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ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Second Friday of Pascha: Why Were the Myrrh-Bearers the First to Hear that Christ Had Risen?

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 15, 2021 Metropolitan Avgoustinos (Kantiotis) of Florina († 2010) And he said to them: ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here…’ (Mark 16,6). When Christ was born, the first to hear of it weren’t the great, the powerful and the rich, but the humble and poor shepherds abiding in the fields with their flocks in Bethlehem. Similarly, when Christ rose,

The Fourth Thursday of Great Lent: God Tells Us a Story

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 3, 2016 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. (8:34-9:1) Human beings love stories. We need them. Our lives are populated with them.  Christianity is built on them. If they are in the New Testament we call them parables. Raised as a Southern Baptist child in the hills of Eastern Tennessee, we learned and memorized the stories of Adam and Eve, Moses and

God, the All-Vulnerable

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

The Eighth Day of Christmas Advent: Detach and Follow

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 22, 2019 The Gospel is according to Luke 5:1-11 Notice the way that Christ begins to teach Simon, James, and John the fishermen about the narrow path of self-emptying. He meets their needs and tells them what to do to find the fish that had eluded them all night. It brings Simon (later Peter) to a moment of self-realization. “Depart from me for I am a

Apostle James, the Brother of our Lord, First Bishop of Jerusalem

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on October 23, 2017 James W. Lillie Saint James was the son of Joseph the Betrothed from his (first) marriage. He was blessed by God while he was still in his mother’s womb and was so righteous in his life that all the Jews called him the “Just”. Even from a very early age, James lived a very ascetic life. He did not partake of wine or other strong drinks. In imitation of Saint

The Falling Asleep of Saint John the Evangelist and Theologian

Feast Day: September 26 John was the son of Zebedee the fisherman and Salome the daughter of Joseph, the betrothed of the Holy Theotokos. Called by the Lord Jesus, John immediately left his father and his fishermen’s nets and, with his brother James, followed Christ. From then on, he was not separated from his Lord until the end. With Peter and James, he was present at the raising of Jairus’s daughter and the Transfiguration of

Image and False Image

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 18, 2016 at St. Mary Orthodox Church. Holy Orthodoxy has a vision of human nature than is unrelentingly positive.  This vision originates in the biblical reference from Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Because this is so, to know the truth of who we are, is to know God. St. Clement of Alexandria wrote that, “…if one

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Third Tuesday of Pascha: Indifference

Adapted from a Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 16, 2021 Today we revisit the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of our Lord. Many of the familiar characters reappear. Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene, the mother of Joses, Mary the mother of James and Salome. Except for Pilate of course, the faithful and courageous followers of Jesus. Courage does not mean the absence of fear. Fear is very often the fuel for

The Ninth Day of Christmas: To See Him Face to Face

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 11, 2017  “The self resides in the face.” – Psychological Theorist, Sylvan Tompkins There is a thread running throughout the Scriptures that can be described as a “theology of the face.” In the Old Testament we hear a frequent refrain of “before Thy face,” and similar expressions. There are prayers beseeching God not to “hide His face.” Very clearly in Exodus, God tells Moses that “no one may see my face

The Sixteenth Day of Christmas Advent: St. Andrew—The First Called of the Apostles

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, November 30, 2021 He Was the First to Be Called—We are Called as Well The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”  The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.  Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?”  And they said to him,