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Epiphany: Eureka!

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, January 10, 2021 Epiphany means: “a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something. An intuitive grasp of reality through a simple and striking event. An illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.” It is not only a religious term. It can refer to any other sphere of human interest as well. For example, there is the famous story of the Greek mathematician Archimedes who,

Converted to Love

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 11, 2018 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA.  The lawyer came to Jesus to put him to the test and then he found himself put to the test by Jesus. The Lord often did that. By answering a question with a question and following with a parable, Jesus sought to challenge and lead those he encountered to see God more clearly and discern more

A Life of Luminous Actions

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 29, 2017 Mystics like De Chardin believed that the luminous heart of Christ is the center of the cosmos. We agree, of course. Professor Jaroslav Pelikan said that the problem with modern theology is that it has lost sight of the Cosmic Christ. True Christianity always rests in the revelation that Christ is Forever and All-Encompassing. The reason we have forgotten him, I believe, is encapsulated

Two Dimensions

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 19, 2017 Let me preface my words with a quote from Thomas Merton. “Our real journey is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts.” There are two major themes that today’s parable of The Rich Fool touches upon, if indirectly. The first is that there is there is

More than a Religious Rule

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 30, 2018 The Golden Rule is not too hard for us. It is not unnatural or even extraordinary. For those who are created in the image of God, baptized into Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit, unmitigated compassion and kindness is normal. Every time we act in any way opposite to love we are acting against our own nature. That is what we call sin.

Extreme Humility and Radical Love

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 10, 2019 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.  Glory to Jesus Christ! The Gospel always gives us a glimpse into Christ’s Great Good Heart.  The Lord reveals to us His Father’s gracious will to heal and save all of creation by living among us an incarnate life and demonstrating in living color what it

Teachings (3)

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on November 13, 2021 Saint Nectarios of Pentapolis Love Seek love. Every day, ask God for love, because with love comes the whole host of other good things and virtues. Love and you’ll be loved by others. Give your whole heart to God, so that you may dwell in love. ‘Those who abide in love abide in God; and God abides in them’. (1 Jn. 4, 16). You must be very careful in your

The Perfectionist

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on December 16, 2021 Protopresbyter Themistoklis Mourtzanos ‘Don’t, out of vanity or sycophancy, insist on having your own way, quarrelling with and tormenting yourselves and your neighbor, just so that, afterwards, you can hear people saying that nobody can beat you’ (Abba Dorotheos) There are two ways of carrying out a task: with diligence which borders on perfectionism or with casualness, the ‘whatever’ approach. This is also true in human relationships. There are those

Projecting

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 4, 2016 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. “Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there.

Are there limits to human kindness?

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on November 15, 2021 Ioannis Karavidopoulos, Professor Emeritus of New Testament Hermeneutics, A. U. Th. It’s right and proper, if you’re in a hurry to get to work, to your office, or to go about your business that you should stop on the way and help somebody in need, even though you risk being late, losing out on something or even getting into trouble. Organization and the pace of life, a schedule and a