Sermon on the Mount Archives

The Fourth Thursday of Great Lent. Charity and Lent

03/19/2026

Protopresbyter Antonios Christou Dear readers, Great Lent is a time of strenuous, spiritual struggle with ourselves (less sleep, less nutrition, less ease and preoccupation with things we like doing, greater participation in the services and prayers, and so on). I don’t know, however, whether we truly realize the extent to which another fundamental aim is charity towards others. Apart from the general principle expressed in the Sermon on the Mount (‘Blessed are the merciful* for

Love is the Criterion of Faith and Works

06/26/2025

Georgios Patronos, Emeritus Professor of Theology, University of Athens The Gospel reading for 2nd Luke comes from the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, in which almost all Jesus’ teaching during his public ministry is gathered together, emphasis is placed on the overall context of the Christian life. Here, in the Gospel according to Saint Luke, in which events are set out in their historical time-line, that is in the order in

The First Thursday of Great Lent. Charity and Lent

03/06/2025

Sermon on the Mount: Blessed Are the Merciful

08/18/2020

Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. —Matthew 5:7 I believe with all my heart that mercy and forgiveness are the whole Gospel. The Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79) says we’ll have knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sin (1:77). The experience of forgiveness or mercy is the experience of a magnanimous God who loves out of total gratuitousness. There’s no tit for tat. Grace isn’t for sale. That is the symbolism of Jesus

Sermon on the Mount: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

07/28/2020

Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted. —Matthew 5:4 Tears are therapeutic and healing, both emotionally and physically. Crying helps the body shed stress hormones and stimulates endorphins. Weeping is a natural and essential part of being human. Eknath Easwaran writes: We can spend the better part of our lives attempting to construct the perfect personal environment, a kind of bubble that will insulate us against everything that is unpleasant. But sorrow is woven

Sermon on the Mount: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

07/21/2020

The Sermon on the Mount is the very blueprint for Christian lifestyle, and most scholars see it as the best summary of Jesus’ teaching. But we can’t understand this wisdom with the rational, dualistic mind; in fact, we will largely misunderstand it while convinced that we got it on the first try. As we saw last week, Jesus taught an alternative wisdom—the Reign of God—which overturns the conventional and common trust in power, possessions, and

The Third Thursday of Great Lent. Great Lent: Spiritual Reform School

03/19/2020

By Father John Parker, February 27, 2018 I still hear, from time to time (though less frequently), “What are you giving up for Lent”? I’m glad that it is still ‘out there’—the idea that there is a season during which someone might actually abstain from something. Abstinence of any sort is usually trampled upon in our day. Self-indulgence (because, after all, ‘you deserve it’), generally reigns. One could summarize the 40 Days of the Great Lenten Fast

The Right Choice

01/31/2020

Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 23, 2015 “If you come to a fork in the road – take it.” – Yogi Berra Nothing is more common in our day than making choices. Our culture celebrates the freedom we have in our choices and points to this as a hallmark of its greatness. Contemporary Christianity echoes the same theme and urges us to “choose Jesus.” But strangely, choice is not a fundamental part of Christian virtue –

The Law and Grace

10/04/2016

Paul’s letters to the Romans and Galatians are a tour de force on the pure meaning of grace and the serious limitations of morality and religion to lead you to God. “Cursed be the law,” Paul even says (Galatians 3:13). No wonder he has been called a “moral anarchist” by people who are still seeking any well-disguised path of “self-realization.” But it seems Christianity has paid little heed to Paul’s revolutionary message, or even to

Integrity

06/24/2015

By Father Stanley Harakas It isn’t very often that we hear the word “integrity” in the religious language of our Greek Orthodox Church. Yet, if we scratch the surface, we will discover profound meanings that speak directly to the way we are to be and to live our Orthodox Christian life. We can start with its dictionary meanings. My Greek-English dictionary uses two words to provide the equivalent of the English word “integrity.” And both

Archive

The Fourth Thursday of Great Lent. Charity and Lent

Love is the Criterion of Faith and Works

The First Thursday of Great Lent. Charity and Lent

Sermon on the Mount: Blessed Are the Merciful

Sermon on the Mount: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Sermon on the Mount: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

The Third Thursday of Great Lent. Great Lent: Spiritual Reform School

The Right Choice

The Law and Grace

Integrity

Categories

Archives

View Our Live Stream Services

Keep In Touch

Stewardship Application

Daily Meditations

Worship Schedule

Light a Virtual Candle

Text-to-Give in 2 easy steps!

1) Text 202-899-7801 to include your donation amount

2) Follow the link to complete the one-time registration