Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 26, 2024 A verse from the Paschal Gospel stood out to me in a way I had never seen before. John writes, “He was in the world and though the world was made by him the world did not know him.” The Logos, the Word of God has always been here loving and saving his creation even though we did not know it. And he remains
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes for the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Thursday, December 24, 2015. Listening to the hymns of the [Christmas] Vesperal Liturgy, the Royal Hours, and of Matins, I was struck by some extremely beautiful things, which spoke of the openness of God towards his creation; of his love and compassion for all his creation, for the entire universe, is wrapped up in the
By Fr. Vasile Tudora Everyone’s favorite time of the year is the period before Christmas, when the air is filled with joy, peace and expectation. We are blessed to live in a country that looks forward to Christmas although we might seem to have lost some of its meaning along the way. We have radio stations that air carols without ceasing, exalting the season, although many of them speak about snow, jolly figures carrying gifts,
By Archimandrite Nikanor Karayannis, 20 December 2021 The feast of Christmas, which is approaching, invites us to experience the mystery of God’s coming to earth. This advent is a fundamental starting-point which deepens the meaning of our life and existence and renews our faith and hope in the living presence of God in and around us. The Church triumphantly proclaims that God has become human so that we can become gods. This truth shines a light
On the second day of the feast, the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated. Combining the hymns of the Nativity with those celebrating the Mother of God, the Church points to Mary as the one through whom the Incarnation was made possible. His humanity—concretely and historically—is the humanity He received from Mary. His body is, first of all, her body. His life is her life. This feast, the assembly in honor of the
By His Grace Bishop John Abdalah As Orthodox Christians, we greet one another with this confident exclamation during the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord. With this seasonal greeting we affirm that Jesus, who took on flesh and was born into our world, is indeed the Christ, and worthy of glorification. This greeting is unlike other seasonal greetings about being merry (Christmas), glad (tidings), or happy (holidays). Not that I have any trouble with
By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, December 24, 2018 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. John 1:14 The Gospel accounts of the Nativity are limited to a mere forty verses. In the Gospel of Matthew, there are 19 verses about the Nativity. The Gospel of Luke has 20. The Gospel of Mark makes no mention of the Nativity. It begins with the Baptism of Christ. The Gospel of John
By Fr. Vasile Tudora As we approach the holy night of Nativity, comes a time when we ask ourselves the timeless question: what do I want for Christmas? If one looks around, generally electronics are popular with men, jewelry with women, gaming consoles with teens, and so on; as we could expect, mostly material things. I have yet to hear one answering, “I want the gift of prayer,” or of spiritual discernment, or unwavering faith.
By Fr. Vasile Tudora Everyone’s favorite time of the year is the period before Christmas, when the air is filled with joy, peace and expectation. We are blessed to live in a country that looks forward to Christmas although we might seem to have lost some of its meaning along the way. We have radio stations that air carols without ceasing, exalting the season, although many of them speak about snow, jolly figures carrying gifts,
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes for the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Thursday, December 24, 2015. Listening to the hymns of the Vesperal Liturgy, the Royal Hours, and of Matins today, I was struck by some extremely beautiful things, which spoke of the openness of God towards his creation; of his love and compassion for all his creation, for the entire universe, is wrapped up in the
© 2020 Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
