Category Archives: Sunday Homilies

As Orthodox Christians, what’s the first thing we do when we walk into to the church? If we say ‘have a lengthy conversation with fellow parishioner’ that may be true but of course it is not correct. The first thing we do, or that we are supposed to do, is light a candle, saying a prayer, placing it in the sand, venerating the icon and then taking our place in the nave to worship God. The practice of lighting a candle when entering is rooted in the Paschal tradition of receiving the light of Christ from the priest at the midnight Resurrection service. He exits the altar with a lit candle while the following hymn is chanted: “Come receive the light from the light, that is never overtaken by night; and glorify Christ who is risen from the dead” (Deute lavete phos). The utter darkness within the building is quickly overcome with light as the priest passes the flame to the faithful and they in turn pass it on to others. Continue reading →

Matthew 4: 18-23

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ today in today’s Gospel we hear our Lord say “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Our Lord said this to call the apostles. This is not just the apostles’ call but it is our own. What this statement says is that if we follow the Lord Jesus Christ we will bring men to Him. Continue reading →

“Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” These are the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading, from the First Sunday of Matthew (10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30) and the Sunday of All Saints. And Jesus’ words may jar some of us as we reflect on our own father on this Father’s Day 2014. But it is providential that these words come to us today through our Orthodox lectionary because they provide one of the clearest instructions to help fathers be better fathers and children be better children. Continue reading →

John 17 : 1-13

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We have heard in the Acts of the Apostles how, as the Feast of Pentecost was approaching, Paul the Apostle had started on his journey to Jerusalem to be there together with all those who on that very day received the Holy Spirit. Of all of them he was the only one who had not been present in the High Room where the event took place. And yet, God had given him a true, a perfect conversion of heart, and of mind and of life, and had given him freely the gift of the Holy Spirit in response to his total, ultimate gift of self to Him, the God Whom he did not know but Whom he worshiped. Continue reading →

The Power of Conversation with Enemies and Strangers: Homily for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman in the Orthodox Church

Christ is Risen!

The world today has more than a little in common with the time and place in which Jesus Christ ministered. Both in the first and the twenty-first century, people easily divide up into groups that hate one another and view their enemies as less than human. If someone is of the wrong religion, political party, or ethnic group or stands on the opposite side of some issue, too many respond simply with condemnation.

We may wonder, then, how to demonstrate the new life of our Saviour’s resurrection in a time when severe disagreements and divisions are so common – both in our own country and around the world. Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman provides a challenging example of how to interact with even the most unlikely people, of how to overcome the barriers that exist between those who consider themselves simply enemies. Remember that the Jews hated the Samaritans as religious and ethnic half-breeds because they had mixed the ethnic heritage and the religion of Israel with that of other peoples. No self-respecting Jew would have anything to do with a Samaritan, much less ask one for a drink of water. The Samaritans knew that, but Christ did the unthinkable by striking up a conversation and asking the woman for a favour. As a result of this unlikely conversation, a Samaritan woman came to recognize Him as the Messiah, to believe in Him, and to lead many of her own people to the faith. She ultimately became Saint Photini, an evangelist and martyr with the title “Equal to the Apostles.” Continue reading →

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

How tragic is today’s story of the life of Christ. A man had been paralysed for years. He had lain at a short distance from healing, but he himself had no strength to merge into the waters of ablution. And no one – no one in the course of all these years – had had compassion on him. Continue reading →

Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, St Joseph of Arimathea and St Nicodemus – Mark 15: 43-47, 16: 1-8

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We keep today the feast of a number of the followers of Christ of whom we think seldom, because they are mentioned very little in the Scriptures. And each of them could be a lesson for us.

St. Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man who listened to Christ with an open mind and did not commit himself. Neither did Nicodemus; but Nicodemus was a learned man, part of the Sanhedrin. He had been listening to Christ, he had been asking questions from Him, he wanted to understand, he wanted to be sure. But neither of them had committed themselves to follow Christ, to declare themselves as His disciples. Continue reading →