22nd Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on Demonic Possession

Christ’s last commandments to His Disciples, the Holy Apostles, before His Ascension were the following words: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all things I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). The Apostles and […]

21st Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on Rich Man and Lazarus

There was a certain rich man clothed in purple and fine linen who fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate…Today’s Gospel is sobering: We see one man who suffered want in this life, saved, and another man, who had everything temporal […]

20th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on Parable of the Sower

“A sower went out to sow his seed…” Christ’s parable today challenges us to consider how we receive and act upon His Gospel of life. He compares us to the seeds sown here in this parable—”some fell on the wayside, some on the rock, some among the thorns, and some on the good soil. So, […]

19th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on St. Innocent the Elightener

Saturday we commemorated in the Church St. Innocent, the Enlightener of North America, the first bishop in this land, a lover of the native American peoples of Alaska, planter of the True Faith on these shores, and example to us in our own day of the courage that comes from a life lived for the […]

18th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on Luke 6 – Sowing Abundantly

St. Paul reminds us in today’s Epistle, that “he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.” The Church gives us this Epistle now, during the season of harvest, that we may think on our response to those things God has provided, even as we think on our relationship with God Himself. St. Paul speaks of […]

16th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on the Power of the Cross

The cross of Christ, the Lord’s triumphant and life-giving death on the cross whereby He destroys death, is so important for us to understand as Orthodox Christians, that the Church gives special significance and specific Scripture readings for both the weekend before the Feast and the one that follows. This Sunday after the Exaltation, the […]

15th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on John 3:16

We hear in today’s Gospel for the Sunday before the Elevation of the Cross—the Major Feast this Friday– the Good News that God loves us to such a tremendous extent that He sent Himself, His Logos—the Word through Whom all creation and life was spoken into being, into the world to redeem the fallen race […]

14th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on Matthew 22:1-14

The new Ecclesiastical (Church) year began yesterday, September 1. We give thanks to God for the many ways that He made Himself present to us in the past year even as we look to grow in our Faith in the new Church year just begun. With the advent of the new Church year and the […]

13th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on Acting In Love

“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” So St. Paul admonishes us through today’s Epistle from I Corinthians. This passage, which introduces the subject of authority in the Church and our need to submit to it, is framed in the context which St. […]

12th Sunday after Pentecost – Orthodox Homily on Matthew 19: 16-26

In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of the young man who comes to Christ asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Christ responds initially not with an answer to his question, but with a test of the young man’s faith, saying, ““Why do you call Me good? No one […]