Without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5)
If we are to be true to our calling as the children of God, we must live in imitation of Christ. We must imitate His meekness and humility. We must love others just as did He. We must be willing to be transformed, and made whole, that others can see in us, the Light of Christ. To do this, we must pray and fast, seeking the help that only Christ can give us. That which is impossible with us, is possible with the help of Christ. Only Christ can ignite our soul for love of God, but we must cooperate by making our hearts open to Him.
We must not allow ourselves to be complacent in our journey into the Heart of God. Our Christian faith demands that we take heaven violently, storming heaven as it were. Only when we are ruthless towards ourselves, and quick to condemn ourselves as the worst of sinners, will we truly be flooded with the grace needed to be transformed and made whole. Like the Holy Apostle Paul, we must see ourselves as the worst of sinners, and like Paul must see that any good we do, is Christ in us.
Just as we light lampadas and candles before holy icons, symbolizing the Light of Christ, so too must we struggle each and every day to let the Light of Christ shine forth in us. If we live our Christian faith with little effort, the Light will be dim, and neither the angels in heaven, or those who come in contact with us, will notice anything different from the unbeliever. We are, as Christians, called to be a holy people, living “not of this world”, but ever in the Kingdom that is to come.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: Phillip and Noah of Saint Louis, MO, spent part of the week with us.
Monday June 12, 2023 / May 30, 2023
2nd Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Beginning of Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast
Venerable Isaac, founder of the Dalmatian Monastery at Constantinople (383).
Synaxis of All Saints of Penza Metropolia.
New Hieromartyr Basil priest (1942).
Martyr Natalius.
Martyrs Romanus, Meletius and Euplius.
St. Macrina, grandmother of St. Basil the Great (4th c.).
Venerable James, monk of Galich Monastery (15th c.).
Venerables Isaiah and Nikanor of Arkhangel’sk.
Martyr Barlaam of Caesarea in Cappadocia.
St. Venantius of Gaul (374).
St. Hubert of Maastricht (727) (Neth.).
The Scripture Readings
Romans 2:28-3:18
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
God’s Judgment Defended
3 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. 3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written:
“That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.”
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? IsGod unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) 6 Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.
All Have Sinned
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Matthew 6:31-34
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 7:9-11
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!