Category: Homilies

By The Waters Of Babylon. Dashing The Infants Against The Rock.

LISTEN NOW Synopsis: "By the waters of Babylon", Psalm 136 is sung only three times in the year, on the three Sundays before Great Lent, at matins. The Psalm is historical, being a lament of the exiled Jews in Babylon for their beloved Jerusalem, but like everyting in the Scriptures, there is also a deep… Continue reading By The Waters Of Babylon. Dashing The Infants Against The Rock.

Sunday Of The Publican And Pharisee. Do not judge. 2011

Synopsis: The major thrust of Great Lent is given many times in the services for the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, such as “Vainglory brings to nothing the riches of righteousness, but humility scatters a multitude of passions. Grant then that we may seek humilty, O Savior, and do Thou bestow upon us the portion of the publican; (Matins canon, Ode 3). This time is for the pursuit of humility, because without humilty we will not be saved. What can we glean from the publican and pharisee? The worst sin of the pharisee was his judgment of the publican. Above all things, we must not judge others. Since this sin is so pervasive, how can we learn to not judge others? END:SUB:Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee

Sunday Of Zacchaeus. He Sought To See Jesus Who He Was.

Jesus will show Himself to every man, without exception. Why is it that some, such as Zacchaeus see Him as He really is, and others such as the crowd who judged Zacchaeus, do not see Him even though He is in their midst? The whole point to life is to "see Jesus", that is, to know Him. Zacchaeus gives us import instructions as to how to accomplish this. Every day, we must be like Zacchaeus, recognizing who we are, and how little we are and how much our sins present an obstacle to knowing God, and run ahead of them to await the Lord coming to us. HE will always come – are we always in the proper state of mind to receive Him?

Zacchaeus Sunday A before and beginning story, to be continued… Text and audio.

Today, brothers and sisters, we have a “before” story and a “beginning” story. It is appropriate on this Sunday – only four Sundays remain now after this Sunday before Great Lent. On this day we talk about Zacchaeus, how he was before, at the beginning of the salvation. And it is appropriate because during Great Lent should be, for all of us, a struggle to become more spiritual, to know more about ourselves and about God, to do good works, to pray, to fast.

It’s a struggle that is difficult. We will see next Sunday the prayer of the Publican. In our mind’s eye, we think of Zacchaeus when we think of the Publican and the Pharisee, when he was crying: “Oh, God, be merciful to me a sinner”, because he felt the weight of his sins. This is after Zacchaeus had been received by Christ, and he had entered into the struggle against his passions.

In the Christian life salvation comes to us by degrees, because salvation is us being changed. We change by degrees. Nobody changes all at once. You might make a decision at a critical moment in your life as Zacchaeus did, but you don’t change all at once. You change with struggle.

Now, what happened to Zacchaeus …

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. – The key to progress in life. Audio homily 36th Sunday after Pentecost, 2011

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” This extreme statement by the Apostle Paul must define the way we live our life, and is the key to making any progress in virtue. It is a &mindset” that permiates Orthodox Christian life and prayers, but is not well understood. Let us look at how in our daily lives we can make this saying “worthy of all acceptation”. Many examples from the scriptures will help us, such as the publican, the woman who annointed the Lord’s feet, and the Apostle Peter.

Theophany 2011 – The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men

LISTEN NOW Synopsis: Explanation of the reason for the Lord's baptism, including the prophesies about the visible changes in the Jordan when the Lord was baptised. 14 homilies on the Theophany are HERE If the "LISTEN NOW" link does not work, copy this URL into your browser: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/feasts-of-the-savior-theophany-03_2011-01-19+the-grace-of-god-that-bringeth-salvation-hath-appeared-to-all-men.m3u If this file does not work for… Continue reading Theophany 2011 – The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men

Sunday before Theophany. John’s, Christ’s and our baptism explained.

On the Sunday before Theophany we read from the beginning of the Gospel of Mark 2 important prophesies regarding the ministry of Jesus Christ, and regarding the ministry of John the Baptist. The “baptism of John”, and of Christ, and our own is explained, and the admonition of St John: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”, which applies to each one of us, all the time, is explained. There is a very important nuance of meaning that is missed by too many Christians. Our life must be a continual attempt to obey this admonition, and without our effort to do so, we cannot be saved, while, on the other hand, our success in fulfilling this command does not determine if we are saved either. This is the old faith vs. works argument, which, for those who were not raised in the church, can be very confusing. It is actually quite easy to understand (after you have understood it!). Our baptism, and all that God does to give us His grace, enables us to become perfected and to know Him. We are responsible for trying, and only because of His help, we will succeed. Overall, if our life is an effort to fulfill this commandment, we will be saved.