St Mark Sermons

When Jesus calls a desperate mother a "dog," what are we supposed to do with that? This is one of those passages most of us quietly skip over because it feels so unlike the Jesus we know. But what if the silence, the rejection, and the insult were never about cruelty, and everything about producing something eternal in this woman's heart? This sermon explores: The cultural and economic tension bet...

What do you do when someone keeps hurting you and you've already forgiven them more times than you can count? In this powerful second installment of "Hard Sayings of Jesus," we wrestle with one of the most personally challenging teachings in Scripture: forgiveness without limit. Starting from Peter's famous question in Matthew 18:21-35, we're reminded that "the grace of forgiveness is bigger than...

What do you do when Jesus says something that makes you uncomfortable? "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." That doesn't sound like the Prince of Peace we sing about at Christmas. But when you sit with this verse in its full context, it becomes one of the most personally transforming things Jesus ever said. This sermon explores: Why Jesus u...

We often remember her as the “sinful woman,” but perhaps we should remember her as the courageous woman. She had the courage to walk into a room where she knew she would be judged, fall at Jesus’ feet, and pour out her love without caring what anyone thought. Her story reminds us that courage is choosing Jesus even when the crowd is watching. Tune in!

It’s easy to hear God’s Word, agree with it, and even be moved by it—but hearing alone does not transform us. God calls us to take what we hear and put it into action. We are not called to be just hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word, allowing His truth to shape our choices, our lives, and the way we treat others. Tune in.

Jesus sees people beyond their outward appearance, recognising them as children of God who may be broken, hurting, or in need. This teaching calls us not only to trust that God sees and knows our struggles, but also to pray for the grace to see others as Jesus sees them, especially within the life of the Church and community.

We all see the same things as each other, but something makes us have a different perspective on it. Let us shift and have a different LENS, by looking at things deeper, examine the situation first, truly understanding it, notice a different way to see it, and finally, shift your perspective.

Fr. Luke Abdelshaheed reflects on how life's unexpected difficulties and unwanted seasons often feel like confusing or painful threads. Using examples from the Bible and the life of St. Gregory the Theologian, Fr. Luke Abdelshaheed explains that while individual moments may not make sense at the time, God weaves them together into a beautiful and purposeful final tapestry. He encourages believers...

Drawing on the Gospel and the Feast of the Cross, Fr. Thomas Hanna explores the spiritual necessity of rededicating our lives to God. He outlines three simple movements of renewal: remembering who we belong to, revealing and opening up the closed doors of our hearts, and returning to God through small, faithful daily steps. Fr. Thomas Hanna encourages believers to offer their struggles and distrac...

This Sunday sermon, given during the fifty days following the Resurrection, centers on hope. Fr Thomas distinguishes hope from mere optimism: optimism is personal confidence in oneself, while hope is theological — a permanent trust in God rooted in what He thinks of us, not what we think of our circumstances. Acknowledging that many have endured hard years, he insists the Gospel always offers hope...

The sermon, titled "Seeking Right," explores how people approach Jesus for the wrong reasons, drawing from John 6 where the crowd sought Jesus not because of the miraculous signs but because they had been fed — pursuing temporary satisfaction rather than eternal life. Fr Thomas challenges us to examine how seriously we truly pursue God's kingdom, illustrating the point through two saints: Saint Pa...

Fr Augustine Ibrahim uses the sinful woman who washed Christ’s feet to show three ways we can offer ourselves fully to God: serving with our whole lives, using our mouths for silence and prayer, and offering our tears in repentance and desire for God. We are called to stop living halfway and surrender our desires, relationships, service, and struggles completely to Christ.

This sermon reflects on the unwavering focus and undistracted devotion of the early disciples, drawing inspiration from the Feast of the Apostles. Reflecting on the Gospel passage where the disciples return rejoicing over their ability to perform miracles, Fr Thomas notes how Jesus gently redirected their joy toward a deeper reality: that their names are written in heaven. We are challenged to kee...

In this sermon, Fr James reflects on the Catholic Epistle of St. Jude, focusing on the dangers of destructive speech habits that are often dismissed as minor sins. He examines three major spiritual traps: grumbling and complaining, false flattery, and gossip.

In this sermon, Fr James explores Jesus's parable of the children in the marketplace from the Gospel, comparing the generation's constant complaining and criticism to children who refused to play either the wedding game or the funeral game. Just as the people criticized both John the Baptist for his austere, somber approach and Jesus for His joyful, relational ministry, people today often fall int...

This sermon, given on the sixth Sunday of Lent, reflects on the Gospel account of Jesus healing the man born blind (John 9). Fr Thomas connects this miracle to the Lenten journey of renewal, noting that Christ came to make all things new, giving not just physical but spiritual sight. A central theme is rejecting "either/or" thinking, illustrated by the disciples' question of who sinned to cause th...

The sermon reflects on the Gospel of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish alongside Psalm 142's image of a soul longing for God like a thirsty land. Fr Pishoy calls the congregation to genuine spiritual hunger and thirst for God, rather than settling for busy but spiritually empty routines.

This sermon reflects on John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" during the season when the Church presents Christ as the Bread of Life. Fr Pishoy explains that believers must partake of His body and blood to join the heavenly feast, and introduces the Orthodox concept of "synergy" — working together with God — noting that cooperation with God's grace produces the...

Delivered on the Second Sunday of Lent (Temptation Sunday), this sermon explores the inner struggle between good and evil and examines Jesus's temptations in the wilderness as a framework for our own spiritual battles. Fr Thomas emphasizes that temptation provides an opportunity to choose God, practice repentance, and feed the right spiritual desires rather than falling into the traps of the world...

The sermon draws on Acts 18:9–10, where the Lord tells Paul in a vision not to be afraid but to speak, promising protection. Fr Pishoy explains that fear paralyzes, but God calls His servants to courage, reminding them He is with them wherever they go.

This sermon, delivered on a Thanksgiving weekend, centers on three women from that Sunday's readings who were each given negative labels by others but received healing and a new identity through their bold encounters with Jesus. The sinful woman who anoints Jesus's feet is called a "Seeker" because she actively sought out Jesus despite social judgment. The woman with the issue of blood is called a...

This Advent sermon centers on the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. Fr Thomas contrasts today's common exhortation to "slow down" with one thing Mary did not slow down on: recognizing a need and rushing to serve. Despite having just received the angel's astonishing announcement, Mary immediately traveled roughly 70 miles to help her elderly, pregnant cousin — choosing obedienc...

The sermon reflects on how the liturgical phrase "let us attend" calls for genuine inner attentiveness, not just physical posture. Fr Thomas contrasts the multitudes amazed by Christ's healing of a demon-possessed, blind, and mute man with the scribes and Pharisees who condemned Him — arguing the difference was attentiveness itself.

This Pentecost sermon is built around three stages: running on empty, charging, and fully charged. Fr Pishoy opens with Acts 1:8, noting that the Greek word for "power" (dunamis) means miraculous power, likened to a lightning-driven power surge. Before Pentecost, the disciples were depleted, afraid, and directionless, much like Christians today who feel spiritually empty amid distraction and busyn...

This sermon, titled "Family Feud," reflects on Mark 3, where Jesus's own relatives come to restrain him, believing he is "out of his mind," and he responds by declaring that whoever does God's will is his brother, sister, and mother. From this, Fr Pishoy explores four concentric circles of family that Christians depend on: the nuclear family, noting how parenting and honoring elders have evolved;...