End Times?

We must always live our lives in preparation

Increasingly, many of us Orthodox Christians have been wondering if we are perhaps coming into the age of the Anti-Christ. Events around the world have created a sense of doom among many believers, what with the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic collapse due to the closing of countless businesses world-wide, the rise of militant Islam, extreme climate change, and the breakdown of societal norms. Could all these events be serving as precursors to the coming of the End Times?

It is important that we remember Christians in the first century were prepared for the end of times and the second coming of Christ. Christians have always been prepared, as we should. We are struggling against the principalities of darkness, just as God’s people have been struggling since the fall of humankind. This life is full of spiritual warfare. The hour for the return of Christ is not to be revealed, for only the Father knows the time and the hour, as Christ Himself told us.

What is important is that we be prepared for our own end. None of us knows when our own end will come. At seventy-five I am more aware of my own ultimate end than ever before. I’ve had increasing numbers of friends depart this life, some after illnesses, some without warning. All of us must be prepared to give account for our lives before the Lord at any given moment, and we dare not expect time to repent, for most of us will meet our end without warning.

Whether these are the End Times or not, we must live our lives in preparation for that final moment of accountability. In the end, Christ will triumph over evil, and that is a fact. For now, we must fight the battle, that we, too, will triumph over evil.

Now is the time we Orthodox Christians need to submit ourselves to the love and mercy of God, and repent of our sins before the Lord. Now is the time when we must immerse ourselves in a life of prayer and repentance, knowing that this, ultimately, is not our true home. This age of pandemic, and the accompanying of a dumbed down Christianity that has lost the respect of our governmental leaders, is the time we must bring to the surface the same boldness and commitment that was common among the first century Christians.

Orthodoxy is an incredibly down-to-earth faith. Some people are responding to the idea that we may be entering into the end times in unbalanced, unsober ways, such as indulging in emotional highs or panicky fears, much like we have seen among many responses to this pandemic lock-down. However, our Orthodox faith calls us to humble, loving sobriety. The salvation of one’s soul through love of God and neighbor, should always be of main importance – the fact that we may be in the end times, or may be being manipulated by some “secret plots”, should never be an end in itself. God comes first.

During these times that seem to be preparing Orthodox Christians for a kind of replay of the “Catacomb Era” of the Early Church, we must put off all fear that the world would foist on us, and cling to the treasure that the martyrs discovered, that of a Co-Suffering Saviour that will not abandon us to the evil one, but will lift us up to a life of Eternal Bliss, where we will all worship before the Throne of God for all eternity.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Friday December 11, 2020 / November 28, 2020
27th Week after Pentecost. Tone one.
Nativity (St. Philip’s Fast). Food with Oil
Martyr Stephen the New of Mt. St. Auxentius (767).
Martyr Hirenarchus and Seven Women-martyrs at Sebaste (303).
New Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov), metropolitan of St. Petersburg (1937).
New Hieromartyrs Alexis, Alexis, Basil priests, Hieromartyrs Raphael, Vincent and Virgin-martyr Anysia (1937).
Virgin-Martyr Paraskeva (1938).
New Hieromartyr Nicholas priest (1941).
Uncovering of the relics of Venerable Sergius Srebriansky (2000).
Blessed Theodore, archbishop of Rostov (1394).
Martyrs Basil, Stephen, two Gregories, John (near Constantinople), Andrew, Peter, Anna, and many others (741-775).
Martyrs Timothy and Theodore, bishops; Peter, John, Sergius, Theodore, and Nicephorus, presbyters; Basil and Thomas, deacons; Hierotheus, Daniel, Chariton, Socrates, Comasius, and Eusebius, monks; and Etymasius at Tiberiopolis (361).
New Martyr Christos of Constantinople (1748) (Greek).
St. Theodore, bishop of Theodosiopolis in Armenia (end of 6th c.).
St. Oda, virgin of Brabant (726) (Neth.).
Virgin-Martyr Juthwara of Cornwall.

The Scripture Readings

2 Timothy 1:8-18

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Be Loyal to the Faith

13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

15 This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; 17 but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. 18 The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.

Luke 19:12-28

12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

15 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ 19 Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’

20 “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. 21 For I feared you, because you are [b]an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

24 “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ 25 (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) 26 ‘For I say to you,that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”

The Triumphal Entry

28 When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.