“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (II Cor. 6).” We are now in a time of preparation for Pascha, when the love of God destroyed the ultimate power of sin and death. The Church calls us to increased prayer and fasting, to increased almsgiving, to self-examination and confession. […]

A Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany  — Today, as we continue in the season of Epiphany, we are presented with the story of Jesus’ first miracle. On the surface it is a very nice story about a wedding, and avoiding a social faux pas — running out of wine in the midst of […]

On this day, we celebrate the Epiphany – the Theophany, the showing, the manifestation – the revelation of God to man. In the icon of the Nativity of Christ, we see the shepherds coming from the fields and the wise men, the Magi, coming from the East to worship the Christ Child. In these two […]

St. Ireneaus of Lyon was a student of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, who was himself a student of St. John the beloved disciple. St. Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century tells us plainly that God became what we are that we might become what he is. This is the real meaning of Christmas. This […]

I’m afraid that I have nearly reached the point of changing the radio station when I hear a Christmas Carol and cringing when I hear Christmas hymns while shopping at the hardware store. It seems that I have reached this point earlier than normal this year, but then the Christmas decorations have been in the […]

Our Gospel reading today presents us with a story of friends of someone in need, coming to encounter the power and authority of God, lovingly manifested in forgiveness and healing. We are told that Our Lord Jesus Christ crossed over the Sea of Galilee in a boat and entered into his own city – meaning […]

While we celebrate the lives of most of the saints on the day of their deaths, or rather on the day that they entered into the life to come, we also celebrate their birthdays in the church calendar: the birthday of Our Lord (on December 25th), of His blessed Mother (on September 8th), and of […]

We sing the words week after week, year after year. We know them well, but do we consider what we are saying, do we think about these words, about their meaning and their importance for our lives? “I believe in one God…” These are tremendously powerful words that change everything for us – that shape […]

(Bishop JOHN blessed and dedicated our new home on May 21st, 2017. This sermon was preached in 2009 on the anniversary of the dedication of our former building.) Today we celebrate the Sunday within the Octave of our Feast of Dedication, as it was on May 6th of the year 2007 that His Grace, Bishop THOMAS, […]

Today, with great joy, we gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Our Lenten fasting has ended and we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, even as the earth pours out its beauty in the flowers of spring. But what does it really mean to celebrate the resurrection today? What meaning can this feast have […]