And our capacity to reject the will of God
According to Saint Gregory Palamas, God has given us lordship over all the earth because of our capacity for sovereignty. With this sovereignty comes the responsibility to be good stewards of that which God has given us. Saint Gregory wrote, “There is within our soul’s nature a governing and ruling faculty, and there is also that which is naturally subservient and obedient, namely, will, appetite, sense-perception, and in general everything that is sequent to the intellect and that was created by God together with the intellect.”
Our fallen nature has also given us the capacity to reject the will of God and to misuse our sovereignty, refusing to use our freedom in a God pleasing way. We overindulge ourselves with food and drink, overgraze our lands, destroy our rain forests, saturate our oceans and atmosphere with carbon based fuels, pave over our food producing farmlands and pump chemicals and other pollutants into our rivers and streams.
As though that were not enough, we squander our mental faculties with endless hours before our computers, TVs, and ipods. As creatures who were created to commune with God we waste our time in mindless pursuits, giving little thought to things that are spiritual and of eternal value. We battle against not only the all-ruling God but also against the ruling power inherent in our nature.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Friday July 3, 2015 / June 20, 2015
5th Week after Pentecost. Tone three.
Apostles’ (Peter & Paul) Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Hieromartyr Methodius, bishop of Patara (312).
Holy Prince Gleb Andreyevich of Vladimir (1175).
St. Minas, bishop of Polotsk (1116).
Translation of the relics of St. Gurias, archbishop of Kazan (1630).
Martyrs Inna, Pinna, and Rimma, disciples of Apostle Andrew in Scythia (1st-2nd c.).
Martyrs Aristocleus presbyter, Demetrian deacon, and Athanasius reader, of Cyprus (306).
St. Leucius the Confessor, bishop of Brindisi (5th c.).
St. Nicholas (Cabasilas) (1397).
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Modensk-Kosninsk”.
St. Nahum of Ochrid (910) (Bulgaria).
St. Callistus I, patriarch of Constantinople (Mt. Athos) (1363).
Translation of the relics and garments (ca. 960) of the Apostles Luke, Andrew, and Thomas, the Prophet Elisha, and Martyr Lazarus to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople (Greek).
Martyrs Paul, Cyriacus, Paula, Felicilana, Thomas, Felix, Martyrius, Vitaly, Crispinus, and Emilius in Tomi (290).
Blessed Studios, founder of the Studion Monastery (5th c.).
Finding of the relics (1959) of New Martyr Hieromonk Raphael of Lesbos (1463).
Scripture Readings
Romans 16:1-16
Sister Phoebe Commended
16 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, 2 that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.
Greeting Roman Saints
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who labored much for us. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
8 Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. 10 Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.
Matthew 13:4-9
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Over the past weeks I decided to read scripture instead of over use of the computer. I read the psalms. Some days I’m off the time but no matter. I’ll chant them in a low voice. I get so much from them. I found that I was staying glued to a machine has some use but is very addictive. I use that to communicate more times than not face to face. I can’t say I don’t falter and succumb to that temptation but I find that keeping to the plan makes more sense to me than not.
Thanks. So true.