St Peters Orthodox Church

Jesus, out of His great love for us, invites us to cooperate with Him in His wondrous works of salvation. We offer Him only that which we have, no more and no less. He takes anything lacking in our offering and fills it with Himself accomplishing His great works. We see this in the testimony of Christ feeding the 4,000 men plus women and children. Here Jesus invites His disciples to cooperate with...

Our Gospel reading today is the miraculous catch of fish in St. Luke 5. Today we look at all that transpired to see the true framework for the fulfilling of the Great Commission by Christian evangelism. Evangelism, and every good work, begins with our encounter and experience with Christ our God. There faith is born enabling us to follow Christ beyond our human reason. At the catch of fish, Christ...

It can be said that the Christian life is broken down into three phases. First, the joy and excitement of conversion. Second, there is a season of struggle where God can feel very distant or absent in our lives. The third phase is the blessedness of a grown and matured faith that grants us such a deeper experience of God in our lives. Today we focus on how to best live and weather the storm of the...

In 1 Peter 5 St. Peter teaches the entire Church, both Clergy and Laity, how they are to live in relationship to God and to one another. The Apostle implores all to live from Christ's Nature of Humility. Today we open our souls to see the value of this great virtue and how Christ desires to free us from the service of ourselves and the consuming thoughts we have about ourselves. May Christ set us...

In the Parable of the Great Supper from St. Luke 14, our Lord reveals the heart of God and His framework for the salvation of mankind. It is God Who prepares the banquet inviting all to come in and partake of His goodness. But some who were invited make non-eternal excuses for why they cannot accept His invitation while many others come and receive the goodness of God. In this parable, our Lord wa...

In Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" Ebeneezer Scrooge is described as a self-absorbed old miser who lives only for himself. He is devoid of any community and, in this brief life, lives only for the gain and preservation of things non-eternal with blinders on to suffering humanity all around him. This is the same description Jesus gives of the rich man in the Parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus....

When the Blessed Virgin visits Elizabeth, who is far along in her pregnancy with St. John the Forerunner, St. John leaped in the womb of Elizabeth with joy at the presence of Christ. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." The Blessed Virgin responds the Magnificat, a great praise to God alone for what He has done for...

God has given us many revelations regarding God the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. Yet, we will forever be growing in this mystery of Three Divine Persons yet one God. One of the revelations given to us is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in an undivided unity. We were created in His image according to His likeness which means we were created to exist in undivided unity both...

Today is the Feast of Pentecost and on this day the promised Holy Spirit is gifted to God's people. This morning we remember the Old Covenant Feast Day of Pentecost and how Christ fulfills it on this day. All those who are Baptized into Christ are given the great gift of God the Holy Spirit for the healing of our souls. But we are also given this gift so that, by that healing, we become the fragra...

Today is the Sunday after the Ascension of our Lord. We are in that time between His Ascension and the sending of God the Holy Spirit to us. On this day we look at the eternal ministry our Lord has taken on for us. He has become our Great High Priest forever. What great joy we should have that He eternally stands before the Father pleading for God's mercy to fall upon us all. At the same time, we...

When our Lord Jesus Christ Ascended into Heaven, the Angelic hosts were amazed at what they witnessed. For the first time since the fall of man, in Christ the second Adam, humanity entered Paradise. There in Christ our humanity is kept before the Father that we might be able to follow His path and ascend; returning to the Father and to the Paradise we were all created to enjoy. Tonight we let the...

In the Gospel of St. John 16 our Lord Jesus Christ tells His disciples, "Whatever you ask the Father in My Name He will give it to you. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." But what does it mean to ask the Father in Jesus' Name? This is such an important aspect of our life in Christ and speaks greatly to the fulfillment of our vocation as His Kingdom of Priests. Today we learn fr...

After the Resurrection, Christ's disciples were elated to continue in fellowship with Him as He continued His ministry. Imagine their sadness when Jesus told them He was returning to the Father. To ease their sadness, He tells them that it is to their advantage that He returns to the Father. There was a greater experience of God to be had beyond their journey with Him thus far and this greater exp...

In 1 Peter 2, the Apostle teaches that we are to live as sojourners and pilgrims abstaining from fleshly lusts and letting our good works in Christ be used to the salvation of all. Today we consider this life of a sojourner and pilgrim in this world; a life that began with our Baptism through which we were washed, cleansed, given mercy, and uprooted from the world of darkness into the Kingdom of l...

Today is the Sunday of the Good Shepherd. In the Gospel of St. John 10, our Lord teaches, "I AM the Good Shepherd." Today we look at this teaching along with the 23rd Psalm to see what is revealed to us about the nature of Christ our Good Shepherd. We conclude with a few thoughts about how we are to live as the sheep who have been brought into His fold; living in this life as sheep to the Good She...

As is tradition each year in the Orthodox Church, on this day we hear the blessed Paschal homily once preached by St. John Chrysostom.

Today Fr. James Rooney teaches us the development of the Office of Matins. We look at Matins in the context of the entire prayer rhythm of the Church. We also look at the Matins service itself to learn why we pray what we pray as part of that rhythm.

How do we take our leave from such a profound week as Holy Week? How do we move on from here? Today we look at St. Thomas and the disciples' experience both after the crucifixion of their Master and after they experience the Resurrected Jesus Christ. These men had profound experiences of Christ for years as they journeyed with Him in His ministry. And yet, when Jesus was crucified they were still...

When our Lord gave up His Spirit, He immediately descended into the darkness of the prison for every soul up to that point called Hades. There the darkness gave way because the Light of the World had come. He broke asunder the gates of Hades and crushed the head of Satan, the serpent. And upon His Resurrection, the darkness of the tomb became brilliant with the Resurrection light. Tonight we consi...

Every Covenant of God with His people since creation was given to bring God's people deeper into the knowledge and mystery of Himself. The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the finalization of the final Covenant of God with His people. How are we to respond to God regarding this final and everlasting Covenant? As we gaze at the Cross, we consider what Christ has done and how we are to live being d...

Tonight is Maundy Thursday and the word "Maundy" means command. Tonight our Lord gives two commands. He takes bread and wine saying this is my Body and my Blood, do this in remembrance of Me. And, He washes His disciples' feet and commands them that they should do the same for one another. It is the command to receive love and mercy from Him and to become His love and mercy to all.

Today our Father in the Faith, His Eminence Metropolitan SABA, reminds us that in Holy Week we truly return to creation. In the Garden of Paradise, we were created in the image of God to grow in His likeness as we fellowshipped with Him and learned from Him. The finished work of Jesus Christ re-opened the gates of Paradise to us all. Through Him we may now ascend to our most true selves, that of t...

One of the many themes of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is that the suffering of One makes way for the healing of the many. The more we consider the suffering of Christ, the more we see just how far Christ lowered Himself so that we may be raised up. One of the great revelations Christ has given His Church is this: anything Christ joined Himself to and took within Himself becomes a means of...

The glorious Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the greatest examples of paradox. How could something so torturous be glorious? The Apostle St. Paul says "the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us it is the power of God unto salvation." St. Paul knew the paradox of the Cross. Tonight we look at the teachings of St. Cyprian regarding the depth of this parad...

On Palm Sundays, there are two services joined together as one. On this day we have the Blessing of the Palms and the Gospel is read regarding Christ's entrance into Jerusalem to go to His Passion. And in the Mass of the day, one of the Passion Gospels is read. So we have something festive and something sorrowful all at once set before us. The Jews welcomed Jesus crying out Hosanna which means "sa...