Love

And the acquisition of holiness

As Christians, we know the struggle against the passions must be a daily battle, if we are to live according to biblical standards. This quest to defeat the passions is impossible without love, for a loveless heart desires nothing beyond supporting its own ego.

The Lord told His disciples of the impossibility of loving God, Whom we have not seen, if we do not first love our neighbor. Making this even more of a challenge is the fact that we are even charged by the Lord with loving our enemies.

Under the influence of Satan, because of his malice against us, we focus on self-love, and the battle against the passions remains dormant. Unless we seek out God’s redemptive grace, we have no hope of letting love consume our hearts, and we remain locked in the darkness of sickness and death.

It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the accompanying acquisition of a humble and contrite heart, that love gains the upper hand, and our struggle against self-will finds victory. Without a loving heart, we can not enter the Kingdom of God. Love is the key to holiness, and comes only to those who struggle.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photo: Michael Alyas of Sydney, Australia, visited the monastery on Saturday, along with his family.

Sunday July 22, 2018 / July 9, 2018
8th Sunday after Pentecost. Tone seven.

Hieromartyr Pancratius, bishop of Taormina in Sicily (1st c.).
New Hieromartyr Constantine priest (1918).
Hieromartyr Cyril, bishop of Gortyna in Crete (250-252).
Martyrs Patermuthius, Coprius, and Alexander the Soldier, in Egypt (361).
Sts. Patermuthius and Coprius, ascetics of Egypt (4th c.).
St. Theodore, bishop of Edessa (848).
“Cyprus” in the village of Stromyn (Moscow diocese) and “Koloch” (1413) Icons of the Mother of God.
Venarable Anthony Leokhnovsky (1611).
Venerable Euthymius of Karelia (1435).
Blessed Peter, hieromartyr of Cherevkov (Vologda) (16th-17th c.).
St. Everild, nun, of England (700) (Celtic & British).
Martyrs Andrew and Probus (Greek).
Venerables Dionysius the Rhetorician and Metrophanes of Mt. Athos (Greek).
Venerable Theodosius, stylite of Edessa (9th c.).
Venerable John of the Caves in Babylon.
Martyr Michael, disciple and the Kinsman of St. Theodore.
Martyr John (before holy baptism Moavy), king of Baghdad and with him the Three Holy Youths (9th c.).
New Hieromartyr Methodius of Amaria, Crete (1793).
Hieromartyr Killian, bishop in East Franconia and Thuringia, and his companions Hieromonk Colman and Hierodeacon Totman, at Wurzburg (689).

The Scripture Readings

John 20:11-18

Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord

11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”

18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Sectarianism Is Sin

10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Matthew 14:14-22

14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Sea

22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.