We Must Put Aside Our Arrogance
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).”
The massively destructive and deadly fires we witnessed across the West Coast of the United States this past summer, should not have been a surprise to any of us. How could we expect there should not be consequences for a nation that has such a high number of our babies being aborted? And how could we not expect consequences, having taken our religious and social freedom for granted, as we now watch helplessly as our nation plummets into Marxism?
How can we not expect the turning away from our national tradition of freedom of thought, while we, as a people, have advanced wars for the sake of financial gain and oil? How can we expect anything other than God’s judgment when we have given ourselves over in pride for our scientific and technological advances, while turning ourselves into the only god we serve?
We have become a people who have renounced the worship of God for the worship of material goods, sports, entertainment, and self. We’ve turned away from the God Who created us, while focusing our collective gaze upon ourselves.
Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco often expressed the belief that absolutely nothing happens by chance, and that human behavior leads to inevitable consequences, either good or bad.
God does not cause these devastating natural disasters, we do. God does not send pandemics upon us, our sin does. Our God is in control of the forces of nature, but we are responsible for the devastation that takes place when nature heaps disaster upon us. God does not send drought and famine upon us, it is we who bring it upon ourselves.
Let us use the horrendous droughts and fires that have befallen much of our nation, and even our world, as a reminder that we must return to God. Let us remember that pandemics, together with loss of freedom, are the result of having turned our backs on the need for repentance. Because of our arrogance and contempt for the laws of God, we are getting our just reward.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: Quartermaster Harbor on Vashon Island.
Saturday October 30, 2021 / October 17, 2021
19th Week after Pentecost. Tone one.
Prophet Hosea (Osee) (820 B.C.).
Monk-martyr Andrew of Crete (767).
New Hieromartyr Neophit and Anatolius priests, Martyrs Hyacinth and Callistus (1918).
New Hieromartyr Archbishop Alexander (Shchukin) of Semipalatinsk (1937).
Venerable Anthony, abbot, of Leokhonov (Novgorod) (1611).
Holy Martyrs and Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian in Cilicia (4th c.), and their brothers Leontius, Anthimus, and Eutropius.
Translation of the relics (898) of St. Lazarus “Of the Four Days” (in the tomb), bishop of Kition on Cyprus.
“Before Birth and After Birth the Virgin” (1827) and “Deliverer” (1889) Icons of the Mother of God.
Martyr Queen Shushaniki (Susanna) of Georgia (475) (Georgia).
St. Joseph the Wonderworker, Catholicos of Georgia (1770) (Georgia).
Holy Martyr Kozman (Georgia).
Martyrs Ethelred and Ethelbert, princes of Kent (England) (ca. 640) (Celtic & British).
Translation of the relics of St. Ethelreda, abbess of Ely. (Celtic & British).
The Scripture Readings
1 Corinthians 15:58-16:3
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Collection for the Saints
16 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.
Luke 6:1-10
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
6 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. 2 And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”
3 But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?” 5 And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Healing on the Sabbath
6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” 10 And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.