Homily Excerpts

April 24,2024

At the end of our tribulations, at the end of our winters, there is Christ. Christ who sacrificed Himself for us, so that we may have eternal salvation. A sacrifice we take part in at every Liturgy. It is Christ who with all mercy and kindness, makes us worthy to approach Him. A sacrifice that is given to us for the welfare and sanctification and healing of our souls and bodies. And it is through that sacrifice and healing that we may know peace in Christ..

April 15,2024

Our world is awash in so many difficulties. Do I need even to recount them? I will mention them only in phrases: Senseless War, Polarized Politics, Consuming Media, Climate Change, Energy Shortage, Gender Questions, Immigration Crisis, Homeless Alaskans, Domestic Violence, Teen Suicide, Drug Addiction. The list could go on and on. Brothers and Sisters, we are not separated from any of these things. We are awash in them too. As I walked with Betsy this week I asked: How are we supposed to handle all this? This morning I propose for us here at least an answer. It is not a solution to all these problems, but rather three things that will help us chart a path to carry us through them, a path that will keep us safe and bring us home. Today I can take them from the Epistle, the Gospel and the Saint of the Day. The are: Commit to Christ. Commit to our children. Commit to community.

April 02,2024

God is calling each one of us to a holy work that will be about truthfulness, goodness and compassion. It is most often a simple and practical work. Obstacles are going to come up. It can at times be difficult and often without recognition. But as the saints whom we remember today, St. Gregory Palamas, St. Innocent of Alaska, and St. Maria of Paris, show us, and as the Gospel today encourages us through the perseverance of the four friends who lowered the paralytic through the roof to bring him to Christ, we too are called to keep on going to the end..

March 26,2024

You will also find the anchor of our Lord’s timeless truth in our Universal Divine Liturgy. From the very beginning, as recorded in the Book of Acts, the Church began its Eucharistic Liturgy just like today. There’s also the specific description of Divine Liturgy dated 138 A.D.! from Justin Martyr’s church document. As another Orthodox writer once explained — trying to capture the breadth of it all – the Church’s unbroken history of worship is so universal and timeless that, if you attended a current day Divine Liturgy in Alaska, Romania, Africa, anywhere — and then you traveled back in time over a thousand years ago to a Divine Liturgy worship service in in the early centuries — let’s say to Alexandria, Egypt (where St. Mark’s church is still there) or if you went to Antioch (where there’s still a church on Straight Street mentioned in the Book of Acts) — in all these worship services, yes there’ll be different languages — but you would still fully comprehend the SAME Eucharistic Liturgy and the same worship pattern. You would know where you are in a service and feel the same spirit of worship! This is the gift of the Universal Church that we celebrate today on Orthodoxy Sunday.

March 19,2024

The season of Lent calls us to learn how to be at peace. We are called to practice forgiveness so we can be at peace with other people. We are called to rightly order our lives so that God is first, so that we can be at peace within ourselves. We are called to enjoy the world as a gift from God, so that we can have a right relationship with the things we own and use, and be at peace in the world.

March 11,2024

Brothers and sisters, this parable today prepares us for Lent by reminding us of the great love and God and His invitation for each of us to turn toward Him with repentance and thanksgiving. If we have wandered far away from Him, like the prodigal son, He is always ready to receive us again and embrace us. If over-confidence in ourselves and pride in our own way hardens our heart, like the older son, then He lovingly implores us, “Rejoice and enter in.”

March 09,2024

February 12,2024

The Parable of the Talents - The goal of this life is not to take care of yourself alone, but to use all the good things God has given you and to increase it by sharing and helping others, so that there is more good in the world when Christ returns.

January 24,2024

We are called to manifest Christ in the world. If you have not been getting along with others, then it’s time to start getting along. Be humble, be gentle, be loving and forgiving. If you have not been contributing, then it’s time to contribute. If you have not been willing to grow, to become what God has called us to be, to put God and the Church above all else, then it’s time to change and give up whatever it is that’s holding you back. Sell all and give it to the poor, if that’s what it takes..

January 01,2024

For our part, we must keep the faith and strive to do our best. Through our free will, we take actions or we decide not to take actions. We must always remember that the consequence of those actions are the providence of God and we need to accept them with faith.

December 25,2023

Let us make the birth of Christ the centerpiece of Christmas. Let us gather again, then, tonight and tomorrow to thank God for His Son. It is He who will and has taken on our suffering, who desires to save the world, to wipe away the tears from our own eyes. It is He who wants to set us free from our sins. It is He who someday will end all wars and bring to judgment those who do evil. It is He who begins today the re-making of the world where God’s grace will prevail. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.

December 18,2023

Our faith is deeply rooted in history. It is not some clever fabrication; it is a reality of history. Many people over the course of thousands of years, some very different from each other, speaking different languages than each other, living in various places, foretold the birth of Christ and eagerly anticipated His coming..

December 11,2023

In our country over 17 million people suffer from major depression. Sometimes it’s just because they have borne too much suffering. There are many more who suffer from everyday depression, a spirit of infirmity, of waking up sad. This is the BAD NEWS. The GOOD NEWS is: God has come into this world in Jesus Christ. We will celebrate this at Christmas. And as Isaiah the prophet said, ‘Surely He has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows…’ And as the Apostle Peter said, ‘He Himself bore our sins in His own body…’ LET US BE ASSURED OF THIS: Just as Christ saw the woman in today’s Gospel. He sees us. He knows our struggles. Just as He loved her, He loves us, with unwavering love. There are trials and sometimes we me understand them to be a test. And sometimes they may just be a long suffering. But they will not be last word, if we do as He bids us, and commend ourselves and each other and all our life unto Christ our God.

November 14,2023

The good works God ‘created us for’ are almost always opportunities right in front of us. The good Samaritan helped the beaten man he came across as he travelled down the road. Blessed Olga of Alaska, whom the OCA bishops this past week decided to recognize as a new saint, made mittens, fed children, and helped needy women in her small village of Kwethluk. So now it is our mission to ‘go and do likewise,’ as Christ told the lawyer in today’s Gospel..

October 26,2023

On the Gadarene Demoniac - There is hope for absolutely everybody. Do we want it? Do we like the young man want to be with Jesus? Or, do we like the crowd live in fear and send Jesus away? This gospel gives us a great deal to think about.

October 12,2023

Christ came not just to resurrect three people from the dead – those recorded in the Gospels – but to resurrect all humankind from death, which He has accomplished through His own death and resurrection. His love and compassion for each person is no less than He showed to the widow of Nain, but we live now by faith in Him looking for the ultimate good, the resurrection of all in the age to come. Meanwhile in this earthly life we, the Church, are called to be the presence of Christ in the world, showing kindness and mercy to all who grieve and suffer.

September 26,2023

Humility is having an appropriate sense of yourself in relation to the world, to other people, and ultimately to God. It is appropriate to have a sense of yourself that you are important and are valuable to the world, to other people, and to God. But it is not appropriate to have a sense that you have a special importance that makes you more important and more valuable than other people. In other words, humility is knowing you are not the center of the universe.

September 18,2023

I heard the preacher E.V. Hill once say about the good things of this world: “This ain’t it.” Betsy and I this summer took an afternoon off from our conference in Costa Mesa. We took an Uber to Balboa Island. We walked along the walkway with the beach on one side and beautiful homes on the other. There were boats and restaurants and sun and everything you could want. But you know what -- I don’t want that life. It’s not good enough. As the preacher said, “I don’t want streets of asphalt. I want streets of gold. I don’t want spend a few retired years on a beach. I want to walk along the celestial shores of paradise for eternity. No matter how good it gets here -“This ain’t it. This ain’t it. This ain’t it.” I want to go where the hymn we sung yesterday at Al's funeral says: “where there is neither sickness nor sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting.”

September 11,2023

Because of the cross we know Jesus is on our side. Because of the cross we know Jesus came to give us life; to raise us up and not to condemn us. I don’t know about you, but I need to hear these words.

September 06,2023

But the fourth Greek word for love is that used by Saint Paul in his exhortation to the Christian community of Corinth. It is the word 'Agape.' This word is used especially in the Christian community. It is found 106 times in the New Testament. This love is not based on family ties or shared interests or romantic attraction. It is a love that deliberately and intentionally seeks the highest good for another person and demonstrates this love through action.

September 01,2023

In the Orthodox Christian Funeral, we express sorrow and sadness in our hymns and prayers. We are sad that the wonderful gift of human life, created by God, steadily grows old and frail and then at last is extinguished by death. But the Funeral service also gives us solace, hope, and comfort, because as Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is God who has come to us, , that He might take our human life to Himself, with all its sorrow and imperfection, and in Himself carry it through the valley of death and establish it on the other side into resurrected life

August 28,2023

In order to sort out our own heart, we have to come to the Lord at times and ask, 'what one thing do I lack now?' It might not be selling our property as was required of the rich young ruler. It might be repairing a hurt relationship. It might be letting go of an idea, a habit, a certain picture of the way things ought to be. We might have to ask, 'Am I ready to change course, to still trust the Lord, even if it seems to make no earthly sense

August 15,2023

God has planted inside us a desire for heaven, a longing for communion with God. Fasting from food and other bodily pleasures helps us realize the limitations of our earthly desires and help us to sharpen the awareness of our soul to the things of the heaven.

August 01,2023

Saint Paul tells us in the Epistle today: 'Live in harmony with one another.' Instruments in an orchestra all sound very different individually, but together they can blend to create a beautiful sound. People can also have different tastes in houses, yards, politics, music. These things don’t matter. What matters is having the Kingdom of God as our common goal and encouraging each other as we make this journey together.

July 24,2023

July 10,2023

The Church community is on a common journey toward the Kingdom of God in the age to come. I picture us on a ship, a sailing ship of the old kind, and together we are all both the crew and the passengers…. Once a week we gather on the deck of that ship, all of us crowding together, and we pause for a common act of celebration. This act is the liturgical worship we celebrate this morning, the Divine Liturgy. Here we stand side by side facing east and we offer prayers to God. We thank Him. We ask for help and guidance. We are nourished by Holy Communion and we are inspired for our journey to continue.

June 21,2023

Saint Yakov, (or Jacob in English), was a wonderful Alaska-Aleut priest in the 1800s who lived an inspiring life — dedicated to the Faith, the Church, and care for people. He was born in St. George on the Pribilof Islands in 1802 and was fluent in Aleut and Russian, so he had a profound understanding of the Alaska people and their spiritual background. At age 27 he was ordained an Orthodox priest for the Atka parish which had 2,000 miles of rugged Alaska territory. In his first year in the Aleutians Fr. Yakov served in a tent until moving into a church building that he built. Perhaps more stunning, Fr. Yakov baptized and christmated over 458 people; he buried 8, and he married 53 couples - all in a year-in a tent! This humble, yet tough ‘Laborer for Christ’ traveled by kayak, canoe, or dogsled in winter over 1000’s of miles to serve his flock in both the Aleutians and later the Yukon-Kuskokwim area. Truly a wonderful person and saint, who inspires us to follow our Lord Jesus Christ!

June 12,2023

The antidote to prosperity for us are these - simplicity and generosity. Live as simply as you can and it can be easier to live attached to Kingdom of God. We must own things in this world and care for them, but keep it simple, radically simple. If you make a lot of money, don’t have a lifestyle of lots of money and lots of things. And joined to simplicity is generosity. With the things we have, we must be generous. We can use them to serve other people. Other people will wear things out, break them, take them. But if we are generous with our things, we will be less likely to be attached to them, to love them more than God.

June 05,2023

The Holy Spirit unites us to one another. Those who are baptized and chrismated are grafted into the historic and heavenly and living Community of Christ, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. New members are grafted into our community. We move over and welcome them. We need them. ”.

May 25,2023

When Christians were questioned by the community and by the authorities, their central message was the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ. Paul, an eye witness of Christ, wrote-I delivered to you as of first importance-that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried and that He rose again. We, you and I, are not eyewitnesses, but we are still his witnesses. We testify to the resurrection. We receive the gospel that has been handed down to us. ”.

May 15,2023

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know,” In the long history of mankind, throughout the many places people have inhabited, human beings have understood God in many different ways and worshipped Him in many different forms. All of these have had some glimpse of truth about the nature of God… Now Jesus says that God will be revealed to an even greater degree, more than was revealed to the Jews. This new revelation will belong to the entire world…, that God is a Trinity of Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”.

May 03,2023

...By which standards do we desire to live? Saint Ignatius made it clear saying, 'I no longer want to live according to human standards.' And our task in this world is to transform our love for the things of this world into love for the things of God. Then, we may follow our Lord by resting from earthly labors, that we may rise with Him to new life, experiencing for ourselves the new and Holy Pascha. Christ is Risen!”.

April 24,2023

The emotional impact of Christ’s resurrection on the women and men who followed Him was profound and everlasting; understanding the meaning and implication His resurrection grew through their lifetime. For Thomas, it meant he would travel to India, telling people that Jesus had risen from the dead. Likewise we assimilate our own belief in Christ’s resurrection throughout our lifetime. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”.

April 17,2023

Let all enjoy the banquet of faith, All enjoy the wealth of God’s goodness. Let no one complain of poverty. The Kingdom is open to all. Let no one bewail his faults. Forgiveness has dawned from the tomb. Let no one be afraid of death, For the Savior’s death has freed us.

April 11,2023

Brothers and sisters, let us take our branches home and let them declare that with our whole heart we desire to be followers of Christ. And let us follow Him as we are able through the events of this week that in the end we may be with Him in the age to come, an everlasting Kingdom, that God has prepared since the beginning of the world. .

April 03,2023

God loves you, the unique unrepeatable person that you are, and because He loves you, He gave his life as a ransom for you. This ransom is the great exchange. His life for your life. His death has washed out our sins. By dying He has disabled death itself.

March 21,2023

We will have suffering in this life - the involuntary suffering which life itself brings to us, our ‘crosses;’ and the voluntary suffering we choose to do to serve God and others. But God is ready to give us grace and mercy to help us.

February 28,2023

Today is ‘Forgiveness Sunday and thankfully we have 3 foundations to teach us about Forgiveness: First, the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6 that we read today, to reflect upon; Second, we have the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ that we pray often and is a prayer that was directly given to us by Jesus; and then Third, we have the guidance of Fr. Alexander Schmemann - the beloved and respected priest and Orthodox dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He wrote this truly compelling book entitled “Great Lent, Journey to Pascha” that is highly recommended to fully understand the profound depth of Lent. So as we begin on these 3 foundations for forgiveness, it is interesting and informative that the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ —and also the consistent teaching of His church for 2000 years — His teaching to us is NOT simply intellectual, or in mind only. Instead His teaching goes so much deeper to actually train us spiritually — and guide us spiritually to live and practice forgiveness in our daily life!

February 22,2023

Again and again, our Lord emphasizes that love for Him manifests itself in love for other people, especially ‘the least of these.

February 15,2023

We still are not home all the way. And yet one day we will arrive. Maybe it will be in old age, maybe younger. Maybe we will reach the end of our life through disease, maybe through a sudden accident. But if all our life we have been journeying home, now we are close. We quicken our pace. We practice our prayer, ‘Forgive me. Just let me live in your home as a servant.’ The charms of the world are fading away. We are near the end. Death is close what will we find? What will we see? The parable tells us. The father’s eyes are searching for us. It is Jesus Christ. He will see us and leap from his porch and run to us. He will embrace us. Our rehearsed speech is ignored. We only hear: ‘Welcome home. Quickly bring the best you have…. this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ Let us take this moment and remember our Father’s home. This is the invitation of Great Lent.

February 09,2023

Do not compare yourself to others, neither supposing yourself to be better than others or considering others are better than you. Anytime we compare ourselves to others we have left the path of humility. Instead let us see that we are all pilgrims in a great valley, journeying together in the same direction toward God. We are all on the same plane.

January 23,2023

The story about Zaccheus assures us that we can change. If Zaccheus can change, so can we... When we seek Jesus openly and transparently, being honest about who we are, about what we have done, that we want to change and that we want to right the wrongs we have done, Jesus receives us with total acceptance

January 05,2023

Saint Basil grew up in a family with a legacy of Christian love and service. His grandfather and grandmother Macrina suffered hardship during the persecutions at the beginning of the 4th century. His grandparents on his mother's side were Christian martyrs in the same persecution. After completing his studies abroad, he was greatly influenced by his older sister Macrina to devote his life to the poor and to raise up a men's monastery. He wrote about this time in his life later, saying, 'I read the Gospel, and saw there that a great means of reaching perfection was the selling of one's goods, the sharing of them with the poor, the giving up of all care for this life, and the refusal to allow the soul to be turned by any sympathy towards things of earth.'

December 21,2022

The Evangelist Matthew records the sin of David within his genealogy in plain sight for all to see: ‘And David begot Solomon by the wife of Uriah…’ We can learn from this that it is good to be honest about things that might embarrass us. In fact it is more than just good; it is almost always the healthy and righteous way to deal with things. There is a saying in AA: ‘You’re as sick as your secrets.’ This is true. It takes a lot of energy to cover up things and to pretend. To portray an preferred image of yourself or your family or even, we might say, your Archdiocese, by being secretive or hiding things is exhausting. It is better to be who we are. King David himself knew this and wrote in his psalm of repentance: ‘I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me'.

December 06,2022

We have to be careful not to expect everyone to conform to rules that suit us or our view of the way the world should be. Perhaps it is easy in areas of faith to want certainty, to become rigid, as did the ruler of the synagogue in today’s Gospel. But we must not forget that Christ did not come to build a religion of rules but to open the way for all people to become sons and daughters of God.

November 30,2022

On the Rich Young Ruler - Perhaps for the first time, this young man was challenged to see that eternal life is not a matter of checking off a list, not something that we can accomplish by our own ability. If we can’t give up that which we love most in this life for God, then we obviously have not fulfilled all that the Lord expects of us; It’s pretty clear that even the most law-abiding person still needs the mercy, grace, and love of our Lord in order to inherit eternal life. By our own power, it’s not possible to share in the life of heaven, but with Jesus Christ, all things are possible.

November 22,2022

This Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple signals our approach to celebrating Christmas. It emphasizes that Mary prepared herself to become the Mother of God. We also need to prepare. Christ needs to be born in our hearts. Christ in Bethlehem was born in a stable. If He will be born in us, we need to clean out the stable of our hearts. They need swept and cleaned. They are full of all kinds of stuff. The season of Advent calls us to prepare.

November 14,2022

When you see someone in need of treatment for some ailment of the body or soul, do not say to yourself: Why did so and so not take care of him? You free him from his sickness. Tell me this. I you find a gold coin lying on the ground, do you say to yourself: Why didn’t so and so pick it up? Think the same way about your fallen brothers; consider that tending their wounds is like finding a treasure.

November 09,2022

Jesus goes on to Jairus’s house. The girl has died. There is great mourning. It is too late. The worst has happened. But the Gospel shows us that the power of God in Christ extends beyond this life. See how easily He raises the little girl as if from sleep. By taking her hand and saying, 'Little girl, arise.' Our faith in Christ is that someday, when the worst has happened, when we too have died, He will speak a word, take us by the hand and raise us to new life as easily as if from sleep.

November 03,2022

As Jesus explained to us at this Gospel’s beginning, the Rich man dressed in fine clothing, he dined on fine food, and he solely focused on his selfish comfort. Even worse for his soul, the Rich man gave no attention or care to his Neighbor Lazarus and certainly had no love for God or his Neighbor. He fully failed to treat others in a way to reflect the divine love, compassion, and mercy that our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us! In fact, did you notice that sadly, even after the Rich man’s death + judgement , he still never made a Confession to God. And he never made any Repentance whatsoever! No change at all. In fact, he still expected Lazarus to serve him. One Orthodox writer on this Gospel, Fr. Phillip LeMasters makes an important point. Fr. Phillip wrote, ‘The point is not that all the rich people will be damned and that all the poor people will be saved. Instead, it is that there are strong and deep temptations to focus on wealth, possessions, and success in the world. For if we love ourselves, our riches, and our status more than God or our Neighbor, no matter how much or how little we have, we will shut ourselves out of the Kingdom!'

October 26,2022

Feast of Saint James, Brother of the Lord - Just as Jesus raised up Peter to lead the Apostles, Paul to preach to the Gentiles, He also raised up James, His ‘brother’, to become the first bishop of the Church in Jerusalem and to guide it for many years with justice and wisdom. In his own words James counsels us through his Epistle: ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…. Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.’ May God through the prayers of James the Just have mercy on us and save us.

October 20,2022

It’s time for us to become responsible for this gift of salvation. Instead of taking the Lord for granted, it’s time for us to root out the things in our life that keep us from responding to Him with a good heart , and bear fruit with patience. And then we will be like the seed that fell on good ground and flourished, and we will become a blessing to the world and a sign of God’s Salvation, a sign of the great mystery of the love that is revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

October 04,2022

By showing mercy... the walls and the barriers between us and others are lowered. By being merciful, where walls and barriers once stood, now is openness connection and reconciliation. Slowly, in this process, the other becomes our brother, the other becomes our sister. We begin to see the other, not as the other, but as the unique unrepeatable person they really are.

September 16,2022

The vertical axis of the Cross can remind us of God's great love for us in sending His Son to save us. The horizontal axis can remind us that we must take up our Cross to follow Christ. But any suffering, persecution, hardship that we experience now and lastly our own death and departure from this world can be seen as simply pushing through the turnstile, a one-way gate that leads to Paradise. Push and we're through. May God strengthen us and give us His grace to help us. Amen.

September 05,2022

Paul wrote, ‘I delivered to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day.’ That is the most important thing. As Billy Graham put it, the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ is the center of human history. As we kick off this new church year, let us give first importance to that which is most important. Amen.

September 01,2022

Saint John had lived in the desert many years, most of his life. And his ongoing message was to prepare the way of the Lord, to prepare the coming of the Messiah. And he preached repent! for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. But he not only preached a message, he lived a message. He showed us what repentance is, living in the desert he prayed for many, and living in the desert he detached himself from material pleasures and comforts. He was what we would now call a monk. It was his calling from his mother’s womb when even then he leaped at hearing the voice of the Theotokos who was then bearing Christ in her womb.

August 23,2022

When we pray for other people we in a sense are bringing them before God as this father brought his son to Christ. When people ask you to pray for the, it is helpful to begin right that moment. If they have asked on the phone, then when the phone call is over, pause for a moment in what you are doing and say a short prayer right then for God to help them and have mercy on them. If they ask in an email, then pause right then and say a prayer for them. Don’t wait till later. Say some prayer now for them as you make the sign of the Cross: 'Lord, please help them.'

August 16,2022

Feast of Dormition - In front of the angels, in the center of the Icon, is Jesus. His face is also serious, reverent, even a bit sad, because He sees that His mother, His mom, had also to undergo death, the separation of the soul from the body. But He also holds something tenderly in His arms. It is soul of His mother, small, like a child, newborn, pure, clothed in white. And He takes that soul to Himself, to protect and keep it, because within Himself He holds the promise of resurrection. Brothers and sisters, if we are joined to Christ in baptism and live a life believing in Him, then at our own departure from this world, we can hold before our eyes the picture that our Lord and His angels will also be there on the other side to receive our soul, our life, for we are His adopted sons and daughters. .

August 09,2022

Dn. Kevin Dougherty

On the Feeding of the 5000 - When Jesus went out, He saw the great multitude and He was moved with compassion …. And when the disciples said; ‘we have only five loaves and two fish Jesus said ‘Bring them to Me.’ And ‘He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitudes,’ and thus with the disciples our Lord did indeed perform His miracle of feeding the five thousand families! And as the Orthodox Study Bible Commentary note teaches on this Gospel, the miracle of feeding of the five thousand, reported in all four Gospels, shows Jesus feeding His people, as God fed the Israelites in the desert. The Church Fathers see in this the Image of the Eucharist, an idea expressed in John chapter 6, where our Lord said, ‘I am the bread of life.’ and ‘I am the living Bread which comes down from heaven.’ And St. John Chrysostom teaches that the we must understand the Eucharist spiritually, perceiving a true mystical presence of Christ in the Eucharist..

August 05,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Sin, besides being our general awareness and experience of a broken world, also quickly becomes our own attempts to repair this brokenness and satisfy our frustrated desire apart from God Who made us, and Who created the universe.... The world may not want to hear the word “sin,” but it is desperately longing for a freedom and a justice and a life that is beyond what we know, that is perfect and ideal, and that we believe resides only in God.

July 27,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

July 12,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Jesus marveled at the faith of the centurion and we can also marvel at his humility. We are accustomed to believing that powerful people deserve special access to important people. But the centurion was humbled before the holiness of Christ, and knew He could heal by only a word.

July 12,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

July 06,2022

Dn. Joseph Ray

The first Christians, because of their joy, turned the world upside down. Our challenge, our call, is to bring the joy of the kingdom into our world. How do we, how can we, put our joy into action? What is God calling you to do?

June 20,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

The saints believed – and we can believe – that God created them, loved them and would strengthen them, no matter what trials lay before them. There are times when such faith can be very difficult, even impossible. Faith is not like gritting your teeth and trying harder. Faith is more like a quiet surrendering yourself to God, consenting to be in His hands, trusting Him as a child trusts its parents. .

June 20,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Everyone who lives in this world suffers wounds. – physical wounds, emotional wounds, psychological wounds. Our Lord when He ascended, fulfilling the destiny of humanity through God's saving plan, did so in a body, bearing the wounds of His own suffering, wounds in His hands and feet, His side. This assures us that as we are joined to Him through Holy Communion, our own wounds can also be healed through His divine grace.

June 14,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

June 06,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

May 31,2022

Dn. Joseph Ray

Because of the resurrection love of Jesus, we know in our guts that God did not create death, God does not want death and God does not will death. If God created a world with free will which made real love and real suffering possible, we have to trust him that the risk he took in creating the world will be worth it. Christ is our hope. Christ is risen!.

May 21,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

In our Orthodox Christian life there is no room for fake. Hurts are hurts, and injustices are injustices. There is no fake, but there is faith. When we sing Christ is 'among those in the tombs bestowing life,' we believe the power of His life-giving resurrection is among those who have died and that this power will some day burst forth bringing them back to life.

April 26,2022

Saint John Chrysostom

Are you committed to God? Do you love Him? Then enjoy this beautiful, radiant festival. Are you His thankful and grateful slave? Then enter rejoicing in the joy of the Lord. Are you fatigued with the labor of fasting? Now is the time to enjoy your reward.

April 18,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

How, then shall we now live? Let us strive to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God, willing to follow Him in a sacrificial way of life. I want to insert here this morning a specific encouragement. Do not be consumed with the angry politics of this world. Do not be energized only by the politics of the right or the or with the politics of the left. Orthodox Christianity is neither. Please do not live your life with 24/7 news-entertainers of this world as a constant background. (Whether it’s F-O-X or NPR or CBS or NBC) Live in this world as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, as a follower of Jesus Christ. Be consumed with how to please Him, not with the cynicism and anger of the world.

April 11,2022

Dn. Joseph Ray

Just as Christ met the apostles where they were at, and just as Christ met Mary where she was at, so He meets us, His friends, where we are at. And He transforms us through His cross and resurrection. So, this Pascha, let us go to Jerusalem together with Jesus. Let us turn our attention to Christ`s suffering, to Christ`s cross, and to Christ`s resurrection. Amen.

March 29,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

One way God addresses the immense suffering of the world, the pain of all we have brought upon ourselves, is by entering into our world through the Incarnation of His only-begotten Son, Who personally experiences human suffering in the rejection, betrayal, arrest, beating, agony, and death of His crucifixion. The Gospel says God gave His Son to our broken world because He loved us and so that through faith in His Son we should have eternal life (John 3:16).

March 21,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

On the need for FAITH and ACTION - In the Gospel a young man needed help. His friends picked him up and carried him to Christ. It was a solution and they acted. Sometimes people don’t act because they are too afraid to make a mistake. But with God’s help we can change course if we need to. Sometimes people don’t act because they don’t know what to do. This is why we have friends, people to help us. Is there some simple action you need to take to move closer to God? In the Gospel it says, ‘Jesus saw their faith…’ Faith is what made them come up with the idea to take their friend to Jesus. Faith is what made them persevere when they ran into a crowd blocking them from the door. Faith made them climb up on the roof and tear a hole in the tiles to get through. Faith is what made them hold on to their desire and their goal even when they met defeat and despair. Faith is the virtue that keeps us going even when it seems like the odds are stacked against us..'

March 15,2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

First Sunday in Lent - In the Gospel we can hear the invitation of Philip: 'Come, and see.' This can be an invitation for us to return to the springtime of our own faith. To return to the basics of faith. To meet Christ anew. In remembering Icons on this Sunday we can note their silence. All the activity, busyness and chatter of our homes goes on before them. Sometimes even fights. In the empty Church they stand in quietness. Their invitation to us can be one to stillness: 'Come, and sit.'

March 6, 2022

Dn. Kevin Dougherty

Thankfully, Our Lord is very clear and direct to us. First, regarding ‘fasting’ He said; “your father who sees your fasting in secret will reward you openly.” And then secondly, regarding ‘forgiveness’ He said, “Our Heavenly Father will forgive us if we forgive others.” In the book “Great Lent” by Fr. Alexander Schmemann (which I highly recommend) , Fr. Alexander gives a truly profound viewpoint and background on Lent. He wrote, “… [W]e know that man was created for paradise, for knowledge of God and communion with Him. Man’s sin has deprived him of that blessed life and his existence on earth is in exile. Christ, the Savior of the world, opens the door of paradise to everyone who follows Him. And the Church, by revealing to us the beauty of the Kingdom, makes our life a pilgrimage toward our heavenly fatherland. …”..

February 27, 2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

We will be judged ultimately on this: Did we begin to see and treat other people with the same mercy and love that God has shown us? Brothers and sisters, what is your disposition towards other people? Towards your family members? How about towards those who are different than you? Who think different? Who have messed up their lives? Whose lives have been messed up by others? This parable is given to us today to remember that someday God will judge the world and each of us, and as guide for how to live, to know what matters most. It is given to us on this Sunday a week before Great Lent because this is a time when enter a time of repentance, a time of change. We should not be like the young people in Kiev four days ago, disbelieving that all this will come, saying: “Surely this cannot happen.” It will.

February 13, 2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

When you come to the Lenten services do not look at who else is there. Do not let your eyes look sideways like the Pharisee did. Instead just be there and try to pay attention the best you can. And ask God for His mercy. When you fast do not pay attention to how much more or how much less or exactly what anyone else around you is eating. Just fast seriously the best you can. Finally, if you realize that you have turned away from God, in any part of your life, if you have intentionally and knowingly fallen short of what He has asked of you, be brave to acknowledge this. Be willing to say, “God, forgive me, for I have fallen short. I have sinned.” Use the Sacrament of Confession as a gift from God to admit your sin in the presence of another person and let the priest re-assure of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness.

February 6, 2022

Dn. Kevin Dougherty

To move on to the 'Canaanite woman' in today’s Gospel; we have this compelling model of a person using perseverance — patient perseverance—to follow God. We can see that Jesus was certainly not rejecting her but strengthening her faith by their challenging dialogue together. As Orthodox writer, Fr. Phillip LeMasters wrote, “Our Savior’s apparent delay and challenge in the dialogue with the Canaanite woman is also a ’teaching tool’ designed by Our Lord to strengthen her faith - to bring her belief in Him to full maturity.” In our lives, haven’t we also learned important lessons through patience? And before I conclude, if we look quietly we can see the ‘fruit of the spirit’ of perseverance in our parish — such as members who have been here for forty to fifty years; pregnant moms persevering, patient parents of children, and those who take care of the elderly in their midst. And then if we look broader, we can see the perseverance of the Alaska saints (in the icons on the south wall) who persevered to build the Alaska church in the 1800’s in really rugged conditions. Or, since we’re an Antiochian parish, if we look deep enough we can see the miraculous perseverance of the church in Antioch, the saints of Antioch region such as saint Julian who we remember today, and our sister parish there. They can all inspire us by their spirit of perseverance!

January 30, 2022

Dn. Pat Lamb - Thanks to St. Nicholas Church McKinney, TX

When the Lord sees that we have made an effort to get beyond what is holding us down, even if we are still in the middle of it, but struggling to get out of what is holding us down, even if we haven’t made it up the tree… the Lord sees this and says: “Make haste. I will abide with you….” Make haste means “Consider my living inside you., My grace that I give you to be the most important thing in your entire life. Run to it! Order your life according to it!” Make haste today. Today salvations comes to our house and every day because the Kingdom of God is within us..”

January 23, 2022

Fr. Marc Dunaway

At one point on the road to Jericho Jesus said to James and John, “What do you want Me to do for you?” When they asked Him for a special place in Kingdom to come, He replied, “You don’t know what you are asking.” Later along that road He asked the same question to the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Bartimaeus answered, “Lord, I want to receive my sight.” Jesus replied, “Receive your sight, your faith has made you well.” When we pray, we are not to worry about the far distant future, but about our needs at this moment and let them be known to God. This is how our Lord taught us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread….”

January 16, 2022

Dn. Joseph Ray

Why did he, out of the ten who were healed, respond to his suffering by thanking God? Because he had faith. Because he had faith, he trusted God, and because he trusted God, he thanked God. He believed that no matter what happened to him that God has his back, that no matter what happened to him that God loved him.

December 19, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Jesus was completely one of us, but He was also “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us,” or God among us. Yes, He is a man, but at the same time He is God. He is born of a woman, but the woman is a Virgin and conceives by the Holy Spirit. He lies in a manger among animals as a baby, but wise men are led by a star to worship Him as king. Herod seeks to kill Him, but angel tells Joseph to flee to Egypt beforehand, and the infants who Herod does kill are the first witnesses that He Himself has come to suffer, and in that suffering He will reverse their suffering by throwing open a door to God in heaven. He has come to save us, to redeem people from death, to fulfill our destiny that we are meant to be children of God, living in the presence of God.

December 12, 2021

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

The God who is always inviting, always bringing, always urging…turns then to those who are not as blessed, not as preoccupied and consumed with mundane, worldly cares, and He calls out to them. He says to His servants: “Go out to the streets and lanes. Quickly now! Go to the city, and bring in the poor and the maimed and the blind and the lame.” Find the people that are sleeping on the sidewalk under dirty blankets, and get them on their feet, and bring them! Carry them if you have to! These are they who cannot even respond to the invitation under their own power; too sick even to get up. They must be brought… And those of us who Feast at the Lord’s Banquet regularly, who receive all His good gifts—His forgiveness, His grace, His salvation—we soon realize…that we too must be brought. We are undeserving and spiritually blind, crippled, poor and lame. The Holy Spirit therefore brings us to the blessings of God. He brings us through Baptism and the Gospel. And this is the heart of the matter! This Gospel shows us the Heart of God. He invites, He brings. He draws people to Himself. Everything is ready. Come to the Feast!.

Nov 28, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

The rich young man seems to be looking for a checklist to inherit eternal life. Jesus instead disclosed his deep attachment to his riches and his reliance on them. He was wanting certainty, not a radical change of heart. If religion is about what I can do. Repentance is to discover that I can never do enough.

Nov 21, 2021

Dn Kevin Dougherty

Advent is a season to prepare and focus on Our Lord. And in our current age -just like Martha- we need to be careful Not to be Distracted. Sadly, we first have the divisive culture out there that is very disturbing if we give it too much attention. Then we have the 'American Christmas' of the current day, Our current 'social Christmas culture' does have many good things; Christmas shopping, Christmas decorations, Christmas music and buying presents for family and others. And all the 'busyness' of Christmas is Not by itself a mistake or a sin -- as long as we Don't become distracted, and lose our Prime Focus on Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Wisdom of Advent that the Church gives us, is to call us to use 'Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving' to slow down and truly focus on Our Lord Jesus Christ - and His Birth on Christmas - the Birth of Our Savior.

Nov 14, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

A command, a command and a surprise: Love God. Love your neighbor. And the surprise: a Samaritan, despised by those who were hearing Jesus, becomes the hero. The Samaritans were the geographic neighbors of the Jews. Loving our neighbor means not only helping him when he is lying half dead in a ditch. Loving our neighbor also means not judging him, as the lawyer and the crowd were probably eager to do when it came to the Samaritans?.

October 31, 2021

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

In Isaiah (Is. 49:15-16), God says, “I will never forget you; you are engraved in the palms of my hands”—which is a powerful word, when you remember that it came from the mouth of One who had nails driven through those palms—the palms of His hands—for us. “I will never forget you. You are engraved in the palms of my hands.” So now, right now, God is here. God is with us. He remembers us. He remembers you. He remembers me. Let us cry out to him today. And bring Him all our fears, all our tears, all our cries for help, all our needs, all our desires, all our prayers, all our deepest thoughts and deepest prayers…Let us relax our grip on things, and let go! Let go of our pride, of our fear, of our sinful passions…that we may receive Him as He comes to us now in his Body and Blood.

October 24, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Maybe tough times lie ahead. God knows. But no matter what happens, we encouraged in The Epistle today encourages us to serve the needy, be generous with the abundance He has given, and to do so freely and cheerfully. Ultimately, all we have is from God and the real riches we look forward to are those to which the martyrs witness, those in the age to come.

October 18, 2021

Dn. Pat Lamb

Success is not as important as our effort. If we make an effort, then in the end, paradoxically, we will be successful, because God will receive our repentance and effort, and reward us, for some thirty, for some sixty and for some a hundred.

October 10, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Living as a Christian means remembering the grace of God and patiently enduring hardship.

October 3, 2021

Dn. Joseph Ray

The very first Christians, unswervingly convinced that God loved them, that they were His children, turned the world upside down. When we imitate God, when we love as He loves, we also turn the world upside down.

September 26, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

John was the youngest of Christ’s disciples, but also the oldest. We have the difficulty of a pandemic, of controversy, of threats of war, of uncertainty, even of an early September snowstorm. Over his long life Saint John also knew difficulties: His brother was arrested and killed. His fellow apostles were martyred. Jerusalem was destroyed. He lived through earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. He lived in a very secular society. But he saw Jesus crucified and he also saw Him raised from the dead and he never forgot this. Trials can be endured and things that look like an end can be a passageway to life instead.

September 19, 2021

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

Peter is not the only one who has to face this temptation—to put the things of man ahead of the things of God. This will be the temptation of every single person who has ever lived on the face of the earth. Jesus, therefore, summons not just His disciples (it says), but the crowd. “When He had called the people to Him” (that’s you and me), He said to them: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore is ashamed of Me and of My words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Whoever desires to follow Jesus, must set aside the things of man—what he thinks, what he wants, how he thinks the world should be saved. God’s way is through the death of His only-begotten Son on the precious and life-giving tree of the Cross… for our salvation was won by the Cross. The Kingdom comes by the Cross. Our King was coronated with thorns. Our enemy, Death, was overcome by the King Himself dying. Our enemy, Satan, was destroyed in midst of darkness and the mockery of the Lord’s own falling. To see the battle, you’d never have guessed who the winner was. And Christ’s Victory was a victory that hid itself under an apparent defeat. And it still is. It still hides itself under crosses.

September 14, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

When nails were Jesus’ hands, He opened the door to heaven. When nails were in Jesus’ feet, He blazed the path to eternal life. When Jesus’ side was pierced by a spear, He poured out His life on the earth, watering the seeds of the Kingdom of God…. The sign and symbol of the Cross has power in this world, and we celebrate it. But the source of that power is not some kind of magic. It is not the power of armies or the strength of pride and might. It is the reality that took place in the death of Jesus on the Cross, the reality of His voluntary suffering and death, burial and resurrection, a reality that now becomes our reality through baptism.

September 6, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Christ calls us to live according to the way of the Kingdom of God. Christ wants us not just to sing “Lord, have mercy” – three times, forty times, a hundred times, a million times. He wants us to show mercy to others. God forgives us. Now He wants us to forgive. This is the new way of living in the Kingdom of God.

August 29, 2021

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Those are some of the sweetest, most pure Gospel, words ever spoken, and they come from the mouth of John the Baptist—the voice of one crying in the wilderness. His task was to lead his hearers to Christ, and to show them the way of repentance. And then, once brought to Christ, John would step back, out of the picture, as he said, “He (Christ) must increase, and I must decrease.” ... The liturgical color this day, for this Feast, is red—the color of blood—as it is for all the saints who are martyred for the faith. The word martyr, as you know, comes from the Greek—the word meaning “witness.” And John is a witness to Christ. The greatest witness—Christ Himself says—“out of all mankind, of all the men born of woman, there has never arisen anyone as great as John the Baptist.” We repent, (change our hearts, change direction) so that we can hear and receive a new message, the Gospel, so that we can receive forgiveness and live again. And having received God’s forgiveness, we are given a Promise—that we are now sons and daughters of God our Father, and heirs of a Kingdom which shall have no end.

August 22, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Today I want to point out one thing we seldom highlight. Peter did it. Peter, the fisherman, the impetuous disciple, husband and father, put one leg over and climbed out of the boat and he walked on the sea. This is remarkable. This is the glory of God’s plan. Jesus has become one of us so that He might raise all of us to become like Him. Someday, this will be “par for the course” for us. Human beings will not fear nature or storms or water, but will walk upon seas. What Peter did was an inkling of what God has in store for all humankind. .

August 15, 2021

Fr. Robert Polson

When we pray to God He hears us. When we pray to the saints they pray to God for us but when we pray to the Theotokos we pray to the mother of God. The law, that Jesus has fulfilled, states 'Honor you father and mother…' In fulfillment of that Jesus honors his mother. He obeys her still even as she is in heaven with Him so when she presents our prayers to Him for us she has an influence with God that no one else in the universe has. When you find you have exhausted every means to be freed from something or need help in any area ask the Theotokos because her prayers are different than the prayers of anyone else.

August 8, 2021

Dn. Joseph Ray

Jesus has already begun His work of transfiguring and transforming me and transforming you and transforming the world. If that is true, ...we can clearly see that on this path I am walking, on this path you are walking, on this path we are walking together, there is an enormous amount of work to be done. To be practical, I think of the Eagle River Institute we just enjoyed. Each speaker challenged me to participate, to bring my full agency to the work that needs to be done...

July 25, 2021

Fr. Thomas frizelle

…When dealing with demons Jesus stands His ground, and demonstrates His power over them, not hesitating to send them away. But Jesus treats people differently than demons. He does not use His power over them. In fact, it is He that leaves (their town). He has grace and mercy to give them, and so much more!—love and hope and life! But these things are Gifts, and Gifts are never forced on anyone. Humanity must freely receive them, even as they are freely given. So when Jesus delivers this man from demons, He is announcing to the Gergesenes, to the world, to you and to me, ‘I have come to deliver you from death and sin and the power of the evil one.’ But they don’t want deliverance, they want Him to ‘go away.’ ‘What have You to do with us, Son of God? What have we to do with You?’ And so Jesus leaves. He gives them over to what they want—their isolation, their sin, their death and their demons… But He does not leave them without a witness. He never leaves the world without a witness—that they, and we, might continue to hear His offer—His word of forgiveness—the word of the Cross. The man who was healed that day, the one who said, ‘What have I to do with you?’ he is the one who now wants Jesus to stay…and he has now become God’s witness; His instrument to seek and save the lost. He is God’s witness to the faith and hope that fills him—that those who sent Jesus away might yet come to believe in Him. That’s ‘what he has to do with Jesus.’ That’s what he has to do with Jesus. That’s what we have to do with Jesus.’

July 11, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Our Lord says, “Do not be anxious about what you will eat or drink or what you will wear.” He does not mean these things are unimportant to our life. But He does mean that if our life is dominated by these things, not just having them, but having them totally as we desire them -- so that it is not good enough to wear simple clothes, not good enough to have ample food and drink, not good enough to have modest house, not good enough to have loving friends and restorative leisure -- but wanting to have more and more, and this particular thing or that, this is a wrong way to live.

July 4, 2021

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

As citizens of the Kingdom, we are set free from the bondage of fear. Free to labor in this world for the good of others, and to truly love our neighbor. Throughout history a pattern has taken shape: that wherever the one holy catholic and apostolic Church has gone, wherever it has taken root, there has been an increase--and increase in education, in liberty, in freedom, in respect for women, in protection of the unborn, and all manner of humanitarian and philanthropic effort. This is the great story of all the saints that we are commemorating today, both known and unknown—that wherever the Kingdom of God is found, the kingdoms of this world improve. But the mission of the Church is not to 'make the world a better place.' Making the world a better place is a byproduct of faith and hope and love, born out of repentance. Christianity is people set free from fear to love God and their neighbor, and the focus is always repentance and the forgiveness of sins, which is the proclamation of Christ when He began His ministry: 'Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'

June 27, 2021

Dn. Joseph Ray

The call of absolute discipleship is difficult. The church knows that. That is why the Sunday after Pentecost, the birthday of the church, the church sets before us the encouragement of the saints who have gone on before. As we go forward following Christ, let us keep our eyes fixed firmly on Christ. Let us ask the Holy Spirit for help. Let us also pray to the saints who have gone on before for help. And finally, let us encourage one another as we go forward. We are not alone. We are a community. We are a body. Let us go forward following Christ, together.

June 13, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

When we say the Creed today, we don’t say, ‘We believe…’ Here is the only place where statement of faith drawn up hundreds of years ago can be changed. We say, ‘I believe…’ Because it is the duty of every generation of Christians to embrace as its own this belief, and to let that belief take root and shape our lives.

June 6, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Many times people try to control things because they are afraid of something. But it takes a lot of energy to imagine you can control the world, and it is exhausting when it doesn’t work. We need always to remind ourselves to let God be God. This can give us freedom to see new things we might never have thought of – like truly seeing a man receive his sight. It can give us joy to experience things we might not have experienced – like seeing our children succeed at things we might never have imagined for them.

May 30, 2021

Dn. Joseph Ray

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. How will the resurrection of Jesus change me? I have to take a good, hard, honest look at myself in the light of the resurrection, in the light of the empty tomb. I can, with the help of God, look inside my own heart and change. I can let the light of the resurrection of Jesus shine into my heart, I can be open, I can be transparent, I can be honest. I can look inside myself and look up to God. In other words, I can imitate the Samaritan Woman.

May 16, 2021

Dn. Kevin Dougherty

'Today, we focus on and celebrate the courage and humble service of the Myrrh-Bearing women and Joseph of Arimathea. Their strong devotion to Jesus Christ Our Lord, was stronger than their fear and even stronger than the real danger that they faced when Jesus was crucified..

May 9, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.' - This past year of the pandemic has given us the opportunity to winnow our faith, the chaff of our religious habits separated from the kernel of what is essential, that Jesus IS risen from the dead and that He is my Lord and my God. This the heart of the Gospel that we are called to embrace and proclaim.

Paschal Homily

Saint John Chrysostom, translation by Archimandrite Lazarus Moore

Are you committed to God? Do you love Him? Then enjoy this beautiful, radiant festival... The Kingdom is open to all. Let no one bewail his faults. Forgiveness has dawned from the tomb. Let no one be afraid of death, for the Savior’s death has freed us. He Who was seized by death extinguished death. He Who descended to hell emptied hell.

April 25, 2021

Fr. Marc Dunaway

These branches are our re-commitment, renewal that we have faith in Him, that I will follow Him, that I want to belong to the Kingdom of God, that as He suffered, I too must willingly take up suffering when it comes. But how can we do this? Honestly, I ask myself sometimes, how can I bear the intensity of even the Church services, let alone transform into goodness all that will come to me throughout my own life? There are three simple things that come mind. We heard them in the Scriptures today. They will serve us for the week ahead, and also throughout our life. Remember to rejoice and be thankful for all the good that God has given us. Remember He does not want us to be anxious, but to pray and ask God for help. Finally, remember that the Kingdom of God is received with a childlike faith, like Mary who simply wanted to anoint Jesus feet with fine oil, like the children who ran ahead of Him shouting Hosannah. Live in the present and take the weight of life one day at a time. May God bless and inspire us in the days ahead.

April 18, 2021

Dn. Joseph Ray

On this last Sunday of Lent, our attention is directed to the suffering of Christ and at the same to St. Mary of Egypt to give us hope. Sure and steadfast hope that Christ loves us. Sure and steadfast hope, that no matter what our sins are, no matter how much shame we feel for the life we have lived and for things we have done, we have hope that Christ loves us no matter what and that we, like St. Mary, can be radically transformed.

April 11, 2021

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

It might seem like fasting and prayer are really more monastic arts, and not for everyone. But the Church emphasizes today that these things are for all Christians, and all Christians need to understand their inestimable value, and really come to see them as powerful weapons of salvation, and not abandon their grace. The two supporting pillars of the spiritual life are prayer and fasting. ‘Prayer is the fasting of the mind, even as fasting is the prayer of the body’—the laying aside of ‘all worldly cares,’ we sing, as we approach the Body and Blood. …If our struggles with spiritual disciplines have shown us our own weakness, then let these failures break down all our illusions, and give us a clear picture of ourselves. And if we’re honest, like the father in our gospel lesson, that is what we will see—a man who knows his weakness, a man who does not try to hide them, but honestly throws himself on the mercy of the Lord. He makes no excuses. He does try to justify himself. He does not wallow in self-pity. He does not hide his frustration or his doubt. He is not embittered or embarrassed by his son, or by his own imperfections. He does not worry about what others will think. Instead, he simply acknowledges the truth about himself and cries out to God, and God hears his prayer. He brought new life into him and his son. And He will do the same for us when we fall down before Him in honest repentance, knowing that our only hope is in the great mercy He has, and always has, for those who kneel before Him, crying out, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.’.

April 4, 2021

Dn. Kevin Dougherty

Our Divine Liturgy certainly puts the Cross of Our Lord at the very center of our Worship. And I hope we all have the eyes to see and ears to hear the central focus of our Liturgy on the Cross. Today, of course, the Cross is literally placed in the center of the Nave; the Cross is always at the Altar; and we know that - deepest of all- the Eucharist is truly the center of our Worship in liturgy! Let us remember that when we accept the Eucharist - the Body and Blood of Christ - that in Faith, we accept both His Crucifixion and His Resurrection as we become in Communion with Our Lord. As we become 'members of His Body' we do also share in the mystery of His Cross. And so absolutely, the Cross and Our Lord Crucified is indeed central in our Liturgy and worship.

April 4, 2021

March 28, 2021

‘Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it….’ If we remember this, we will not drift away, but we will want to draw close and press toward Jesus Christ. We will not succumb to the apathy of torpor that says, “Don’t make the effort. Don’t worry about the meaning of your life or things eternal things.” Instead we will take up the armor of our faith and fight the good fight against sin and evil. Saint Paul says: ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’ Being a follower of Christ is urged on by a desire deep inside our being, and nourished and increased by our own repentance and struggle. The paralyzed man was told to take up his pallet and walk. He made effort. And this is what the season of Lent encourages us to do. Get up and go home to God. Listen to the voice of Christ calling you.. - Fr. Marc Dunaway

March 21, 2021

Brothers and sisters, the Lord says to us today, ‘Come and See.’ And that is why we should struggle thru Great Lent, even if we are wondering, “Why am I fasting?” The purpose of fasting is to open the heart to God so that God will enlighten us and (so that we can see that He) helps us with things. And perhaps we also feel that we are in a worse mood now than we were before. Are we snapping at family, and co-workers? And having more difficulty with thoughts, and thinking what use is it to deprive myself of eating? What use to struggle to the end? And we even think that we’ll just be tired on Pascha and won’t feel the Lord, not as much as we want to? Those are our doubts...That is why the Church is telling us today at the end of the 1st week of Lent to ‘Come and See.’ Come and see that good things can come out of Nazareth. We can be completely changed. Everything that applies to the Saints applies to us, absolutely and positively. Jesus Christ came for us, for every man and woman and child. He wants us to have fullness and completeness, regardless of how weak we are, regardless of what happens to us, He wants us to be completely changed. And we can be. Indeed, as Christians, we must believe this, if we are to truly call ourselves Christians, we must truly believe that we can be changed. - Dn. Pat Lamb (drawn from a homily by Fr. Seraphim H., McKinney, TX 2002)

March 14, 2021

The nations have seen a great light. We start Lent with the theme of light and dark. Though our church building WILL be darker and dimmer than usual, Christ is there. So our church in this first week of Lent will be brighter than the brightest church at Pascha. - Fr. Robert Polson

March 7, 2021

Today, the great human family, has differences and conflicts. In our current fallen condition, there is no way to avoid them, but the good news is that even in the midst of our differences, when focused on the love of God and the cross of Christ, our hearts can always remain open, full of love, full of compassion. And because our hearts are open and full of love and compassion, we can fulfill our God given vocation to love our brothers and sisters and need. When we see others hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and in prison out of love, regardless of our differences, regardless of our conflicts, out of love we give them food, out of love we give them drink, out of love we clothe them, and out of love we visit them. By loving others and serving others we love Christ and serve Christ. On that great and terrible day, I want to hear Jesus say to me, Come. I want to hear Jesus say to all of us, Come. With this hope firmly in our hearts, let us firmly resolve, with help of God, to love one another. Amen. - Dn. Joseph Ray

February 25, 2021

As Lent begins this year on March 15, it will have been one year exactly since our entire Church community was able to gather for Sunday Liturgy. Little did we know then that the pandemic would last an entire year. Now, at last, we are beginning to see an end in sight, as vaccines are administered and Covid cases decline. The sense, then, of Lent as a return has an additional meaning this year, as we take a step toward returning to be all together again... During this pandemic God has humbled us and called us to change. And now as we approach the season of Great Lent, we are called to humble ourselves before God and pray for His guidance in our lives even more. This takes not only humility, but even more, I think, courage. God never wants us to remain simply the same, stuck in our old habits and ideas, but always to move ever closer to Him and to journey to become more of what He meant us to be. - Parish Letter by Fr. Marc Dunaway

February 21, 2021

By the Pharisee's misguided perspective he exalted himself and forgot God's preeminence! Rather than letting God judge the Publican, the Pharisee considers himself the judge of people. Turning to the Publican, we can certainly learn from his life. Yes, the Publican understood that he was a sinner. And so when he went to the Temple to pray he had a spiritual attitude of contrition to God. He confessed his sin and said ‘God be merciful to me a Sinner!’ He humbled himself before God. And so the Orthodox Study Bible explains, ‘Jesus reverses the expected conclusion. In the eyes of God - it is the Tax Collector who is justified because of his humility. The Pharisee is condemned because of his self-righteousness and self-exaltation!’ So the Question Arises: How do we seek Humility in our life? Well, Fr. Alexander Schmemann wisely wrote the following: ‘The answer for a Christian is simple: we gain humility by contemplating Christ. We contemplate Our Lord Jesus Christ who is revealed by God ... for all His glory as humility and His humility as glory.’ So we learn humility by focusing on Our Lord -- Our Lord Who says in Scripture : ‘Learn from Me for I am meek and humble in Heart.’ Finally, may I add a personal observation that i hope is helpful. i often see a great saying about Humility on an office plaque. The plaque says, ‘Humility is not thinking less of yourself, instead it is thinking of yourself less!’ Thus we don't have to feel inferior about ourselves -- yet when we think about God and our neighbor more -- we can become less self-focused.. - Homily by Dn. Kevin Dougherty

February 14, 2021

ON THE CANAANITE WOMAN - ‘Free her,’ Lord. That is, ‘Give her what she wants, because she keeps, and keeps on, crying out after us.’ So the disciples ask on her behalf. That is what we are to do: Ask others to pray for us. That’s why we have intercessory prayer in the Liturgy; why we gather our needs and wants, worries and fears, and the concerns of others into petitions before the Altar. We pray for one another. Prayer is the exercise of our universal priesthood as Christians. It’s what priests do. They pray. And you are all priests, anointed in your Baptisms. We have the priestly privilege, and the duty, to speak to God on behalf of others. …The purpose of prayer is not to conform God’s will to our will, but to shape our will to His. And to receive everything, everything, as a gift from Him. It is only on our knees, with empty hands and broken and contrite hearts, that we are able to receive God’s gifts. Our hands must be emptied before they can be filled. Before we can live in Christ, we must die to self. ...And this is what the Canaanite woman did when the Lord called her a dog. She could have become indignant, walked away, turned back, but instead she receives His judgment and says, ‘Yes, Lord! Gentile Dog I may be, but even dogs are not kept from eating the crumbs that sometimes fall from their Master’s table.’ She presses Jesus with His own words and says, ‘If the Lord says I am a dog, then I am a dog! But even dogs get crumbs,’ for she knows that the Crumbs that fall from Jesus’ Table are the Crumbs of the Bread of Life, and her great faith will not be denied. …’O woman,’ He says, ‘great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed that very hour... - Homily by Fr. Thomas Frizelle

February 7, 2021

ON THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS - It is a foundational understanding of Christianity that God, as the Source and Creator of all things, is the One Who gives us all things…. Since God is good and He only creates good, the meaning of this parable for us is that the only right use of everything that God has given us is to multiply His goodness in the world…. We can also say that wherever God’s goodness is hindered or lacking, people are in some way suffering. If the goodness of health is gone, they are sick. If the goodness of purpose is gone, they are sad. Here we come to another foundational understanding of Christianity, the only right use of everything is to glorify God and to help other people, for both of these are the same as multiplying the goodness God has given us.. - Homily by Fr. Marc Dunaway

February 7, 2021

It is a foundational understanding of Christianity that God, as the Source and Creator of all things, is the One Who gives us all things…. Since God is good and He only creates good, the meaning of this parable for us is that the only right use of everything that God has given us is to multiply His goodness in the world…. We can also say that wherever God’s goodness is hindered or lacking, people are in some way suffering. If the goodness of health is gone, they are sick. If the goodness of purpose is gone, they are sad. Here we come to another foundational understanding of Christianity, the only right use of everything is to glorify God and to help other people, for both of these are the same as multiplying the goodness God has given us.. - Homily by Fr. Marc Dunaway

January 31, 2021

At this time in our world the words ‘personal freedom’ seem to be the gospel. ‘Me, I, My, Mine. Me, me, me, me.’ What about your neighbor? ‘My who? No! What about me? Me, me, me….’ How can I be free if my being comes from God? (Acts 17:28) The answer is no one can be personally free except with God. In God we are personally free so we can love our neighbor. - Homily by Fr. Robert Polson

January 24, 2021

I would like to encourage all of us to pray the prayer of the blind man: ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’ Let us pray this prayer in order to see Jesus clearly, who has earned our trust through the cross and the resurrection. In order to see ourselves clearly, through the life, light and love of God. In order to see others clearly, so that we may see how precious the brother or sister I judge, snub and criticize is to God. God loves all persons with the deep love of the cross and the resurrection. So this morning let us answer the question Jesus puts to us, What do you want me to do for you? Let us answer from the bottom of our hearts, ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’ - Homily by Dn. Joseph Ray

January 17, 2021

Being thankful is an essential part of being a healthy and happy person. We fully become who we are called to be when we stand in a relationship of worship and thanksgiving to God. Saint Basil the Great gave an exhortation to in Christians in the fourth century. ‘When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure…. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise their Creator.’ - Homily by Fr. Marc Dunaway

January 6, 2021

Jesus was baptized because He wanted to identify with every suffering that He saw. He wanted to be completely one of us, feeling and experiencing all our struggles. This gives us great hope. God has come down to us. He is with us. In this last year, including even the events we witnessed today in our nation’s capital, we have all suffered many blows to our soul. Jesus comes to be baptized by John because He has come to take all of that to Himself. He knows all that we have endured. He sees our tear-streamed faces. But He has come not only to know our sorrows. He has come also to lift us up, to join humankind to God, to fill us with the Holy Spirit. In joining His divine life to us Jesus has summoned us to become radiant with His life. On this Feast Day we can be comforted. But we also can be inspired that in Christ God has set before us a high path we are called to ascend. - Homily by Fr. Marc Dunaway

January 3, 2021

Today, we read these words of John the Baptist, ‘I baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ A life immersed in the Holy Spirit is a life poured out in love and service to God. A life poured out in love and service to our brothers and sisters. At the beginning of this new year, let us firmly resolve to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts, to love and serve those on the periphery, to love and serve those on the margins of society, to love and serve those who fall between the cracks. Why? Because Jesus came to baptize us with the Holy Spirit. - Homily by Dn. Joseph Ray

December 20, 2020

The Nativity is the celebration of the enfleshment of God. The genealogy of Christ is one of a flawed family history. Jesus came to us with an imperfect family history to show us that He is as human as you and me BUT WITHOUT SIN. He does not require accolades, dignity. He is God. Phillipians 2:6 ' ..who, being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to God.' If Jesus is not absolutely, completely human we are NOT saved. But He is fully human. He is fully God and because of his great humility and love we are saved. - Homily by Fr. Robert Polson

December 13, 2020

It’s so easy to get the wrong idea about what makes a person successful. Here, in St. Herman, we have one lone man, one lone monk, one lone dedicated Christian, the last survivor of a small but rugged group of people who were sent out to do mission work (who had the spiritual instinct to do mission work!) and given almost nothing to help him survive. Nothing except the power of God, the vision, and the wisdom, and the strength to do what the Lord wanted him to do. This one monk, St. Herman, turned out to be a torch, a beacon burning bright, for us now down through the centuries. He is an inspiration. And I, for one, am glad for the prayers of St. Herman in this cold and dark winter, and at the end of this bleak year. ... In this coming week, my friends, I want to emphasize again how important it is to prepare. For Christmas to be truly meaningful it must have something meaningful inside. Something true at its heart. Today we are reminded again that God keeps His promises; He does what He says. The Word of God, spoken by the Forefathers, is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ... There have been many wonderworkers in the history of the world, but what distinguishes all of God’s Saints are the wonders of His Love. They open our eyes and ears to something deeper. They open our minds and hearts to the depths of divine love, letting us peer into something beyond this life, to something holy… to Someone holy. And this changes us forever. - Homily by Fr. Thomas Frizelle

December 6, 2020

Both Saint Nicholas and today’s Gospel urge us to see people as most important. In closing I think we can apply this even to parenting. Be sure you see your children as persons, even when they are three years old, but certainly when they become teenagers. Children are not things merely to be formed a certain way, to be pressed into a mold or conformed to a set of behaviors that parents believe is best or right…. I have seen parents who were very orderly themselves and who out of the best of intentions made lots of rules and worked hard to impress their children into them. And I have seen parents who might be disorderly and messy, but who somehow convey to their children a sense of respect as persons, and allow them perhaps even more freedom than they should. In my observation I think the latter usually turn out better off and keep as adults a good relationship with their parents. I recommend this: as few rules as necessary while always being sure to respect your children as persons. - Homily by Fr. Marc Dunaway

November 28, 2020

There are times when our work in the Church is exciting. In my life it was exciting as we moved towards becoming Orthodox and when we were building the Cathedral. In Saturday’s Gospel the 72 apostles returned from their journeys excited about what they had witnessed. Jesus was excited with them as He said, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ But life goes up and down and our work is not always exciting. So to help the apostles and us keep perspective Jesus immediately added: ‘However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ This is what matters ultimately. - Saturday Homily by Fr. Marc Dunaway

November 22, 2020

The wisdom of how to use one’s life and possessions is as old as Solomon, and the ‘fool’ in this morning’s parable need not have been so foolish—if he had but listened and learned from Scripture. Sadly, like the Pharisees and lawyers in Luke 10, and again in Luke 11, and again, later, in Luke 16 (in the story of the Rich Man & Lazarus), so also this man failed to listen. Jesus’s words suggest that the remedy for worry and anxiety over wealth is actually to give away the surplus. Those given an abundance of God’s gifts in this world can thank God from the bottom of their hearts for this surplus, and enjoy His gifts, but not alone, not selfishly—but rather freely giving away what God has so freely given. And this will actually alleviate anxiety over what one’s heirs might do with such wealth. It will also take away the danger of heirs counting on their inherited wealth—which is one of the greatest corrupters of morals and godly ambition. So the passage ends by telling us where true wealth may be found. ‘So also,’ Jesus says, ‘is everyone who lays up treasures for himself, but is not rich toward God.’ True wealth is our response to God in faith, and our disposition toward our possessions in accordance with that faith—to share with others rather than accumulating things for ourselves. Fr. Thomas Frizelle

November 15, 2020

It is no surprise to us that our beautiful world suffers many things. Like the traveler in today’s Gospel, our world is repeatedly robbed and beaten, sometimes left to die. And yet, God comes. Some have seen in the parable today not just the clear command to help our suffering neighbor, but also a picture of how God in His love has come to us. In Jesus Christ God is present, almighty yet humble, upholding the universe and yet sitting along a road, healing everyone who comes to Him and yet preparing to give His own life as a sacrifice. Fr. Marc Dunaway

November 1, 2020

To be human is to reflect the life, light and love of God. The tragedy of the rich man is that he refused to be human. He refused to reflect the life, light and love of God. He chose instead, to live a life following the deeply rooted human tendencies to put himself first, to blame others, and to make excuses for himself. The shocking thing, the horrifying thing, the monstrous thing about the rich man, was not what he did. The shocking, horrifying and monstrous thing is that the rich man saw Lazarus every day and did nothing. Nothing. I simply want to encourage all of us, to listen to Moses and the prophets, and to reverse those deeply rooted tendencies in our hearts. I want to encourage us to live up to our high calling to be human, to reflect the life, light and love of God in all and with all. Amen. Dn. Joseph Ray

October 25, 2020

Anger not only hurts other people, it damages our own soul. And the solution rarely has anything to do with the other person. It usually has only to do with our own self. For we can get just as angry at inanimate objects like a stripped screw or button that won’t go right… God loves us, and does not want us to be ruled by anger, not by a sudden burst of fury nor by the smoldering coals of pent up rage. When anger is in control of us we cannot be who God made us to be. We are prisoners of its impulses and blind to the truth. If Jesus came all the way across the Sea of Galilee to free the demon-possessed man, he can and does want to free us from anger. Fr. Marc Dunaway

October 18, 2020

Today, October 18, is the Feast of St. Luke, Apostle and Evangelist. ...St. Luke is symbolized by the image of an ox—a bull or calf—which is a figure of sacrifice, and of service, and of strength. The Ox signifies that all Christians should be prepared to sacrifice themselves in following Christ… Let us contemplate also on this day that St. Luke was a Martyr… Evil men and idolaters arrested him, it says, at the age of 84!—still considering him somehow to be a danger at 84! (I hope I’m a danger at 84!) He was flayed alive (which means they tore off all his skin), and then crucified him by hanging him on an olive tree. A martyr, you know, is a witness. That’s what the word means, 'witness' …a witness to the faith, a witness to Christ. Luke’s martyrdom was the culmination of his entire life—of his devotion to Christ, and to the Truth that sets us free. Fr. Thomas Frizelle

October 11, 2020

If we stay humble and patient with each other, and if we want and will look for the word of God, no matter how black the cloud that comes across the sky, if we remember that which we have believed, that God has come to us in Jesus Christ, if we turn away from becoming bitter, if we ask God to strengthen us do what we can, and ask Him to lead us and expect that He will, if we come and pray together every time we can, ultimately everything will be okay. Our hope rests neither in Mr. Biden or in Mr. Trump, neither in Moderna or Astra-Zeneca. Our hope is in God, a hope beyond this life only, a hope anchored in something yet to come, yet somehow already familiar, a hope guiding our actions in this life of here and now. So we know the light of God will shine again in ways brighter than we have ever seen, someday burning away once and for all our fears and doubts and restoring to us a joy and a spirit we once knew as children. Fr. Marc Dunaway

October 5, 2020

'Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will be a Father to you and you will by my sons and daughters.’ We find it easier to be adversarial and condemn our enemies. It’s hard to be patient and kind, and generous, and forgiving toward others—and to put the best possible construction on people’s motives and words and actions, and not ‘bear false witness against thy neighbor’—the Ninth Commandment. There’s so much in our culture and society today that would tell us that we are perfectly justified in allowing anger and resentment and self-righteousness to shape how we respond to one another, both as individuals and as groups of people… But that’s not us—you and me—who, by the grace of our Lord Jesus have become, as St Paul says, ‘temples of the living God.’ Our goal is not to be just one more ‘special interest group’, or party, or faction, but to become, as St. Paul says, ‘temples of the living God,’ and to be ‘merciful, even as our Father is merciful.’ Our goal is to live as children of God…’perfecting holiness in the fear of God,’ as St. Paul says. To separate ourselves from (most of) what is happening around us in our culture, from what would keep us enslaved to old ways of thinking, old habits and old passions, we have to shut our ears to voices that associate strength with those passions (as though it were somehow virtuous to hold grudges and refuse to forgive, and refuse to see the good in others). We have to shut our eyes to the habit of seeing our neighbors only as those who look like us, think like us, and live like us. God’s love and mercy extends way, way beyond that. His mercy extends to sinners—even sinners like you and me. And if that is the case, how can we refuse to extend mercy to anyone else?. Fr. Thomas Frizelle

September 27, 2020

When He had finished speaking, Jesus told Simon to go out into the deep and let down his nets. Here something really important is revealed about Simon who would later be called Peter. Even though he was an experienced and expert fisherman, Simon believed in Jesus. He had faith in Him. Something in him was awakened that made Him turn to this man and trust Him. Simon said, ‘Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing, nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.’ It was the ‘nevertheless’ that made Simon extraordinary. Fr. Marc Dunaway

September 20, 2020

Today, Jesus invites us to follow Him by taking up our cross. What cross? Anything and everything that divides and isolates. Anything and everything that separates and builds wall between us. As we contemplate Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, let us take up our crosses as one, as united. Together. Amen. Dn. Joseph Ray

September 13, 2020

God the Son came so that we would have life. He came so that we would be saved. He didn’t just come so that He could be killed. He came to give us life--His entire life, and it was all because of love. So let us be bold in doing things and living life with love. Dn. Pat Lamb

September 6, 2020

At the end of today's parable we hear that the Kingdom will be given to a people who will bear the fruit thereof. To 'bear fruit' is not automatic, as we see when Jesus cursed the fig tree for having no fruit. But it is also not something we strain to do. Rather, if the conditions are right, God's grace will bring about fruit in our life and in our parish. These conditions are the soil of a good heart as found in the noble people of the our parishes; the water of forgiveness, God's forgiveness of us in our Baptism, and our continuing forgiveness of one another; the food of prayer and good teaching; and finally the light of Truth, Truth brought into in every aspect of our life. If we work to set these conditions, we will bear spiritual fruit by the grace of God. Fr. Marc Dunaway - All Saints of America Mission in Homer

August 30, 2020

In response to the trend of young people leaving their faith in God and in the Church, I would wish that young people today could look at Orthodox Christians and see in us a people with at least these three characteristics: we believe in a loving God greater than anything we can ever comprehend; we want the Truth in every level of our life; and we are kind and good to every suffering person. If they can see this, then they will have seen in us some presence of the one Who is our Lord. And even when we fail in such a high calling, if they see us willing to admit our faults and begin again the pursuit of such noble things, then even they may be inspired to surpass the rich young ruler in today’s Gospel and sell all they have and follow Christ. Fr. Marc Dunaway

August 23, 2020

Forgiveness is not a feeling. You don’t have to be in a 'forgiving mood' to do it. To ‘forgive from the heart,’ as Jesus says, is an act of the will. And its essence lies in the power of the words, ‘I forgive you,’ and in the actions shaped by those words. Forgiveness means we do not return evil for evil, anger for anger, sin for sin. We do not do unto others as they have done to us. Jesus said, ‘Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be poured into your lap. For the measure you give, will be the measure you receive.’ I love those words: ‘…pressed down, shaken together, running over.’ Spilling onto everything and everybody—God’s mercy! And it is from this overflow of forgiveness that we in turn forgive others, letting flow to others what God has so generously poured out on us—the forgiveness that flows to us from the Cross, that knows no limits. Fr. Thomas Frizelle

August 23, 2020

Forgiveness is not a feeling. You don’t have to be in a “forgiving mood” to do it. To ‘forgive from the heart,’ as Jesus says, is an act of the will. And its essence lies in the power of the words, ‘I forgive you,’ and in the actions shaped by those words. Forgiveness means we do not return evil for evil, anger for anger, sin for sin. We do not do unto others as they have done to us. Jesus said, ‘Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be poured into your lap. For the measure you give, will be the measure you receive.’ I love those words: ‘…pressed down, shaken together, running over.’ Spilling onto everything and everybody—God’s mercy! And it is from this overflow of forgiveness that we in turn forgive others, letting flow to others what God has so generously poured out on us—the forgiveness that flows to us from the Cross, that knows no limits. (Excerpted from a homily by Fr Seraphim Holland, 10 years ago) . Fr. Thomas Frizelle

August 16, 2020

Why could we not cast him out? This is how you obtain belief. Saying we believe in God is not enough. We must live according to the Resurrection. We have to look at others and care about others -- and what if you don’t really care about others? Dee Pennock (in her book God’s Path to Sanity ) counsels that if we don't have love for others a good prayer which we can repeat often is, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from Self-Love and give me love for others’ (p.211 ). In Galatians we are counseled to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ… So what is the law of Christ ?... It is love, It is to love, and therefore, to know God ---Who is love. It’s not a list of 10 or 20 or 100 things we must do….We are to love God as He has loved us. And in loving Him as He has loved us, we reach out to others. And we’re not envious, we’re not provoking, and we care about people, even those who don’t care about us, even those that would not return our good favor to them. (Excerpted from a homily by Fr Seraphim Holland, 10 years ago) . Dn. Pat lamb

August 9, 2020

Saint Herman loved the people of Alaska. He showed his love for them in two specific ways. First, he put himself on the same level as the people he came to serve. He treated people with profound respect; he treated their faith with respect. He presented the good news of Jesus, not as a replacement to their faith, but as its fulfillment. He valued the good hard spiritual work they had already done and helped lead them on to maturity and fullness in their faith. Second, St. Herman, at great personal cost to himself, advocated for the people of Alaska. He witnessed firsthand the terrible abuse they suffered by some of the Russians. St. Herman put himself in harm’s way and was himself the target and the object of the hatred of many because of his love for the people of Alaska. Dn.Joseph Ray

August 2, 2020

Even though we cannot all be together in one place, we are still together as a spiritual family. Our parish, our church stays united by us coming to this Holy Place and worshipping and receiving Holy Communion. Whether it is a small group of us on Wednesday or Saturday or Sunday, each time we receive the Holy Eucharist we are joined to God and also to one another. And when we are not able to be together, it is possible for us to hear the Church singing on Sunday and Feast Days through the technology of our times. We cannot force events to be different than they are, but we can believe in God. He is with us especially now, sees our needs and will have compassion on us. So let us continue to go forward, and as Christ showed us in the Gospel we heard today, take what we have, and do what we can, asking God to bless our efforts, believing that He will multiply His grace within us to be more than we need, more than we ever expected. Fr. Marc Dunaway

July 26, 2020

We are conflicted society…. People are arguing and fighting and dividing one against one another…. Fr. Alexander Schmemann, my beloved teacher, used to say, the whole mission of the Church is to celebrate and bring the reality of Christ’s resurrection into the world and then to keep it alive for the rest of the year…. Holiness unites. Holiness cures. We come to the Church to have a small dose of holiness given to us and then we’re sent out in the name of the Lord to bring that joy and that love and that peace to others. We know what it’s like to be contaminated these days, in the days of Covid 19, how it’s spread, sometimes unknowingly from one person to the other. Faith is the same. Hope is the same. Love is the same. It’s also invisible, but you catch it, you see. It’s our mission to contaminate the world, not with something evil and deadly, but with something good and beautiful and holy, the news of the resurrection, the glory of God. Let all our temporary differences of opinion, politically or socially or economically, be put back where they belong…. . Fr. Michael Oleksa

July 12, 2020

The gospel of the two demon-possessed men meeting Christ in the Gergesenes encourages me that, no matter what, Jesus is with us - no matter what, we have hope. These men, could not help themselves, could not be helped by others, but they were sought out by God Himself. Psalm 139, one of my favorites, is enormously encouraging to me, especially when I read it as if I were one of these men. The Psalm begins, ‘O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thoughts, you are intimately acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word on my tongue O Lord, but you know it altogether… if I make my bed in hell, you are there…how precious are your thoughts to me O God, How great is the sum of them, if I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.’ Brothers and sisters, please be encouraged this morning that God is with us no matter what and all things are possible with God. Amen. - Dn. Joseph Ray

July 5, 2020

The soul knows when it does wrong. The soul knows when it has bad priorities. The soul knows when it’s really lying to itself, saying it is a Christian but not living in a Christian way - perhaps going to church, giving alms and other things, but not having your priority to be with God. The soul knows... The key to faith is: you have to live according to the things you say you believe. It’s a matter of priority. It’s a matter of consistency. It’s a matter of being honorable about what you say you believe. This is what marks a Christian. - Protodeacon Pat Lamb - Shared from the website of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, 2009, Mckinney, Texas

June 28, 2020 - Sts. Peter and Paul

…Heavenly, divine things, things which the ‘eye has not seen, nor the ear ever heard…things which have not entered into the heart of man' (1 Cor. 2)--these things must be revealed by the Holy Spirit who is everywhere present and fills all things--the Spirit of Truth--who takes the things of Jesus and delivers them to us. It is this life-giving truth that creates faith and hope and love. It is the pure, pure Gospel. The Truth, that not only brought Sts. Peter and Paul together, and brought them to repentance in humility, but also turned them into lights--lights to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of God’s people, Israel. And for us, they are beloved fathers and teachers and saints. It is their faith in Christ that has immortalized and engraved their names in us forever. I’ll close with a few words from the stichera of 'Lord I Cry' from Vespers last night: 'How shall we worthily sing hymns to honor Peter and Paul? Their hands were filled with grace and truth. Their feet carried them to the ends of the earth, preaching the Gospel of peace. They were driven by the wind of the Spirit and carried up to heaven! They are rivers of wisdom, and upholders of the Cross! Nurturers of the whole world, living tablets of the New Testament—whom Christ, Who has great and rich mercy, has exalted!' Let us strive to imitate their repentance, and also to imitate their love and life-giving faith which enables us to conquer our fears, and our conflicts, and to overcome the world. - Fr. Thomas Frizelle

June 21, 2020 - Sunday of All Saints of North America

It is common to see today Icons of a dozen or so Orthodox Saints gathered around the Theotokos with the title “Saints of North America.” It is my dream and hope that someday there will be an Icon that tells the greater story. It will have the Orthodox Saints depicted, but behind them will rows and rows, myriads upon myriads of other Saints gathered with them. These holy people will not be from the ranks of the Orthodox Church. There will be men in top hats, grey-haired grandmothers, native Americans with headdresses, young, zealous missionaries, soldiers who died to save others, bald, black-headed men wearing chains, silver-haired preachers who stirred the heart of many, even perhaps young people who professed Christ and then were shot by a deranged shooter in their school. That icon needs to be painted because it is true and it tells even more the greater story that we remember today when we commemorate all the Saints of North America. - Fr. Marc Dunaway

June 21, 2020 - Sunday of All Saints of North America

June 14, 2020 - Sunday of All Saints

I want to encourage us to follow Jesus with a renewed zeal. A renewed clarity. A renewed resolve. And to let go of whatever obstacle we might cling to, leaning ever more fully on the Holy Spirit as we follow Jesus. Allowing the Holy Spirit to continue to turn our hearts upside down as we take our next step forward in following Jesus. Our lives, just like the lives of our brothers and sisters who lived before us, will all look unique. Some might conquer kingdoms and fight injustice. Others might conquer personal passions like envy and greed. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we all fight and we all conquer. - Dn. Joseph Ray

June 14, 2020 - Sunday of All Saints

June 7, 2020 - Pentecost

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Just because I have not personally seen or experienced discrimination or racism does not mean it is not real. If I only respond to the phrase ‘black lives matter’ with ‘all lives matter,’ I am being deaf to the pain expressed by people who are truly suffering. As Christians we oppose racism when it is right before us, and we should support righteous civic policy that condemns violence and protects the sacred value of all human life. Jesus addressed the ultimate remedy for systemic evil when He cried out: ‘He who believes in me out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ This gift of the Holy Spirit, which we celebrate on Pentecost and which God has placed in our hearts, pushes us to root out from our own hearts any trace of suspicion of others simply because they are different than us. Even the miraculous ‘tongues’ on that first Pentecost provide a glimpse of the unity God desires among the nations.

May 31, 2020

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

When the Lord ascended into heaven, He did so with a glorified body, but also with a wounded body; a scarred body. His wounds did not compromise His divinity or His holiness. In fact, it was through them that He conquered death and made clear that He is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. And so too our wounds. No matter what they are they cannot shut us out of the Kingdom. We must, however, offer those wounds to Him, and open ourselves up, and bring them out into the Light, the healing Light, which can restore us--our withered hands and withered hearts--making us whole again. When our wounds are the result of our sins, we have to confess them and repent of them in humility. When our wounds are the result of other peoples’ sins, then we must learn to make them points of contact for others, and Jesus did with Thomas, that others too may see Christ, and ascend with us. This requires that we learn to see what our wounds reveal about ourselves, about our lives, our relationships and our world, no matter how difficult that may be. Then we can make our wounds part of our Salvation, and maybe help someone else’s entrance into Heaven….

May 24, 2020

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Jesus Christ is the light of world and He will be with us and guide us if we trust Him. Two different kinds of people can be seen in the Gospel today: proud men who refused to change and accept the truth when it was right in front of them; and the blind man who received not only his eyesight but also spiritual light as he believed in Jesus Christ. On this day and in the days ahead, let us ask God to show us His light and lead us, and let us be willing to change whenever His light shows us we are wrong or that we have more to learn.

May 17, 2020

Dn. Joseph Ray

The beauty of the Samaritan woman is that she shows us that we do not have to remain stuck in our past, in the quagmire of past mistakes and regrets, whether it is the pain of broken marriages or the wounds of failed family relationships or the shame of social isolation due to friendships somehow gone bad. She does not allow her past mistakes to hold her back or keep her down or stuck. She leaves no room for despair. She holds out hope in God. Jesus raises her up and they move forward together.

May 10, 2020

Fr. Marc Dunaway

This Gospel is read on the third Sunday after Pascha because the Church wants us to see that the power of Christ’s resurrection is not just something that happened on Easter day. It is a power meant to be at work in our lives. Christ is risen and he means us to get up. He got up. Now I need to have courage and get up. After all what’s the worst thing that can happen to you in this world? You die. But if Christ is risen from the dead and we too will rise from the dead with Him, what is there to be afraid of? Christ is risen. Have no fear. Ask for His help and get up. This is how He wants us to live.

May 3, 2020

Chris Kies, Subdeacon, Chaplain

So as we stand today in the empty tomb with the women – perhaps carrying our shame for our failures, perhaps carrying apathy and indifference – we are invited to return to Galilee, to return to that place where we first encountered the Lord, and to remember the joy and fulfillment we had when we were there. We must not stay back because it is too difficult, for as the angel said, 'He is going before you.' And as we take that first step, every successive step becomes easier as we restore our relationship with the world, with others, with God, and with ourselves to its proper function. 'There you will see Him.' So get up, and get going.

April 26, 2020 - Saint Thomas Sunday

Fr. Marc Dunaway

The apostles faced uncertainty, fear and anxiety just like all human beings. They did not know where their travels would take them or how their lives would end. But one truth they did know and this they held onto. It is the same truth we are invited to cling to in our own times of uncertainty. Jesus Christ is Risen! He lives! He is with us! We may not know the economic future. We may not know when the coronavirus will be as defeated. We do not know if it will re-appear in the fall and bring all of us once again to shelter and hide. But regardless of anything that happens in this world, our hope and our faith reside in something that is beyond this world, that Jesus Christ has taken our world into Himself, and raised it up and renewed it. He will raise us up too. He will forgive us our failings. This truth does not magically erase our current uncertainties. But it can undergird them with a foundation that will not fail. It puts beneath our lives a safety net which no matter how far we may fall, will catch us in God’s eternal life and love. We may suffer illness, but Christ is risen. We may suffer a family crisis, but Christ is risen. We may suffer poverty, but Christ is risen. We may suffer sadness, a protracted illness, or a sudden martyrdom, but Christ is risen.

April 19, 2020

Paschal Homily of Saint John Chrysostom

All of you, enter the joy of our Lord. One and all, enjoy your reward. Rich and poor, dance together. Ascetics and easy-goers, honor the day. You who have fasted and you who have not, be glad today and delight in the Lord. The table is full. Let all enjoy it. The food is ample. Let none go away hungry. Let all enjoy the banquet of faith, all enjoy the wealth of God’s goodness. Let no one complain of poverty. The Kingdom is open to all. Let no one bewail his faults. Forgiveness has dawned from the tomb. Let no one be afraid of death, for the Savior’s death has freed us. He Who was seized by death extinguished death.

April 20, 2020

Paschal Homily of Saint John Chrysostom

April 5, 2020

Fr. Tom Frizelle

…This viral plague reminds us of our frailty, and the brokenness and sickness of our world since the Fall. But it also reminds us of God’s steadfast love and mercy and that His grace is greater still; that grace and mercy and love endure. For our God has the cure for all that ails us. Christ’s blood washes us clean, and takes away our leprosy, and the sin that so easily entangles us, and which keeps us separated from God and each another. This is a time for courage, faith, and creativity. A time to move forward carefully, but not carelessly, being mindful of the needs of our neighbor. Learning now how to do things differently perhaps… Take care of your families, and all who are of the household of faith. Read good books, talk to one another on the phone. Be kind to your neighbors. And let your endurance, and patience, and inner peace, be the occasion which prompts others to ask concerning the hope that is within you.

March 29, 2020

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Like most of you, Betsy and I have watched the news, consulted with family, wondered and worried about what we can and should do. We are at times afraid, at other times not so much. But all the time there is the relentless uncertainty of it all. Will I get sick? Will anyone I know die from this? When and how will this all end? Will we recover? Can you believe this is happening? I asked Betsy, how can anyone possibly know what to say that is encouraging? She said to me: ‘But everything we believe as Christians is still the same.’ She was right and that is our comfort…. It is not for this life alone that we are living, but for the life of the Kingdom of God in the age to come! This is what we have always believed, is it not? And it has not changed, pandemic or no. So as we continue in the weeks of Lent we can pray, ‘Bring us, O Jesus, even us, to Your Holy Resurrection and to Your heavenly Kingdom.'(You can listen to the entire homily online on our livestream video link.)

March 22, 2020

Protodeacon Pat Lamb

As Christians we are to love God and love our neighbors, love our enemies, and love our self. Are you closeted in your house today, wondering how your life has crashed. No job, no place to go, to meet your friends or gather with relatives? Giving is therapy for the soul. It keeps the heart open to others and sensitive to their needs. Giving is also the secret of a mentally and emotionally healthy life…. In this time of social distancing, there are still many ways we can give to others: shovel their driveway or sidewalk, sand their driveway when it’s icy, offer to pick-up groceries, take-out food, or prescriptions, and even look for someone who doesn't have a neighbor, and be that to them. (You can listen to the entire homily online on our livestream video link.)

March 15, 2020

Fr. Marc Dunaway

This past week has been extraordinary as we have listened to the news about the coronavirus spreading across Europe and then approaching the United States like a giant hurricane slowly making landfall from New York to Seattle, and threatening now even the distant and pristine shores of our own home Alaska.… As Jesus looked up to see the man on the stretcher being lowered in front of Him, the Gospel says, 'Jesus saw their faith…' Faith is what made them come up with the idea to take their friend to Jesus. Faith is what made them persevere when they ran into a crowd blocking them from the door. Faith made them climb up on the roof and tear a hole in the tiles to get through. Faith is what made them hold on to their desire and their goal even when they met defeat and despair. Faith is the virtue that keeps us going on even when it seems like the odds are stacked against us. We also have to exercise our faith to be able to change and to attain the great joy that God has for us, a joy that can make even dark anxiety and fear, such as we have felt this week, dissipate like fog in the rays of the morning sun.

March 15, 2020

Fr. Marc Dunaway

This past week has been extraordinary as we have listened to the news about the coronavirus across spreading across Europe and then approaching the United States like a giant hurricane slowly making landfall from New York to Seattle, and threatening now even the distant and pristine shores of our own home Alaska.… As Jesus looked up to see the man on the stretcher being lowered in front of Him, the Gospel says, 'Jesus saw their faith…' Faith is what made them come up with the idea to take their friend to Jesus. Faith is what made them persevere when they ran into a crowd blocking them from the door. Faith made them climb up on the roof and tear a hole in the tiles to get through. Faith is what made them hold on to their desire and their goal even when they met defeat and despair. Faith is the virtue that keeps us going on even when it seems like the odds are stacked against us. We also have to exercise our faith to be able to change and to attain the great joy that God has for us, a joy that can make even dark anxiety and fear, such as we have felt this week, dissipate like fog in the rays of the morning sun.

March 8, 2020

Fr. Thomas Frizelle

...the icons of the saints, the Theotokos and all the saints, manifest our calling--our personal calling--to become radiant with the divine glory, to reflect the uncreated light, by uniting ourselves to Christ. 'I do join myself to Christ...', such that His life and holiness becomes a personal characteristic in us.

March 1, 2020

Dn. Joseph Ray

To be a Christian to follow Christ means first and foremost to forgive others from our hearts just as Jesus did the image and likeness of God are most clearly reflected in us when we forgive.

February 23, 2020

Fr. Marc Dunaway

Brothers and sisters, it will be each person’s own conscience that condemns him or her on the day we stand before Jesus Christ. All of our accomplishments and successes, offices and awards, that have value in this present world will be stripped away and forgotten. Only one thing will remain and this is the main lesson of today’s Gospel: Did we learn to show love to other people and did we manifest this in love in real and practical ways?