Thanksgiving

Being truly grateful on Thanksgiving

The United States is one of the worlds few countries to have established a national day in which to give thanks to God for all He has given us. This day may have become a purely secular excuse for some to over eat, but for the serious Christian it is still a time for giving thanks.

When Saint Tikhon of Moscow was serving as Archbishop of San Francisco, he arranged a Thanksgiving Moleben service for the eve of the American Thanksgiving. This great hierarch was deeply moved that his adopted country had set aside this day as a national day of thanksgiving.

Sometimes we forget that being thankful for all the blessings we’ve received from God is not about our attachment to things. We may be grateful for our nice house, good job, the abundance of good food, and a myriad of other things, but our gratefulness should not be focused on material things.

If we’ve become too attached to material blessings, true gratitude will not endure, for we will begin to think we could not possibly be happy without these things. We could even begin to think that gratitude to God is impossible, unless we continue to be bless with all these things. We could even entertain fearfulness at the possibility of losing what we think makes us happy.

The real treasure that must be received with gratitude is not material, or even relational in nature, but that which is eternal. Our faith is the greatest treasure we have, and the utmost reason for us to give thanks to God. As a nation, our forefathers knew that although we never established a State Church, we nevertheless, as a people, had declared from the very conception of our great nation, that we are a people, under God, blessed with freedom, and abundance, and that all of this has come to us from a God Who loves us.

Because of this, we as a nation, like the great Patriarch Saint Tikhon, can rejoice that we live in a country that has set aside a day for the collective gathering of families, and faith communities, to thank the Lord of Lights, for all He has given us.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photo: Vashon Island, as seen from Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA.

Thursday November 23, 2017 / November 10, 2017

25th Week after Pentecost. Tone seven.

Apostles Erastus, Olympas, Herodion, Sosipater, Quartus, and Tertius of the Seventy (1st c.).
New Hieromartyr Niphont and Martyr Alexander (1931).
New Hieromartyrs Prokopius (Titov) archbishop of Odessa, Dionisius, John and Peter priests (1937).
New Hieromartyrs Augustine (Belyaev), archbishop of Kaluga (1937) and with him John priest, New Hieromartyrs Ioanicius, Martyr Alexis, Appolon, Michael (1937).
Martyr Nicholas and Virgin-martyr Anna and St. Boris deacon confessor (1930-1940).
Virgin-martyrs Olga (1941) and Theoctista (1942).
Martyr Orestes of Cappadocia (304).
Hieromartyr Milos (Miles), bishop in Persia (341), and two disciples.
Venerable Theocteristus, abbot of Symbola on Mt. Olympus.
Martyr Constantine, grand prince of Kartli, Georgia (852).
Commemoration of the torture of Great-martyr George in 303. (Georgia).
St. Nonnus, bishop of Heliopolis (471).
Translation of the relics of St. Gregory, presbyter, in Assos of Lesbos (Greek).
St. Eucharius, first bishop of Trier (3rd c.).

The Scripture Readings

2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5

Stand Fast

13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

Pray for Us

3 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.

3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.

5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

Luke 13:1-9

Repent or Perish

13 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”