Darkness and Light

Letting the Light of Christ overcome my darkness

A number of years ago I was asked by Father James Steele, the kind and humble rector of Saint Elias Russian Orthodox Church in Placerville, CA., to speak as part of his parish outreach program. Led by this amazing priest, and some of the most missionary minded parishioners I have ever encountered, his parish was reaching out to their Northern California community with a loving invitation to explore Orthodoxy.

My first morning in Placerville, I spoke to an assembly of students at the local Seventh Day Adventist High School. Later that afternoon, after walking the main street of this historic gold rush town, and speaking with the people I encountered, I spoke for two hours with high school and college students in the Cozmic Cafe, housed in an historic building with its own gold mine dug into the rock on the back side. Later that evening I spoke with preteen youth in a parishioner’s private home.

During all of these talks I shared of the joy and healing that is to be found within the sacred walls of the Orthodox Church, and the depth of an encounter with Jesus Christ that brings about transformation, and the restoration of the human heart as God meant it to be. The bright and earnest faces of these wonderful young people, seekers after a faith that will sustain them throughout their lives, was a joy for this aging monk.

The only dark moment during the entire day took place in the Cozmic Cafe. A middle age man who identified himself as an Orthodox Christian from Southern California, a good days journey to Placerville, attempted to use the precious moments that had been arranged for local youth, to go on a political and moral triad about the evils of the Obama administration, and the changing moral fiber of present day America, what with abortion and same-sex marriage. Ignoring my attempt to return the focus of the gathering to Christ, this man attempted to bait me, portraying my message of love and hope as some sort of liberal betrayal of Orthodoxy. Matushka Julia Steele finally reminded the man this gathering had the needs of youth as the primary focus. After continuing to use this youth gathering as his personal forum, the man finally left.

After a few moments of shocked silence, I managed to return the gathering to the focus of faith, and the importance of the Church as a hospital of the soul, where EVERYONE can receive healing. This man’s mixture of political rage, and religion devoid of love, demonstrated in a clear, if not unfortunate way, why so many of today’s youth have turned away from Christianity. There was nothing salvific about this man’s message, for hate dominated his every word. Nothing in his personal philosophy offered hope for either a young woman who has aborted her child, nor a young man struggling with same-sex attraction. No one could possibly have been drawn to this man’s brand of Orthodoxy, seemingly offering nothing but judgement, condemnation, and a political rage devoid of charity.

Not once during this man’s tirade did we encounter the love of Christ. His was not the message of the Incarnate Son of God Who condescended to take on our flesh, and share His Divinity with our humanity. Not for a moment did we see a glimpse of the Christ Who healed the sick, forgave the sins of the woman at the well, or sat down with tax collectors and sinners. All we witnessed was the angry face of a self-righteous judge, devoid of humility and love for others. The message of this man was one of hatred and judgement, and totally lacking any sign of hope. He left the coffee house in the darkness of his own sin, and the Light of Christ was not in him.

As a monk who daily struggles with the dark side, I try with the help of my guardian angel, the prayers of my patron saint, and the love and protection of the Mother of God, to emulate Jesus Christ. As one who is, like the woman at the well, in need of Christ’s forgiveness, I try to encourage others, that they, like me, might encounter the loving Saviour. I pray every hour that the Light of Christ will overcome my darkness, and that others will see in me the Light of Christ.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Thursday June 21, 2018 / June 8, 2018
4th Week after Pentecost. Tone two.
Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast. Food with Oil

Translation of the relics of Great-martyr Theodore Stratelates (319).
St. Theodore, bishop of Rostov and Suzdal (1023).
Finding of the relics (1501) of Sts. Basil (1249) and Constantine(1257), princes of Yaroslavl.
Venerable Ephraim, patriarch of Antioch (546).
Venerable Zosimas, monk, of Phoenicia (Syria) (6th c.).
“Yaroslavl” (13th c.) and “Uriupinsk” (1827) Icons of the Mother of God.
New Martyr Theophanes at Constantinople (1559) (Greek).
Venerable Atre (Athre) of Nitria (Egypt).
Venerable Naucratius, abbot of the Studion (848).
Venerable Theophilus of Luga and Omutch (1412), disciple of St. Arsenius of Konevits (Valaam).
Martyrs Nicander and Marcian at Dorostulum in Moesia (303) (Romania).
St. Medardus, bishop of Noyon (560) (Neth.).
Translation of the relicts of Hieromartyr Alphege, abbot of Canterbury.
Martyr Callopia (Greek).
Venerable Melania the Elder, of Palladius’ Lausiac History (Greek).
Martyr Nicander (Greek).
Martyr Mark (Greek).
New Hieromartyrs Barlaam (1942) and his brother Herman (1937) (Riaschentsov) (1937).
St. Paul the Confessor, of Kaiuma in Constantinople (766).
Holy Hieromartyr Tevdore of Kvelta (1609) (Georgia).
Synaxis of the Church of the Cross at Mtskheta, Georgia (Georgia).
Venerable Naucratius, brother of St. Basil the Great (4th c.).

The Scripture Readings

Romans 11:13-24

13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

Matthew 11:27-30

27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [a]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”