Saint Sophia Blog (All Categories) - Page 28 of 365

Healing the Heart

01/12/2024

Fr. Stephen Freeman, September 21, 2021 The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and there are also lions; there are poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil. But there too is God, the angels, the life and the kingdom, the light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasuries of grace—all things are there. (H.43.7) St. Macarius If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it

The Vocation of Lovers of God

01/11/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, July 9, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (8:28-9:1) The extreme case Jesus faced in today’s Gospel reading called for great compassion and courage. While I know it is tempting to focus on the drama and display of power, I think the point of the story leads us in a different direction. It is

On Sudden Death

01/10/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on August 22, 2021 Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery Nowadays when science and technology are flying, when cultures converge and there is a crisis in values, even the word ‘death’ is avoided and anything reminiscent of it is ignored and discarded. Modern man views death as something negative and as a loss; we usually say for the departed: ‘We’ve lost him’. Whoever does not have the proper knowledge about this issue of

The Law is One

01/09/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, July 16, 2017 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (5:14-19) I love this teaching from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams (a very spiritual man, a man of prayer), “And the face we need to show our world is the face of a humanity in endless growth towards love…” The bushel Jesus refers to in today’s Gospel reading refers to that which

A Noetic Life

01/08/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, September 17, 2021 The Native Peoples of Alaska and the far north really do have over 50 words for snow. In total, there are around 180 words for snow and ice. There is “aqilokoq” for “softly falling snow” and “piegnartoq” for “the snow [that is] good for driving a sled.” There is also “utuqaq,” which means, “ice that lasts year after year” and “siguliaksraq,” the patchwork layer of crystals that forms as the

Epiphany: Eureka!

01/06/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, January 10, 2021 Epiphany means: “a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something. An intuitive grasp of reality through a simple and striking event. An illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.” It is not only a religious term. It can refer to any other sphere of human interest as well. For example, there is the famous story of the Greek mathematician Archimedes who,

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: Sermon at the Vigil for Epiphany

01/05/2024

By Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, 5 January 2022 The day of the Theophany is the day when the whole world is being renewed and becomes a partaker of the sanctity of God. But at the same time, it is the day when Christ enters on the way to Calvary. He came to John the Baptist at the Jordan not in order to be cleansed, because He was free of sin—both as God and in His humanity

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: The Beginning of the Gospel

01/04/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 31, 2017 The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. (1:1-8) John prophesied that something new was coming, something different, Someone greater than he. John baptized with water meant to cleanse from sin. Ablutions with water were common religious rites as a symbol of the purification, often merely ritualistic, but in the case of John, attached to repentance. Let’s talk for a moment

Meditation on the Epiphany

01/03/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on January 5, 2021 By Fr. Lev Gillet Epiphany was the first public manifestation of Christ. At the time of His birth, our Lord was revealed to a few privileged people. Today, all those who surround John, that is to say his own disciples and the crowd that has come to the banks of the Jordan, witness a more solemn manifestation of Jesus Christ. What does this manifestation consist of? It is made up

The Ninth Day of Christmas: A Time of Wonder

01/02/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 23, 2018 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. As the Lord Jesus, the Incarnate Christ, opened his heart to us, let us also open our hearts and in the same way love without limits or boundaries. For there are no walls that we do not ourselves create, no closed doors or windows that we do not ourselves fabricate. St. Paul writes in Ephesians that

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Healing the Heart

The Vocation of Lovers of God

On Sudden Death

The Law is One

A Noetic Life

Epiphany: Eureka!

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: Sermon at the Vigil for Epiphany

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: The Beginning of the Gospel

Meditation on the Epiphany

The Ninth Day of Christmas: A Time of Wonder

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