St Peters Orthodox Church

When the Blessed Virgin visits Elizabeth, who is far along in her pregnancy with St. John the Forerunner, St. John leaped in the womb of Elizabeth with joy at the presence of Christ. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." The Blessed Virgin responds the Magnificat, a great praise to God alone for what He has done for her. In the Magnificat, our Lord's Mother says that God has regarding the humility of His handmaiden. God was attracted by this humility. He turned His gaze to her due to her humility. Tonight we consider the humility that God regards and what it means that He turns His gaze to the humble.

God has given us many revelations regarding God the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. Yet, we will forever be growing in this mystery of Three Divine Persons yet one God. One of the revelations given to us is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in an undivided unity. We were created in His image according to His likeness which means we were created to exist in undivided unity both with our God and with one another. Today we consider our dwelling in an undivided unity and how God reveals Himself through that oneness to all of creation.

Today is the Feast of Pentecost and on this day the promised Holy Spirit is gifted to God's people. This morning we remember the Old Covenant Feast Day of Pentecost and how Christ fulfills it on this day. All those who are Baptized into Christ are given the great gift of God the Holy Spirit for the healing of our souls. But we are also given this gift so that, by that healing, we become the fragrance of Christ to all souls. We have become recipients, carriers, and deliverers of Christ our God to this present world. The more we allow Christ to heal our souls, the more His Living Water flows through us for the salvation of others.

Today is the Sunday after the Ascension of our Lord. We are in that time between His Ascension and the sending of God the Holy Spirit to us. On this day we look at the eternal ministry our Lord has taken on for us. He has become our Great High Priest forever. What great joy we should have that He eternally stands before the Father pleading for God's mercy to fall upon us all. At the same time, we are now waiting for this Great High Priest's return to bring every soul before the Father. How then shall we be about our waiting? This sermon offers teaching on both of these important topics.

When our Lord Jesus Christ Ascended into Heaven, the Angelic hosts were amazed at what they witnessed. For the first time since the fall of man, in Christ the second Adam, humanity entered Paradise. There in Christ our humanity is kept before the Father that we might be able to follow His path and ascend; returning to the Father and to the Paradise we were all created to enjoy. Tonight we let the Early Church Fathers teach us the incredible benefits Christ afforded us by His glorius Ascension.

In the Gospel of St. John 16 our Lord Jesus Christ tells His disciples, "Whatever you ask the Father in My Name He will give it to you. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." But what does it mean to ask the Father in Jesus' Name? This is such an important aspect of our life in Christ and speaks greatly to the fulfillment of our vocation as His Kingdom of Priests. Today we learn from the Early Church Fathers what it means to ask, to intercede before the Father in Jesus' Name.

After the Resurrection, Christ's disciples were elated to continue in fellowship with Him as He continued His ministry. Imagine their sadness when Jesus told them He was returning to the Father. To ease their sadness, He tells them that it is to their advantage that He returns to the Father. There was a greater experience of God to be had beyond their journey with Him thus far and this greater experience is for us as well. Jesus returned to the Father so that He may be with us and we with Him forever.

In 1 Peter 2, the Apostle teaches that we are to live as sojourners and pilgrims abstaining from fleshly lusts and letting our good works in Christ be used to the salvation of all. Today we consider this life of a sojourner and pilgrim in this world; a life that began with our Baptism through which we were washed, cleansed, given mercy, and uprooted from the world of darkness into the Kingdom of light and life. It is of utmost importance that we live in this world from our new and true identity as well as our citizenship in the Kingdom of God.

Today is the Sunday of the Good Shepherd. In the Gospel of St. John 10, our Lord teaches, "I AM the Good Shepherd." Today we look at this teaching along with the 23rd Psalm to see what is revealed to us about the nature of Christ our Good Shepherd. We conclude with a few thoughts about how we are to live as the sheep who have been brought into His fold; living in this life as sheep to the Good Shepherd.

As is tradition each year in the Orthodox Church, on this day we hear the blessed Paschal homily once preached by St. John Chrysostom.

Today Fr. James Rooney teaches us the development of the Office of Matins. We look at Matins in the context of the entire prayer rhythm of the Church. We also look at the Matins service itself to learn why we pray what we pray as part of that rhythm.

How do we take our leave from such a profound week as Holy Week? How do we move on from here? Today we look at St. Thomas and the disciples' experience both after the crucifixion of their Master and after they experience the Resurrected Jesus Christ. These men had profound experiences of Christ for years as they journeyed with Him in His ministry. And yet, when Jesus was crucified they were still filled with doubt and confusion. They needed further experiences of fellowship with their Lord and Savior. I think we will find that we are very much the same. Faith is living, always growing, and forever tied to relationship, union, with Christ our God.

When our Lord gave up His Spirit, He immediately descended into the darkness of the prison for every soul up to that point called Hades. There the darkness gave way because the Light of the World had come. He broke asunder the gates of Hades and crushed the head of Satan, the serpent. And upon His Resurrection, the darkness of the tomb became brilliant with the Resurrection light. Tonight we consider that Christ's descent into Hades and His Resurrection in the tomb is the story of us all. He has, at our Baptism, descended into our Hades to release us. And, the tomb of our soul is now filled with His life.

Every Covenant of God with His people since creation was given to bring God's people deeper into the knowledge and mystery of Himself. The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the finalization of the final Covenant of God with His people. How are we to respond to God regarding this final and everlasting Covenant? As we gaze at the Cross, we consider what Christ has done and how we are to live being drawn deeper to God through the Cross.

Tonight is Maundy Thursday and the word "Maundy" means command. Tonight our Lord gives two commands. He takes bread and wine saying this is my Body and my Blood, do this in remembrance of Me. And, He washes His disciples' feet and commands them that they should do the same for one another. It is the command to receive love and mercy from Him and to become His love and mercy to all.

Today our Father in the Faith, His Eminence Metropolitan SABA, reminds us that in Holy Week we truly return to creation. In the Garden of Paradise, we were created in the image of God to grow in His likeness as we fellowshipped with Him and learned from Him. The finished work of Jesus Christ re-opened the gates of Paradise to us all. Through Him we may now ascend to our most true selves, that of the likeness of God. God became man so that man might become like God.

One of the many themes of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is that the suffering of One makes way for the healing of the many. The more we consider the suffering of Christ, the more we see just how far Christ lowered Himself so that we may be raised up. One of the great revelations Christ has given His Church is this: anything Christ joined Himself to and took within Himself becomes a means of our salvation. As Christ suffers the deepest of human sufferings, He turns human suffering (something He never intended for humanity) on its head and makes it a means by which we can be healed and transformed.

The glorious Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the greatest examples of paradox. How could something so torturous be glorious? The Apostle St. Paul says "the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us it is the power of God unto salvation." St. Paul knew the paradox of the Cross. Tonight we look at the teachings of St. Cyprian regarding the depth of this paradox and how it reveals to us so clearly the full extent of the love of God for us all.

On Palm Sundays, there are two services joined together as one. On this day we have the Blessing of the Palms and the Gospel is read regarding Christ's entrance into Jerusalem to go to His Passion. And in the Mass of the day, one of the Passion Gospels is read. So we have something festive and something sorrowful all at once set before us. The Jews welcomed Jesus crying out Hosanna which means "save us." But they misunderstood the salvation Christ came to offer all, for it was not an earthly but an eternal salvation He came to grant to us all. But we know why He entered Jerusalem. So we do rejoice rightly. But at the same time, we cry out "save us" from humble hearts knowing our need for mercy; the mercy His blood would be shed to eternally pour over every one of us.

Today is Passion Sunday marking a significant turn toward the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The iconography and all images of our Lord Jesus Christ are hidden from us. Why would our Lord give us this prescription for the last two weeks of Lent? Today, as we consider this question, we find that it has everything to do with the true sense of remembrance by God's grace in His Church. There is something to be experienced in the hiddenness of our Lord and today we set ourselves to walk these final two weeks of Lents that we might encounter Him in His hiddenness.