Saint Nicholas Cathedral
September 2, 2025
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In today’s Gospel, we hear of the calling of the apostles, and we are reminded of the ragtag and varied group of men that our Lord called to his service: Peter, bold but wavering; the thunderous John and James; Matthew, the former tax collector; Judas, the betrayer.
Through this motley assembly, however, the Lord not only worked for the good of the people, sending the apostolic band out to heal and exorcize. He also assured that, through the Twelve, the Gospel would be preached to the ends of the earth, bringing the Good News to people across the world and throughout times to come.
As the Lord once made tax collectors and fishermen into apostles, so he continues to transform the lives of ordinary, sinful people, making them into disciples, witnesses, and saints. Moreover, just as the apostolic company was made up of men of diverse trades and various temperaments, so does he bring different personalities and talents together in the Church, so that we may all use our gifts for the upbuilding of one another.
This is true of each community, each parish or monastery or mission. It is also true for the successors of the apostles in each local Church, the episcopate. And the principle extends to the family of local autocephalous sister Churches. Each local Church has its own personality, its own gifts, but we are called to work together in order to preach the Gospel to all peoples, in all places, in all tongues.
The image of the apostles in today’s Gospel further reminds us that this work, though of eternal significance, takes place in a specific context. The disciples, sent out by the Lord, went “through the towns” (Lk. 9:6). Each autocephalous Church, its hierarchy, and its members, have a specific local environment for their ministry, and we are all called to be faithful in that context while adhering to the universal Tradition and unchanging Faith and also while learning from one another’s particular ecclesiastical experience.
Today, as I have the joy of concelebrating with my brother in Christ, His Beatitude Archbishop Stefan of Ohrid, I am filled with hope and zeal as I contemplate this truth. I pray that today’s concelebration is only the beginning of a good and bright relationship between the Orthodox Church in America and the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric. I pray that our sister Churches may enrich each other with our respective unique gifts, collaborating and assisting one another for the greater glory of God and the proclamation of his kingdom.
In the very epistle reading appointed for today, the Apostle Paul himself commends the generosity and hospitality of the Macedonians as an example for the Corinthians to whom he is writing. Today, we likewise look to the Macedonian Orthodox bishops, clergy, monastics, and faithful to be our inspiration in fulfilling the Gospel of Christ and the ministering to the saints.
As a further blessing for us, we are privileged today to receive the visit of the wonderworking Hawaiian Iveron icon of the Mother of God. The wonders of God, the marvels worked by the prayers of the Theotokos, are not something historical or theoretical: they are real and present.
Therefore, let the presence of this icon be a reminder for us always to flee to the protection of the most holy Theotokos, asking for her prayers in every circumstances. Our Lord says that without him, we can do nothing, and if we want our prayers to reach the Lord, we have no better advocate than the most pure Mother of God.
Following in the ways of the apostles, relying on the prayers of the Mother of God, let us give thanks to the Lord for this day and every day which he has made, until, by his grace, we attain unto the day that knows no end, the day of his kingdom: of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to whom are due all glory and adoration, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.