Christianity Under Attack
Many years ago an edition of Newsweek magazine displayed a photo of a blood stained Coptic Orthodox icon of Christ, with the headline, “The War on Christians”. This article was the first of note that appeared in the mainline media, and one would have hoped other publications would have taken note of this under reported, but growing trend. According to the article, terrorist attacks on Christians in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia increased 309% from 2003 to 2010.
It is apparent that in some cases the persecution of Christians is not state sponsored, but the fact that the perpetrators are rarely prosecuted has only served to encourage radical Muslims to inflict terror and violence upon their Christian neighbors. In the case of Egypt, the Bombing of the church of Two Saints in Alexandria was said to be done by the state but covered up. The Maspero incident where around 27 Copts were killed and hundreds injured by its own Egyptian Army, was terrorism that was clearly sponsored by the state. TV reports stated on live television that Copts were attacking the Army and that “all honorable Egyptian citizens must go and defend their army”, scores of Muslims took to the streets and hunted Copts like they were animals!
Anyone who openly embraces the doctrine of the Trinity, is considered a blasphemer, and the death penalty is mandated. That Muslims consider us to be monotheists like themselves, is simply not true. Islamists believe the Christian teaching regarding the Holy Trinity is blasphemous, and that we Christians worship three gods. Our view that Christ is both God and man, and is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is falsely seen by Muslims as to mean that God the Father had sex with the Holy Virgin, Christ being the offspring of this relationship. Such a teaching would be considered heretical to any true Christian, for we know that Christ, as the Logos (the Word), was from all eternity, One with the Father.
That the Western press would tout an age of democratic ascendancy in the Middle East because of the “Arab Spring”, demonstrated a blatant willingness to ignore the dramatic increase in attacks on Christians.
Our government’s portrayal of Islam as a peaceful religion, without insisting that Islamic countries move swiftly to protect their Christian citizens from further persecution, is a travesty of major proportion. That our country has a tradition of religious tolerance is of no value if we continue to send billions of dollars in aid money to countries that do not protect their own religious minorities. It is time we demand that not one more dollar of aid money be sent to Muslim countries, unless the rights of religious minorities are protected.
Given all this persecution in the Middle East, it must also be noted that Christianity in the West is also under attack. Our Christian demand that we protect our unborn children by outlawing the slaughter of the innocents in the womb has gained us the label of being “right wingers and white supremacists”. Meanwhile, our United States is swiftly following the path of the former Soviet Union, with Leftist-Marxism on the rise, and freedom of thought made illegal.
These are truly dangerous times for Christians. A close and truthful look at the war in Ukraine, if we study the history of that region, is obviously a civil war. It is a terrible tragedy, one that has necessitated the addition of prayers for the Ukrainian land, and the Ukrainian people, in each celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Yet we continue to provide arms and funding for a war that will ultimately lead to our downfall economically, and perhaps even a nuclear war.
As Christians we must raise our voices and let our politicians know that enough is enough. As Christians we need to repent before the Lord, and we must increase our prayers for this world that appears to be on the brink of World War III, a war no nation will win.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Sunday October 16, 2022 / October 3, 2022
18th Sunday after Pentecost. Tone one.
Hieromartyr Dionysius (Dennys) the Areopagite, and with him Martyrs Rusticus and Eleutherius (96).
New Hiero-confessor Agathangelus (Preobrazhensky), metropolitan of Yaroslavl (1928).
Finding of the relics (1988) of Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1911).
St. Jerome of Aegina (1966).
Venerable Dionysius, recluse of the Kiev Caves (15th c.).
Venerable John the Chozebite, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine (532).
Blessed Hesychius the Silent of Mt. Horeb (6thc.).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Trubchevsk” (1765).
Hieromartyr Dionysius, archbishop of Alexandria and eight martyrs with him (257-8).
St. Leger of Autun (679) (Gaul).
Hieromartyrs Hewald the White and Hewald the Black, at Cologne.
Martyr Theoctistus (Greek).
Martyr Theagenes (Greek).
The Scripture Readings
John 20:1-10
The Empty Tomb
20 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there;yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
The Cheerful Giver
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
Luke 6:31-36
31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, andyou will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
Acts 17:16-34
The Philosophers at Athens
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. 18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this \babbler want to say?”
Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.
19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
Addressing the Areopagus
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them. 34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Matthew 13:44-54
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The Parable of the Dragnet
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea andgathered some of every kind, 48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?