Our journey to God begins with our first step
The Church has guidelines governing the many periods of fasting, but we all need the discernment that can really only come from having a close relationship with our confessor or parish priest. To move beyond the standard fasting rules, the importance of keeping a prayer rule, and reading the daily scripture readings according to the Church Calendar, can make all the difference between advancing in our spiritual quest, or remaining stagnant.
We want to dedicate our lives to God on a full-time basis, but we don’t have the needed guide to keep us on track. Opportunities for service to the Church, whether by serving in the altar, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, or serving on the parish council, can often be the best way we can commit more of our time to living Orthodoxy in a way that is not limited to Sunday services.
Since we can’t just order up that which God has for us, we must make sure we are open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Making sure our life is grounded in the life of the Church can serve as a good starting point, for Orthodoxy is by nature a faith that demands full participation and deep commitment. To do otherwise would make our faith just another religion, devoid of salvific, transformational value.
If Orthodoxy is to be something other than mere magic, with the priest functioning as some sort of wizard who performs the right formulas, thus allowing us to feel we’ve done all that is needed, our Orthodoxy will have failed us.
For our spiritual life to lead to spiritual fulfillment, we must be committed to the daily reading of the prescribed scripture readings. We must read the lives of the saints, allowing their example to impact our own living out of the gospels. We must prepare ourselves for the Saturday night confession by taking note of our sins during the week, preparing ourselves to be accountable before God, with the priest as a witness. We must adhere to an Orthodox standard of living in our public life, and resist allowing ourselves to be lost in the crowd of this secular culture that would engulf us.
Although it is always good to have a spiritual father or mother, the absence of one can not be an excuse for living Christianity as secondary to everything else.
If we allow our pride to keep us from disclosing our sins in confession, we doom ourselves to mediocrity, and will see no spiritual growth whatsoever. If we feel we need not challenge ourselves to a deeper walk with Christ, because our friends, coworkers, and family are not doing so, we will end up cheating both God and ourselves.
The spiritual life is an adventure, full of pitfalls, but this life also comes with great heights. If we take this journey as the prime reason for living, the reward will be great. But if we try living our life with the Church placed in a secondary position, we will end our lives as losers, having lost the battle and the reward.
We are on a journey, and it begins with that first step. Christ stands with us, ready to lift us up when we fall, and even pulling us along when we stumble or grow fainthearted. Let us make that all important step towards the things of God, today.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: I took this photo Tuesday morning from Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, with Vashon Island off to the north.
Wednesday March 20, 2019 / March 7, 2019
Second Week of the Great Lent. Tone one.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
The Holy Hieromartyrs of Cherson: Basil, Ephraim, Capito, Eugene, Aetherius, Elpidius, and Agathodorus (4th c.).
New Hieromartyr Nicholas priest (1930).
New Hieromartyr Nilus, Virgin-martyrs Matrona, Mary, Eudocia, Ecaterina, Antonina, Nadezhda, Xenia, and Anna (1938).
Venerable Paul the Simple of Egypt, disciple of St. Anthony the Great (4th c.).
St. Paul the Confessor, bishop of Prusias in Bithynia (850).
Venerable Emilian of Rome.
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Surety of Sinners” in Korets (1622), Odrin (1843) and Moscow (1848).
Sts. Nestor and Arcadius, bishops of Tremithus (Greek).
Venerable Laurence, founder of the monastery of the Mother of God on Salamis (1707) (Greek).
St. Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch (546).
St. Dandus and all Saints of Thrace.
St. Eosterwine, abbot of Wearmount.
The Scripture Readings
Isaiah 5:16-25
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
17 Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture,
And in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity,
And sin as if with a cart rope;
19 That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work,
That we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,
That we may know it.”
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!
24 Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff,
So their root will be as rottenness,
And their blossom will ascend like dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them
And stricken them,
And the hills trembled.
Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
Genesis 4:16-26
The Family of Cain
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. 22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man for hurting me.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
A New Son
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.
Proverbs 5:15-6:4
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ponders all his paths.
22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23 He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Dangerous Promises
6 My son, if you become surety for your friend,
If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 You are snared by the words of your mouth;
You are taken by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go and humble yourself;
Plead with your friend.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.