When we strive to interact with members of our family, our friends, our coworkers, and all others, with respect, humility, and dignity, we lay the groundwork for the abundance of Grace needed to quicken our heart for the things of God.
When you open your heart to others with gratitude, the path is prepared for a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will fill you with the power to live a life that is transformed by God’s Grace. You will be filled with heartfelt gratitude for all God’s gifts, and inner peace will be yours.
The preparation for sowing the seeds of the love of God begins with responsive gratefulness. The Apostle Paul writes, “Remember, it is not you that holds up the root, but the root that holds you up (Rom. 11:18).” Any relationship with God, must begin with a grateful heart, and is cultivated by kindness, and goodwill towards others. When you are grateful you respond toward God and others by enacting other virtues.
The constant and cultivated feeling of deep appreciation and heartfelt gratitude for others quickens the soul to feel the inner need to freely and thankfully respond to God’s invitation to commune with Him. The soil is prepared for the planting of seeds that allow us to respond to God’s grace, for a grateful heart is fertile ground for the things of God.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Daily Quote
“It [deprivation] helps a lot. It also helps our glorification of God; when we have everything in abundance, we forget God. In Sinai, water was scarce. It dripped from a rock and I collected three kilos of water (3 litres/3.5 quarts) over 24 hours. I greatly appreciated this small amount of water and thanked God continually for giving it to me. With this I did everything. I drank, washed, washed clothes, and saved a little for the birds and the little mice that kept me company. I felt gratitude for this water.
Later, when I came to Mount Athos, to the Skete of Iviron, things changed. Αbundant water existed there. The cistern overflowed. But I lost something important: I no longer felt the need to thank God.
In Sinai my eyes would fill with tears from thankfulness for the scant water, whereas at the Skete, from the abundance of water – I forgot to. … How we get lost, how we forget with abundance!
We must leave ourselves point blank to divine providence, to divine will, and God will take care of us.”
- St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain
Friday, July 13, 2024 (7532) / Friday, July 26, 2024
Friday of the 5th week after Pentecost; Tone III
Fasting, Food without oil.
Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel
Venerable Stephen of St Sabbas Monastery († 794)
Martyr Serapion (2nd-3rd C)
Martyr Marcian of Iconium († 258)
Saint Julian, Bishop of Cenomanis (Le Mans) in Gaul (1st C)
Venerable Sarrus, the Ascetic of Egypt
Daily Scriptures
Romans 16:1-16
1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:
2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:
4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.
7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.
9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.
10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ household.
11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.
12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.
13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.
15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.
16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
Matthew 13:3b-9
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.