Serving the Great Men and Women Who Serve Us All
It has been a great blessing for me to have been serving as a police and fire chaplain for the past twenty some years. My interest in chaplaincy began when I was asked by a number of inmates to serve as their Orthodox chaplain in one of the state’s prisons. Spending one full day a month in two of the state prisons in Monroe, WA., I managed to make a number of friends among the guards. Because such open friendships could be dangerous, should inmates see the chaplain as a friend of the enemy, I had to keep my contact with guards to a minimum. After eight years of serving the spiritual needs of inmates, I decided that I wanted to serve those in law enforcement and fire service.
Vashon Island’s Fire Department had not had their own chaplain in some thirty years. When you live on an island that is accessible only by ferry, there were many occasions where a chaplain was needed, but none was available, especially in the dead of night when the boats were not running. Following a number of tragic events on the island, I finally offered my services and went through a formal week-long training at the Washington State Criminal Justice Center where police are trained for the entire state, and became a certified chaplain.
Hundreds of hours of additional training, together with membership in the Federation of Fire Chaplains and the International Conference of Police Chaplains, prepared me for priestly service to the whole of this island community in ways that I would never have imagined.
Chaplains minister to people whose lives have been turned upside down, with the loss of a child, the death of a spouse, the trauma of a fatal car accident, or a homicide. Chaplains serve as God’s presence on murder scenes, or house fires. They hold children whose parents have been killed, and comfort the old woman whose husband of sixty years has died. They serve as pastors to people who have never had a pastor. They are clergy who lend support to a police officer or medic who is traumatized by an incident that would have sent most people running in the other direction.
I, like other chaplains, have broken down in tears while recounting situations that would traumatize the toughest of soldiers. I’ve seen fellow chaplains being strong for their officers, while enduring unimaginable pain themselves. I’ve suffered, like other chaplains, over the death of police officers and firefighters who were my friends.
At the heart of chaplaincy is the love of Jesus Christ, and a compassionate heart that is formed by a relationship with this very Christ. The chaplain runs towards a bad situation, offering his prayers and his heart to those in need. The chaplain is one who is the presence of God in the midst of tragedy, making manifest Christ in the midst of horrendous moments in the life of those whom he is called to serve. He sits in for God during those moments when no words can be found to comfort someone experiencing great loss. The chaplain sacrifices his own comfort zone so that Christ may be made manifest in the most broken of moments.
Chaplaincy is a unique calling, one that takes special training and deep commitment. It is not for the faint hearted, but a vocation that is as challenging as it is satisfying. The chaplain is an instrument of reconciliation between God and the first responder, their department, the community, and the families and individuals affected by tragic events.
In an age of increasing lawlessness, it is a huge blessing for me to have been called to serve men and women who selflessly place their lives on the line for the rest of us, each and every day. I’ve ridden with medics who’ve saved lives right in front of my eyes. I’ve been on board fire trucks, witnessing firefighters risk their lives to save the homes of fellow islanders, and I’ve witnessed Sheriff Department deputies give comfort to the widow of a murder victim. The list goes on.
I am grateful to God for the many friendships I’ve formed with police and firefighters. I’ve shed tears at the funerals of too many officers. I pray daily for the safety and well being of those who serve our communities so gallantly, and ask my readers to unite their prayers with mine.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: It was my great honor to have been able to treat these San Francisco police officers to lattes, at the original West Coast coffee house, the Cafe Trieste in the Italian North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. In this age of “defunding the police”, together with the disrespect our officers face on a daily basis, I go out of my way to show my love and respect for those galant figures who put their lives on the line, daily, for the safety and wellbeing of the rest of us. May God bless them, and may He keep them safe. To these officers, and to police officers and sheriff deputies everywhere, you have my deep respect, and my gratitude.
Wednesday December 1, 2021 / November 18, 2021
24th Week after Pentecost. Tone six.
Nativity (St. Philip’s Fast). By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Martyr Platon of Ancyra (266).
Martyr Romanus the Deacon of Caesarea and child-martyr Barulas of Antioch (303).
St. Nicholas confessor, priest (1948).
Martyrs Zacchaeus the Deacon and Alphaeus, of Caesarea in Palestine (303).
Synaxis of All Saints of Estonia.
St. Mawes, bishop in Cornwall and Brittany (5th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Mabyn, nun of Cornwall (Celtic & British).
New Martyrs Anastasius of Epirus and Daniel (1750) (Greek).
Martyr Romanus, who suffered under Maximian (305).
St. Odo of Cluny (942) (Gaul).
The Scripture Readings
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Plea for Purity
4 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who[a] has also given us His Holy Spirit.
A Brotherly and Orderly Life
9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; 11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
Luke 15:1-10
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
15 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying:
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”