Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 23, 2016 Darkness and light are not opposites. They are equally parts of life, rising and falling like waves from the same ocean. St. John writes so beautifully that “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” He speaks of the human experience. Darkness is as much a part of life as light is and just as the light shines in
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes at Forgiveness Vespers at the start of Great Lent on Sunday, March 13, 2016 I always look forward to this night because it is so beautiful, so quiet, so peaceful, so instructive. We have begun the great fast again, and I’ve been thinking about it: every year we go through the Fast, we reach Pascha, we have a great celebration, and then we start life all over again as
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 26, 2017 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (6:14-21) As we prepare to begin the Great Fast, here are a few important points to remember. First, God is love, a kind and compassionate father to us. We must never forget that because love is the reason for all spiritual effort. “God does not love us because we are good, but because he
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 21, 2016 at St. Mary Orthodox Church. The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (14:22-34) The storm through which the Lord calmly and peacefully walked is a metaphor for the storms that rage inside of us. All scripture is metaphorical. The deepest meanings lie below the surface. There is a work usually ascribed to St. Symeon the New Theologian called “Three Forms of
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, June 12, 2016 Let me begin with a quote from Walt Whitman which could be said by every mystic in every tradition, “I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least.” And this by Fr. Thomas Hopko, “You can’t know God but you have to know him to know that.” Now to the reading. John’s Gospel reflects a cosmic and mystical
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 2, 2017 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. (10:32-45) James and John desired power. They wanted to sit at the right and left hands of the All-Powerful God, the Imperial Majesty on High, the Divine Potentate, the Inescapable and Invulnerable Judge. Jesus corrects them by asking a question. You may note in reading the Gospels that Jesus is much more into asking
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 5, 2017. The Publican stands on the threshold of mystery. He has arrived at the doorway of repentance. The things that have been carefully hidden inside him have begun to break free and he goes to the Temple to express his sorrow at a life lived poorly. “At the end of our life our questions are simple,” Jack Kornfield writes, “Did I live fully? Did I
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 7, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (5:1-15) Once upon a time, as all stories of this kind should begin, there were three demons that lived on the top of a fiery and smoky mountain. They got together one day to discuss something very important; how to make a royal mess of things for the human
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 25, 2016 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. (5:1-11) That is what happens in today’s Gospel reading. Peter comes face to face with God in Christ. It happens not all at once. Jesus reveals himself little by little. Peter could not have handled that any more than he could stare at the sun with
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, June 11, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30) Today I will focus only on one verse from the Gospel passage we read. “Everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father Who is in heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My
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