The Church is a rescue ship
“And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But He was asleep. The his disciples came to Him and awake Him saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing.” (Matthew 8:24, 25)
The ship is traditionally used for the symbol of Christ and His Church, and the Latin the word “navis” means ship. The nave comes from this image of the Church as a ship. The Church has been seen down the ages as the company of the faithful battling through the storms of life with all the temptations that assault us, be they moral in nature, or heresies that would undermine the teachings of the Church. We embrace this symbol of the Church because of the Biblical authority we have received through the record of the evangelists.
As the waves of passions confront us and threaten to hurtle us against the rocks, it is good to remember that as long as we remain on board the ship of the Church, we are safe. We sail aboard a ship that is piloted by Christ Himself, and we are comforted with the knowledge that this ship is headed for the safe harbor, which is the eternal Kingdom of God.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: A small chapel located in Pleskovo, in the Moscow Region.
Sunday October 25, 2015 / October 12, 2015
21st Sunday after Pentecost. Tone four.
Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787).
Martyrs Probus, Tarachus, and Andronicus at Tarsus in Cilicia (304).
Venerable Cosmas the Hymnographer, bishop of Maiuma (787).
St. Euphrosyne (Mezenova) the Faster, schema-abbess of Siberia (1918).
New Hieromartyr John (1930).
New Hieromartyr John (Pommer) bishop of Riga (1934).
Venarable Laurence (1937).
New Hieromartyr Nicholas confessor mitropoliten of Alma-Ata (1955).
New Hieromartyr Alexander priest (1940).
Venerables Amphilochius (1452), Macarius, and Tarasius, abbots, and Theodosius, monk, of Glushitsa Monastery (Vologda).
Martyr Domnina of Anazarbus (286).
St. Martin the Merciful, bishop of Tours (397).
Translation from Malta to Gatchina of a part of the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord, together with the Philermia Icon of the Mother of God, and the right hand of Saint John the Baptist (1799).
“Jerusalem” (48), “Yaroslav-Smolensk” (1642), “Rudensk” (1687) and “Kaluga” (1748) Icons of the Mother of God.
St. Mobhi of Glasnevin (544) (Celtic & British).
St. Edwin, king and martyr (633) (Celtic & British).
St. Wilfrid, archbishop of York (709) (Celtic & British).
Venerable Anastasia of Rome (250) (Greek).
St. Theodotus, bishop of Ephesus (Greek).
St. Jason, bishop of Damascus (Greek).
Venerable Symeon the New Theologian (1021) (Greek).
Venerable Theosebius the God-bearer of Arsinoe in Cyprus (Greek).
Martyrs Malfethos and Anthea (Greek).
Hieromartyr Maximilian, bishop of Noricum (284).
Scripture Readings
Galatians 2:16-20
16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
17 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Luke 7:11-16
Jesus Raises the Son of the Widow of Nain
11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.
16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
I love this photo!