Homily on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross We preach Christ crucified What is the way of the cross? 1 Corinthians 1:18-24. Text Homily.

SYNOPSIS:Main points of this homily, which may express my deepest Christian feelings more than any other homily I have ever spoken: What is the preaching of the Cross? The preaching of the Cross is preaching about the way of the Cross. ** Our Lord spoke about the way of the Cross. It’s rather mysterious, really. And the reason it’s mysterious is because of our sins, because the way of the Cross is the way of life; and yet, in order to gain it, we must die. The way of the Cross is the way of joy — or to joy. But in order to gain it, we must undergo tribulation and be sad. ** This is the way of the Cross: To know that you are missing something that is so critically important to your soul; to know that you’re missing wisdom and compassion and gentleness and humility and wholeness. And that the only way to gain this is to follow Christ and to cleave to Him, to hold onto Him, no matter what. ** If your heart doesn’t ache for what you should be and what others should be, then you’re not following the way of the Cross.

Nativity of the Theotokos. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Text/Audio Homily.

SYNOPSIS:Before the homily, a little bit about those special “moments of clarity” and what we should expect each time in the holy services. The homily addresses the Epistle reading, where the Apostle tells us: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” This is the totality of the Gospel, just as the two great commandments are the totality of the law. If we fulfilled this command, we would never sin! Let us explore how to attain this “mind”. Everything we do or think of doing should be evaluated in the light of this command. The Church has the mind of Christ, and we are part of the Church. If we have the mind of Christ, then we have all wisdom, all holiness; nothing would confuse us. We would always choose the right way, because Christ always chose the right way.

Published
Categorized as Homilies

Nativity of the Theotokos, Sep 8/21. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Audio Homily.

Synopsis: Before the homily, a little bit about those special “memoents of clarity” and what we should expect each time in the holy services. The homily addresses the Epistle reading, where the Apostle tells us: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” This is the totality of the Gospel, just as the two great commandements are the totality of the law. If we fulfilled this command, we would never sin! Let us explore how to attain this “mind”. Everything we do or think of doing should be evaluated in the light of this command.

The Canaanite Woman. *Exactly* how to pray. Audio Homily 2010

Synopsis:The Caananite woman teaches us *exactly* how we should pray: with knowledge, simplicity, persistence and humility. A close examination of her encounter with Christ shows these virtues plainly, and should also show us which ones we are lacking in (definitely at least 3 of the 4!).

Audio talk with outline. Prosphora. Liturgy of Preparation, Proskimidia, Service of Prothesis Offering Prosphora and names at the Liturgy.

SYNOPSIS:A short talk on prosphora, which follows the pretty closely. What is prosphora? Styles of Prosphora. How and when is prosphora used? Important pastoral notes, explaining the meaning of commemoration at proskimidie and how to offer prosphora the best way, and local notes about offering prosphora at St Nicholas.

Prosphora Liturgy of Preparation, Proskimidia, Service of Prothesis. Offering Prosphora and names at the Liturgy.

This is the outline for the “after liturgy” talk that is customarily given in our church, before it is too chaotic to teach. The plan is to give this talk tommorow, with the material below as a handout. I “try” to keep things short, so by no means is the talk comprehensive.

Topics:
Prosphora
Liturgy of Preparation, Proskimidia, Service of Prothesis
Offering Prosphora and names at the Liturgy.

Baptism And Emergency Baptism. Short catechetical talk.

Synopsis:A Short talk about the minimum requirements for baptism, and emergency baptism, which is a baptism performed withot a priest when a person is in danger of immanent death. Who can perform this baptism, how should it be done, and what must be done after the baptism is performed. The text is an outline of the talk. These talks are designed to get a little information into the faithful right after the liturgy before it becomes too chaotic to teach.