HOMILIES

Lord open our eyes; that we can see you approaching us in the need of others Lord open our ears; that we can hear you call out onto us in the grief of others Lord open our hearts; that we can respond to you in the anguish of others Lord command us to leap from our comforts; that we may aid those who are hopeless There comes a point in the life of a true presbyter and Christian that we begin to question NOT the CHURCH as the divine institution/hospital and mystical body, but

Third Sunday of Pascha (Pasqua): The Myrrh-bearing women Acts 6:1-7; Mark 15:43-16:8. This Sunday we celebrate the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. Today we celebrate the reality of the empty tomb. Today we celebrate the finding of the empty tomb. These women, the closest family and friends to Jesus, came to perform the final act of love—to anoint His body with oils and perfumes (cf. Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1). Yet as they walked into the tomb, what did they see? A young man dre

AMAZING GRACE When the apostles who had previously beheld the risen Lord in the flesh related their testimony to Didimus (the twin) the Apostle Thomas protested: “You can’t convince me of that which you supposedly saw! I must witness the actual wounds in his body, the nail prints on his hands and feet; my finger is to touch those very wounds and further touch the side that was pierced by the lance. This is the only way I truly can authenticate that he is in fact risen as you

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to the Apostle and Evangelist Saint John (Jn 1:1–18): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God; his name was John. He came a

When he drew near to Jerusalem ascending its mount to fulfil his voluntary suffering for the love of his creation, the people who awaited in the midst of darkness overwhelmed by death’s shadow fashioned palms and branches of various sorts as a sign of great victory thus foretelling thy resurrection. Therefore Father Pantocrator, keep us under the shelter of your wings that we too may follow their example of greeting you thus carrying in our hands palms, branches and foliage n

Homily on the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent Hebrews 9: 11-14; Mark 10: 32-45. This Sunday we move closer to the mystery of our salvation – the Holy Cross. Without the Incarnation, Cross, and Resurrection, we would not have our salvation. There are some groups who claim that salvation is once and for all upon accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. However, they have strayed from the truth that salvation is a process. Like Saint Mary of Egypt, whom we celebrate today, we are s

When the Apostles lead Jesus through a crowed who had gathered at yet another supernatural sight, they took him to a man whose son suffered violent attacks from possessive fallen powers; the boy’s father then threw himself down at his feet crying: “Lord, have mercy on us for my son suffers grievously from that which has been diagnosed as epilepsy. The strange and yet mysterious observation is that although these symptoms may reflect that which has been diagnosed but he or an

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to the Apostle and Evangelist Saint Mark (Mk 8:34–9:1). “Calling the crowd together with his disciples, he said to them: ‘If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man g

DON'T GIVE THINGS UP - TAKE THINGS ON! When fasting, do not be like the numerous hypocrites who lull in seasonal surroundings; sad faces, camouflaging themselves with the appearance of austerity for they definitely will be subject to the judgement of righteousness that awaits them. Rather, when you sincerely fast, do not appear to be doing so; anointing your head with oil and washing your face so that you may go about your daily business as usual. Remember that the Father who

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to the Apostle and Evangelist Saint Luke (Lk 2:22–40). When the days of their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought the Child up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord: Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now there

Homily on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee 2 Timothy 3: 10-15; Luke 18: 10-14. We live in a time where there are many doom-sayers who point to this or that which shows that bad things are going to happen. Whilst there can be times where less-than-perfect things do happen, we have the rock of Christ onto which to anchor our faith and hope (cf. Matthew 7:24–25). Christ does not say that we will never have adversity, but rather He says that to trust in Him will hel

Outcasts - shame to fame! Whilst Jesus passed through the presbyteral town of Jericho, he saw an envied rich man who was the leading tax official hoisting himself up on a sycamore tree out of sight so that he could get a glimpse of the Lord. Lk 19: 1-4 – [abbreviated]. This week being the last in ordinary time before we enter into the TRIODION which are the three preparatory weeks before Great Lent, we are presented with the story of Matthew the Apostle known formally as Zac