The Doors

Opening wide the doors of the Church

The subject came up among clergy of our diocese as to whether it was proper to allow a man to attend services while wearing an earring. The point, as it seems to me, is to make him feel welcomed enough to want to be in church to begin with. Requiring the removal of earrings would be counter productive, as styles are constantly changing, and unless it is causing undo distraction for other worshipers, the Church needs to accommodate variations in style.

It was a custom among the Cossacks to wear earrings in the military, as a way of letting commanders know whether the soldier was the only son of his mother, or even the last man in his family. If he was wearing an earring in his left ear, he was the only son of his mother, but if he were wearing an earring in his right ear it meant he was the last man in his family, or the only son of his parents. Wearing earrings in both ears meant he was the sole man in his family line. By Cossack traditions the chieftain or captain was obliged to protect such a special person, and had no right to place the soldier in grave risk, nor send him to certain death in battle.

Style is style, and as such, is ever changing. My own generation were the first long hairs in more than a century (yes, I was a hippie), and sported paisley bell bottoms, tie die shirts and beads. The young have always experimented with their own generational style. Although the priest has a duty to ask those participating in the divine services to dress modestly, so as not to distract other worshipers, he should not allow his personal taste to be a barrier preventing another from worshiping.

Statistics demonstrate our young are leaving the Church, so do we really want to make their departure easier, by placing demands on them that are, ultimately, not that important. I have worked with youth my entire adult life, and they respond to me (both when they come to the monastery and when I visit college campuses) because they sense I accept them JUST AS THEY ARE.

I once met a monk whose neck and hands where all tattooed with a barbed wire design. He is now living in monastic repentance because somewhere along the way he was made to feel welcome in a church. When I met him, I told him he would be a great example to other youth, for the door of repentance is open to all.

The great elder, Archimandrite Sophrony of Saint John the Baptist Monastery in Essex, England, once greeted the visiting daughter of a monk with much joy and sweetness, even though she was wearing a large purple Mohawk. In his deep relationship with God, the elder knew the importance of loving everyone, and making sure each person visiting his monastery experienced the love of Christ.

We must love everyone into the Church, JUST AS THEY ARE.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Monday January 2, 2017 / December 20, 2016
29th Week after Pentecost. Tone three.
Nativity (St. Philip’s Fast). Food with Oil

Forefeast of the Nativity of Christ.
Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer, bishop of Antioch (107).
Repose of Righteous John of Kronstadt (1908).
Venerable Ignatius, archimandrite of the Kiev Caves (1435).
St. Anthony, archbishop of Voronezh (1846).
St. Philogonius, bishop of Antioch (323).
St. Daniel II, archbishop of Serbia (1338).
“Novodvorskaya” and “Lenkovskaya” (Novgorod-Severny) named “Rescuer of the Drowning” Icons of the Mother of God.
New Martyr John of the isle of Thasos (1652) (Greek).

Scripture Readings

Matthew 6:1-13

Do Good to Please God

6 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

The Model Prayer

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Hebrews 3:5-11

5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Be Faithful

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”

Mark 9:42-10:1

Jesus Warns of Offenses

42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 44 where

‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’

45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where

‘Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.’

47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— 48 where

‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’

Tasteless Salt Is Worthless

49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”

Marriage and Divorce

10 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.