Righteousness is Not a Part Time Job
Teachers and parents routinely remind children of the importance of refraining from giving in to peer pressure, knowing that good behavior can often be undermined by the desire to fit in with their friends and schoolmates.
We adults need to remember that we, too, are often subject to peer pressure. When we are surrounded by people who always take the moral high road, who are honest in their business practices, and respectful in the way they treat other people, our own adherence to the commandments of God is made easier.
What are we like when we are spending time with that neighbor, friend, or relative, who is fun to be with, but shares off colored jokes, or say horrible things about people we know? Do we give in to laughter because we want to fit in with the moment, or do we always take the high road, keeping true to our Christian faith, regardless of the behavior of people we are with?
“To be righteous among the righteous is a great and praiseworthy thing, but it is a far greater and more praiseworthy thing to be a righteous man among the unrighteous (Bishop Nikolai Velimirovicn, ‘The Prologue from Ochrid’).”
To be righteous is not a part time job.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: This is a photo I took on Wednesday afternoon, while hiking around Fisher Pond. The property was bestowed to the Vashon Land Trust by Mr. Fisher, and we will all forever be grateful for his generosity.
Friday November 12, 2021 / October 30, 2021
21st Week after Pentecost. Tone three.
Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Hieromartyr Zenobius and his sister Zenobia of Aegae, Cilicia (285).
New Hieromartyr Eugene (Zernov), metropolitan of Nizhni Novgorod (1935).
New Hieromartyr Leonid priest (1941).
New Hiero-confessor Varnava (Nastic) of Bosnia (1964).
New Hieromartyr Mathew priest (1942).
Finding of the relics of Agathangelus the Confessor, metropolitan of Yaroslavl (1998).
Apostles Tertius, Mark, Justus, and Artemas of the Seventy (1st c.).
Hieromartyr Marcian, bishop of Syracuse (2nd c).
Martyr Eutropia of Alexandria (220).
Martyr Anastasia of Thessalonica (3rd C).
St. Stephen Milutin (1320), his brother St. Dragutin (monk Theoctistus) (1316), and their mother St. Helen (1306), wife of Urosh I of Serbia (Serbia).
“Ozeryansk” (16th C) Icon of the Mother of God.
Martyrs Alexander, Cronion, Julian, Macarius, and 13 companions at Alexandria (250).
Martyr Dometius of Phrygia.
Apostle Cleopas (1st c.) (Greek).
St. Joseph I, Patriarch of Constantinople (1283) (Greek).
New Hieromartyr Nicanor (Kudriavtsev) bishop of Bogoroditsk.
Finding of the relics of Great-martyr Stephen-Urosh III of Dechani, Serbia (1331).
Martyr Jotham Zedgenidze, Paravani (1465) (Georgia).
The Scripture Readings
Colossians 2:1-7
Not Philosophy but Christ
2 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.t
Luke 11:23-26
23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
An Unclean Spirit Returns
24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”