The sacramental nature of this material world
Unlike angels, who are entirely spiritual beings, God has made each of us as creatures dwelling in a material world. To be whole, we therefore must worship God both in body and soul. This teaching is central to our Christian faith and is an affirmation of the sacramental nature of this material world. Because of this truth icons have played a central role in Christian history, for they proclaim Jesus Christ’s physical reality as God Incarnate.
The Lord told his disciples that “he who has seen me, has seen the Father”, and icons depicting the Holy Virgin show the Christ Child with bare feet, reminding us that he walked the earth among us. He is the Logos, the Word of God, through Whom all that is was brought into existence. He condescended to take on our flesh and walk among us, and joined His divinity to our humanity, that we might become gods. He was born, lived, died, and rose from the dead in this material world. He broke bread with disciples, ate fish with his friends, and invited His Disciple Thomas to feel the wound in his side, after His holy resurrection. And most of the miracles He performed were in the nature of physical healing.
At the Last Judgment the Lord’s words, “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you gave me shelter, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you came to visit me”, will echo in our minds. It is through our care for others that we will be judged. It is in our demonstrated love for others that we show forth our own personal love for God. It is because of this great truth that the Lord asked the question, “How can you love God Whom you have not seen, when you do not love your neighbor?”
Because of the Incarnation, our prayers must not be allowed to be centered in the head, for our whole nature, both body and soul, must play in our reproach with the Lord Who invites us out of our darkness and into communion with Him. The physical nature of our Orthodox faith is meant to lift us out of this fallen world, both body and soul, and bring us into the Kingdom of God that has been prepared for us. When we enter into the divine services, we are uplifted into the Paradisal Realm, and made participants in the heavenly worship that is ongoing in God’s eternal kingdom. The Church connects us to our true self, composed of both body and soul, and it is in the unity of our bodies and souls that we will live forever, standing before the Throne, worshiping the Holy Trinity.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Tuesday September 13, 2016 / August 31, 2016
13th Week after Pentecost. Tone three.
The Placing of the Cincture (Sash) of the Most Holy Theotokos (395-408).
New Hieromartyr Alexander priest and Vladimir deacon (1918).
New Hieromartyrs Michael and Myron priests (1937).
New Hieromartyr Demetrius (1938).
Hieromartyr Cyprian, bishop of Carthage (258).
St. Gennadius, patriarch of Constantinople (471).
St. John, metropolitan of Kiev (1089).
St. Paulinus, bishop of Trier (358).
St. Gennadius Scholarius, patriarch of Constantinople (1372).
St. Eanswythe, abbess, of Folkestone (England) (640) (Celtic & British).
St. Cuthburga, abbess of Wimborne (Celtic & British).
St. Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne (651) (Celtic & British).
Four Martyrs of Perge in Pamphylia (Greek).
Martyrs: Menas, Faustus, Andrew, Heraclius, Phileortus and Diadoch (Greek).
Martyr Phileortus (Greek).
Martyr Diadoch (Greek)
Eight Virgin-martyrs of Gaza (Greek).
366 Martyrs of Nicomedia (Greek).
New Martyrs of Jasenovac (1941-1945) (Serbia).
Scripture Readings
2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5
Collection for the Judean Saints
16 But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. 17 For he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. 18 And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches, 19 and not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind, 20 avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us— 21 providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
22 And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we have in you. 23 If anyone inquires about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 Therefore show to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.
Administering the Gift
9 Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; 2 for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. 3 Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready; 4 lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you hadpreviously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
Mark 3:13-19
The Twelve Apostles
13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.