 31st Sunday after Pentecost Sunday after Theophany Sermon on the Epistle reading from Ephesians 4:7-13 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Let’s talk about gifts. I know, I know, we just got over a holiday season where we very likely shopped ourselves into a coma with all the gifts. Still, let’s talk about gifts, because that’s what Saint Paul wants to talk about today. “Each of us,” he says, “was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”
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 26th Sunday after Pentecost
A sermon about Saint Nicholas  25th Sunday after Pentecost Sermon on the Gospel lesson from Luke 13:10-17 & Epistle reading from Ephesians 4:1-6 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
There she was, in the synagogue, among other believers like herself. But there was one difference between her and the others, one stark difference – she was bent over and unable to stand up straight. Imagine every waking hour only seeing your own feet. Imagine not being able to stretch out and inhale lungs full of air. Imagine recalling all of the sinful acts that led to being bound and tortured by Satan. Make no mistake about it, Satan and all the evil spirits desire nothing but our suffering. They tempt us, put all sorts of traps and road blocks for us, but they cannot bind us and possess us unless we let them. And we let them through our sins. Especially the sins that we stubbornly refuse to see or to confess.  In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of those stories from the Bible that even the non-believers know and often reference. Who is the Good Samaritan? It’s the one who helps those who are in need. Who is my neighbor? It’s anyone we encounter. As we hear this parable every year, we know the outcome, nothing is surprising in it. We know that the expert in the Law is not asking an honest question. We know that the priest and the Levite refuse to help the half-dead man, but in a sense, they are obeying the Jewish Law by not helping because if the man were dead, they would become unclean and unable to serve in the Temple. And we know that the Samaritan, an outsider and an enemy of the Jews, is the only one who goes above and beyond to help the poor and wounded man. But there is one question we should always ask ourselves when hearing a parable, any parable, told by the Lord – who are we in this story?  22nd Sunday after Pentecost Thanksgiving Sermon As I have done in the past years on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, today I will read someone else’s sermon. This sermon was written by Father Alexander Schmemann, who was a great and influential theologian of the 20th century, a liturgical scholar, and also a loving teacher and pastor. He was the dean of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary for a couple of decades. He delivered this sermon on Thanksgiving Day of 1983, which was the last Liturgy he celebrated in his earthly life. He died from cancer not long after, on December 13th of the same year. This sermon was written in the form of a prayer, a thanksgiving prayer of a man, who knew his journey on this earth was coming to an end. Father Alexander never wrote down his sermons, always delivering them extemporaneously. But on that Thanksgiving Day in 1983, he came out before the Seminary congregation, took out a piece of paper, and said, In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation and eternal joy. Thank You, O Lord, for accepting this Eucharist, which we offered to the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and which filled our hearts with joy, peace, and righteousness of the Holy Spirit. Thank You, O Lord, for revealing Yourself to us and giving us the foretaste of Your Kingdom. Thank You, O Lord, for uniting us to one another in serving You and Your Holy Church. Thank You, O Lord, for helping us to overcome all difficulties, tensions, passions, temptations, and restoring peace, mutual love, and joy in sharing the Communion of the Holy Spirit. Thank You, O Lord, for the sufferings You bestow upon us, for they purify us from selfishness and remind us of the “one thing needed” (Luke 10:42) – Your eternal Kingdom. Thank You, O Lord, for giving us this country where we are free to worship You. Thank You, O Lord, for this parish, where the Name of God is proclaimed. Thank You, O Lord, for our families: husbands, wives, our parents, and, especially, the children, who teach us how to celebrate Your holy Name in joy, movement, and holy noise. Thank You, O Lord, for everyone and everything. Great are You, O Lord, and marvelous are Your works, and no word is sufficient to celebrate Your miracles. Lord, it is good to be here! Amen. Slightly adjusted for the use in our parish. Thanksgiving Homily, 1983 Father Alexander Schmemann celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the last time on Thanksgiving Day. This was particularly appropriate since Father Alexander had devoted his whole life to teaching, writing, and preaching about the Eucharist; for the word eucharist in Greek means thanksgiving. At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Father Alexander took from his pocket a short, written sermon, in the form of a prayer, which he proceeded to read. This was a strange occurrence since Father never wrote his liturgical homilies, but delivered them extemporaneously. These were his words, which proved to be the last ever spoken by him from the ambo in Church. - The Orthodox Church, Vol. 20, No. 2, February 1984, p. 1:1   In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Before we can have a relationship with a person, we need to react or respond to the them first. A lot of times, our first reaction to them can determine how the relationship might go.  In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Every parable that we hear Jesus tell in the Gospels has a context. In other words, He did not tell stories because He liked to tell them. Christ is not a storyteller, He is the Savior. And so, the parable we heard today, about a homeless man Lazarus and the rich man, who remains forever nameless, was directed at the Pharisees, who were known for their love of money, honor, and greed.   17th Sunday after Pentecost Sermon on the Epistle reading from 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Last week I was at a small clergy retreat where the topic of our discussion was fear. Fear is no small thing. In a lot of ways, our fears shape the way we live our daily lives. This is especially true today, in this uncertain time of pandemic. What are we afraid of these days? Death? Taxes? Inflation? Truth? Lies? Coronavirus? Any other virus? Unmasked or masked people? Vaccinated or unvaccinated people? Spiders? Darkness? Our fears shape our daily lives.   In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
There he is – your new brother-in-law. One of those guys who always smells good. You like him. Your mom says he’s done really well for himself. Your dad wants to go fishing with him. Your dad does not even like fishing. You like your brother-in-law. But, you’d like him better if you made more money than he does… don’t get mad, get e-trade.  9th Sunday after Pentecost Homily on both the Epistle reading and Gospel lesson from 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 & Matthew 14:22-34 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Saint Paul and Saint Matthew offer today for us three images of the Church, three symbols through which we can view the Church and our role within the Church. These three images are not exhaustive, of course, because nothing can exhaust the infinite God and His Church. Nonetheless, these symbols are very helpful.  A sermon delivered during the Funeral of Irina Gozick In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
If there is one thing Orthodox Christians are good at celebrating, it is celebrating death. The central event in the history of our salvation was death. Death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  7th Sunday after Pentecost Sermon on the Epistle reading from Romans 15:1-7 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Today’s Epistle reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Christian community in Rome comes from a section of about 2-3 chapters where Paul talks about what it means to live together in a mixed community. In the first century, the Roman Christian community consisted of Jews and pagans. As such, they had very different views on life in terms of morality and proper worship of God. As Christians, however, their views had to be transformed, had to be enlightened, and in some cases had to be changed.  6th Sunday after Pentecost on the Gospel lesson from Matthew 9:1-8 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Last Sunday we heard Christ healing two demon-possessed men in the land of Gergesenes, which was on the shore opposite of the town where Jesus resided. After He healed the two men, and cast the demons into the pigs, who swiftly rushed off the cliff and drowned in the sea, the people of the land came, in fear and astonishment, and asked the Lord … to get out.  Sunday's sermon on Romans 10:1-10 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Today I would like to focus on and unpack three topics Saint Paul mentions in his Epistle to the Christians in Rome that we just heard. Namely, zeal for God according to accurate knowledge, God’s righteousness, and Christ being the fulfillment of the Law and of all righteousness.  A sermon delivered at the Baptismal Liturgy of Nikolai Festa In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Today we are witnessing a unique event, an event that one doesn’t get to see and participate in all that often. This event is the birth of a new Christian – a follower and disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Sunday sermon during the Baptismal Liturgy of Patrick Paranyuk. In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Christ is risen! Today we are witnessing a unique event, something that happens only once in a person’s lifetime – a birth of a Christian. This is a monumental event, but it’s also an event to which every single person is called. If you did not get a chance to sign up in church, contact Jakob or Katrina at the email below to place your order.   Sunday sermon on the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 6:12-20) In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Holiness of our body, holiness of a Christian body in particular, is the theme of today’s Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. And it’s not a coincidence that he talks about sex, or rather sexual immorality, in reference to this holiness. Today I would like to answer three questions regarding all of this: (1) Why does Paul focus on sexual immorality when talking about the holiness of our physical bodies? (2) What is this holiness rooted in? (3) And, what do we do about it?  Sunday sermon on the Epistle reading from Ephesians 6:10-17 In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, by land, and by air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalog of human crime. That is our policy.” |
Jesus said to the crowds about John, “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John the Baptist.” (Luke 7:28)
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