Lost

Lost in a world devoid of hope

As we witness the wholesale abandonment of religious belief in our society, we are seeing a breakdown in the moral fiber that has sustained Western Culture. Painful as it is, every time I speak on area campuses, I meet countless numbers of students who have no religious belief whatsoever. Increasing numbers even declare themselves as atheists, holding, as they do, to very pedestrian images of God to begin with. The image of the God they’ve rejected is far from the actual reality of the God revealed to us through the Incarnation of the Word, experienced in Jesus Christ, and worshiped in Holy Trinity.

What we put into our minds does make a difference, and if we want our children to grow up to become sensitive, loving, and caring people, we have to know that the movies they watch, the video games they play, and the company they keep, impacts them in a big way. But even more important, we must not deprive this generation of young people of a faith that will sustain them, even as the world fails them. As our country is becoming desensitized towards violence, we have also drifted away from the faith that sustained generations of our ancestors, even as they, like us, faced the horrors of this fallen world.

Just as we of the older generations must be concerned with what goes into the minds of our youth, we must, more importantly, be concerned about what goes into their hearts. When a heart is not prepared to be a tabernacle of the Living God, it remains crippled and darkened, and open to the demonic influence of a violent world that is devoid of hope. If we really love our young, we must be willing to image, in a real and sustaining way, a faith in the Living God. The greatest gift we can give our children is not a good education, or a cool car, but a faith that will sustain them, no matter what may come.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photos: Father Joel Weir, rector of Saint Stephen Orthodox Church in Crawfordsville, Indiana, together with Lutheran pastors, Rev. Wade Apel and Rev. Christine Wulff, visited the monastery on Thursday. They’ve all been attending a conference in Seattle.

Friday August 18, 2017 / August 5, 2017
11th Week after Pentecost. Tone one.
Dormition (Theotokos) Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)

Forefeast of the Transfiguration of our Lord.
Martyr Eusignius of Antioch (362).
New Martyrs Eudocia (Shikova) and Novices Daria (Timolina), Dar’ia (Siushinskaya), and Maria of Diveyevo (1919).
New Hieromartyr Simon (Shleev) bishop of Ufa (1921).
New Hieromartyr John deacon (1938).
Venerable Job the Gorge-dweller on the Mezen River (Solovki) (1628).
Hieromartyrs Fabian (250) and Antherus (Antheros) (257), popes of Rome.
Martyr Pontius at Cimella in France (257).
Martyrs Cantidius, Cantidian and Sibelius (Sobel), of Egypt.
Righteous Nonna (374), mother of St. Gregory the Theologian.
St. Oswald, king and martyr (642) (Celtic & British).
Venerable John (Jacob) of Neamp, the Chozebite (1960) (Romania).
New Martyr Chrestos of Preveza (1668).
Uncovering of the relics (1967) of St. Arsenius the New of Paros (1877).

The Scripture Readings

2 Corinthians 4:13-18

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Seeing the Invisible

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Matthew 24:27-33

27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!