This is the Crowning Service: it is a celebration of love; the realizing of God’s will that “they be one as we are one”. It is an icon of how life is meant to go: an example of the tangible way love – that is to say God – makes Himself real in this world. […]
Homily on the Samaritan Woman
May 30, 2016 By
Lesson on the Samaritan Woman: St. John 4 : 5 – 42 Beautiful story, full of insights into how Christ conducted Himself during His earthly ministry… It is also from the Gospel according to St. John: a short book that is full of beautiful spiritual insights; a book that shares the wonderful words, actions, and […]
Sunday of the Paralytic (homily notes)
May 22, 2016 By
Acts 9:32-42 (healing of Aeneas and raising of Tabitha)St. Luke 24:1-12 (healing of the paralytic) Two sets of miracles today Christ’s healing of the paralytic at the Sheep’s Pool Peter’s healing of Aeneas and raising Tabitha from the dead at Lydda. These kind of miracles are always for a purpose. They are designed to point […]
St. Thomas Sunday Homily; A Meditation on Love (and doubt)
May 8, 2016 By
Gospel Reading: St. John 20:19-31 Love is Always Personal There is no such thing as love in the abstract; it is not a phenomenon that can be measured in a laboratory, isolated from everything else. It is always personal. You all know what sacrifice looks like. You have done it in your lives and you […]
Wisdom from St. John of the Ladder (on prayer)
April 10, 2016 By
From The Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John of the Ladder. Step 28: On holy and blessed prayer, mother of virtues, and on the attitude of mind and body in prayer. What is Prayer? The Union of Man with God 1. Prayer by reason of its nature is the converse and union of man with […]
A Homily for the Sunday of Orthodoxy
March 20, 2016 By
[Delivered at the Lehigh Valley Pan-Orthodox celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy] Since 843 the dominant theme of the first Sunday of Great Lent has been that of the victory of the icons. In that year the iconoclastic controversy was finally laid to rest. The most notable thing that we do this victory is the […]
A Homily on the Last Judgment
March 6, 2016 By
Homily on the Last Judgment Matthew 6:14-21 Our actions have consequences. Everything we do affects both ourselves and our environment, to include the people around us. This is a simple fact of nature: our lives are intertwined with those of our families, our friends, our enemies… indeed with all of creation. There is no buffer […]
Homily of the Prodigal Son – The Metaphor of Food
February 28, 2016 By
Homily on the Prodigal Son: A Metaphor on FoodSt. Luke 15:11-321 Corinthians 6:12-20 Introduction Some people think of sin, judgment, and salvation as a courthouse: God gave us rules we have to follow. Because we fail to follow the rules, God must condemn us at the Great Judgment. The only thing that keeps this from […]
Homily Notes: Publican and Pharisee
February 21, 2016 By
Big problem: the deep-rooted temptation/sin of self-justification. Justifying by religion – especially by religious leaders. Hypocrites are the worse. Priests and bishops really do have to set a good example The news gives us constant reports of clergy who make a mockery of the faith with their lifestyles; I always wonder why they didn’t get […]
Homily: Evangelism was messy then, too (so what!?)
February 7, 2016 By
Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then […]
