Sermons

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads: for your redemption draweth nigh.” “Look up!” A homeless man wandered the streets shouting this at passersby. “Look up!” he cried to the youth who walked with heads hung down, punching buttons on smart devices. “Look up!” he called to the professionals who lost their humanity in business. “Look up!” he urged each man and woman wrapped up in their unique endeavors. “Look up!” God speaks through

“Above all else, guard your heart” (Proverbs 4:23). In January of 2019, Patriarch Kirill warned the Orthodox world about addiction to smartphones. While the Church is not opposed to technology, he stated, we must be wary of becoming “slaves to our devices,” and especially slaves to devices “aimed at controlling a person’s identity.” Our dependency on world-wide web technologies will usher in the “coming of the Antichrist.” Of course, this remark triggered a wave of laughter a

“True freedom knows no attachments other than Jesus Christ…True freedom can walk away from anything – wealth, honor, fame, pleasure. Even power. It fears neither the state, nor death itself” (former Archbishop Charles Chaput). Our Lord challenges our dedication today. In one ultimatum, he expresses what exactly God expects from us: Render to Caesar what is Caesars. Render to God what is God’s. If that does not convict you, look into your heart and get real. The Pharisees had

“If a man insults me, kills my father, my mother, my brother, and then gouges out my eye, as a Christian it is my duty to forgive him. We who are pious Christians ought to love our enemies and forgive them. We ought to offer them food and drink, and entreat God for their souls. And then we should say: ‘My God, I beseech Thee to forgive me, as I have forgiven my enemies” (St. Kosmas Aitolos). We need to forgive everyone and everything. There is little in life so urgent and so