Sermons & Homilies
When we look at the holy face of the Mother of God in the icons, we see a woman, a human being just like us, but one who is filled with peace, because she chose not to look away but to keep her gaze always fixed on Him. No matter what happened in her life, she did not look away from Him. This is the source of her deep inner peace that is undisturbed by the turmoil of this world.
Continue reading
Abba Isaac says:
At a time of darkness, kneeling is more helpful than anything else. … Even if our thoughts are cold and murky, we ought to persist long in kneeling. And although our hearts should be dead at those times and we should not even have a prayer or know what we ought to say, since no words or supplication come to us, nor even a petition, still we ought to remain continually prostrate upon our faces, though we keep silence.
The absolute and utter helplessness of the widow of Nain is in fact the common condition of humanity. All too often we are tempted to believe that we can solve our own problems, with our own strength and our own knowledge and our own cleverness. But there is nothing whatsoever that we can do to overcome the death that has been brought about through sin.
Continue reading
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Introduction Throughout the Scriptures and the history of the Church, we learn that God reveals Himself and the workings of His providence to those...
Continue reading
Today’s Gospel presents us with an icon of our spiritual life. The image is that of the Apostles who were toiling and laboring all night long, trying to catch fish. Yet, they caught nothing. It was not until the Lord came and told them to let down their nets one more time, and through His blessing they caught so many fish that they began to sink. And then they were told that they would from now on catch men for Christ’s sake.
Continue reading