In the reading from the prophecy of Isaiah on the first day of the fast, we hear a word of caution. Our annual observance of times and seasons, our gatherings to worship, are not, in and of themselves, pleasing unto God. “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? Who requires of you this trampling…
Though we commonly call today “Forgiveness Sunday,” liturgically it is known as Cheesefare Sunday, or the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. As the last day before Lent, it is a day of preliminaries. Before Adam and Eve could find their way back from their fall, they had to leave the garden behind and know death and its consequences. We,…
A few weeks ago, on Zacchaeus Sunday, we marked the end of the Sundays after Pentecost. Then, with the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, we marked the end of the Nativity season. Now, with the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we mark the end of time itself. Today, and throughout this coming week, we are called to examine our conscience as if we were…
Perhaps the most obvious lesson of today’s Gospel is this: no matter how far we have strayed from home, the Father is always ready to run out and meet us the moment we turn back. During the Lenten season, may we all set aside our shame and turn home once more through the mystery of confession. “If we confess our sins”—fully and honestly—we…
Today we read the Gospel of the Publican and the Pharisee, and of course, if we must choose one, we should strive to follow the way of the Publican. But the hymns of the Lenten Triodion tell us that, in fact, we should imitate both: the Publican in his humility and repentance, the Pharisee in his piety and good works. This recalls the words of Our…
The feast of the Meeting of the Lord marks the end of the Nativity season. Forty days ago, we greeted the newborn King with the cry “Christ is born!” Now, forty days after his birth, the Lord comes to Jerusalem to be offered in the temple of the Law. Today he is redeemed for the price of two turtledoves, but at the end of the coming forty days…
Yesterday was the final Sunday “after Pentecost,” when we read the last of the Sunday lections from Saint Luke’s Gospel. And though we often think of Zacchaeus Sunday as pointing forward, toward Pre-Lent and Lent, it also sums up the entire Church year that has gone before: Christ has come so that the Good News of salvation can be preached…
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
I greet all of you with joy on the occasion of the patronal feast of our cathedral, the feast of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Saint Nicholas is known the world over; in some ways, he is the archetypal saint. He is known for his love, for his generosity, for his care for the…
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois
October 1, 2022
Your Eminences and Your Graces,
Your Grace Bishop Daniel,
Clergy and faithful of the Diocese of the Midwest,
I greet you with joy on this holy occasion. And I thank you all for your gracious hospitality.
I do not intend to speak at length, but I hope you will allow me to reflect briefly…
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois
October 1, 2022
Your Grace Bishop Daniel, I greet you today with joy, joy for you and joy for your flock. But it is not just I who have come to visit the cathedral for your enthronement.
The kontakion for today’s feast speaks of the holy hierarchs coming to stand together with us in the Church, praying…
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois
October 1, 2022
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Beloved brothers and beloved children in the Lord:
‘Today the Virgin stands in the midst of the Church, and with choirs of saints she invisibly prays to God for us. Angels with bishops worship, apostles and prophets…
I would like briefly to address the seminarians as they begin their new academic year.
Today, as we exalt the most precious and life-giving Cross, we see an instrument of torture and death that has been transformed, by the power of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection, into a instrument of victory over death, the world,…
Saint Nicholas Cathedral
Washington, DC
Assembled delegates,
I greet you with joy as many of our churches continue to celebrate the bright and life-giving Resurrection of Christ.
But this joy is mingled with weary sadness as the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags toward a fourth month of fighting.
As primate of the Orthodox Church in America, I…
Your Eminences, Your Graces,
Father Chad, faculty and staff of the seminary,
Members of the seminary board of trustees,
Students commencing and continuing,
Assembled clergy and faithful:
Christ is risen!
These commencement remarks are not a homily, but I would like to begin with the words of the Preacher—Solomon, son of David, king of…
Sunday of the Cross
Saint Innocent Cathedral
Anchorage, Alaska
March 27, 2022
Your Grace, I am filled with joy at your enthronement as the Bishop of Sitka and Alaska, the mother diocese of the Orthodox in America.
Saint Herman, the patron saint of our Church and our land, resides bodily in his relics on the territory of this diocese, territory…
Saint Innocent Cathedral
Anchorage, Alaska
March 27, 2022
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
On this Sunday of the Cross, the gospel reading is short. But each expression, if weighed carefully, has much to teach. The Gospel begins:
“When he had called the people to himself, with his disciples also.”
Speaking of…
Saint Mark Orthodox Church
Bethesda, Maryland
March 13, 2022
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Your Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin,
Your Grace, Bishop Daniel,
Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers,
Beloved Children in the Lord,
Today, as we celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we are reminded of the fundamental truth of…
February 20, 2022
Holy Annunciation Albanian Orthodox Church, Natick, Massachusetts
Luke 15:11-32
I Corinthians 6:12-20
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today, my beloved children in the Lord, we have heard the beautiful parable of the Prodigal Son, a parable which the Holy Fathers have called a “miniature…
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Saint Sergius Chapel, Syosset, NY
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today we have heard the seemingly straightforward but spiritually powerful parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. On the surface, the parable simply describes two men who went up to the temple to pray. The one, a…
Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
January 30, 2022
I offer my paternal congratulations to you, Father Chad, and also to all the faculty, staff, students, and other members of the seminary community, on this patronal feast day of the seminary Chapel. These two years, and counting, of COVID-inflected studies have been trying for our…