Weekly Sermons
The Mystical Celebration of Joy
December 13, 2020
During this year of a pandemic, when we’ve all quarantined and separated ourselves from one another, it’s so hard to stay disconnected from people. Fellowship and communion with one another offer us life, and yet, the pandemic keeps us apart! Where do we find joy? Read more »
What is Success?
November 22, 2020
What is success? How many of us think that success depends on what we possess, on how much we have? Read more »
Do You Prove Neighbor to Others?
November 15, 2020
It’s interesting how Jesus changes the dynamic from focusing on understanding “Who is my neighbor” to “Which of these three people proved neighbor to the man in need?” Read more »
The Idolatry of Politics
November 08, 2020
As we come to a contentious conclusion of our presidential election, even though the aftermath of this divisiveness in our national politics may unfortunately continue, I really want to challenge all of us to take a step back and look deeply and honestly at ourselves and our actions over these past weeks and months. Read more »
How We Face the Future Without Fear - TOGETHER
October 31, 2020
Fear threatens to overwhelm us and endangers to divide us more and more from one another. It jeopardizes our sense of community and love for one another, leading us to bunker down into our own self-made shelters with people who are like minded. We keep away from the other, whom we fear. We separate ourselves from those whom we feel are different, and thus dangerous. Yet, fear is not from God! Read more »
Do We Welcome Christ or Turn Him Away?
October 25, 2020
If we would meet Christ in all his power, would we welcome Him, or would we turn Him away? Would we obey Him, or would we fear Him and ask Him to leave us alone? Read more »
26 Years in the Priesthood
October 18, 2020
Twenty-six years ago today, on the feast of my patron saint, Luke the Evangelist, I was ordained to the priesthood in Tirana, Albania by His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios. Read more »
What Type of Heart Do We Have?
October 11, 2020
How is it that in the same family, with the same upbringing, and with the same pious mother, siblings could end up on very different ends of the faith spectrum? Read more »
Living Out the Golden Rule
October 04, 2020
“Do unto others what you want them to do unto you.” The Golden Rule. Jesus basically said this rule summarizes the law and the prophets. Here is the spirit of our Orthodox Christian faith. Treating others the way we want to be treated. Read more »
Learning from St John the Evangelist
September 27, 2020
The Letter of Love. This is St. John the Evangelist’s beautiful letter which describes the divine love of God. “God is love. Whoever abides in love abides in God and God in him… There is no fear in love for perfect love casts out all fear... We are to love one another as God has loved us.” Read more »
Deny Yourself to Save Yourself
September 20, 2020
I recently read about the life of St Maximillian Kolbe, the Polish Catholic priest who died in the Auschwitz Nazi death camp during WW2. His story is one of truly “denying yourself, taking up one’s cross, and following Jesus Christ." Read more »
The Power of Love to Change the World
September 14, 2020
What is the greatest power in the world? Read more »
Will the Kingdom of God be Taken from Us?
September 07, 2020
“The kingdom of God will be taken from you!” What a harsh statement for Jesus to make. How could such a thing happen? Why would our Lord, who “desires every person to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth,” warn people he loves so much in such a stern and severe manner “The kingdom of God will be taken from you.” Read more »
What attachments affect our relationship with Christ?
August 31, 2020
What is something we feel attached to? Something that we wouldn’t want to lose or aren’t willing to give up? Well, today’s Gospel story has a challenging lesson about attachments. Read more »
The Power of Forgiveness
August 24, 2020
Whenever we are confronted in life with a choice to forgive or not forgive someone else, we are given a choice to experience the grace of life or the horror of death. By holding on to resentment, bitterness, anger, and even hatred, we open the door to misery and death in our own lives. Read more »
Discovering the Treasure of Faith
August 16, 2020
In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul describes the life of an apostle, the ultimate follower of Christ, as being, “last of all, sentenced to death, a spectacle to the world, fools for Christ's sake; we are weak, we are held in disrepute, we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad, buffeted, homeless, we labor working with our own hands, we are the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all.” Read more »
Our Need of Prayer
August 10, 2020
“Jesus dismissed the crowds and then went up into the hills by himself to pray” It’s a phrase that can easily be lost in the midst of the major events of the Gospel. Read more »
Honoring the Virgin Mary
August 03, 2020
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” These words offer a summary of the life of the Virgin Mary. Read more »
Today You Will be With Me In Paradise
July 25, 2020
The first person to enter paradise – who was he? The Virgin Mary? Saint Paul or Saint Peter? One of the other great saints of history? Who was the first person to enter into paradise? Read more »
Learning from Saint Maria of Paris
July 19, 2020
What can we learn from a nonconformist, chain-smoking, twice divorced Russian nun who scandalized many people with her non-traditional behavior? Read more »
Monthly Bulletin
Recent Sermons
DIVINE LOVE AND SEPTEMBER 11TH
September 11, 2024
“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” The call to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” is one of the most radical teaching of Jesus Christ and His Church, and yet, it is a teaching upon which we need to reflect today more than ever. Read more »
Our Orthodox Faith
The Meaning of Memorial Services