Hill Country Homilies

On the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, Abp. Irineos examines the first virtue of the Triodion period - humility - and drawing upon St. Gregory Palamas and St. Basil the Great uses the Parable as a teaching example on how to pray and how an excess of pride can lead to prayer the condemns the one praying.  Let us cling to the example of the Publican and in his humility find the prayer that...

On the Sunday after Nativity, while we bask in the joy of the Nativity, the Church appoints for our hearing the Gospel account of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.  This outrageous act of wrath and anger moves all who hear of it to great sorrow.  It also often serves as ammunition for those who doubt God or seek to justify not following him, as they ask how a loving God can permit this kind of...

On the Greek Old Calendar Typikon, the Sundays of Luke are interrupted for the Parable of the Talents.  Looking at the Gospel reading, Abp. Irineos discusses the fathers' understanding of the situation of each of the three men who received the talents from their lord.  He urges the faithful to be diligent in multiplying their talents, to have a will to work for the glory of God, and to raise ourse...

On the day we commemorate St. Catherine the Great, Abp. Irineos discusses the epistle appointed for the commemoration of righteous women.  Using the language of Paul's corrective to the Galatians, Abp. Irineos looks at the apostle's teaching from three different angles as the Epistle progresses: the law, our baptism into Christ, and fittingly for the time, the incarnation.  Given the continuing he...

In today's Gospel reading for the Parable of the Rich Fool, Abp. Irineos focuses on the moral of the parable: "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."   While we can all imagine what it means to lay up treasures for ourselves, the much more difficult question is what it means to be rich toward God.  Drawing on patristic commentary, Abp. Irineos urges the faithful...

In today's Gospel account, Christ shows compassion upon the grieving widow of Nain and raises her son from his funeral bier.  In his homily, Abp. Irineos challenges the faithful to go beyond the literal account of the scripture and consider how the weeping mother stands in the stead of each of us, and how Christ's compassion extends to our tears as well.

Today's Gospel Readings included Matthew's version of the parable of the wedding feast.   Abp. Irineos draws on the patristic understanding of those who decline the invitation and then urges the faithful to be transformed in love and righteousness, so that their own wedding garment be found fitting when the king calls!

For the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, Abp. Irineos delivers a homily in Spanish and then in English on the reason why we remember the birth of the Theotokos as a great feast of the Church, and how she is truly the beginning of our salvation!

In this homily on the day of the Ecclesiastical New Year, Abp. Irineos speaks about the history of the feast and its origins.  He discusses the relationship between the Incarnation, our understanding of time, and of salvation.  May God bless the crown of the year!

The Gospel of Matthew's Parable of the Unmerciful Servant is appointed for today's Gospel.  Discussing the parable, Abp. Irineos considers the debt incurred by the unmericful servant, the purpose for which he received forgiveness of the debt, and the immensity of the penalty he suffers on revocation of the gift.  Finally, we explore the connection between the debt owed in the parable and the payme...

The Gospel reading of Christ walking upon the water and bidding Peter to come to him is instructive in many ways for Orthodox Christians.   Peter conquered the sea, walking upon the waters as he drew near to Christ fell prey to a far lesser threat - the wind - as his faith turned to fear and he began to sink.  Today, we Orthodox have accomplished the more difficult feat - finding Christ in His Chu...

On the Feast of Pentecost, Abp. Irineos looks back at Genesis and the account of the building of the tower of Babel.  In this short homily he considers the Fall and the confusion of tongues together in their contribution to the state of mankind before the Incarnation.  Expounding on the Orthodox understanding of Pentecost as the reversal of Babel, he then explains how the Incarnation, Pascha, Asce...

On the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, Abp. Irineos looks at both the Epistle and Gospel appointed for today.  He urges the faithful to heed the warning of Paul and always be on guard for those who would pervert the faith.  He then looks at the High Priestly Prayer as both a confirmation of the Creed and a confirmation of the unity and oneness of the Church.

On this Great Feast of the Ascension of Christ, Abp. Irineos draws on the homilies of St. Leo the Great to discuss how Christ's parting from His disciples on the day of His Ascension, rather than being a time of sorrow and mourning became instead a source of great joy and strength.

On the Sunday of the Blind Man, Abp. Irineos looks to the next verse that follows the Gospel reading, where Christ, having revealed His divinity to the man born blind, declares "For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."  Explicating Christ's meaning, Abp. Irineos then contrasts the life of an Orthodox Christian - one wh...

On the 5th Sunday of Great Lent, Abp. Irineos preaches on the Gospel for the Sunday, when James and John entreat Christ to grant them places of honor on his right and left hand.  From the Gospel lesson, Abp. Irineos expounds how Christ's words become a later proof of his voluntary passion, how the disciples and those around them failed to understand the nature of the kingdom, and how Christians to...

On the Sunday before Great Lent, we cover a lot of ground. We have the physical Cheesefare, as we prepare for the abstinence of the Fast.  We have the beauty of the rite of mutual forgiveness, as we cleanse ourselves or grudges and retained wrongs, while seeking forgiveness for ourselves as well.  And on this day, the Church calls to remembrance the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise.  In tod...

On the Sunday of the Last Judgment, Abp. Irineos preaches on the Gospel account of the Last Judgment from Matthew.  Commenting on our modern culture with division and outrage seen as  de rigueur  when we encounter those who differ from us for any number of reasons, Abp. Irineos asks whether we would be able to be judged among the sheep, or would following culture leave us with no defense before th...

On the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, we enter the Triodion with a focus on humility and repentance. Humility and repentance, of course, go hand in had, as in the absence of humility, pride prevents us from making the metanoia necessary to form true repentance. The Publican and the Pharisee approached the temple to pray from two very different perspectives. The Pharisee, in his pride, sa...

In discussing the geneaology of Christ, Abp. Irineos discusses how the complementary genaologies of Matthew and Luke are important to our understanding of the incarnation, and how God's uniting of divinity to humanity in the incarnation calls us to unite our humanity to his divinity in our struggle for salvation. Understanding then the place of the Church as the Body of Christ, he urges Orthodox C...

This Sunday, we heard the Gospel reading of the Parable of the Rich Fool. This man, who has prospered greatly in his business, has such a great harvest he vows to tear down his existing barns which are overflowing, to build even bigger ones so that he might take his rest for many years. But then he hears from the Lord, "You fool, this night thy soul be required of thee. Then whose shall those thin...

On the Sunday of Luke on which we read the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Abp. Irineos considers how this parable calls each of us to self-appraisal. The Rich Man was condemned, not for his riches, but for his vainglory and gluttony. Lazarus was saved, not for his poverty but for his humility and long-suffering. Lazarus was the rich man's opportunity for salvation, but he passed him by every...

On the 4th Sunday of Luke, we read the Parable of the Sower. In this parable Christ both gives the parable to the listeners, but then he explains it to his disciples. In today's homily, Abp. Irineos discusses the four different types of ground discussed by Christ, and how they may present themselves today. More importantly, though he explains that the condition of the ground depends not on its loc...

Today's Gospel reading is the Parable of the Wedding Feast of the Son of the King from the Gospel of St. Matthew. In his homily, Abp. Irineos discusses the wedding garment in the parable as a gift from the king, and how that relates to the failure of the guest to wear it. Comparing this parabolical robe to our own baptismal robe, Abp. Irineos urges us to be careful not to dishonor the gift our Kin...

This week's Gospel is the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers. Abp. Irineos takes us through the explication of this reading from Blessed Theophylact and along the way poses some questions for us - asking whether not just the heterodox, but also the Orthodox, share too much in common with the evil husbandmen of the parable. Are we rejecting God's providential care for us, just as the Pharisee's rej...