Category Archives: Sunday Homilies

The rich ruler in this Bible reading did think of God and did think of eternal life and asked the most important question for himself and for all of us – how to obtain eternal life.

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8th Sunday of Luke, Luke 10: 25-37

Regarding the people of Samaria, also known as Samaritans, Jews had no dealings with them. This is told to us in Gospel of John (4) when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. That’s why she ask Jesus, “How is that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” To the Jews, the word “Samaritan” meant ‘dog’ or ‘devil’. They were considered half-breeds and heretics. However, because of the parable Jesus told in today’s Gospel, from the Eighth Sunday of Luke (10:25-37), everyone thinks of Samaritans as “good”. If I asked anyone who/what a “Good Samaritan” is, virtually all of them could tell me that it’s a person who helps someone in need, even if they are a stranger. Continue reading →

7th Sunday of Luke, Luke 8: 41 – 56

Even in a small parish like ours, it is not hard to see that people are different from one another in many ways. We have different interests, personal backgrounds, and opinions on all kinds of things. We do not all look or dress alike. But what we have in common as Orthodox Christians is far more profound than any of that. Our salvation is not in any conventional human characteristic or endeavor, but in the healing mercy of Jesus Christ. Continue reading →

6th Sunday of Luke, Luke 8:26-39

If you are like me, you often do not recognize yourself in your own words, thoughts, and deeds. Sometimes we see how we fall short in an instant, while other times it becomes clear to us in retrospect, perhaps even years later. Regardless, it is so easy for us all to be so consumed by anger, pride, lust, envy, and other disordered desires that we lose control of ourselves and act more like a bundle of inflamed passions than like a person created in God’s image and likeness. And then when we calm down and come to our senses, we are understandably ashamed and embarrassed. It is a great blow to our egos to recognize how easily our sense of self disintegrates before the passions that so often run wild within us. Continue reading →

The question of “spiritual growth” is a serious one; we speak about it all the time, but we do not all have the same understanding of what that really means. Continue reading →

Matthew 19: 16-26

Let Go!

A person accidentally slipped and fell of a cliff. On the way down he grabbed hold of the branch of a tree and remained suspended there. He started praying as he had never prayed before: “Lord, save me! Lord, Lord!” Suddenly the Lord answered, “Yes?” The man pleaded, “Save me, Lord!”
“Have you attended Church?” asked the Lord.
“Yes, I did whenever I could, but I promise never to miss if You will save me.”
“Have you kept the ten commandments?”
“Yes, as much as I could. I promise to obey them to the letter if You will save me.”
“Have you said your prayers every day?”
“Yes, Lord, but just get me off the side of this cliff and I’ll be the best praying man in the world.”
“Have you given generously to the work of my Church?”
“Yes, I think I have, but I’ll give even more generously in the future. Just get me off the side of this cliff.”
“Do you trust Me?”
“Yes, Lord, of course I trust You — completely.”
“Then let go the branch.”

Let go the man-made crutches you hold onto. Replace them with a tight grip on God. Let go the sin that has possessed you. It seems that we become so accustomed to our sins that we feel comfortable with them and refuse to let go. Continue reading →

Matthew 17: 14-23

In this gospel, Jesus teaches us that the only way we can overcome the evil in this world, is through prayer and fasting.

The incident in today’s Gospel took place immediately after the Transfiguration. At the Transfiguration three of our Lord’s disciples, Peter, James and John saw our Lord Jesus Christ as He truly is, shining with the glory of God that was His before all ages. They knew then that He was King and God, as we acknowledge at our baptism. And Jesus spoke to them of the “restoration of all things”. Continue reading →

9th Sunday of Matthew, Matthew 14: 22-34

Our family visited the Grand Canyon a few years ago. It is magnificent and awe-inspiring, but when hiking a trail or standing on an overlook, I recall that you have to pay careful attention because you are often just a few feet away from a very steep drop off. Unfortunately, people have fallen to their deaths in the canyon simply because they didn’t pay attention to what they were doing.

St. Peter made a similar error. As he walked on the water with Jesus Christ, Peter let himself be distracted by the wind and the waves of a stormy sea. Instead of focusing his attention and trust in the Lord Who miraculously enabled him to walk on the water in the first place, Peter let doubt and fear fill his mind. So he began to sink; but when he called out in terror for help, the Lord reached out to Peter and saved him from drowning. Continue reading →

Not One Dot or Iota will be Changed

The Reading is from Matthew 5:14-19

The Lord said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Continue reading →