Sermons

“He marvelled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” What is faith that makes God marvel? “Faith is power for salvation and strength to eternal life,” St. Clement taught. An American poet writes, “Faith is raising the sail of our little boat until it is caught up in the soft winds above.” Isaiah professes that the faithful are “those who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress…your

“Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:3). We all know the story of King Midas. He had a golden touch. Everything he came into contact with changed. An oak twig, stone, garden and palace, all of it, with a slight stroke, transformed into priceless gold. So, today, we read about another marvel, but not a myth, a reality. Like Midas, Jesus Christ has a miraculous touch. Anything, whatever

I. I can still feel the waters of baptism. They were tepid but exhilarating. They were the waters of death, signifying hades, in which I’d be plunged. They were the waters of life, out of which I’d rise a new creation. My priest dunked me in first, “In the Name of the Father,” again, “In the Name of the Son,” and again, “In the Name of the Holy Spirit.” Yet, at that third immersion, I felt pressure holding me down. He held me under the water, just for a moment, but long enoug

In the Epiphany icon, you see the heart and soul of this season. The God-man is baptized in the waters. The waters below him are tempestuous. Demons and dragons look beneath him and flee violently. The heavens above open as the light of the Holy Spirit radiates down on him. This scene symbolizes the renewal of humanity and creation. The waters represent chaos and filth. Christ, a new humanity and new physical reality, plunges into the waters and they become calm. Then the Hol