None can be saved without being compassionate toward others
We must not be so self-consumed as to have no compassion for others. Saint Basil tells us that a man who has two coats or two pair of shoes, when his neighbor has none, is a thief. In the Holy Scriptures we read, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it (Psalm 24:1).” No one can be saved, according to Saint John Chrysostom, without giving alms and without caring for the poor. We are but stewards of what belongs to God, and must share the gifts of God’s creation with one another as much as we can. To store up earthly possessions, according to Christ, is the epitome of foolishness, and a rich man shall hardly be saved (Luke 12:15-21).
When we turn our attention towards the needs of others we cease to be consumed with self. In this turning of the heart towards those in need, we are turning our hearts to God. “Verily I say unto you, Since you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me (Matthew 25:40).” In our fasting, increased time spent in prayer, and acts of alms giving (charity), we are energized in our battle against the passions, and our hearts become at rest in Christ.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: A sailboat just off Vashon Island.
Saturday July 22, 2017 / July 9, 2017
7th Week after Pentecost. Tone five.
Hieromartyr Pancratius, bishop of Taormina in Sicily (1st c.).
New Hieromartyr Constantine priest (1918).
Hieromartyr Cyril, bishop of Gortyna in Crete (250-252).
Martyrs Patermuthius, Coprius, and Alexander the Soldier, in Egypt (361).
Sts. Patermuthius and Coprius, ascetics of Egypt (4th c.).
St. Theodore, bishop of Edessa (848).
“Cyprus” in the village of Stromyn (Moscow diocese) and “Koloch” (1413) Icons of the Mother of God.
Venarable Anthony Leokhnovsky (1611).
Venerable Euthymius of Karelia (1435).
Blessed Peter, hieromartyr of Cherevkov (Vologda) (16th-17th c.).
St. Everild, nun, of England (700) (Celtic & British).
Martyrs Andrew and Probus (Greek).
Venerables Dionysius the Rhetorician and Metrophanes of Mt. Athos (Greek).
Venerable Theodosius, stylite of Edessa (9th c.).
Venerable John of the Caves in Babylon.
Martyr Michael, disciple and the Kinsman of St. Theodore.
Martyr John (before holy baptism Moavy), king of Baghdad and with him the Three Holy Youths (9th c.).
New Hieromartyr Methodius of Amaria, Crete (1793).
Hieromartyr Killian, bishop in East Franconia and Thuringia, and his companions Hieromonk Colman and Hierodeacon Totman, at Wurzburg (689).
The Scripture Readings
Romans 12:1-3
Living Sacrifices to God
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Serve God with Spiritual Gifts
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Matthew 10:37-11:1
37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
A Cup of Cold Water
40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”
John the Baptist Sends Messengers to Jesus
11 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.