Redeeming The Time

The scriptures must be applied! We savor all four of the readings today, and discuss having the mind of Christ, "nice" Jesus (He does not exist in the church), always giving back when given a blessing, the complete and total absence of legalism or formalism in the church, and acquiring moral authority.

Fr. Seraphim Holland shares how the encounter of Jesus with Nicodemus teaches about baptism, the cross, the divinity and humanity of Jesus, and above all, how to think and live spiritually and why this is important. Our exegesis of this very important encounter covers these things, and always focuses on living spiritually. This is an important life skill, and the Gospel of John teaches it more than any other scripture

Fr. Seraphim Holland shares on Bright Wednesday. What will Jesus answer us if we asked him, as Andrew did, "Where are you staying?" We must ask this question and also respond to His answer, "Come and see," in a spiritual way. What is this way? Also: Why are the doors to the altar opened during Bright Week? And why are they closed on Saturday? How is the book of John different than every other book in the bible?

Fr. Seraphim Holland shares that the Resurrectional Gospel from Luke about the encounter of Jesus Christ with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus is read on Bright Tuesday. He discusses why this is read, even though the Gospel of John is read for almost every other day in the Pascha period, and that this encounter must be like our life. Our hearts must also burn. What is this "burning"?

On Bright Monday, at liturgy, Fr. Seraphim Holland shares some thoughts about the secret to triumphant Christian living which is contained in two lessons from the Paschal hymns. 1. Because of the resurrection, we are headed towards INCORRUPTION, and it is happening in us RIGHT NOW. 2. Even though life is messy, it is happening, RIGHT NOW. Also he explains how the fear of death leads to sin, but believing in the resurrection removes the fear of death, and therefore, sin, and the difference between Western understanding of the resurrection and the Orthodox understanding.

Fr. Serphim Holland shares a homily directly after the Resurrectional Gospel of Holy Saturday, proclaimed before the tomb. He looks at a few hymns from the Holy Saturday canon, which shows that the resurrection is happening now, in wounded people, and that Jesus Christ COMPLETELY identifies with wounded people - so to live in the resurrection - NOW - we must identify with Him.

Fr. Seraphim Holland reminds us that many people who praised Jesus when He entered Jerusalem a few days later condemned him, as a hymn from the service teaches: "First they sang in praise of Christ our God with branches, but then the ungrateful Jews seized Him and crucified Him on the cross. But with faith unchanging let us ever honor Him as Benefactor, crying always unto Him: Blessed art Thou that comest to call back Adam." How can we be different than them? It does not just happen by magic, or if we are passive. The epistle today tells us two necessities - inner prayer with rejoicing, and Christian morality. Philippians 4:4-9

Fr. Seraphim Holland compares the life of St. Mary of Egypt with the sinful woman who anointed the Lord’s feet. There is no sin that God will not forgive. The Gospel talks about love that must be present for repentance, and the life of St. Mary shows the process, that it is work, and that we must try harder. Luke 7:36-50

The discussion of the obedience of the Theotokos and how without obedience we have nothing. This is juxtaposed to the statement and lament of the man who had a child who was demon possessed: "Lord I believe, help my unbelief." Before belief is obedience. Before understanding is obedience. Before peace is obedience. We also talk about the Epistle to the Hebrews which discusses the Incarnation, and the scriptural account of the Annunciation. It is impossible to speak of the Theotokos without speaking of the Incarnation. Luke 1:39-49, 56; Mark 9:17-31; Hebrews 2:11-18

Fr. Seraphim Holland shares the homily on the Sunday of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross. The epistle today exhorts us: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace". Where does this boldness come from? The Gospel today explains: we must choose to take up our cross and follow Christ. We look at the readings today, and the hymn of the cross that we sing when we make prostrations: "Before Thy Cross, we bow down and worship O master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify!" in light of two spiritual principles: "First the cross then the resurrection," and "first obedience and then following, understanding." Hebrews 4:15-16, Mark 8:34-35,9-1

In the healing of the paralytic, Jesus first forgave the man’s sins. Why did He do it in this order? Why do bad things happen in the world? What is the greatest crisis in the world today? Understanding this healing answers all of those questions and gives us a way we should live. Mark 2:1-12

Why do we read the Gospel about the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) and the workers who came at the 11th hour for the 40 martyrs of Sebaste? Those workers can mean two things for us. One is a very comforting thought, and one is a frightening and realistic thought. Also, comments about the agenda of love, and the workers of the 11th hour.

The Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy celebrates the final restoration of icons. The veneration of icons teaches us two important things about Jesus and our faith — that God who is infinite, in the incarnation took on our finite human nature; and that in doing so, he made it possible for us to be like Him. The fact of the Incarnation leads us into an even greater and more compelling truth — that like the icons of the ancient Church, our human nature has been restored by Christ. This reality makes it possible for us to do what before was impossible; to be like God, to perfect that icon of God planted in our souls from the moment our creation. The lives of the saints testify to the possibility that we can become radically better, radically closer to God. If we can, why don't we? What reason do we have for not even trying?

The story of the Last Judgment from Matthew 25 makes it very clear that if we do not love we will not be saved. We will be helped to love if we know who we are and where we came from and where we are going. We look at two hymns from the Saturday commemoration of reposed which tell us these things, in particular, one which tells us that we are "on the border / between incorruption and mortality". Here are the hymns: Thou hast formed Adam with Thine hand, O Savior, / and set him on the border / between incorruption and mortality; / Thou hast made him share in life through grace, / freeing him from corruption / and translating him to the life that he enjoyed at first. / Give rest, O Master, to Thy servants Thou hast taken from us; / may they dwell with the righteous in the choir of the elect; / write their names in the book of life; / raise them with the sound of the Archangel’s trump, // and count them worthy of Thy heavenly kingdom. Christ is risen, / releasing from bondage Adam the first-formed man / and d

Fr. Seraphim Holland shares some reflections on one of the hymns for Meatfare Saturday, and the selection from 1 Thessalonians which talks about us being with the Lord after the second coming, and prayer for the dead. The hymn which he refers to is this: "Why does man deceive himself and boast? / Why does he trouble himself in vain? / For he is earth, and soon to the earth he will return. / Why does the dust not reflect that it is formed from clay, / and cast out as rottenness and corruption? / Yet though we men are clay, why do we cling so closely to the earth? / For if we are Christ’s kindred, / should we not run to Him, / leaving all this mortal and fleeting life, / and seeking the life incorruptible, / which is Christ Himself, // the illumination of our souls?" (From the Praises, Tone 8, Meatfare Saturday)

Fr. Seraphim Holland explains the parable of the Prodigal Son. The spiritual life of the Prodigal Son began when he "came to himself," and recognized his need for repentance. The same applied to Zacchaeus, to the Publican, and to all of us. In fact, the Christian life begins and continues in that spirit for all eternity. Sin is a kind of delusion, and coming to yourself means seeing the truth about yourself; seeing through the masks we put on to hide that truth. Luke 15:11-32

On the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, assistant priest Fr. Nicholas Park shares about how pride is the worst master.

A sermon by Priest Nicholas Park, fusing the "Witness" ("Martyr" means witness) of Zacchaeus the publican and the New Martyrs of Russia. Luke 19:1-10

During Fr. Seraphim Holland's visit to Kenya, he gave this talk on Confession, translated into Kikuyu, to priests and church leaders. He addressed the Orthodox view of sin and contrasted it with the typical Protestant/Roman Catholic view of sin. Everything we do in this life should be towards one thing only. He talked about the four components to confession, with the first being 99.99% of the importance. What is the major thing that happens in confession? How to prepare for confession How to be a confessor. Can a person go to anyone he wants for confession? About bad confessors. How to understand obedience to your confessor. Is confession always to a priest? How often should a person go to confession?

Just 6 minutes! Psalm 112 perfectly describes baptism and its most important result. At the baptism of Nonna, the last verse of this psalm is discussed along with the importance of and reason for struggling for virtue. If a person is Protestant and believed in faith only salvation, I beg them to listen to this short homily, and see how joyful Orthodox are that they are able to pursue virtue.