I’ll do it tomorrow
We all have times when we procrastinate. There is a story of a young monk who confessed to his elder that he was always struggling with procrastination. His elder told him it was his lack of faith which made it impossible for him to see God everywhere, and in all things, and for this reason he was careless and lazy about everything having to do with his salvation.
The holy Apostle Paul said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
It is in our weakness that we tend to put things off, especially when it comes to those things that pertain to our salvation. We know the importance of keeping a prayer rule, of spending time each day with the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and of being productive in our spiritual lives. We know the importance of frequent church attendance, yet put it off. Tomorrow, we tell ourselves, will be the day we will begin to take our spiritual life seriously. Tomorrow we will set our priorities, and keep to them. But tomorrow never comes.
God desires we struggle on a daily basis, ever making progress in our journey into His heart. We only need to make that first step, remembering “….I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Procrastination does not have to dominate our life, for in the Lord we can turn things around and make progress. Procrastination only has power over our lives if we let it. Taking steps to curb the habit of slothfulness must begin with a decision that today, with God’s help, will be the day that I leave laziness and procrastination aside, and move forward with action.
It is procrastination that often stands in the way of our combating habitual sins that keep us from making spiritual progress. Procrastination can keep us from reconciling with family members or friends who’ve been estranged for years. It can keep us from making a good confession, thus unburdening ourselves of guilt that has been weighing us down. Procrastination need not rule our lives.
Fear of failure can also be a cause for procrastination. We fear that we will not be good enough at a task at hand, so we put it off. This is often a common problem among young college students.
Finally, let me make it very clear that I am not addressing the form of procrastination caused by depression. I am referencing that which is caused by laziness. Depression and procrastination often go hand in hand, but I’m not addressing this subject in the present article. As a former (recovering) psychologist I know that telling someone who is depressed they should stop procrastinating, would be counterproductive.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Sunday March 22, 2015 / March 9, 2015
Fourth Sunday of the Great Lent. Tone eight.
Great Lent. Food with Oil
Venerable John Lestvichnik (movable holiday on the 4th Sunday of the Great Lent).
The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste: Cyrion (or Quirio), Candidus, Domnus, Hesychius, Heraclius, Smaragdus, Eunoicus, Valens, Vivianus, Claudius, Priscus, Theodulus, Eutychius, John, Xanthias, Helianus, Sisinius, Angus, Aetius, Flavius, Acacius, Ecdicius, Lysimachus, Alexander, Elias, Gorgonius, Theophilus, Dometian, Gaius, Leontius, Athanasius, Cyril, Sacerdon, Nicholas, Valerius, Philoctimon, Severian, Chudion, Aglaius,and Meliton (320).
New Hieromartyr Archpriest Mitrophan Buchnoff of Voronezh (1931).
New Hieromartyrs Michael, Alexis, Demetrius, Sergius, Sergius priests and Nicholas deacon, New Hieromartyr Iosaph and Virgin-martyrs Natalia and Alexandra (1938).
Urpasianus of Nicomedia (295).
Righteous Caesarius, brother of St. Gregory the Theologian (369).
St. Tarasius of Liconium.
“Albazin” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (“The Word Was Made Flesh”) (1666).
St. Philoromus the Confessor of Galatia (4th c.).
St. Pacianus, bishop of Barcelona (390).
St. Jonah, archbishop of Novgorod (1470).
St. Vitalius of Castronovo (994).
Scripture Readings
Hebrews 6:13-20
God’s Infallible Purpose in Christ
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”[a] 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might[b] have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Mark 9:17-31
17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”
19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection
30 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. 31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.”