Monthly Reflections from Fr. Antony Hughes

Fr. Antony reading the Gospel In every edition of our parish's newsletter, Fr. Antony offers a short, but inspiring message to complement the activities, minsitries, and current events of the life of the church.  Below is a collection of these messages.

January 2007

I have been deeply moved by the stories Fr. Timothy Ferguson brought back from his trip to the Holy Land. The terrible plight of the Palestinian people comes alive when he speaks. Of course, the American media does not report the systematic injustices they suffer day in and day out. Read more »
 

December 2006

Would you like to make the Christmas Season holy? Attend to your soul. Fast and pray. Cultivate watchfulness, love, kindness, patience, peace and the love of silence in your hearts and Christmas will be holy. Read more »
 

November 2006

Every member of the church is a part of the Body of Christ. When we gather together we are not always aware of that truth. We need to make ourselves aware. We need to remember. The purpose of all the preparatory work we are supposed to do before we receive the Eucharist is largely to awaken our mindfulness of the Body of Christ and our very real place in it. Perhaps this is what St. Paul meant when he told the Corinthians that many of them were sick because they didn't receive the Eucharist mindfully. Read more »
 

October 2006

Since we are in the season of the Elevation of the Cross and we hear the words of Christ, deny yourselves, we need to consider what the self is that we need to deny. Although it goes against the grain of our usual way of thinking, we must come to acknowledge that the self is not solid and unchanging/ Read more »
 

September 2006

Several times Jesus compares faith to a mustard seed, the tiniest of seeds. With faith as small as that one can move mountains. He spoke in this way because the people who were listening would understand. Read more »
 

August 2006

The liturgical year is drawing to a close. For my family and I, it is our thirteenth year in Cambridge. It has been the happiest time of our lives. From the moment we arrived, we knew that God was with us and that He sent us to this place. That knowledge has been confirmed time and time again. Read more »
 

June 2006

Healing is a complicated matter. It involves every aspect of the human person. The body cannot be well if the mind is sick. Mind, body, and spirit are so interconnected that one affects the other directly. It is significant that Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed. If we do not want to be healed, then we will never experience healing even if it comes. Read more »
 

May 2006

Every moment is filled with grace. He who is in all places and fills all things has issued an open invitation to all of us to rest in Him. It is an invitation to real life, to the kingdom within you. The door is wide open; but our eyes unfortunately are not. Read more »
 

April 2006

Christ is Risen! It may seem odd to talk about death on the Feast of Pascha, but it isn't really. After all, without death there can be no resurrection. Orthodox spiritual writers throughout history have counseled that Christians remember death each day. It helps put everything into proper perspective and reminds us of the things that are important in life. Read more »
 

March 2006

In order to become spiritually active, it is absolutely essential that we learn to be and to love silence. Be still and know that I am God is not a suggestion; it is something we need to incorporate in our daily lives. Read more »
 

February 2006

Light is a major theme in Holy Orthodoxy as it is in all the great religions of the world. It is a sign of God's presence, of human holiness, of warmth, goodness, love, safety, and truth. In Orthodox spirituality light becomes the evidence that a man or woman has become one with God. Read more »
 

January 2006

The Great Feast of Epiphany celebrates the revelation of God, the Holy Trinity, and the blessing of creation. By the Holy Spirit all things are filled with Divine Grace for He is the One who is everywhere present and fills all things. Do we understand the implications of those words we pray so very often at the beginning of liturgical services and in our personal devotions? Read more »
 

December 2005

Christ is Born! Christmas is all about renewal and restoration. Something essential that was lost is recovered in the birth of the Son of God which we call the Incarnation, the enfleshment of God. What was lost and is found is the possibility of the unthinkable: intimacy on the most visceral level with the unapproachable God. Read more »
 

November 2005

I remember my first visit to an Orthodox Church. It was in Tulsa, Oklahoma on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and I was not prepared for what I was about to experience. From the moment I entered that little converted billiard hall I knew I had left behind everything familiar to me as church. Read more »
 

October 2005

The horror of Katrina surely has affected all of us. Images of death and devastation on the Gulf Coast and in the city of New Orleans that have largely impacted the poorest among our citizenry cannot fail to move us deeply unless our hearts are hardened to the suffering of others. Read more »
 

September 2005

I write to you on the Feast of the Dormition of our Most Gracious Lady and send greetings to all! Except for a week's vacation the last week of August, my summer travels are over. I am happy to be home with you again and am looking forward to the beginning of the Liturgical New Year (September 1) and the return of our community from the summer diaspora. Read more »
 

August 2005

We have been blessed at St. Mary's with a number of young men, including seminarians, who have been ordained to serve God in the Holy Priesthood. Unfortunately, they are often allowed to stay only a short while before being called to serve in a parish of their own, but each has made an impression on our community. Read more »
 

June 2005

It is love that moved God to create and that moves him to sustain creation. It is love that moved Him to send His Only-Begotten Son into the world. It is love that moved the Father to send His All-Holy Spirit to live and move in and among us. It is love that formed the Church. It is by love that we are known to be His disciples. Without love we are nothing. Read more »
 

May 2005

Greetings during this most beuatiful Paschal Season! Let us be eternally grateful to God for blessing us with resurrection, with forgiveness, with incomparable grace and boundless mercy. The Light from the Empty Tomb has filled our hearts and minds with joy and peace. Read more »
 

April 2005

It should come as no surprise to any of us that this understanding is actually one of the fruits of the Lenten springtime: we need frequent reminders that we are not the center of the universe, and that we may be skating on much thinner ice than we had previously imagined. Read more »