Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church
McKinney TX Homilies, scripture commentary, spiritual reflections
The resurrection applies to us now brothers and sisters. Not later — now. It changes us now, makes us able to live now. It comforts us now. It burns away our passions and our sins now. “The kingdom of God is within you,” [4] Christ said. The Resurrection and the Life lives within us now.
We must understand this. We must live this.
nd we must approach Christ in these two ways that his beloved friends approached him. …
Questions and answers about Holy Week, the end of Great Lent, Lazarus Saturday & Palm Sunday.
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This kind cannot come forth by anything but by prayer and fasting.
Without labor you can’t be saved.
This kind cannot come forth by anything but by prayer and fasting.[1] So we read last week. What is this kind that cannot come forth? The demoniac boy was made by the demons to fall into fire and water, the fire being impurity – the lusts of the flesh, all manner of anger, meanness, murder and strife, envy, and all other such things. And the water means a distraction with worldly things – avarice, desire for things, distraction. Fire and water: this kind comes out not but by prayer and fasting.
But today we see indeed, that this kind will come out – if prayer and fasting and labor are applied. We see this because we have the example, the spectacle, before us of holy mother Mary of Egypt …
Reaching the final stages of our building project, St. Nicholas has encountered unexpectedly high costs for the completion of the landscaping required by the city of McKinney.
We have received a quote of $35,000: $7,600 for the installation of the required sprinkler system, $11,000 for the required trees and plants (the city has specified exactly what we must plant), and $15,000 for soil, fertilizer, grass and tree/plant installation.
This quote is about $20,000 higher than we expected, and these costs will prevent us from moving into our new facility – if we spend every dime we have available, we still will be far short. This is a critical time, and we need help.
…
On this Wednesday, we read the life of St Mary of Egypt, along with the entire Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete. We always do this service (matins with the Great Canon) the Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent ( puff, rtf) the week preceding the Sunday of St Mary of Egypt.
The reading of the life of St Mary of Egypt has always been intensely personal for me. I have actually been the one reading it for fifteen years now, but it was personal when I heard it read. It is the story of OUR redemption – what is wrong with us, what we must do, and especially how the grace of God will help us.
This story MUST be personal for every Christian. Different parts of it will touch us in different ways, but the key to understanding this story and getting any benefit with it is to make it personal. …
The healing of the demoniac boy, whom the disciples could not heal, explains in microcosm many pillars of the spiritual life. We hear the purpose of life, the reason why we have weak faith and indeed, the reason for any sinfulness in our lives, and what we must do.
Today is the fourth Sunday of Great Lent and on this day we read about the healing, at the request of his father, of the boy who is possessed of a demon. There are many things to understand about this scripture …
The rest of the homily is a discussion of the meaning of the boy being deaf and dumb, and the fire and the water and very importantly, why we have trouble believing and what we MUST do in order to believe and be free of the fire and the waster.
During the entire fourth week of Great Lent, the precious cross is a constant subject of the services. … Our hymnology this week is particularly filled with OT references to the cross, some of which may seem obscure to those who are not well versed in the Orthodox understanding of the scriptures and our services.
In the following examples, a hymn for the services of today is quoted, followed by the scriptures it references. …
Today we read in Genesis the story of the tower of Babel. In this story, we learn how the human race was scattered over the face of the earth because, in our pride, we wished to build a tall tower reaching unto heaven. Thus, the confusion of our language was a great mercy of God, as it kept us from banding together for evil, so that, scattered abroad, we could learn humility and return to God.
A Christian cannot (should not) think of the expulsion from paradise without thinking of the remedy – the holy Cross.
Likewise, we should not think of the confusion of tongues without thinking of the remedy …