Everything proceeds out of God’s love and mercy
There is a common misconception concerning the word “mercy”, used throughout the liturgical services of the Church, as well as our private prayers, and the Jesus Prayer. It is a given that we are all sinners, but the asking for God’s mercy is not limited to asking His forgiveness, or begging God to overlook our sinfulness. When we pray forty Lord have mercies, we are recognizing that EVERYTHING proceeds out of God’s mercy. The air we breath, the health we enjoy, the food on our table, the water in our tap, the friendships we treasure, our family, and everything good, flows out upon us through God’s mercy.
When we in turn act with mercy towards those around us, we do the will of God. Bestowing mercy to others opens our hearts to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, and we will come to know the true meaning of love. C.S. Lewis suggests we not waste time bothering whether we “love” our neighbor, but that we should act as if we do. “As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When we are behaving as if we love someone we will presently come to love them.” Love and mercy go together, and the more we show mercy, the more love grows in our heart, and we become as God intended us to be.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Tuesday October 24, 2017 / October 11, 2017
21st Week after Pentecost. Tone three.
Holy Apostle Philip of the Seventy, one of the seven deacons (1st c.).
Venerable Theophanes the Confessor and Hymnographer, bishop of Nicaea (850).
Venerable Leonid of Optina (1841).
Synaxis of the Saints of Optina: St. Leonid (repose) (1841), St. Macarius (1860), St. Moses (1862), St. Anthony (1865), St. Hilarion (1873), St. Ambrose (1891), St. Anatole (the “Elder”) (1894), St. Isaac I (1894), St. Joseph (1911), St. Barsanuphius (1913), St. Anatole (the “Younger”) (1922), St. Nektary (1928), St. Nikon the Confessor (1931), New Hieromartyr Archimandrite Isaac II (1937).
New Hieromartyrs Philaret and Alexander priests (1918).
New Hieromartyr Juvenalius (Maslovsky) bishop of Riazan (1937).
Venerable Theophanes, faster of the Kiev Caves (12th c.).
Martyrs Zenaida (Zenais) and Philonilla of Tarsus in Cilicia (1st c.).
Sts. Nectarius (397), Arcadius (405), and Sinisius (427), patriarchs of Constantinople.
St. Gommar, patron of Lier (775) (Neth.).
Venerable Ethelburga, abbess of the monastery of Barking (England) (676) (Celtic & British.).
Venerable Cainnech (Kenneth), abbot of Aghaboe (Ireland) (600) (Celtic & British).
St. Philotheus (Kokkinos) of Mt. Athos, patriarch of Constantinople (1379).
Commemoration of the miracle from the Icon of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Beirut of Phonecia.
The Scripture Readings
Colossians 1:1-2
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:7-11
7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
Preeminence of Christ
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
Luke 8:1-3
Many Women Minister to Jesus
8 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, 2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.
Thank you Father, it is worth a try. 🙂
I am so very glad that you are back on the cybernet and are writing again.
I treasure a small collection of quotes on mercy from Saint Isaac the Syrian…..
The compassion and mercy of God is infinite and Saint Isaac goes so far as to say that it outweighs His justice and the Law.
“Do not call God just, for His justice is not manifest in the
things concerning you. And if David calls Him just and upright, His
Son revealed to us that He is good and kind. ‘He is good’, He
says ‘to the evil and to the impious.’ How can you call God just
when you come across the Scriptural passage on the wage given to the
workers? How can a man call God just when he comes across the
passage on the prodigal son who wasted his wealth with riotous
living, how for the compunction alone which he showed, the father
ran and fell upon his neck and gave him authority over all his
wealth? Where, then, is God’s justice, for while we are sinners
Christ died for us!”
and
“Among all God’s actions there is none that is not entirely a
matter of mercy, love and compassion: this constitutes the beginning
and end of His dealings with us. …God’s mercifulness is far more
extensive than we can conceive.”
and
“Just as a grain of sand will not balance in the scales against a
great weight of gold, such too is the case with God’s justice when
it is weighed against His compassion. When compared with God’s mind,
the sins of all flesh are like a grain of sand thrown in the sea.
Just as an abundantly flowing fountain is not blocked by a handful
of dust, so the Maker’s mercy is not overcome by the wickedness of
those whom He has created.”
and
“Mercy and just judgment existing in a single soul
is like a man worshipping God and idols in the same house.
Mercy is opposed to just judgment.
Just judgment is the equality of the balanced scale.
For it gives to each as is meet,
and does not incline to one side
or show partiality in recompense.
But mercy is pity aroused by Grace
and inclines a man compassionately to all;
and just as it does not requite the man who deserves harsh treatment,
it fills him to overflowing,
the man who deserves what is good.
And if mercy is on the side of righteousness,
then just judgment inclines towards evil;
and just as grass and fire cannot abide in the same house,
so neither do just judgment and mercy abide in the same soul.
Just as a grain of sand cannot counterbalance a large quantity of gold,
so God’s necessary justice cannot, in like manner,
counterbalance His mercy.”
– St. Isaac the Syrian
My heart was turning to stone gradually, and a friend gave me a cat. So my advice for crabby old single people like me is: if you find it difficult to love people, practice on pets. They’ll teach you. (They teach you to detach from material possessions, and to forgive too. Oh, the broken flower pots, chewed family photos, and shredded upholstery!) I notice a big ol’ pussycat in some of your photos.
(Glad to have you back on the web, Father! Too much of the internet speaks only to the head. You focus more on the heart. We need it!)