Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 22, 2020 Jesus brought to us a unique Gospel. A new way of seeing. A new way of living. It is not the way we are used to. Not the way we are taught to think, see and live in our culture. It is a mistake to believe that Christ confirms the way we live as his own. When we do find ourselves in a dead-end.
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 15, 2021 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. The scripture readings today are extremely significant and apropos to the day. Saint Paul’s talking about self-emptying: The Kenosis of Jesus Christ, who came to the world, giving up all His divine prerogative to become one of us and save us in
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, Sunday, August 6, 2023 In my reading this week I came across a wonderful quote perfect for a sermon today on the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. It is by Marcus Borg a Protestant biblical scholar with an academic perspective most Orthodox would avoid. No, I do not agree with everything he says, but in his teaching lie
Sermon preached on Sunday, August 14, 2022 by Fr. Antony Hughes for the Feast of the Dormition A long time ago when my family left our Baptist church we ended up at the Presbyterian church just a few blocks away. It was there that I heard the first sermon about the Virgin Mary. It startled me. The pastor just as plain as day preached that there was nothing special about her. Any girl or woman
~Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, January 24, 2021 Around our Lord was an aura of welcome. “Come to Me,” he said. “Let the children come and do not hinder them,” he told his disciples. The Samaritan Woman came, Zacchaeus came, Jairus came on behalf of his daughter, the Syro-Phoenician Woman for her son, the lepers came for themselves. Even the Pharisees came albeit to challenge him, but in their challenge, I think, there was
~Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, January 31, 2021 What we see today is a miracle of the highest order. Khalil Gibran defines this miracle in a line of poetry. “The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.” The soul of Zacchaeus was closed. Trapped in a prison built with iron bars. Born into a family of Jewish tax collectors he had no choice but to become one himself. That was
~Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 14, 2021 I think we Orthodox priests are far too reticent to speak about contemporary issues in our sermons. Perhaps it is because, for the most part, we don’t like to dally with politics. Some, of course, do with great gusto. But in this time when everything is politicized, it is hard to find a way to speak that doesn’t sound partisan. Still, the Gospel must
Sermon preached on Sunday, September 18, 2022 by Fr. Antony Hughes I discovered something in the Gospel reading a few Sundays ago I had never noticed before. (Matthew 19:16-26) A young man kneels before Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life.” Jesus answers, “Obey the commandments” to which the lawyer replies, “Which ones?” Now, you might think that the Lord would simply recite the Ten Commandments and be done with it.
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, January 23, 2022 I love the image we see of God at the beginning of the Genesis story of the creation. Let’s read Genesis 1:2. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2) An interesting point that demonstrates the metaphorical nature of the story is that God is said
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 6, 2022 The woman with the issue of blood suffered with her ailment for 12 years. Jairus’ daughter died at the age of 12. That’s an interesting detail. Was it a deliberate move by the author or authors? Or a coincidence? Who knows? Whether one or the other the number twelve appears often in Holy Scripture signifying wholeness and the power and authority of God. Jesus,
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