On Being a Good Father
I’ll forever be grateful for the love and support I received from my own father. He never let a day pass without giving his two sons assurance of his love and acceptance, and always demonstrated the importance of living an honest life. He was kind to everyone, generous almost to a fault, forgiving the wrongs done to him by others, looking for the good in everyone, and always demonstrating the importance of being true to oneself.
My father converted to the Orthodox Faith while in his mid seventies, along with my mother. Although I was raised in the Lutheran Church by a devout mother, my dad was not much for “formal church”, as he put it. His way of worshiping God, he would say, was to enjoy God’s creation on the golf course. My dad would say he felt God’s presence in nature, but felt his boys needed to attend church just as he’d been required to do when he was a boy (he’d been raised in the Episcopal Church). He always supported my mother in her commitment to our Lutheran parish, where she served for years as the choir director and organist.
I taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School while still in the eighth grade, and intended to one day become a Lutheran minister. Both my parents were proud of me, and supportive of my future goals. Since my father believed everyone should be free to go with their heart, he never pressed either me, or my brother, to push for a career that would somehow make him proud. He didn’t believe any parent should live vicariously through their children, but should encourage them to live a life that was grounded in their own heart of hearts.
It is always a joy for me to meet a father who visibly encourages his children, and speaks proudly of his kids accomplishments even though their life choices may not have been his own. A father who encourages his children to be true to themselves. Being a good father, especially in these difficult times of economic and moral decline, is not an easy task. Yet, the father who keeps his eyes focused on Christ, prays for his children, and demonstrates his unconditional love for them, will, in the end, have been a good father.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Thursday June 15, 2023 / June 2, 2023
2nd Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast. Food with Oil
St. Nicephorus the Confessor, patriarch of Constantinople (829).
Great-martyr John the New of Suceava, at Belgorod (Cetatea Alba) (1332).
Finding of the relics (1815) of St. Juliana, princess of Vyasma (1406).
Hieromartyr Pothinus, bishop of Lyons (177) (Gaul).
St. Blandina and St. Ponticus of Lyons (177) (Gaul).
“Kiev-Bratsk” Icon of the Mother of God (1654).
New Martyr Demetrius of Philadelphia (1657) (Greek).
St. Odo, archbishop of Canterbury (959)) (Celtic & British).
New Martyr Constantine of the Hagarenes (Mt. Athos) (1819) (Greek).
Hieromartyr Erasmus of Ochrid, who reposed in peace, and 20,000 Martyrs with him (303) (Greek).
New Martyr John of Trebizond (Greek).
New Martyr Asprocastron (White Castle).
The Scripture Readings
Romans 5:10-16
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
Matthew 8:23-27
Wind and Wave Obey Jesus
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, [a]“Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”