Sermons & Homilies
Since our entry into the Orthodox Church—that is, since our unification to the very Body of Christ through Holy Baptism or Chrismation—Christ and His Holy Spirit have come to dwell within the depths of our hearts, together with the Father.
The saints teach us this incredible reality and grace of God; satan is dethroned from our hearts, and is cast out from our midst, able only now to tempt us from the outside; and Christ is seated once again as rightful King upon His throne, the human heart.
Today we honor the Mother of God, the Theotokos, who was born to barren Anna. Her honor comes not only from the height of her virtuous life but also on account of being chosen by God to give birth to God in the flesh. It was she who, as St. Gregory Palamas said, stands “between God and every race of men, she made God the Son of man, and men the sons of God.”2 In this manner, then, we can understand what Elizabeth meant when she says to her cousin “Blessed are you among women”...
We have come to the end of the Church year. Today, we commemorate the last notable feast of the whole Church year, the Beheading of the honorable and glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John. The holy Baptist came preaching: Behold the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world; prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and all the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places into plains. Whoever we are, wherever we are, at all times, places and circumstances, we always need to seek repentance...
“God became Man, that man might become god!” All of us are familiar with this saying; in fact, maybe too familiar. Maybe, amongst us Orthodox, it has become like a party-banner which we wave before the non-Orthodox—if not in deed but only in mind.
This saying was fulfilled by Christ when He became incarnate, suffered, died, was buried, rose again and ascended to sit with our human nature upon His Father’s throne far above all the heavens of angels. Since that time, man has become god, but only in potential. But today, these words find their fulfillment in actuality; for the Mother of God has been translated also to that throne...
