Sermons & Homilies
Today we celebrate a great synaxis of Holy Elders, Elders who are, with the Optina Elders, spiritual children of the great St. Paisy Velichkovsky. I want to focus on one word of one of these Elders. Of course, it comes from my patron saint, St. Makary of Glinsk. It is the only direct piece of advice you hear from him in the short life contained within the Glinsk Patericon. There are many more in the longer version of his life.
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Today the Church celebrates the memory of St. Maximos the Confessor. St. Maximos is called the confessor because he was persecuted and tortured for proclaiming the Orthodox faith of Christ’s two wills—one divine and one human. He preached against the heresy that taught that Christ had only one will. We will see how crucial the Church’s teaching on Christ’s two wills really is.
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Throughout his epistles, St. Paul often uses the image of the body to show the unity and diversity of the Church. Each of us is called for a specific task in the Church, some to teach, others to minister to the sick, some to shepherd the flock, others to support the shepherd, some to sing and conduct services, others to support the church and her mission financially.
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Today, Our Lord Jesus Christ fulfills His promise to send the Holy Spirit into the world. The dust He once formed in the beginning to make man and into which He breathed the Breath of Life fell through the deception of the devil. Christ took upon Himself this dust, becoming man, uniting it to Himself, to deliver us from bondage to the devil. And through sending down the Holy Spirit, He makes man, once fallen and worse than dirt, to become god.
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Nine weeks ago, we began the Triodion with the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. And now, as we’ve finished the forty days and begin Holy Week, we again encounter the Publicans and Pharisees in the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem. Here we see the culmination of a life of humble repentance, for Matthew the former tax collector is found in the company of Christ’s followers and joins with them in praising Christ. The Pharisees, too, were present. And we see the terrible outcome of a life of self-righteousness.
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