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The Thirtieth Day of Christmas Advent: A Burning Passion for Humanity

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 19, 2021 The primary reason for making our way through Matthew’s Genealogy is to affirm that the Word and Son of God has a human face and human ancestry. A “human face” so that we can look upon him and a human history to confirm that the Son of God became truly one of us. This Gospel reading is a resounding proclamation of our belief in

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Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 4, 2020 I have a beautiful little story to tell you. It comes from a teacher of English as a Second Language in Illinois who happens to be the niece of my dear friend Dr. Anthony Bashir. It seemed like a great day for it given the Gospel reading from Luke. Nicole’s class has many Chinese students some of whom are not Christian even though the

The Fifth Tuesday of Great Lent: The Way of Detachment

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 19, 2018 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. The Reading is from Matthew 19:16-26 The way the young man addressed Jesus met with a mild rebuke. He calls him “Good Teacher” and the Lord replies, “Why do you call me good? There is only one who is good and that is God.” Jesus is referring to the Father from who all goodness comes. Jesus

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: Recommitting to the Gospel

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 6, 2020 In the year 313 AD an imperial edict proclaimed Christianity to be the preeminent religion of the empire. Something was lost in that moment. I am not the first to say it, nor will I be the last. What was largely lost was the prophetic voice of the Church. The Church was from the beginning a counter-cultural movement. It became an arm of the

They Are in the Book

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 3, 2021. We are not under attack in this country for believing the Gospel, but for not living it. We say we love and then we condemn. We say we follow Christ and yet through our actions we betray him. We say we follow the Gospel and then we pollute it with politics and worldly agendas. The poor, lowly Christ becomes a tool for amassing wealth and

The Friday before Pentecost: A Little Pentecost at Every Liturgy

And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, ”Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fourth Thursday of Pascha: Thoughts on God and His Life-Giving Love

By Michael Haldas, Quotes of the Day for April 30, 2020 “‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (John 17:24)’” How do we describe the spiritual state of the person who avoids condemnation on the Day of Judgment? The Lord affirms in verse 24 that those who hear and believe in Him have

The Seventh Day of Christmas. New Year’s Eve, 2020

THE WORLD OF THE GOSPELS was not too different from ours. Even in our day of airport screenings and frequent arrests, behind barricades of military buildup and international alliances, in spite of all our advanced defense technologies, we know our world is precarious and can collapse as suddenly as the Twin Towers. Our only security is in God: God with us. John wrote to those in his community to encourage them in an anxious time.

Call No Man Father

By Abbot Tryphon, October 31, 2019  And do not be called teachers “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:9).” Recently someone called me

Reality Is Communion

In the beginning God says, “Let us make humanity in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves” (Genesis 1:26). The use of the plural pronoun here seems to be an amazing, deep time intuition of what Christians would later call the Trinity—the revelation of the nature of God as community, as relationship itself, a Mystery of perfect giving and perfect receiving, both within God and outside of God. The Body of Christ is another metaphor for