Anxiety and Unease verses Courage and Faith
If we are easily offended, or lose our peace of mind when someone treats us badly, inner peace can not be attained. The Christian who lives his life with internal strife and worry edifies neither other Christians, nor does he reflect anything of Christianity that would be attractive to those who have no faith. Such a person can even be a serious stumbling block for others because his religiosity seems to be the cause of his weakness.
Saint Paul says, “Love is not irritable or resentful….Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things (I Corinthians 13).” If we are always complaining, weeping, or worrying we are not living according to the directive of the Apostle Paul. Worry is based on a sentimentality of our Christian faith, creating a degenerate version of Orthodoxy that inspires no one, and ultimately leads to the death of our own soul.
The true Christian is patient with others, just as he is in need of the patience of his friends and family. As Christians we are called to be a faithful people, yet we often act in a way as to betray ourselves as faithless. We ought to live by the power of God, yet we give in to a weakness that is subject to anxiety and fear. We are the children of the Most High, empowered by our God for a life of holiness and faith. Let us live with courage and faith, that we might acquire peace of heart and shine before all men the Light of Christ.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Tuesday August 8, 2023 / July 26, 2023
10th Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Hieromartyrs Hermolaus (305), Hermippus, and Hermocrates at Nicomedia.
New Hieromartyr Sergius priest (1937).
Venerable Moses the Hungarian, of the Kiev Caves (1043).
Martyr Parasceve of Rome (138).
St. Jacob (Netsvetov) of Atka-Island and Ikogmute, mission priest to the Yup’ik on the Yukon River (1867).
Martyr Oriozela of Reuma in Byzantium (ca. 250) (Greek).
Venerable Ignatius, monk, of Mt. Stirion (Greek).
Virgin-martyr Jerusalem of Byzantium (Greek).
Venerable Gerontius, founder of the Skete of St. Anne, Mt. Athos (13th c.) (Greek).
St. Sava III, archbishop of Serbia (1316) (Greek).
The Scripture Readings
1 Corinthians 15:29-38
Effects of Denying the Resurrection
29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? 30 And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? 31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32 If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
A Glorious Body
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
Matthew 21:23-27
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: 25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.