When Charity Becomes an Occasion for Self-Worship
Food is a common problem for many people, for food so often fills a void, and becomes a way of comforting oneself when faced with the stresses that are a part of our modern age. Yet food is not the only addiction that can overtake the believer. The need for love and approval can be a form of addiction, and can even replace a fulfilling relationship with God. In serving others, we can sometimes find ourselves displacing God, and making charity a form of self worship.
This in no way suggests that “what we do for these, the least”, is not a godly direction to take, for we are directed by Christ Himself to be in service to others. However, we want to make sure our charity is based on love of God and neighbor, and not on love of self. There are some philanthropic people who give, not because they love the poor, or even a cause, but because they want to be noticed and admired by others. Pride rules, not love.
We avoid this sin of pride by living in a state of constant repentance. When we notice pride rising to the surface, we repent. We always seek to make Christ the cause and foundation of our charity, and not the praise of others. This can only be done if we are open with our confessor, and crushing the ego before it has a chance to take hold.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Friday March 7, 2014
First Week of the Great Lent. Tone three.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Uncovering of the relics of the Holy Martyrs at the gate of Eugenius at Constantinople (395-423).
New Hieromartyr Priest Michael Lisitsyn of Ust-Labinskaya, Russia (1918).
New Martyrs Joseph Smirnov protoierey, John Kastorsky deacon, Vladimir Ilinsky priest. John Perebaskin (1918).
New Martyr Theoktista Michailovna, fool-for-Christ of Voronezh (1936).
New Hieromartyrs Michael, John, Victor, John, Sergius, Andrew priests, New Hieromartyr Sergius and Antipa, Virgin-martyr Parasceva, Martyr Stephen, Virgin-martyrs Elizabeth, Irina and Barbara (1938).
Martyr Andrew (1941).
New Hieromartyr Philaret (1942).
Martyrs Maurice and his son Photinus, and Martyrs Theodore, Philip, and 70 soldiers, at Apamea in Syria (305).
Venerables Thalassius, Limnaeus, and Baradates, hermits of Syria (5th c.).
Venerable Athanasius the Confessor of Constantinople (826).
St. Telesphorus, pope of Rome (127).
St. Papius of Hierapolis (2nd c.).
Venerable Peter the Stylite of Mt. Athos (Greek).
St. Abilius, patriarch of Alexandria (98).
St. Titus, bishop of Bostra in Arabia (378).
Holy Nine Children of Kola: Guarami, Adarnasi, Bakari, Vache, Bardzini, Dachi, Djuansheri, Ramazi, and Parsmani (6th c.) (Georgia).
St. Leontius of Lycia (6th c.).
Sts. Babylus and his wife Comnita of Nicosa (7th c.).
Martyr Anthusa and her 12 servans (Greek).
St. Blaise, bishop (Greek).
You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted name.
The Scripture Readings for the Day
Isaiah 3:1-14
Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem
3 For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah
The stock and the store,
The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;
2The mighty man and the man of war, The judge and the prophet,
And the diviner and the elder;
3The captain of fifty and the honorable man,
The counselor and the skillful artisan,And the expert enchanter.
4“I will give children to be their princes,
And babes shall rule over them.
5The people will be oppressed,
Every one by another and every one by his neighbor;
The child will be insolent toward the elder,
And the base toward the honorable.”
6When a man takes hold of his brother
In the house of his father, saying,“You have clothing;
You be our ruler,
And let these ruins be under your power,”
7In that day he will protest, saying,“I cannot cure your ills,
For in my house is neither food nor clothing;
Do not make me a ruler of the people.”
8For Jerusalem stumbled,
And Judah is fallen,
Because their tongue and their doings
Are against the Lord, To provoke the eyes of His glory.
9The look on their countenance witnesses against them,
And they declare their sin as Sodom;
They do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have brought evil upon themselves.
10“Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them,
For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
For the reward of his hands shall be given him.12As for My people, children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err,
And destroy the way of your paths.”
Oppression and Luxury Condemned
13The Lord stands up to plead,
And stands to judge the people.
14The Lord will enter into judgment
With the elders of His peopleAnd His princes:
“For you have eaten up the vineyard;
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
Genesis 2:20-3:20
20So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,Because she was taken out of Man.”
24Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The Temptation and Fall of Man
3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dustAll the days of your life.
15And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
16To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.18Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19In the sweat of your face you shall eat breadTill you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
20And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Proverbs 3:19-34
19The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
20By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
21My son, let them not depart from your eyes—
Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
22So they will be life to your soul
And grace to your neck.
23Then you will walk safely in your way,
And your foot will not stumble.
24When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
25Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
26For the Lord will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught.
27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
28Do not say to your neighbor,
“Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.
29Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
For he dwells by you for safety’s sake.
30Do not strive with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.
31Do not envy the oppressor,
And choose none of his ways;
32For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord,
But His secret counsel is with the upright.
33The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the home of the just.
34Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.
This reminds me of two important quotes from Scripture: Pride cometh before the fall and don't let your left hand know what your right is doing.