The priest and the American tourist
A protestant woman from Tacoma, WA. was on vacation with her husband in the Greek city of Athens. Each day she walked to a small sidewalk cafe near the hotel for her coffee and watched the locals pass by. One of these locals was an Orthodox priest who’d pass by the cafe on his way to his parish church. The woman would smile and the priest would nod, smile back, and continue on his way.
One day this Greek priest, who spoke English, noticed that the American woman had a sad look on her face and walked over to her table and asked if something was troubling her. She burst into tears and told the priest about her husband’s medical problems, and that she feared for the worst. The priest sat with her and prayed for she and her husband. Each day he’d stop to sit at her table, praying for her husband’s recovery.
A few weeks passed and the husband recovered from his illness and returned to the United States with his wife. The memory of this priest’s compassion for a foreign woman has remained with her all these many years. She shared her memories with her doctor, who is a friend of mine, and I now share her memories with you.
What a true disciple and servant of the Lord, was this kindly priest. May we, like this priest, be attuned to those who are in need and of whom the Lord places before us. May we reach out with open hearts and bring healing to those who are suffering, letting them know that we care and that they have a friend during their time of sorrow, need and despair.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Saturday July 2, 2016 / June 19, 2016
2nd Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast. Fish Allowed
St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco the Wonderworker
Holy Apostle Jude, the Brother of the Lord (80).
St. Job, patriarch of Moscow (1607).
Venerable Barlaam, monk, of Shenkursk (1462).
Martyr Zosimas the Soldier at Antioch in Pisidia (116).
Venerable Paisius the Great of Egypt (400).
Venerable John the Solitary of Jerusalem (586).
Venerable Paisius the Bulgarian, of Hilandar, Mt. Athos (18th) (Bulgaria).
Venerable Zeno, hermit of Egypt (late 4th c.).
Holy Myrrh-bearer Mary, mother of the Apostle James (1st c.).
New Martyr Parthenius, bishop (1937).
New Hieromartyr Priest Sergius Florinsky of Estonia (1918).
Hieromartyr Asyncretus, martyred at the Church of Holy Peace by the Sea in Constantinople (Greek).
Venerable Romuald, abbot of Camaldoli (Ravenna) (1027) (Celtic & British).
St. Macarius of Petra (4th c.).
Scripture Readings
Romans 3:19-26
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
God’s Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all[a] who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Matthew 7:1-8
Do Not Judge
7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.