Sermons & Homilies

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” With these words our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ begins His public ministry. “Repent” is the word the Church gives us at the beginning of the year. This Gospel is placed here not just because it takes place chronologically after Christ’s baptism (which we are still celebrating), but also because it signals the approach of Lent.

Around the year 271, there was a young man who lived in Lower Egypt, born to wealthy landowner parents, both of whom only then recently died, leaving the young man to care for his little sister and the upkeep of the family home. This young man went to the Divine Services one day, and while there he heard the Gospel which we have just heard. A friend, writing about this experience, says that the young man realized this passage had been read for his sake, and he immediately left the church, gave away all the land that he had inherited, and then sold his possessions, distributing the money to the poor, and saving some for his sister. This young man we know as St. Antony the Great...
Continue reading

In today’s Gospel lesson, we heard how Christ comes to save a man tormented by the thousands of demons inside him. This possessed man was driven out of human society. The other Gospels report two such men, but really, there is no communion in evil. Two wicked men together are not a company. In separating themselves from God, they truly are separated from each other as well, despite seeming evidence to the contrary. In the description of the man possessed by a legion of demons, the Gospel portrays so vividly the effects of sin on man. Sin leaves a man insane, naked, and alone, a walking corpse living amongst the tombs.
Continue reading

"And what is a merciful heart? It is the heart burning for the sake of all creation, for men, for birds, for animals, for demons, and for every created thing…" The heart of a merciful man "burns without measure in the likeness of God." Thus St. Isaac expands upon the mercy that today’s Gospel is exhorting us to have.
Continue reading

When the future Elder, Arsenie Papacioc, was asked as a soldier in his 20s what he would do if he were a general to train soldiers, he replied, “I would teach them to die, if they didn’t fear death, they wouldn’t be so cowardly. They would fight better, and win”. “I would teach them to die”. This lesson from a soldier is pertinent for us today. It is no surprise that analogies between the spiritual life and physical combat are as old as Christianity itself. Just as courage in the face of death is necessary on the front line of war, so too, is it necessary for each one of us as we engage in spiritual warfare. And it’s this unwillingness to die that we see is the ultimate downfall of the rich man in today’s Gospel.
Continue reading