kievan Caves Monastery, venerated in the near caves of Venerable Anthony: Anthony the Founder (1073) - Prochorus the Gardener and Wonderworker (1107) - John the Faster (12th c.) - Juliana the Virgin, Princess of Ol'shansk (c.1550) - Monkmartyrs Basil and Theodore (1098) - Polycarp, Archimandrite of the Kievan Caves (1182) - Varlaam, Abbot of the Kievan Caves (1065) - Damian the Presbyter and Healer (1071) - Nicodemus the Prosphora-baker (12th c.) - Lawrence the Hermit, Bishop of Turov (12th C) - Athanasius the Hermit (c.1176) - Gerasim the Black-Robed (12th c.) - Luke, Steward of the Kievan Caves (13th c.) - Agapit the Unmercenary Physician (c.1095) - Theophilus the Clear-sighted and John the God-pleasing (12th c.) - Nectarios (12th c.) - Gregory the Iconographer (12th c.) - Hieromartyr Kuksha, Enlightener of the Vyati (12th c.) - Alexis the Hermit (13th c.) - Sava the God-pleasing (13th c.) - Sergius the Obedient (13th c.) - Mercurius, Bishop of Smolensk (1239) - Pimen the Muchailing (1110) - Nestor the Chronicler (c.1114) - Monkmartyr Evstratius (1097) - Elladius the Hermit (12th-13th c.) - Jeremiah the Clairvoyant (11th c.) - Monkmartyr Moses the Hungarian (c.1031-1043) - John the Much-ailing (1160) - Mark the Grave-Digger (12th c.) - Nikola Svyatosha, Prince of Chernigov (1143) - Martyr Gregory the Wonderworker (1093) - Onysimus the Hermit (12th-13th c.) - Matthew the Clairvoyant (11th c.) - Isaiah the Wonderworker (1115) - Abraham the Lover of Labor (12th-13th c.) - Niphont, Bishop of Novgorod (1156) - Sylvester the Wonderworker (12th c.) - Pimen the Faster (12th c.) - Onuphrius the Silent (12th c.) - Anatolius the Hermit (12th c.) - Alipy the Iconographer (1114) - Sisois the Hermit (12th-13th c.) - Theophilus the Hermit (12th-13th c.) - Arethas the Hermit (c.1195) - Spiridon the Prosphora-baker (12th c.) - Onysiphorus the Confessor (1148) - Simon, Bishop of Suzdal (12th c.) - Nikon, Abbot of Kievan Caves (1088) - Theophan the Faster (12th c.) - Macarius (12th c.) - Monkmartyr Anastasius the Deacon (12th c.) - 12 Master Architects (11th c.) - Abraham the Hermit (12th-13th c.) - Isaac the Hermit (c.1190) - Martyr John the Infant (11th-12th c.) - Elias of Murom (c.1188) - Nikon the Lean (12th c.) - Ephraim, Bishop of Pereyaslavl' (c.1098) - Tito the Hieromonk (1190).
Venerable Chariton, monk, of Syanzhema Lake (Vologda) (1509).
Venerable Herodion, abbot, of Iloezersk (1541).
Prophet Baruch (6th c. B.C.).
Martyrs Alexander, Alphius, Zosimas, Mark, Nicon, Neon, Heliodorus, and 24 others in Pisidia and Phrygia (4th c.).
Martyrdom of St. Wenceslaus, prince of the Czechs (935).
St. Juliana, Princess of Olshansk.
Martyr Eustace of Rome (Greek).
St. Faustus, bishop of Riez (495).
St. Leoba, abbess of Bischofsheim, English missionary to Germany (779).
St. Alkison, bishop of Nicopolis (Preveza) in Epirus (561).
St. Auxentius the Alaman, Wonderworker of Cyprus (12th c.).
St. Neophytus the Recluse of Cyprus (1214) (Cypriote).
St. Machan, disciple of St. Cadoc.
You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted 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
Ephesians 1:7-17
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Luke 6:17-23
Jesus Heals a Great Multitude
17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes
20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
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