Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 19, 2023 In view of the very familiar Judgment Sunday Gospel reading from Mt. 25 (and how very often we try to excuse ourselves from its plain message), I would like to offer what may be a slightly different perspective. I want to start with a thought-provoking quote from Fr. Richard Rohr about an unpleasant subject: hell. It is provocative, for sure, and yet, in view
Ioannis Karavidopoulos, Professor of the School of Theology of the University of Thessaloniki The parable of the sower is a wake-up call for self-criticism and self-knowledge. People often wonder and are surprised at the apparent failure of Christianity in the world, which can be seen to a greater or lesser extent in different places. Shouldn’t we be looking at a greater impact on the part of Christianity on humankind and a more encouraging implementation of
This holy, glorious Martyr of Christ came from Amasia in Pontus and was a Roman legionary at the time of Maximian’s great persecution (c. 303). He had been a Christian since childhood but kept his faith secret, not out of cowardice but because he had not yet received a sign from God to present himself for martyrdom. While his cohort was stationed near the town of Euchaita (Helenopontus), he learned that the people of the
By Father Steven Kostoff “And He said, ‘There was a man who had two sons….’” This is how Christ begins what is perhaps the greatest of his parables, the one we know as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but which could easily be titled the “Parable of the Two Sons” or the “Parable of the Compassionate Father.” With this parable, which we will hear at the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, February 4, we are
Of all the Saints that the Church remembers throughout the year, this Saint that I want to talk about today is probably recognized more than any other. With the exception of one other Saint, St. Nicholas, whose feast day is commemorated on Dec. 6 (during the same season as the birth of Christ), the name of this Saint is well-known throughout all of North America – and on his Feast Day, millions of people, both
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous We usually view other people on the basis of our own inner eyes and ‘what the heart is full of’ (Luke 6, 45). If we’re cunning, we think other people are cunning, as well; if we’re guileless, we think that other people are, too. Saint Gregory the Dialogist notes the following: ‘The purer the heart, the more trusting it is’. This is how it can be tricked by wicked people who act on
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 20, 2023 Jesus was not a theoretician. He was not all words and theories. His teaching had practical applications and consequences. His core message was about the presence of the kingdom of heaven within us and among us here and now using metaphors from daily life, fishing and farming, wedding feasts and banquets to anchor Christian spirituality in the real stuff of this world. Although many
By Metropolitan of Gortyn and Megalopolis, Ieremias † [Having shown what God is and that He is incomprehensible] Saint John goes on to prove that He is One, not many. This is clear to those who are convinced by the Holy Scriptures. The Lord says as much at the beginning of the Law: ‘I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods but
The invincibility of Christianity is epitomized by the superhuman endurance of the priest Haralambos, who suffered inhuman tortures and martyrdom at the hands of pagan tormentors. No single martyr was recorded to have endured as much physical punishment as Haralambos. He was an obscure Orthodox priest who earned his sainthood solely by his steadfastness to the Christian faith in the face of prolonged agonies. Although this seemingly indestructible servant of the Lord had that divine
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 5, 2022 The Odes of Solomon is a first or second century document known to the Holy Father’s and quoted by a few. Olivier Clement used it to great effect in THE ROOTS OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM. Here is the quote. “Blessed are the men and women who are planted…in your garden, who grow like trees and flowers grow, who transform their darkness into light. Their roots
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