Sermons & Homilies
We modern Christians, both monks and laymen often acknowledge that God is the Lord and we honor Him and consider ourselves to be faithful members of His Church. But something happens to our faith as soon as we have a hardship or illness, we so often turn away from God and look to ourselves and our own ability to resolve the problem, we seldom turn to God.
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Today is the Seventh Sunday after Pascha on which we commemorate the First Ecumenical Council. This Council is called the first Synod of Nicaea and lasted from May 20 until August 25 in the year 325. The Council was summoned by Emperor Constantine to address the teachings of Arius that were causing considerable disturbance in the Empire. Arius taught that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was created by the Father and therefore had not existed alongside the Father from all eternity.
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As the cycle of the Paschal season draws to a close, we arrive once again at the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord. Not only does this day mark Christ’s last day of His physical presence on Earth, but it marks the fulfillment of all things in Christ’s Earthly mission.
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In today’s Epistle reading we heard Christ speaking to the Samaritan woman and telling her that he is the Messiah. He does not engage in conversation with her and then quickly tell her that he is the Messiah, but instead, as St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory Palamas note, it is with such care and love towards her that He gradually leads her along and reveals who He is.
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Today is the Fourth Sunday of Pascha, which is known as the Sunday of the Paralytic because of the appointed reading from the Gospel of John which we have just heard. That the Holy Church has appointed this reading for the Fourth Sunday of Pascha is very interesting, because we begin now to hear Gospel lessons which no longer have any obvious and outward connection to the Paschal season. No longer do we commemorate the events surrounding the Lord’s Resurrection, but rather encounters which had already come to pass before our Lord Jesus Christ went to His voluntary and saving Passion.