St. Mary Orthodox Church

March 17, 2013 - by Ioana Chirieac

This Sunday is such a special day as we prepare for lent. Forgiving others and softening our hearts is the first step in allowing Christ in the midst of our lives, with body and spirit knitted together in the Holy Spirit, right here and right now.

March 10, 2013 - by Sarah Byrne-Martelli

In today's teaching of our Lord, the story of the sheep and the goats on Judgment Sunday, we are taught the very essence of Christian life: that loving others is loving God, and vice versa. Our place at the right hand of the Father completely depends on this.

March 04, 2013 - by Andrea Popa

Today is called the Sunday of the Prodigal Son but if you look at the Biblical passage for just a moment you'll see it starts the story by saying, "A certain man had two sons." Two sons.

February 25, 2013 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

The heart longs for Truth. There is no other route to freedom. But often the Truth is too much to swallow. We resist especially if it challenges tightly held systems of beliefs that support our view of ourselves and the world.

January 21, 2013 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

On the Sunday after the Feast of Theophany we read from St. Matthew’s Gospel about how the people "who sat in darkness have seen a great light," specifically those who dwelt in the "land of Zebulon and Napthali the Galilee of the Gentiles."

December 26, 2012 -

In the Western Rite on Christmas Eve the Prologue from St. John’s Gospel is read. It is a good choice for this night. Do you remember it? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…"

November 26, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Indian priest Anthony de Mello told this story: A rich industrialist from the North was horrified to find a Southern fisherman lying leisurely beside his boat. "Why aren't you fishing?" asked the industrialist. "Because I have caught enough fish for the day," said the fisherman.

October 15, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

God is the great sower of the seeds. From the beginning of creation he has been sowing and all the way to its end he will still be sowing. In one of Paul Simon’s most beautiful songs he writes "creation is never done." Science tells us that the universe is still expanding! Into what, who knows? But once a creator always a creator.

October 08, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

The first thing that strikes me about today’s Gospel reading is the compassion of the Savior. It is a characteristic that defines him throughout his earthly ministry. Another great example of this, which is a favorite of mine, is when he saved the Adulterous Woman from stoning. Although she was guilty he treated her as if her sin was nonexistent casting it, as he says in another place, "as far as the East is from the West." In His presence sin disappears.

September 16, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

For much of my life I was schooled in a theology that believed in narrow minds and rigid, inflexible positions. Since we were trapped in the sterile world of biblical literalism we were not taught the value of science, psychology, and the social sciences. This attitude predominates in the religious climate of our country and I fear it is gaining strength in our own Church.

September 02, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

I have to confess that for years I seriously misread this scripture. At the end of the passage Jesus asks the question, "When the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to the tenants?" The point Jesus wants to make is found in the dialogue that ensues. The disciples answer him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death...?"

August 27, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

The question today is, "What good thing must I do to have eternal life?" Good question. What does Jesus say? He says to him, "Keep the commandments." When asked to name the ones he must obey, Jesus answers with a short list. "Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not tell lies against your neighbor."

August 19, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

In our last episode, the priest was so overwhelmed with the Gospel of the healing of the epileptic boy that he postponed his sermon for a week. In today's episode, he attempts to rectify his lapse in consciousness

August 06, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

The Transfiguration does not represent for us the addtion to human nature of anything foreign to it, but rather the subtraction of all that is foreign to it. In this sermon, Fr. Antony Hughes explores how the Transfiguration reveals Christ's divinity and our shared humanity as it truly is.

July 30, 2012 -

I have always wondered about how Jesus responds to the disciples here when they report that there is not enough for the enormous crowd to eat. They advise the Lord to send the people away to forage for themselves.

July 16, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

This is the Sunday of the Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon. A council we embrace fully, but a controversial one. Questions still abound about it. I don’t want to go into those today. I say that just to point out that the Church did not like to hold these councils and make creeds.

June 11, 2012 -

The Greek word for "acknowledge" in today’s Gospel lesson means to confess. That is to openly declare faith in the Lord Jesus. But since many will come before him on the day of judgment who have even worked miracles in his name and will still hear the words, "Depart from me you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you," there must be more to confessing and acknowledging Jesus that just an open, verbal declaration or demonstration of faith in him.

June 04, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Pentecost is a theophany, a revelation of God I think best compared to other famous theophanies like Moses on Mt. Sinai or the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor. Witnesses of these events try hard to describe them, but words fail, so there is a special type of dramatic, stylized language used in Holy Scripture using symbols.

May 07, 2012 - by Fr. Philip Begley

In the Gospel reading we heard earlier; the Evangelist John describes how a paralyzed man had been lying beside the pool of Bethesda waiting for the stirring of the waters by an angel so that he could be healed. His wait lasted not for an hour, or a few days, or even a few years, but Thirty-Eight years.

April 22, 2012 - by Fr. Antony Hughes

Thomas' encounter with the risen Lord took place eight days after the Lord appeared to the disciples who were cowering behind closed doors from fear the authorities would come after them as they had come after Jesus. The number eight is significant because it is the day after seven, the perfect day, the new day, the day of the Kingdom.

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