Forgiveness and Love

The capacity to forgive and the capacity to love  

The capacity to forgive is directly related to the capacity to love, and it is in our act of forgiving others, that we find forgiveness. For it is in the turning away from our own self-concern, and our own self-will, that we begin to see that our salvation is directly linked to the salvation of our neighbor. To refuse to forgive our neighbor, is do cease having the capacity to love, “for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20)?”

The ability to forgive others requires work on our part, for we must cooperate with the grace that comes as a gift of the Holy Spirit. Since we have been forgiven much, we, in turn, must forgive much. The Lord Himself told us that we must forgive our brother seventy times seventy, no easy feat, to be sure. Yet it is this same Lord Who gives us the power, and the will, to be quick to forgive those who have hurt or offended us. It is this very Christ Who demonstrated the importance of forgiving others, when He forgave those who were crucifying Him. “Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).”

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photos: With the blessing of Archbishop Kyrill of the Diocese of San Francisco and Western America (ROCOR), and Bishop Paul of the Diocese of Chicago and Midwestern America (OCA), I have been giving a series of talks at Saint Demetrius Orthodox Church in Jackson, Michigan. On Monday I will be driven into Detroit for a radio interview. Tuesday, March 29th I will speak to the Orthodox Christian Fellowship on the campus of Michigan State University. On the 30th I will be flying to Baltimore, Maryland, where I will spend time with my friend Metropolitan Jonah, and speak at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation on Saturday, April 2nd. Please continue to pray for my health.

Sunday March 27, 2016 / March 14, 2016
Second Sunday of the Great Lent. Tone two.
Great Lent. Food with Oil

St. Gregory Palamas the Archbishop of Thessalonica (movable holiday on the 2nd Sunday of the Great Lent).
Synaxis of all Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Caves (movable holiday on the 2nd Sunday of the Great Lent).
Venerable Benedict of Nursia, abbot (543).
St. Theognostus, metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow (1353).
St. Rostislav-Michael, prince of Kiev (1167).
St. Euschemon, bishop of Lampsacus (9th c.).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of St. Theodore(“Feodorovskaya”) (1613).
Martyr Eustathius and his company at Carrhae, Mesopotamia (741).

Scripture Readings

Hebrews 1:10-2:3

10 And:

“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not fail.”

13 But to which of the angels has He ever said:

“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

Do Not Neglect Salvation

2 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

Mark 2:1-12

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic

2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately[a] many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”