St Peters Orthodox Church

The Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord celebrates the 8th day of our Lord's life. On that day He is obedient to the Law of Moses in being circumcised. It is also on that day that the father was to give the child a name. Joseph gives Him the Name that is above all other names. He names Him Jesus in obedience to God through the message of an angel. Circumcision is fulfilled by Baptism in the new...

Naming was very important both among the Hebrew people of the Old Covenant as well as those in the secular world outside of God's covenant. The Name reveals the identity of a person. The Name of Jesus literally means deliverer and Savior. Here at the turn of both the calendar year and near the beginning of the liturgical year, the Name of Jesus is set before us. Will we receive the revelation of W...

When the world was in darkness, Christ our God leaped down from His throne and came to us. He leaped down so that we may rise up. St. Paul, in Galatians 4, tells us that by His coming to us we have become adopted sons and daughters of God. We have been brought through Christ into a family order here on earth established by God to heal and transform all of us. As we live in that order, we become th...

We say as a foundational point of the Christian faith, "God became man and dwelled among us." But do take moments to consider the realities of what it truly means that God became man. At ever point of His life, from His conception to His death, He entered into every suffering of fallen mankind. He willed Himself to suffer our entire existence that He might relieve us of our sufferings from the fal...

From our Introit in the Mass this day, "Let the earth open and bring forth a Savior. O Lord, raise up, we pray Thee Thy power, and with great might succor us." That word succor means this, "Lord, come with your strength to aid we who are so weak and in need. Come and help us." The Prophet Isaiah in chapter 40 says that this help and strength comes to those who wait upon the Lord. But what does it...

The Mass for the Third Sunday of Advent is given the title rejoice. It is a day to remember the great works of Christ our God on our behalf. And, as we do, it is a day for our souls to be lightened and lifted as we offer thanksgiving to our God. Praise, thanksgiving to God, is most certainly a spiritual discipline; one through which Christ our God reveals Himself to us and lets us know just how cl...

Saints Joachim & Anna lived their entire adult life bearing the shame of barrenness as they could not conceive a child. Daily they asked God to grant them mercy by providing them a child. God gave them beyond what they could ever ask or imagine. He not only gave them a child, but their child would be the Mother of Christ our God. They were given mercy beyond all hope as St. Anna became pregnant at...

We often think that our greatest problem is that we are filled with sin which is the source of our addictions, idolatries, and disorders. While sin is a problem that creates a great deal of suffering in our lives, it is not the problem. The problem is that our lives are not filled with Christ. Today we go back to the basics of salvation. We need mercy and healing. Jesus has come to grant both and...

Today is the Sunday Next Before Advent, the one week we prepare to enter into this blessed season. In Advent, we prepare for the coming of Christ both at His birth and at His second and final coming where every soul will be brought before Him. It seems appropriate that we consider the nature of the One Who comes to delivers us. What is the heart of our Savior toward all of us who are oppressed by...

Advent is a season of preparation. But what is Christian preparation? Today we see the truth that everything our Lord has called us to do in order to prepare ourselves for His coming is truly the preparation of the soul to open itself to the Divine experience of Christ our God.

How distracted we get by the non-eternal things of this world when joys beyond compare are there to be had by all in Christ our God and His Kingdom now manifest to us in the earth. The contentment to our discontent lies only in one place; making our dwelling place under His wings where we find our refuge. Today we are reminded that when we take our eyes off of Christ, we descend into the madness o...

In the Gospel of St. John 5, our Lord comes to the Pool of Bethesda. Many who were blind, lame, or paralyzed came to this pool to be healed; for every so often the waters would be stirred and the first one to enter the waters would be healed. Jesus comes up to a man paralyzed for 38 years and asks him a most interesting question, "Do you want to be healed?" What an important question He asks the m...

In our Gospel reading from St. Matthew 2, Jesus gives the summary of the Law which is to "love God and love mankind." God is love and our salvation is the healing work He does deep within our soul, restoring us and redeeming us. The result is our becoming like our God. Today's message is a message of simplicity. We cannot become what we do not experience. Unless we allow Christ to love us and show...

Today we celebrate All Saints. On this Feast Day we are given a wondrous picture of eternity with Christ for all those who are in Him. At the same time, we are given the teaching of Christ our God from St. Matthew 5. He led them up the mountain and taught them the Beatitudes which reveal to us what we were always created to be; for the Beatitudes show forth the very virtues of Christ our God. How...

As we gather together as the Kingdom of Priests, today we pray for all souls. We pray for mercy, forgiveness, and the blessedness of paradise. And as we lift up each name, we visit those who have gone before us like the monastics visit their brother monastics who have gone before them. This remembrance places the gift of our mortality right before us. And mortality is a gift that thrusts us into t...

Today we open our eyes to have Jesus Christ as the King of Kings & Lord of Lords revealed to us. On this day, we look at three aspects of His Kingship: What is it that elevated Jesus Christ to the dignity of King of Kings & Lord of Lords? In this present age, this King has set Himself to be our deliverer. And, how will this King appear when He returns again on the last day?

In St. Luke 7, a multitude following Jesus comes to the gate of the city of Nain. At the same time, a funeral procession of a multitude of people for the burial of the dead son of a widow comes to the gate of Nain from within the city. There the procession of death is met with the procession of life, and life always wins. Our Lord is constantly the gate of our soul. Will we both come to the gate a...

When the ten lepers came to Jesus crying out for mercy, our Lord sent them to show themselves to the priests. This is precisely what God in Leviticus 14 commanded lepers who had been healed of their leprosy to do. Today we look at the sacrifice to be done on behalf of the healed leper. We find that it is a "type" that is wonderfully fulfilled by the finished work of all. While the nine lepers who...

Today is the Feast Day of the Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel and all Angels. Today we have revealed to us that the vastness of the Kingdom of God on earth contains both the seen and the unseen. The prayers Christ has given His Church to pray reveal truths to us; truths about God's Nature and truths about His Kingdom. Today we look at the prayers of the Church as well as Holy Scripture to...

A deaf and mute man is brought to Christ our God. Jesus, with fingers that can be touched, touches the man's ears so that he could hear. Christ spat on the ground and touched his tongue so that it could speak the praises of the One Who had healed him. Our faith, our healing, our salvation only comes by encountering Christ with our whole being and not just with our intellect. Today we consider how...

At the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we encounter the fullness of the sufferings she endured as the chosen Mother of Christ our God. Today puts the reality of human suffering right before us; something we will all endure in this life. And today we have great hope that because Christ joined Himself to our suffering, suffering (which our Lord never desired for us) becomes a...

In our Gospel reading from St. John 12, looking ahead to His Crucifixion our Lord says these words, "Now is the judgment of this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out." What judgment of the world and its ruler is our Lord speaking about? The judgment of Satan who deceived and wronged every soul. Tonight we hear the Church Fathers speak about Christ on the Cross being both prosecuting...

From the barrenness of Sts. Joachim & Anna came the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the mercy God; prefiguring shame and sorrow being taken away by the Son she would bear and deliver into this world, our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, as always, as we gaze upon our Lord's Mother we see Christ and His salvation of us all. Our Lord came to us to remove our shame and grant us great joy.

So many Scriptures speak about the damage idolatry does in our lives and to our souls. The reality is that, while we face temptations and distractions, we are the ones that set up and attend to our idols. Idolatry is anything we attend to or love more than the Lord our God. Our idolatry divides our hearts and lessens our experience in this life with the God who desires to pour the great blessings...

Why do we do all that we do in the Church? Do we fast, give alms, pray, offer ourselves to God in the Liturgy because we are told to do so? Is it a checking off of a task list or is it something more? St. Paul tells us that we are children of God, not slaves to Him. Everything we do is a response to an invitation by God to come to Him and let Him heal our lives. We do all that we do as a response...