Sunday Sermons

  • It Ain’t Superstitious If It’s True
    I can’t remember ever being particularly superstitious. I have never feared walking under a ladder, or dreaded bad luck if I broke a mirror, and never thought twice about going out on a Friday just because it was the 13th. None of these or many similar things ever really made sense to me. How could the date influence the events of my life, or aContinue reading “It Ain’t Superstitious If It’s True”
  • You Shall See Greater Things Than These*
    When I was in the process of becoming Orthodox, one practice I found difficult to accept was the veneration of icons. Bowing and kissing seemed an awful lot like worship to me, dangerously close, so close that maybe we’d be better off if we just didn’t do it. Well, no, in fact we would be worse off without the veneration of icons. The first thingContinue reading “You Shall See Greater Things Than These*”
  • The Scandal of a Vulnerable God
    Contrary to a popular holiday meme, Mary and Joseph were not indigent, and they were not refugees. They had no expectations of anyone else providing for their needs and went to the inn knowing payment would be expected. Joseph was a tradesman—a carpenter—and they were in Bethlehem to register themselves in a census so that they could pay their taxes. But nowadays there seems aContinue reading “The Scandal of a Vulnerable God”
  • What Is Impossible?
    This week we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the temple. This is one of the three great feasts—the other two being the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Dormition of the Theotokos—whose stories are not told in any of the four canonical Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The story of this feast is told in the Protevangelium of James.Continue reading “What Is Impossible?”
  • Thank You for Your Service-AND Your Example
    The best thing that could be said about the first battle there was that it had been a stalemate. Though the British Eighth Army had stopped the Axis Powers’ Eastward advance toward Alexandria, some fifty miles away, the month-long battle the previous July had cost them 13000 casualties and the commanding general estimated that they would be out of action until September. Now in October,Continue reading “Thank You for Your Service-AND Your Example”