What is the triumph of Orthodoxy? A short synopsis of the historical background, then discussion of what this triumph is for the individual. It involves “faith”, understanding that the pleasures of sin are for a season, and believing that a good thing CAN come out of Nazareth.
Category: Homilies
Homilies on the First Sunday of Great Lent – The Triumph of Orthodoxy. Audio and Text.
Five homilies given at St Nicholas Orhtodox Church, McKinney Texas on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Most are Audio, but one has been transcribed to HTML and Word Doc. (I need a lot of help transcibing – any takers?)
First Sunday Of Great Lent Sunday Of Orthodoxy – The Triumph of Orthodoxy
Can any Good thing come out of Nazareth? Come and See!
Today, brothers and sisters, is the first Sunday of the Great Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The Church wants to tell us some things. Indeed we should come to Church always with the expectation that God will teach us something, whether it be something we learn with our mind and consciously understand, or something that penetrates the soul, and helps us in an unseen way.
A most important statement for a Christian to understand in this particular gospel reading, even after He has lived the Christian life for some quite some time is:
“Come and see”.
The Church says “Come and see”. What is She telling us to “come and see?”
The question which preceded this instruction (and more than this – also a promise, a pledge, and a rallying cry) by Nathaniel to Philip was:
“Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” …
Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Forgiveness Sunday Audio Homily 2010.
Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Forgiveness Sunday Audio Homily 2010.
Sunday Of The Last Judgment. Audio Homily 2010.
Why is this scripture read today, two Sundays before Great Lent begins? What is its meaning? What are the two critical characteristics of those who will be saved? How are we to understand the things the righteous did and the unrighteous did not do, and their identical answers to the Lord? What must we do?
Sunday Of The Prodigal Son. Our life in microcosm. Two things keep us from salvation. Audio Homily 2010.
LISTEN NOW Luke 15:11-32 11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and… Continue reading Sunday Of The Prodigal Son. Our life in microcosm. Two things keep us from salvation. Audio Homily 2010.
Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
The rest of the story, How was the publican justified?
Today is the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. It is a formal beginning to our preparation for the Holy Fast, and is the first day we read anything from the Triodion this year. We are now in a period of time to prepare ourselves – 4 more weeks. … There is not much more time, and this time is given for us to reflect upon what it is that we need to do to improve ourselves.
The church gives us some help here. The Sunday before this day is always the Sunday of Zacchaeus, who was a publican. Today, we read about another publican, just a nameless person in a parable. This event never actually occurred; it is a parable our Lord used to teach us. However, it has extra meaning when we think of it in light of the story of Zacchaeus, and in our mind’s eye, equate the publican in this parable with Zacchaeus.
In this parable we see two kinds of humility – or rather, humility and its evil opposite, pride – and two kinds of knowledge. We see the pride of the Pharisee, and the church in its hymnology points out the differences between his pride and the humility of the publican. In order to fully understand the lesson we must see that the Pharisee was not completely wrong and the publican was not completely virtuous, and yet, one of them was justified and the other was not. …
Homily:Sunday of Zacchaeus. Push past the press!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. [1] Brothers and sisters, today is Zacchaeus Sunday; it one of the five Sundays that precedes Great Lent and helps us prepare for the Great Fast. Zacchaeus was a publican and very rich. This meant that he was… Continue reading Homily:Sunday of Zacchaeus. Push past the press!
Sunday after Nativity 2009. Audio Homily. How should we react to evil?
LISTEN NOW Matthew 2:13-23 13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.… Continue reading Sunday after Nativity 2009. Audio Homily. How should we react to evil?
Sunday after Nativity – events afterwards are to be expected.
Brothers and sisters: Christ is born! When we read about the events that occurred right after the birth of Christ – in the 40 days or so right after the birth of Christ – we should be struck with how carefully God plans for our salvation. Everything was already arranged. He knew that Herod would… Continue reading Sunday after Nativity – events afterwards are to be expected.