St. Mary Orthodox Church

March 23, 2025 - by Christina Palis

It can feel frightening and vulnerable to confront the uncertainties, questions, contradictions, and concerns that we experience in our spiritual lives and in our relationship with God. We may feel the urge to either blindly accept or reject completely. But what if we embraced Mary’s curious stance as we face our faith and God?

March 16, 2025 - by Dr. Ioana Popa

Interestingly enough, the Jesus Prayer is exactly one pathway in achieving an authentic compassionate presence, toward the union of God, Theosis, in the midst of polarized opinions which we all face today in our country and the world.

March 09, 2025 - by Natasha Smith

God gives gifts to us, we offer them back, and then He gives them back to us as a means for communion with Him. A beautiful relationship. God gives us His best, and we must respond with our best—engaged, sacrificial, humble, sustained charity.

March 03, 2025 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Forgiveness is always and forever the will of God. Always ready to forgive, always willing to come to the rescue. Tonight we are called to open the door to forgiveness for ourselves and our neighbors.

March 02, 2025 - by Sarah Byrne-Martelli

Fasting and forgiveness are examples of storing up our treasures in Heaven, and they are inseparable in the life of a Christian. Fasting is not merely about food, nor is forgiveness just about easing burdens. Both are intentional acts of the heart, stripping away pride and making space for God’s grace to enter in.

February 23, 2025 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Avoid the dark and the cold and move towards the light and warmth. The light and warmth come from God.  We know this. And also from people who seek and embrace him. I share this with you because it seems there is a growing darkness around us. Still, here is a hopeful truth. If it were not for the light we could not see the darkness. So even in the Valley of the Shadow of death there is light or else there would be no shadow.

February 02, 2025 - by Dn. Jeff Smith

The righteous Symeon was waiting for Jesus. The Gospel says that the Holy Spirit was upon him. I love that about Symeon, that he was in tune with and blessed by the Holy Spirit to keep his eyes open for the Christ child. And, the Prophetess Anna could have known Mary as a child. I think that’s a nice thought. She heard what Symeon said, and as a widow, she told everyone who was looking for redemption about Jesus.

January 12, 2025 - by Dn. James Wilcox

Repentance, in light of this, should be understood as a formative transformation of the heart that realigns one's desires with the will of God. Taken this way, repentance should be seen as something positive, not as something negative as we might think of it.

January 05, 2025 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

We do not pray to change God. We pray so that we may be changed. With the perception of water as filled with grace our way of seeing everything changes. All of a sudden God appears to us everywhere. Everything that exists is blessed by God directly. Illumination is a very great gift.

December 29, 2024 - by Dn. Jeff Smith

We are the life of Christ born anew out of suffering. And we have hope even in darkness, even when times are like they are today. Today's gospel is a gospel of hope in the darkness, leaven for new bread, wine for new wineskins.

December 25, 2024 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Christ brings peace that the world cannot give. It is a different kind of peace, not like the signing of a treaty. The peace of God is more like the quiet of a clear mountain lake in which the sky can be seen in its blue brilliance. It is the peace that comes when the chaos of our thoughts is allowed to settle and at long last we invite our minds to rest from their anxious labor.

November 17, 2024 - by Dn. James Wilcox

As Orthodox Christians living in a time when faithfulness to the Gospel and faithfulness to America are commonly seen as synonymous, I want to state this plainly: it is imperative we hold to the Church’s teaching on caring for others in need, as Christ asks of us. The way to God is through the love of your neighbor.

November 10, 2024 - by Subdeacon JD Swartz

And just as the Cross – that great sign of love through suffering, even unto death – stands firm, we are called to love consistently; we are here to love and to be transformed into the image and likeness of the one God Who is perfect-love in Trinity. We are to enter into the ditch with the ones we find suffering and broken, even if they themselves do not see their pain and suffering, and we are to become co-sufferers in love, giving love without preference and without need of justification.

November 03, 2024 - by Fr. Timothy Ferguson

Lazarus is also real because you see him every day. You see him this morning on the corner with his cardboard sign and his cup. If you didn't, you might see them when you go home. If you miss them, look for them tomorrow. They're everywhere. Lazarus is in front of us all the time, and we always have the opportunity to minister to him as rational responsible human beings, who know that God's preferred option is for that man on that corner with that sign and that cup.

October 27, 2024 - by Dn. Jeff Smith

We are all called to serve Christ by contributing to the well-being of the most vulnerable—rural and urban, small and large, young and old. Make no mistake, Jesus is calling us to perform acts of ordinary compassion in our daily lives.

October 20, 2024 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

So often I hear remarks that almost seem to equate God and evil as if there is a really Good God and a really bad one and that they are fighting one another for ascendency, and we, if we are honest, have some doubts as to who will win. But this is not true. That is a form of gnostic dualism rejected by the Church. There is not a Good God and a bad one. There is only one and he is Good. And if we believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ we also believe that evil has been defeated. Sin, death, and the devil have gone down to defeat once and for all.

October 06, 2024 - by Dn. James Wilcox

If we’re being honest, none of us can truly measure up to Jesus’ level of compassion, to the genuine love that God has for all people. But it is good to remember that the love of God resides within all of us because all humans are created in the image of God. If you’re having trouble finding compassion for your fellow humans, I would suggest looking inward. Shut off the cacophony of noise around you and seek true inner silence.

September 29, 2024 - by Subdeacon JD Swartz

There is no reciprocity to be sought in our relationships with others. Why do we love? Because people need to be loved. And our reward for this? Transformation – our ontological fulfillment – the Most High God will be able to recognize us as sons and daughters. May we leave here and be merciful, even as our Father is merciful.

September 15, 2024 - by Dn. James Wilcox

If the goal of the Christian life is union with God, we must first understand that God is truly found within. God is always ever-present. We simply need to discover this illuminating presence that is already there. Know that God suffers from no passions, and has no attachments. And therefore to find God in our inmost depths, we must learn to, likewise, to rid ourselves of our own attachments.

September 01, 2024 - by Dn. Jeff Smith

There is no problem in today’s gospel. It is simply Christ with his people and his beautiful reception. It is a new day as every day is a new day. Today is our new day to begin again, and again.