Is Our Giving Worthy of Our Calling?

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost / Thirteenth Sunday of Luke, November 26, 2017 Ephesians 4:1-7; Luke 18:18-27 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “I, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” St. Paul, who is writing…

The Chosen Vessel

Feast of the Apostle Paul / Seventh Sunday of Luke, October 29, 2017 II Corinthians 11:21b-33; 12:1-9; Luke 8:41-56 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On this day we celebrate our patronal feast, the feast of the Apostle Paul, the “chosen vessel” of the Lord, sent…

Is the Church a Refuge?

Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, October 15, 2017 Titus 3:8-15; Luke 8:5-15 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today in the eighth chapter of Luke’s Gospel we read again the familiar parable of the Sower and his seed. As we consider this…

God Has Visited His People

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost / Third Sunday of Luke, October 8, 2017 II Corinthians 9:6-11; Luke 7:11-16 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “God has visited His people!” I must admit to many “favorites” in the Scripture, and that line is certainly one of them. Can’t…

Love is Not a Two-Way Street

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost / Second Sunday of Luke, October 1, 2017 II Corinthians 6:16b-18, 7:1; Luke 6:31-36 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Most ethical philosophy is ultimately about fairness and can roughly be resolved into the so-called “Golden Rule,” to treat others as you…

Of Course I’m Not Ashamed of Jesus!

Sunday after the Elevation of the Cross, September 17, 2017 Galatians 2:16-20; Mark 8:34-9:1 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the things I have noticed as a pastor is that a lot of our spiritual struggles these days revolve around the question of how…

Love vs. Truth: Who Wins?

The Sunday Before the Elevation of the Cross, September 10, 2017 Galatians 6:11-18; John 3:13-17 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. I was recently in a conversation on the Internet in which someone said that in theological conversation truth is the most important thing, not the…