Sermons from St. Mary Church

Working Out Our Salvation

November 15, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
This is the truth we must ignore every time we are cruel to one another, or ignore one another, or become defensive, or abuse ourselves or our neighbors in some fashion. Interconnectedness is the foundation of the Great Commandment to love for there is in truth no separation between us and God, between you and me, between us and them. All divisions are creations of our minds.
 

Love is My Name

November 08, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
Jairus’ 12 year old daughter was dead. Jesus, seeing the anguish of her father, brought her back to life. The Lord did not inquire about his or her worthiness or piety or anything else. Seeing the father’s anguish, Jesus responded with compassion. There were no conditions, no requirements, no legal hoops for Jairus to leap through. The Lord was not much for jumping through hoops.
 

The Rich Man and Lazarus

November 01, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
Fr. Antony tells us how important it is to share God's love and mercy with others. This is what the rich man was not able to do.
 

The Gadarene Demoniac in Context

October 25, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
Every person and situation Jesus met in the Gospels was unique and merited the Lord’s undivided attention and he gave it. I always wonder about the details scripture leaves out. What happened between the Gadarene man after his healing while the herdsmen were rushing after their pigs?
 

True Self, False Self

October 18, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
The true self, the image is free and unencumbered by anything. A true believer Jesus says is like the Spirit and the wind 'blows where it wills.' Utterly liberated from the things that hinder most of us - our past, our sins, our fears, our desires and the whole plethora of things that condition us from our youth up – the Samaritan does the work of God. When we experience this unmitigated freedom, we know that the Spirit of God is moving in us. When we feel ourselves constricted and unable to respond with compassion, we know that the false self is leading the way.
 

The Good and Empty Heart

October 11, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
The Lord Jesus speaks to us today about soil. Soil represents the internal state of heart and mind. Are we open and receptive, which is another way to say are we 'empty', is there any room in us for God or are we too filled with ourselves to receive him?
 

The Golden Rule

October 05, 2015 - by Fr. Nicholas Manikas
Aristides, a greek pagan philosopher, in defending the Christians during the persecutions of Hadrian the emperor of Rome in the 2nd Century, said these words. He said, Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows. They save orphans from those who would hurt them. If a Christian person has something he gives to the person who has nothing.
 

Bearing Witness to the Testimony of Jesus Christ

September 27, 2015 - by Bishop John
Fisherman were simple people, but they weren't stupid. They knew from generations and generations of being fisherman when there are no fish. But the fish came and filled the nets in abundance because the creator called them, and the fish obeyed. The fish bore witness to the testimony of Jesus Christ.
 

The Way of the Cross

September 20, 2015 - by Dn. Jeff Smith
To be honest, I never really liked sermons about the cross. They always went to dark places, and I was always more interested in the light. But the thing is, you can’t really get to the resurrection without the cross. It’s at the cross that we see God at his most humble and the living example of voluntary suffering.
 

The Kingdom May Be Compared To

September 06, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
Jesus pointedly tells his disciples that the kingdom of heaven is within. And what do we usually find when we first look within? Chaos! In a work ascribed to St. Simeon the New Theologian entitled 'Three Types of Prayer' his readers are instructed not to become discouraged when they turn their awareness inside and find chaos! He encourages them to keep at it and watch as chaos gives way to open space.
 

What is Your Addiction?

August 23, 2015 - by Fr. Nicholas Manikas
What is the one thing that keeps you from coming close to God? What vice or fault is keeping you away? The rich man in today's Gospel refused Christ's challenge. He heard it, turned around, and then went home. He didn't take the challenge; he was not willing to take the risk. He decided to remain in the familiar surrounding of his own obsession.
 

Do Not Betray the Image of God Within You

August 16, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
The king in the Lord’s story is more like us than he is like God. He is merciful at first and then later on and at the point the majority of us would cheer as the evil servant gets what’s coming to him, a vengeful part takes over. So, instead of being like God the Always Compassionate, the king here is more like me, the sometimes compassionate.
 

After the Transfiguration

August 09, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
Right after the Transfiguration we are invited to contemplate the story of the father, his epileptic son and the faithlessness of the apostles. It is on the one hand a touching story of the father’s desperate love for his child. On the other it is about the inability of his apostles to comprehend the message Jesus had been trying to teach them.
 

Reception of New Antimins and a Supplication Service to St. Raphael

July 05, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
On July 5, Fr. Antony presented the new Antimins to our congregation and spoke briefly about St. Raphael, whose relic is sewn into the Antimins. We then prayed a supplication service to St. Raphael to intercede on our behalf to God.
 

There Must Have Been Something

June 14, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
This statement intrigues me: 'they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.' Does that make any sense? They had families to provide for and, as we know, Middle Eastern families have very strong ties. But they left 'immediately' we are told. There must have been something special about these men that allowed for such spontaneity.
 

There Are Only Enlightened Actions

June 07, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
At every theophany from the creation to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit appears in ungraspable forms: wind, fire, smoke, earthquake. Even the famous dove at the Lord’s baptism is not a tangible, winged creature. He descended 'in the likeness of a dove.' It is impossible to cling to any of these forms. You cannot hold wind, or smoke, or fire, or the movement of the earth. The Holy Spirit is free, like the wind. We are to become free, just like the Spirit. To be free, we must let go of our attachments.
 

The God Who Is and We Who Are

May 25, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
The Gospel reading today is called the Farewell Prayer and comes at the end of the Lord’s discourse to his apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper and is called the Farewell Discourse. The Farewell Discourse is punctuated several times by a reiteration of what is called the Lord’s 'New Commandment': 'Love one another as I have loved you.' The 'new' part of that commandment is not 'love one another.' There was nothing 'new' about that. The 'new' part was the how of it. 'As I have loved you.' That was new.
 

God in Disguises: Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

May 10, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
Today Christ meets the Samaritan Woman and sees in her the icon of himself. She is one of the very least of the brethren and, as we know, he and the least of the brethren are one. Could it be that Christ saw himself in her?
 

The Cure Called Compassion

May 04, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
Curiosity and compassion brought healing to the Paralytic. They are companions. 'Do you want to be healed,' Jesus asked. Divine curiosity. Although God knows all things about us he does not force us to reveal them. That is why Jesus asked questions. Not to force information out of a person, but as an invitation to a dialogue that often led to healing and transformation.
 

Touching Wounds, His and Ours

April 19, 2015 - by Fr. Antony Hughes
I have not always understood Thomas. I think there are several reasons two of them being that I did not want to acknowledge that I am like him, skeptical and often unbelieving and secondly, I did not like the idea of touching wounds. I recoiled at the mention of Thomas 'placing his finger in the mark of the nails.' And I was even more repulsed by the idea of touching my own wounds.