St. Mary Orthodox Christian Church of Cambridge and Greater Boston

August 31, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Today a rich, young man - a man who had all the material possessions he needed and all the religious pedigree possible according to the Law – approaches Jesus with a question: 'What must I do to have eternal life.' He knew the answer Jesus would give (at least part of it). The Lord goes down a short list of the Ten Commandments. This is the law both of them knew very well.

August 24, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Jesus uses metaphorical language when talking about the kingdom because mysteries cannot be described in any other way. The kingdom cannot be analyzed or quantified; it must be experienced to be known. That is why Jesus spoke so often in parables. The kingdom of heaven is a mystery beyond the power of thought.

August 17, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

I do know that there are other kinds of mountains that do need to be moved. They are inside of us. These are those interior hindrances to love (and to faith) that Rumi writes about.

August 10, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

The month of August is a month of theophanies. A theophany, from the Greek, literally means a 'revelation of God', not 'from God', but 'of God.' The Transfiguration of Jesus is a theophany. God reveals himself present in Jesus Christ in this world. He shares his light and energy with us and with all of creation as his face, his clothes, the mountain and even the apostles are bathed in light and cloud.

August 03, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

I read some patristic commentaries on this Gospel reading, the feeding of the five thousand, and every single one of them focused on the meaning of this Gospel as the proof of Christ's divinity. Although the patristic commentators meant well in their context, and their writing made sense, I think that if we stop there, we have missed the point. The reason Jesus fed the thousands was not to show His power, and not to prove that He was the Messiah. Why did He perform all of his miracles? There's another reason.

July 27, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

What is remarkable to me is how Jesus works with the people he meets. He is interested in them and their lives. He asks questions to get a better picture of what each person needs. He brings things out of them things that need to be brought to the surface before he heals them. Often he asks for and receives their permission to do his work before he works his miracles.

July 20, 2014 - by Fr. Gregory Harrigle

When I was 15, I was paralyzed from the waist down, suddenly, and didn't know why. I spent that summer in bed, unable to walk or move my legs or feel anything below my waist. What would happen next? I spent a long time in bed trying to figure out what I had done to deserve this and why this has come to me.

July 13, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

This Gospel is used to point to the importance we place on sharing the message of Christ to the world. The Holy Fathers of the Fourth and all the other six councils met in order to ensure that the Gospel was understood correctly. The intimation is that the bushel with which we try to hide the light is a lack of courage to share it and ignorance of its true meaning. Therefore ... Councils!

July 06, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

It is always interesting when a celebrity wakes up to the spiritual life. Two caught my attention recently. Russell Brand, believe it or not, came out sounding like a veritable guru, in his typical fast and furious style of talking and what he said, if you could keep up with it, was astoundingly true! It was tiring to listen to and refreshing all the same.

June 01, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Jesus is not talking about some ephemeral joy, but His own joy, God's own joy, infinite and luminous, magnificent, and incomparable. That is amazing that he would pour His own joy into us.

May 25, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

This has been a very wrenching week for we lost two amazing people - Mary Sioras and Donald DiFiore. During the Little Entrance, there's a prayer that the priest says: "Blessed is the entrance of Thy saints." Now, why do we say that?

May 12, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

The Lord Jesus asks the paralytic man a simple, direct question, 'Do you want to be healed.' He does not get a direct, simple answer. Instead, the paralytic deflects the question and tells Jesus a story that sounds rehearsed. I imagine he had told it a hundred or more times before. It always sounded a bit fishy to me.

May 04, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

What do the Myrrh-bearing Women have to teach us? For one: they can teach is how to navigate life when it is filled with fear, doubt and confusion.

April 20, 2014 - St. John Chrysostom

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a wise servant, let him rejoice and enter into the joy of his Lord. If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive his recompense.

April 13, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

The passover crowd was conditioned by what they had been taught about the Messianic Prophecies. They did not know what to do when what they expected didn't show up. Who of us wants a suffering servant for a Messiah instead of a new emperor.

April 06, 2014 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

It is a Sunday of relation, of discovery, of disclosure, of transformation. Taken metaphorically, its meaning is sheer enlightenment. If we get caught up in the details of the literal story, we lose the meaning of her story. Literalism is a dead end when speaking of scripture or the spiritual life. Taken as a metaphor, then, her story has great meaning; it is relevant; it is a metaphor for the spiritual life as lived by all who decide to walk that path.

March 30, 2014 - by Marianna Sayeg

These 15 Old Testament readings come right before the epistle and gospel in that service, so we have to ask ourselves: what is so important about these specific passages that out of the entire Bible, they were chosen to be read right before Christ’s resurrection is announced? Each individual passage has something to teach us, but more importantly, as a collection they highlight several themes that prepare us for the joyous news we are about to hear.

March 23, 2014 - by Ioana Chirieac

How does sacrifice, letting go and picking up my cross all look like in today’s world? I do believe that across centuries there has been a gradual increase in the level of consciousness and awareness not only at a personal level, but also at a societal level.

March 16, 2014 - by Andrea Popa

This morning, we will explore the Word of The Lord and the mission of the unnamed servant. We’ll be focusing on four readings – two from Holy Saturday as well as today’s Epistle and Gospel passages.

March 09, 2014 - by Melissa Nassiff

In today's Gospel, you will recall that after Jesus invited Philip to follow him, Philip went to find his friend Nathaniel, and told him excitedly, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote! Well, in these fifteen readings we will be looking at some of what Moses and the prophets wrote. These readings cover pretty much the whole history of our salvation

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