Holy Trinity + Holy Cross - Sermons

Today on the 11th Sunday of Matthew the Epistle reading comes to us from I Corinthians 9:2-12. Father Gregory shares with us Saint Paul’s way of thinking, influenced by his core belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The first-century Romans were status-conscious and aware of the rights bestowed on different classes of people. Christians were set apart from the Roman world because they were not cla...

Today in the Orthodox Church we commemorate the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Saint John, like many prophets and Apostles, had moments of doubt and even questioned God. Father Ernesto shares several examples of this from Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Luke, and II Corinthians. It is a false cliché to think these holy men followed God without questioning Him and experiencing internal issues. In their s...

Today’s Gospel taken from Matthew 14:22-34 accounts for us the well-known miracles of Jesus and Peter walking on water. Peter is obedient to Christ’s call and in faith steps out of the boat to meet Our Lord on the water, but becomes distracted by the wind and begins to sink. In his moment of helplessness, he calls out to Christ, “Lord, save me’, who immediately reaches out His hand and brings Pete...

Today we celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos, one of twelve Major Feasts in the Orthodox Church. In the Gospel reading taken from Luke, Martha feels abandoned and approaches Jesus criticizing Him and her sister Mary for not doing what they are supposed to do. Our Lord answers her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good p...

Today on the 7th Sunday of Matthew the Gospel lesson comes to us from Matthew 9:27-35. Therein we hear about two blind men following and calling out to Jesus, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” Although the two men were blind, they recognized Our Lord to be the Living God and were healed because of their faith. In his homily Father Micah asks the question, are we able to see the Light of Christ tha...

Today, on the 6th Sunday of Matthew, Father Gregory shares with us in his sermon that The Church is Christ extended throughout the ages. He conveys in his message that each of us as Baptized Orthodox Christians have been given gifts from God and make up the Body of Christ. Both the Epistle, which comes to us from Romans 12: 6-14 and the Gospel, taken from Matthew 9:1-8, connect for us the idea tha...

Today on the 5th Sunday of Matthew the Gospel reading comes to us from Matthew 8:28; 9:1. In this pericope two demoniacs were surprised that their malice and power of fear over others was terminated by Jesus. Father Paul shares with us an encouraging message of how we can overcome unwanted fear, that is synonymous with anxiety and worry, of which we have no control. Life has a way of producing man...

Today on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 4th Ecumenical Council the Gospel reading comes to us from Matthew 5:14-19. The Church recognizes seven Ecumenical councils, guided by the Holy Spirit, that preserved the authentic Faith of the Apostles. In the Gospel reading, Christ tells His disciples, that they are the light of the world and their light should not be hidden but set on a hill for al...

In today’s Gospel reading taken from Matthew 6:22-33 our Lord tell us that the eye is the lamp of the body. The eye that is spoken of here is not entirely that which gives us sight but rather that inner perception of our mind and its ability to reflect. Father Micah shares with us, from the teachings of Saint Nicholas Cabasilas, the beautiful path to a life filled with peace, prayer and light. Thi...

Today in the United States of America we are celebrating Independence Day. We are grateful for the religious freedom, that has been defended by so many and guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. As Orthodox Christians and citizens of the United States there comes a responsibility to participate in public life and to have an influence toward justice and equality. Father Ernesto shares with us his love f...

Today in the Orthodox Church is the Sunday of All Saints. On this day we commemorate all the saints who ever lived and most especially the ones who lived without any recognition of their sanctity. In today’s message Father Micah shares with us his love for the Saints and encourages us to live a transformed life in Christ. The Greek word for saint, agios, is translated holy. The Saints were holy be...

Each year this Sunday stands between two Great Feasts of the Church, the Ascension and Pentecost. Today in Orthodoxy we celebrate the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. Thousands of Bishops were invited by the Emperor Constantine to unify the Church’s belief and teaching about the nature of Jesus Christ. Arias, a presbyter from Alexandra, Egypt, was teaching that Jesus was first in the creat...

Today on the Sunday of the Blind Man, the Epistle reading comes to us from Acts 16:16-34. In this reading we learn that Paul and Silas are stripped, beaten and thrown into prison after casting out a demon from a young slave girl. Father Micah shares with us a message of encouragement, pertinent to the imprisonment and suffering in our own lives. Paul and Silas find themselves in the darkest part o...

Today on the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, the Gospel lesson comes to us from John 4:5-42. It narrates for us Jesus’ encounter at a well with a Samaritan woman, with a questionable background. Those present to witness this encounter, along with anyone who heard the disciples tell this story in the first three centuries of Christianity, would have a Biblical mind and understand its significance ba...

Today on the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, the Epistle reading comes to us from Acts 6:1-7. Therein, Saint Luke speaks to us about the transition from the leadership of the Old Israel to the leadership of the New Israel, where Jesus is King. In the Epistle, we are told that the disciples were increasing in number but the Hellenists were murmuring against the Hebrews because their widows were...

Today, which is the first Sunday following Pascha, is known as Thomas Sunday. On this particular Sunday we in the United States, as well as many other countries around the world, are celebrating Mother’s Day. The Orthodox Church teaches that mothers are co-creators with God and that the soul and the body are conceived together in the mother’s womb at the same time. It is in the Fall that the human...

Today on the fifth Sunday of Lent the Orthodox Church commemorates St. Mary of Egypt. Father Ernesto shares with us insight into why the Church chooses to remember her each year during the Lenten season. If we have grown weary in The Great Fast and services of The Church, she is a reminder that it is never too late for us to feel God reaching out to us and to respond in faith and repentance. He po...

Today on the fourth Sunday of Lent the Church presents to us these two images, an anchor and a ladder. Father Gregory begins his sermon by quoting verses from today’s Epistle reading taken from Hebrews 6: 13-20, where St. Paul says, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our beha...

Today in the Orthodox Church is the Sunday of the Holy Cross. Annually on the third Sunday or midpoint of Lent The Church commemorates the Cross of Jesus Christ through the Gospel reading, the hymnology and the procession of the Holy Cross at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. In reflecting on God’s love for us Father Paul shares with us a message of encouragement and hope about The Cross which...

Today on the 2nd Sunday of Lent the Gospel lesson comes to us from Mark 2:1-12. In this pericope we encounter the love of four men who struggle but succeed in bringing their friend before Christ. Father Micah shares with us both a warning and practical message about prayer. Prayer is perhaps the most difficult thing we will ever attempt and if we truly wish to live a life of prayer we will struggl...