St. Mary Orthodox Church

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 20, 2008

(St. John 12:1-18)

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, God is One.  Amen.  Glory to Jesus Christ!  

My beloved!

We sing a hymn on Palm Sunday giving thanks that the Holy Spirit has brought us together this day in His most holy Church. In I Timothy chapter 3, verse 15 St.

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 13, 2008

(Mark 10:32-45)

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

Sermon given by Fr. Antony Hughes on April 8, 2008

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, God is one.  Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The great prophet, mystic and healer St. Seraphim of Sarov always greeted people in one of two ways, either with the traditional Paschal Greeting, "Christ is Risen" in season or out, or by the gentle words, "My joy!"  Orthodox Pascha is near, only three short weeks away, so I will express my emotion at your hospitality on this great occasion by addressing you from the bottom of my heart as "My joy!"  I sense much here in harmony with my own heart.

In these verses from St.

Letter from Fr.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 24, 2008

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What is the opposite of fear?  You might say “courage” and you might be right. But it has been suggested that the opposite of fear is compassion.  I like that answer best.  Where there is no fear there is no need for defensiveness.  Judgment relies on fear. So does hate. Without fear compassion becomes possible.  If we are not defending ourselves, then the way is open to love.  Compassion, I insist, is not weakness.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 17, 2008

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Today's Parable is about the meeting of two distinct pieties: one a piety of ego and one a piety of the heart. But first let me tell you a story, at least the first part of the story.

You may have heard this before from me or read it in Metropolitan ANTHONY Bloom's excellent book BEGINNING TO PRAY. Right after Sayidna ANTHONY'S consecration an elderly woman approached him with a burning question. "Vladyka," she cried, "I've been praying the Jesus Prayer for thirty-five years yet I am still the same mean, old woman I was thirty-five years ago.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 10, 2008

The Reading is from Matthew 15:21-28

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The Gospel always gives us a glimpse into Christ's Great Good Heart.  The Lord reveals to us His Father’s gracious will to heal and save all of creation by living among us an incarnate life and demonstrating in living color what it is that the Holy Trinity  desires.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 3, 2008

Zaccheus was hated by his neighbors.  He was a tax collector. He cheated the people to profit himself. Though small in stature he had a big ego.  Big egos often come in small packages.  Still I am pretty sure he was not all bad and that some of the stories his neighbors told were far worse than the reality. His first step toward freedom came in the form of climbing a tree. In fact, Zaccheus was good down deep as all people are.  Jesus knew this and went out of his way to make something significant happen that day.  

The point about the ego came home to me just the other day.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, January 27, 2008

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

Presentation given by Teva Regule on Sunday, January 27, 2008

What is liturgy?  What are some of the benefits of coming together to celebrate the "sacred mysteries of life and our faith?"[1]  How can we grow closer to God through our communal celebration?  We began this series on the liturgy by looking at these questions.  We emphasized that liturgy is the context in which we become Church, the Body of Christ.  It has a catechetical as well as a formative and ultimately, a transformative dimension.  We also emphasized that it is work-it requires our active participation.

There are many ways that we can grow closer

Presentation given by John Daly on Sunday, January 20, 2008

We live in a day and age where we don't like to memorize things.  In fact, even if we wanted to memorize things, we have a hard time doing so.  We're not really trained for it.  One of the "gotcha" questions many reporters like to ask political candidates is "Who is your favorite philosopher?" or "What is your favorite poem?" immediately followed up by "Could you recite a few lines for us?"  Even the most intelligent or educated among us sometime struggle with this.  It's hard for us to imagine how people could have committed the ancient Greek epics to memory -- thousands of lines, able to recall and recite them on command -- but they

Presentation given by Deacon Jeffrey Smith on Sunday, January 13, 2008

Last week Dave Vermette spoke about the Liturgy of the Word.  Today, I am to speak about the second half of the liturgy – that is our participation in the Eucharist.

Someone once remarked to me that a typical Protestant service is just the first half of ours.  The Protestants certainly focus on the Liturgy of the Word of God, but not so much on our second half, the Eucharist – thanksgiving for the gifts of God, and participation in his body and blood.

Last week, Fr.

Presentation given by David Vermette on Sunday, January 6, 2008

The public portion of Liturgy is divided into two main parts: The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  As the invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the gifts is the highlight of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the highlight of the Liturgy of the Word is the reading of the Gospel of the Incarnate Word of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  In the Gospel reading we receive Christ Himself through the sense of hearing as in the Holy Communion we receive Him through the sense of taste.  The readings from Holy Scripture and the Eucharist are both means by which we become partakers of the Divine Nature.

Now, if Jesus were to come visibly every Sunday and stand

Liturgical Catechesis Presentation-Introduction

Presentation given by Teva Regule on Sunday, December 30, 2007

(I invite you to turn to the post communion hymn, "We have seen the true light".  In the 1987 edition of the Service book {Antiochian}, it is on p.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 18, 2007

Luke 12:16-21

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

There is a misconception that the Christian life is supposed to be miserable. Why, if that is not true, would the Church ask us to fast, to sacrifice and to deny ourselves the pleasures and goods of this life? But the opposite is true in fact. Although we do not use this word often in our conversation, happiness is one of the main goals of the Gospel message. We might use the word peace instead or contentment, but in the Christian context they are the same.

Jesus came to offer the way to true happiness.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 11, 2007

Luke 10:25-37

It is the most natural thing for us to help one another. It is natural because we are made in the image of the All-Compassionate God. This is what defines us as human beings. We have to work very hard to subvert that natural inclination and one of the ways we do that is by making up stories.  

Most ethnic or national groups have a target for their story telling.  Everybody has a boogeyman. The Irish have the English, the Russians have the Chechnyans and religious fundamentalists (no matter what sect) have everybody else.  It turns the world into a nice, neat, controllable place.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 4, 2007

(Luke 16:19-31)

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The message today is all about the sins of craving and fear also known as attachment and aversion.

Attachment is an irrational craving for the things of this world in the belief that in them we will find true happiness.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 21, 2007

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

I want to say a few words about Christian Education today.  It is an important subject for all of us to consider. It is not just about teaching children, but of the education of our community as a whole.

The emphasis in churches of all kinds has been towards children. Sunday Schools are mostly about them.  Of course this is necessary.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 14, 2007

Luke 8:5-15

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Today's Gospel reading is St. Luke's account of the Parable of the Sower. Interpreting the parable to his disciples Jesus told them that the seed represents the Word of God. I want to expand our understanding of what the word of God is and then say a few words about what we need to do to be able to receive it.

Often we limit our definition of "the word of God" to the Holy Scriptures and while that is true it is not the whole picture.

Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 30, 2007

Luke 6:31-36

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

“As you would have men do to you, do also to them. If you love those who love you, what good is that? Love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return and then you will be called the children of the Highest. Be merciful just as your Father in Heaven is merciful.”

Jesus calls us to live up to our divine potential. The whole of what that means is summed up here.  Love everyone and do good for them, even our enemies and give without expecting anything in return.