There is No Christmas and No Church Without History

Sunday before the Nativity / Eve of the Nativity, December 24, 2017 Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-15 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the things that strikes people who encounter the Orthodox Church for the first time is that we have a very strong emphasis on history. It’s everywhere in…

Why Do We Do Ministry Without God?

Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost / Tenth Sunday of Luke, December 10, 2017 Ephesians 6:10-17; Luke 13:10-17 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of…

Walk as Wise

Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost / Fourteenth Sunday of Luke, December 3, 2017 Ephesians 5:8-19; Luke 18:35-43 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” This verse is Ephesians…

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…