It has been said that freedom in America is only ever one generation away from extinction. It seems to me that the same could be said of American churches. Over the past couple of days, a number of the ministry leaders in our parish gathered together to ask a couple sets of questions. The first set was last night following a potluck meal, and…
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost / Ninth Sunday of Luke, November 20, 2016 Galatians 6:11-18; Luke 12:16-21 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 we are wrapping up our five-week sermon series asking this question: What is our mission? The Gospel reading we hear today for the…
Feast of St. John Chrysostom / Eighth Sunday of Luke, November 13, 2016 Hebrews 7:26-8:2; Luke 10:25-37 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 is the feast of the greatest preacher among all the saints of Christian history—John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, whose Divine Liturgy we…
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost / Seventh Sunday of Luke, November 6, 2016 Galatians 1:11-19; 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. Today we hear from the Gospel about two healings performed by our Lord Jesus Christ—the healing of the woman with a flow of blood…
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost / Fifth Sunday of Luke, October 30, 2016 II Corinthians 11:31-33, 12:1-9; Luke 16:19-31 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 we continue to explore the theme we’re focusing on for several weeks: What is our mission? And with today’s Gospel from…
The following is from a larger talk I am working on about Orthodoxy in the West. Secularism is essentially the idea that one can conceive of a world without God. It is the belief in an autonomous order existing apart from the divine order. It is not necessarily a denial of God’s existence, by the way. Such outright atheism has never been that attractive…
Sunday of Orthodoxy, March 1, 2015 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.'” This phrase, which we hear in today’s Gospel, has come to be something of an evangelistic watchword among English-speaking Orthodox Christians. “Come and see.” It is used especially…