Friday, October 31, 2025: Our Holy Lady Theotokos, Terror of Demons; Holy Apostle Luke
COLOSSIAN 2:1-7
LUKE 10:1-15; LUKE 10:38-42
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ! From the foundations of the history of man, who was made from the dust, and this very dust which was imbued with the gift of life, the gift of the senses to see the world, to experience it, dust being given the great gift of sentience, conscience, the ability to know, to live.
Man is but dust. But this dust which was given the great gift of life, was also given a great enemy. And this enemy was given a great curse. Satan, who indwelled and used the serpent as a betrayal against man, was pronounced that he would, it would, crawl on its belly all its days and eat the dust. Dust being obviously the substance that man is made from. And the substance that man is made from, being dust, and the curse on the serpent that it would crawl on its belly and eat dust, find its fulfillment and its completion when the Master Himself says to the great city of Jerusalem, it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of the judgment than for you.
Why? Because Sodom, although she was wicked, Sodom, although she was given over completely to her lusts because of her unwillingness to stretch out her hand to the poor and the needy – this is what the Scripture says, by the way – if she had known, if she had seen the mercy, if she had known, if she had seen the Messiah, she would have repented to a greater degree than the great city of Jerusalem, who had seen and experienced the miracles of the Lord within her. The gift of seeing and the gift of experiencing the mercy of God is the very thing that hardened the heart, let’s say, of this city. And so the dust is shaken off of the sandal as a symbol, a symbol correlating those who would deny the work of the Lord, those who would deny the mercy of God, those who would seek to not repent, that they would see that from the shaking off of the dust that they are in fact being accounted with the very thing the serpent is to eat: death. Death.
When we dust our homes, when we see thick layers of dust of places that have been neglected, what are we collecting? We’re collecting dust from death. Dead cells, dead skin, dirt, filth has accumulated. This is what dust is. It’s a symbol of death. Now, the good news for us is that God has given us a good and holy Mother, a good and holy Mother who also comes from the dust. Remember Eve came from Adam, but the first Eve fell. And when the first Eve fell because of her vanity, when the first Eve fell because of her lack of submission, when the first Eve fell because of her lack of faith, the second Eve, our dear holy Mother, the Theotokos, she not only displays the faith, she not only displays the submission, but she exceeds it. How? She does something unheard of. She offers purity. And the purity of the Mother of God, her very life, not just her body, her virginity should not simply be understood in a purely physical manner. Spiritually, she was pure. Her mind, her heart, her willingness to be everything that Eve was not, this is not only her purity, but this is her strength.
And it is her, it is through her and by her that we find ourselves fresh and clean again. No longer characterized as death, as dust, but rather now we remember death has now been given to us as a gift, a way of humbling us. Because the purity of the Mother of God and the strength of the Mother of God, she has proclaimed victory over the enemy.
And death no longer has a hold on us who follow after her in obedience to her Son. What joy. But this joy is not easily grasped, my sons and my daughters. Because the Mother of God, in all her purity, in all her strength, she still had to endure. She still had to endure the betrayal, the cruelty and the wickedness of this world, but it did not undo her. And so we look to her today and we have hope that through her and by her the dust that we are made of is no longer death, but humility. And it’s in her purity and it’s in her obedience that we will find not only light and life, but truly we will find resurrection. Because it’s by her that the serpents heal, that the serpent’s head is crushed underneath the heel of her great son. Battles we have, but a war has been won.
And that great war is won by and for us through the Mother of God. So let us continue to honor Our Lady, let us strive in purity, let us strive to look to her through strength and prayer and in hope. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Wednesday, October 29, 2025: St. Longinus
COLOSSIANS 1:18-23
LUKE 9:44-50
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst! You know that feeling you get when it’s maybe time for lunch or dinner, maybe you’re going out to eat somewhere, and there’s a line. You know that feeling of you just want to be first? You know what I’m talking about? You ever feel that way? You want to be the first in line. You want to be the first one to get the piece of cake. You want to be the first one to maybe have dessert.
Why do you think we feel that way? Maybe sometimes we think that there’s not going to be enough for me left over. Maybe sometimes we want to be first because we want to feel special. We want people to know that we’re special. Maybe we want people to see us. So you want to be in the front of the line.
Well, in the Gospel today, the Apostles, they’re human beings. The Apostles, they’re not angels. And the Apostles aren’t characters in a story. They’re real people just like us. And so they had this problem where even in the midst of Jesus doing things and things happening all around them, they still had this strong enough feeling in them to want to be the best, to want to be first. And that feeling was so strong in them that they actually asked Jesus, if you can believe that, which one of them is going to be greatest.
Well, you know what’s funny is, we all feel that way. So the question is, what are you supposed to do? Because do you guys think that that’s a feeling that’s a good feeling? Do you think it’s something that’s a good feeling? It causes problems, doesn’t it? Because every time that you try to be first, you know what that means? Someone else is going to be after you. And in order for you to be first, most times, not all the times, but most times when you want to be first, first means you’re going to have to step over somebody to get there. You’re going to have to step on someone to get to the top. You’re going to have to push somebody out of the way to make sure that you’re first. You’re going to have to put someone aside to make sure that you get your cake before they do or you get whatever you want before they do.
That’s a problem, isn’t it? Because we wouldn’t want anybody to do that to us, would we? But yet we do it to others, don’t we? Maybe we do it to our little brothers or sisters. Maybe. Maybe we do it to our friends. But we do do it. And even if we don’t do it by pushing somebody with our elbow, we definitely push people with our minds, don’t we? We definitely think to ourselves, I’m better than her. I should be before her. Don’t we? We think that, don’t we? Yeah.
Well, let me give you a little help with that because Jesus, as it says in the Epistle today, He is the firstborn of creation. And God the Father has deemed it that He is going to be the one that receives all honor and glory. You see, whenever any of us feel that nasty desire, that little demon that kind of begins to whisper to us that we’re better and that we should be up top, the real easy answer is, “Actually, you dumb demon, Jesus is first.”
And if you even remember this yourself: “I’m always going to put Jesus first because God the Father put Jesus first.” Jesus is the head of everything. And that takes off a lot of pressure because you’ll never be ahead of Him, ever. And why would you want to be, right? Which one of you here wants to be ahead of Jesus? Raise your hand. Who wants to make sure that… oh, you do? You want to have pie instead of Jesus? Not me. Yeah.
It’s a better idea that we make sure that we always recognize that Jesus is first because it’s really difficult to have this thought in your head, “I want to be first,” and at the same time recognizing that Jesus is first. Those two things can’t be in your head at the same time. But guess what, guys? You know what happens? We forget that Jesus is first, don’t we? We forget Jesus is first, and so, therefore, we become first.
It’s a really, shall we say, sticky thing because that thought of wanting to be the first, it’s always with us. And that’s why we have to work really hard as Christians to kind of just put it down and put it aside. But the good news is, as long as we’re remembering that Jesus is first, that other thought can’t be there.Those two things can’t be there in the same place. So if you ever find yourself thinking that “I’m first and I want my pie first, I want everything first, I want to be the best, I want to be the greatest,” as long as you remember, no, Jesus is first and the greatest, then that thought will slowly go away like something very stinky, okay? The blessing of the Lord be upon you. Amen.
Sunday, October 26, 2025: Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council
GALATIANS 1:11-19
LUKE 8:5-15
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst!
Today we are commemorating the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, in which once and for all the decision, the truth of the holy icons was established. And today, in this day, in our day and age, even though Orthodoxy is so well known, we still see that there are many iconoclasts amongst our society and are living in our generation.
There are those who do not understand not just the simple profundity, but the necessity of the icon, that the icon is a dogmatic statement. It isn’t something simply kind of accoutrement. It isn’t something that the Orthodox like to have because we like pretty pictures. The icon reveals to us something so fundamental to existence, and that thing is love.
You see, today in the Gospel, the Lord gives this parable of the sowing of seed, which finds itself on different types of rock, different types of soil. And in all these, the one that finds good soil, what is this good soil? It’s a heart. It’s a heart that has nobility, that has love. This is how we have a heart that receives the seed of God. God is life. God is love. Period. Full stop. God is life. God is love. And so if one is to have life, if one is to have love, they must have God.
And God comes to every human being through the means of this seed, this ability to have potential birth within them. But this potential, this ability is not abstract. It isn’t a philosophical notion, and it isn’t moral action. Although those things do involve the understanding and the apprehension of love, ultimately it has to be known in the person. And this is so key because God is not an abstract force. God isn’t the force. God isn’t the Tao. God is Person.
And this is why our fathers and mothers bled for the icon. This is why our fathers allowed themselves to be maimed, some of them to even be branded upon their faces for the truth of the icon. If the icon was just simply a cultural expression, if the icon was simply, as some heretics erroneously say, an accretion of history, then we have a serious problem. That serious problem is how can you love something that’s abstract? When you say, “Oh, I love that breeze,” how can you grasp the wind? When we say we love something about nature as Christians, what distinguishes us from the pagan? Something very simple. It’s called love. You see, when a pagan says they love the wind, they love the sea, they love the stars, they love the moon, this is a good thing, but the problem is it’s abstract. And at worst, it’s idolatrous.
When we as Christians say, in America, because of our English language being so limited, we say we love the moon, we love the stars, we love the wind, we love the sea, that for us is not idolatry and it’s not abstract. Why? Because we know the One who made the sun, the stars. It is not abstract. It’s a Person. God reveals Himself.
The Godhead is fully manifested and revealed in the Son. The Son chose to become incarnate. He chose to be revealed as a man, as a man of Palestinian Jewish lineage in a particular time, with particular features, which we have passed down to us, this Man. When we as Christians go to the icon and venerate the icon of Christ, we are venerating God. That’s God. And we know God because God is Person, because God can be known.
Abstraction cannot be known. You cannot know an abstraction. You cannot know a vaporous mystery. But you can know a Man Who had a mother. You can know a Man Who had brothers who labored with Him. You can know a Man Who had sisters. You can know a Man Who loved His people. You can love Christ, and Christ is God. And if you want to have a noble heart that receives the seed of God, if you want a heart that is filled with goodness, that can receive the love of God, if you want to have a heart that can hold life within it, then you must know that it is through person.
Now, this is where it becomes difficult. Because unfortunately, we can make Jesus, even the Christ Himself, as he’s revealed Himself incarnationally, an abstraction. We can, and we do. And so what are we to do? We’re to understand this: The icon speaks not just simply of the image circumscribed of Jesus of Nazareth, because there are many icons. And each one of these icons, each one of these saints, reveals something very powerful: God.
That God is love and God is person. And that with each person, the mystery of God is revealed. Therefore, you cannot love God if you do not love your wife. You cannot love God if you do not love your husband. You cannot love God if you do not love your mother, your brother, your sister, your daughter. You cannot love God if you do not love your neighbor.
Why? Because real love, real love, not vain, vaporous emotion, but the true love that is of God and comes from God is only experienced between persons. And God places within each one of our lives particular persons that are often very difficult to love. And it’s in that difficulty that we experience the love of God, because agape, the love of God, is not a love that’s contingent upon the ego, the self.
God doesn’t love you because you’re lovable – quite the opposite. God loves you especially because you’re unlovable. This love is given to us, and every parent, every sibling has had it. Every one of us here, whether you have children or not, you have someone in your life you just cannot stand. And that person in your life, my dear brothers and sisters, my sons, my daughters, that is the icon of Christ in your life. And it’s in loving that person that is so hard to love that you begin to taste the real love of God.
Because if you love people who love you and pat you on the back, it doesn’t mean anything. Even the pagans do that. But we as Christians, we’ve been given a higher love. We’ve been given love divine. We’ve been given love supreme. Beware and warn your family of these who have many followers and many views on the internet, and they speak against the icon. These are heretics.
And we must be careful because the icon is not something that we add to hang from our rearview mirrors. The icon is sacred. And in the icon, our experience of the true living God is not only manifested, but it’s preserved.
Through the prayers of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, Lord Jesus Christ, help us and bring us your love. Amen.
Thursday, October 23, 2025: St. Ambrose of Optina and the Optina Elders
PHILIPPIANS 3:1-8
LUKE 6:17-23
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ!
Today we are commemorating St. Ambrose of the Optina Elders. And St. Ambrose is considered by many, if not most, to be the greatest of the Elders of Optina. St. Ambrose rightfully could hold that title because St. Ambrose, like all the Optina Elders, embodied the fullness of the Beatitudes.
The Optina spirit is one that is especially dear to us in this community. The Optina spirit, that spirit of late Russia, in a time in which Russia was about to experience the fruit of her decadence. The Optina Elders existing at this juncture, in which the term Holy Russia could be rightly applied to them and their ministry to the people at the time.
Russia being an imperial power, and like all imperial powers, suffering from the decadence of culture and economics and politics. And that influence beginning to wear and to break down society, the Russian culture. In the midst of all this, the Optina Elders were this preserving agent, like salt, keeping the Spirit of God.
And to be understood clearly, the Spirit of God not just being about some old, antiquated way of thinking and being. Not keeping tradition for tradition’s sake, but the Spirit of God in the sense that the Optina Elders met the people exactly where they were at.
St. Ambrose, like many of the Elders, would be known for seeing hundreds of people a day, thousands of people in a month. The people flocking to the Elders to find solace in a time of coming upheaval, a time of decadence, a time in which they saw that their lives were fraught with pain. And in that pain that they would bring to the Elder, they would hear the Gospel message, they would hear the message of the Beatitudes: Blessed are those who weep, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
The way that St. Ambrose was able to take the pain, take the troubles of the people, and to lift their hearts, and to give them hope, and to take their pain, and to take the troubles of the times, and to turn that into a certain type of salt that would season them, that would allow the people that came to St. Ambrose for comfort – he wouldn’t just turn them away, assuaging their pain like some sort of narcotic. But rather he would take their pain and point them to Christ, he would take their pain and give them true hope, the hope that would allow them to endure another day. And this is powerful because this is the difference between a Holy Elder, a Starets, like St. Ambrose, versus a guru, and the guruism that the Western world, and unfortunately the rest of the world, would soon begin to encounter in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Because guruism is essentially about giving someone a narcotic, giving them something to make them feel better, giving them something to make them think that they can do better in and of themselves. This is not the movement of a Holy Elder. A Holy Elder brings someone to Christ, and the hope that they find in Christ is the hope to endure one more day. The Cross.
The Beatitudes are fully revealed when one encounters a Holy Elder, because a Holy Elder brings someone precisely to the Cross where Christ is found. And so we see that St. Ambrose, like all the Optina Elders, they had this incredible grace to sometimes bring joy, but always the Cross. And they did it in such a way that it was life-giving, in a time of real struggle, in a time of real heartache and decision for the people.
Here, we strive to remember and embrace, and if God would have it, grant us a measure of the grace of the Optina Elders. Because we see that it’s so important for us in these modern times, living in our own moments of indecision and struggle and moral decay, we see that their spirit, a spirit that is the spirit of the Beatitudes, a spirit that is the spirit of the joy of the Cross, this is what the Optina Elders, and especially St. Ambrose, brings to us. So through the prayers of St. Ambrose, Lord, help us to continue to bear our Cross with joy.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025: Holy Apostle James
1 CORINTHIANS 4:9-16
LUKE 8:22-25; LUKE 10:16-21
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst.
Have you guys ever had one of those days when it just seemed like everything was going wrong? Ever had a day like that before? You wake up, maybe you fall out of bed instead of getting out of bed, you know? Your toothpaste is spilled everywhere, or you can’t find your toothbrush. The dog had an accident in the house, right? And then just from there, everything seems to kind of just get worse, right? What is going on? What’s happening?
Maybe around lunchtime, things get a little bit worse. If you drive, maybe you’re having problems with your car. Or if you’re old enough to have a boss, maybe your boss is giving you a hard time. Or maybe school, your teacher’s kind of bugging you. You forgot your homework because the dog ate it, something like that, right? Yeah. And then by the time it’s dinner time, you’re so tired, and nothing’s gone right, and then Mom, instead of making a delicious steak dinner, she serves you SpaghettiOs, right? Or something like that. And you’re like, what is this? It’s just one thing after the other. And you say to yourself, what is happening? Why is everything going wrong?
Well, a good friend of mine, he reminded my son about something. I thought, oh, this is true, this is true. You know, guys, sometimes Jesus is asleep in the boat. Sometimes Jesus is asleep in the boat. In the Gospel today, the Apostles are out on the water. A big storm comes. And the storm is so big. And it’s so crazy that the boat is starting to fill with water. And at this point, anybody would be concerned. Anybody in their right mind would say, what is happening? We’re in real danger here.
And lo and behold, they look, and Jesus is asleep in the boat. Sometimes that’s how it feels for us. We have situations that are actually unbearable. It’s not just that we’re being babies about it. It’s actually really difficult. And we cry out to God, and we try to do our best. We try to our best to do our best. But the reality is, it’s just nothing’s changing. It feels like Jesus is asleep in our boat, like nothing’s happening.
What’s interesting is, in the Gospel, we see that it took the disciples all of this trouble. The lightning, the storms, the boat about to sink. When they finally say, “Master, don’t you care that we’re going to die?” So Jesus wakes up, and He quiets the storm. You see, Jesus sometimes needs to fall asleep in the boat to get us to the place where we’re actually going to cry out to him.
You see, guys, Jesus hears us. But the reality is that sometimes, you know, our prayers to God, they become just kind of routine: “Okay, God, help me with this. Okay, God, help me with that.”
Or maybe even sometimes we get so far along that we don’t think we need God’s help. And then, lo and behold, a great storm comes. And it’s only in that great storm are we reminded that we need to cry out with our hearts and have God answer us.
So just remember something: If things are going wrong and it seems like nothing’s working, and it seems like Jesus is asleep in the boat, it sounds like maybe it’s time for you to wake Him up. Because when He wakes up, He’s going to calm every storm.
Lord Jesus, help us to remember to call on You that every storm will be calmed. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Monday, October 20, 2025: Sts. Sergius & Bacchus
PHILIPPIANS 2:12-16
LUKE 7:36-50
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst.
It’s been so long since I’ve been in that world, but I remember, I remember personally, and I remember that everyone that I knew who was in a place of teaching, as an Evangelical, as a Protestant, they all had this, there was always this pressure to find some new spin, to find some new interesting way to hook people and then bring them into the Gospel, into the Epistles, into the teaching.
As I read the Gospel, it’s so striking to me, because this word which we all know so well, it’s so profound. It’s profound in that you see this tension between the one who is supposed to know and the one who could not know. Simon, the Pharisee, the one who was given teaching, given instruction, given education, given authority, does not recognize the Master, does not recognize God’s presence, does not recognize how to act.
Part of being in religious life is knowing how to conduct yourself. The Pharisee does not know. The woman who is a sinner – and we can assume what kind of sinner she is. It’s striking. Jesus says, you didn’t give Me water to wash My face, yet she washes My feet with her tears. You didn’t give Me oil to anoint My head, yet she anoints My feet with an incredibly exorbitant amount of money. The alabaster flask with ointment was a year’s plus worth of wages.
It’s striking to me because this is the Gospel. That Christ, that God, forgives those who have love. Those who can recognize His love and that can respond to His love. Let’s put it this way: If you can respond to the love of God, you will be forgiven. If you can respond to the love of God, you will be forgiven. That woman’s response was one from the heart.
You see, the problem with religion, the problem with the Pharisee is that everything’s calculated because of the recipe book. Here’s the recipe book: God says this, God wants this, you do this. But that is not what God lays out. And so we see very clearly that the woman’s love was one of an authentic love. And interestingly enough, interestingly enough, do you think that she came there seeking forgiveness? Do you think that she had any idea of what that even meant? She couldn’t have. No, her response was clearly one of gratitude, clearly one of love.
The spin, the pressure I spoke of a minute ago always comes from not seeing the essence of what God is doing. Because that essence needs to be put in front of us time and time again. That’s why we have repetition. Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.
In the Epistle today, Saint Paul says, do not grumble. Complaining, grumbling, that’s the inversion of being grateful. That’s the inversion of receiving the love of God. You see, it’s very simple because the Gospel is to receive the life that God has given us and to recognize the goodness of God. In order to do that, we simply recognize how we have sinned.
And when someone’s actually recognized how much they’ve sinned, you know, it’s amazing. I’ve never met someone who actually recognizes their sin and complains and grumbles. They don’t do it. The person who grumbles, this is the person who is living in self-righteousness. The person who complains, this is the person who has missed the whole point. A person who grumbles and complains is someone who has forgotten that the love of God has been given to them. They do not know how to respond to the love of God.
This woman who was a sinner, this woman whose life was desperate, she was not filled with complaint. She was filled with a loving response. This is the reason why the demons work so hard on getting us to focus on other people’s ideas, opinions, attitudes, and sins. Because as long as you have your mind on someone else – you see, Simon the Pharisee, did you notice that he wasn’t concerned with himself? He was concerned with the woman.
Can you imagine if Simon the Pharisee had for one second stopped and looked in his heart? We would have had a completely different response. Because the person who is so consumed with looking at other people can never see their sins. But the person who stops and honestly looks at their sins as painful and as embarrassing as it is, that person can find forgiveness. Because very quickly they’ll learn, they’ll realize they don’t even deserve the breath that God has given them. And in that place, and in that instant, and in that moment, something miraculous happens. A heart is transfigured, and the love of God begins to be received.
It will always be this way until you die. There’s nothing new. If you’re struggling, look at your sins, honestly. Honestly, look at yourself. Don’t look at other people, and don’t look at self-pity. Look at yourself, and then look to God. And when those two things happen, a loving response. Because remember, Christ first died for us, even though we were yet sinners.
Through the prayers of Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Sunday, October 19, 2025: Holy Apostle Thomas
2 CORINTHIANS 11:31-12:9; 1 CORINTHIANS 4:9-16
LUKE 7:11-16; JOHN 20:19-31
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Christ is in our midst. Today in the Epistle, we hear of Saint Paul speaking about his awareness of a man who, whether caught up in the body or in the Spirit, he knows not. And of course, we all understand that to be Saint Paul. What’s interesting is that the same Saint Paul who had to flee in a somewhat embarrassing fashion, being let out of a window down a wall in a basket, was the same Saint Paul that was caught up in the heavens and saw unspeakable things. We ask ourselves, what is it about Saint Paul that was so special that God called him?
The temptation is to think that, well, Saint Paul was a Pharisee’s Pharisee, taught under Gamaliel, tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, zealous for the teachings of his fathers. But we know that this can’t be the case. We know that it’s something else. And Paul reveals this to us, because he talks about this thorn in the flesh.
And we hate this message. We hate this message because we know it’s true. Deep down inside, every single one of us knows this fascinating fact, which is, it’s not the thing that we think we are that makes us great. It’s actually the weakness that gives us that characteristic. It’s the weakness which calls God’s grace unto us.
Seraphim was showing me this morning, there is this fascinating style of Japanese pottery called kintsugi. Kintsugi. And it’s when pottery is broken, sometimes intentionally, and then it’s put together with a golden lacquer. And so what makes the pottery special is the seams of the cracks and the breaks, and the gold and the lacquer. That’s what gives this pottery its uniqueness. This is what gives it its value.
Saint Paul’s thorn in the flesh, whatever the speculation of it may be, this is what made him attractive to the grace of God. This is what made him to be able to stand, if you will, head and shoulders above everyone else. The fact that he had so much that the world would have said, “You’re this brilliant scholar, you’re this zealot, you’re all these things” – all those things God rejected. And it was actually the brokenness of Paul that called him.
Now, today we’re also commemorating the Apostle Thomas. And what’s interesting about the Apostle Thomas is that we all know that the Apostle Thomas doubted the resurrection of the Lord. And so the Apostle Thomas says, unless I put my hand in the nail print of His hands and in His side, I won’t believe. What makes Apostle Thomas stand out so much was his weakness, his inability to transcend his empirical faculties. He needed something more. All the other apostles, they had faith. They were hitting the ground running, but the Apostle Thomas needs something else. It sets him aside so much so that the Apostle Thomas even comes late to the Dormition of the Mother of God.
And that is not shameful, it’s a blessing. God does not mock or put down Thomas because he needed more. In fact, He blessed him. So many times we think that God is going to be upset because we’re asking for proof, we’re asking for more. I tell you, God wants you to ask. He wants you to say, put Me to the test. You need more? Ask, I’ll give it to you.
Why? Because it’s in your weakness that His strength is made perfect. It’s in your inability to understand. It’s your inability to do, to act. It’s in your inability to be the thing that you want to be, that He then can be what He needs to be inside of you. As long as you are self-sufficient, as long as you’re the one who’s making everything happen, as long as you’re the one who’s in control, as long as you’re the one who’s curating your image perfectly to the T, you cannot and will not have that deep fellowship with Him. You will not put your hands in the nail marks. Imagine the intimacy.
A man and a woman never truly become one until they are entering inside each other’s wounds. It’s only in that sharing of the deep pain that they’re united. A spiritual father and his child are never truly spiritually related until they enter into those wounds. Where that spiritual child shows that spiritual father the wound and the spiritual father embraces the child in that wound.
A biological father with his biological children. The hardest thing for a father actually is that moment when he’s called upon to be a father in his child’s life. It’s not in buying the kid the bike. It’s not in getting the kid the car. It’s not in telling the kid “You did a great job.” It’s in being with that kid in their shame, in their failures and saying, “I’m here with you. I’m going to walk you through this. I love you.” That is when a father is a father to his children.
You see that happens because that’s what God needs to show us. He needs to show us that those moments of vulnerability, those are actually the moments that He’s dying for, pun intended. Those are the moments of eternity. Those are the moments when we become something more.
Tradition holds that the Apostle Thomas, he went further than all the other apostles. Further. That’s not a mistake. The same one who doubted and the same one who put his hand in the five wounds of the Lord, he himself ended his life the farthest reaches, further than every other apostle and being killed with five spears. The Lord had five wounds. Two hands, two feet, one in his side. The Apostle Thomas receives five wounds. In his death the Apostle Thomas shows that the wound is exactly where he’s united with his master. The wound is exactly where he’s united with his God.
The Apostle Paul, this thorn in the flesh is precisely where God’s strength was manifest in his weakness. Precisely that place. It’s not a mystery. It feels mysterious because we don’t want it. It feels mysterious because we don’t want it. You understand deep in your hearts what I’m telling you.
True love comes from embracing the brokenness and the weakness of the other. Everyone can love you because you’re beautiful. Everyone can love you because you have money and you’re capable. But who will love you because you’re, well, you? That’s the sign of true love. And more importantly that’s a sign of the grace of God. If you want God, then embrace that thorn because that’s precisely where you’ll find Him.
Through the prayers of the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Thomas, Lord Jesus Christ, grant us Your strength in our weaknesses. Amen.
Sunday, October 12, 2025: Finding of the relics of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco
2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-11
LUKE 6:31-36
When lawlessness abounds, the love of many grows cold. When people see that the law is not tended to, when people see that the law is disregarded, it becomes infectious and it begins to spread and infect the hearts of those who would desire to keep the law, who desire to do all those things that are expected of them as citizens of their country. But they grow weak because they see that their fellow man has given up. And so they say to themselves, well, why bother?
And this is expected, especially in this world. But it does not have to be this way; it should not be so. And this temptation to feel nihilistic, this temptation to feel as if everything is pointless, it’s a very strong temptation. But it must be one that we, with all our hearts, we must resist it. And the reason why is because it’s simply, patently, not true.
The truth is, there is nothing but hope. The truth is that there’s nothing but goodness. The truth is that there’s nothing but love. God is Love. And this world, with all of its seductions and temptations, will fade away.
It says in the Gospel today, the Lord gives a commandment – not an option, not a suggestion – He presents to us the great law of the Kingdom. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
I spoke, I think it was this week at some point, to the children at the school. And I shared with them this commandment. And I said to them, can you imagine what this world would be like? Can you imagine what your homes would be like, can you imagine what the school would be like, what it would be like at your friend’s house if we actually kept this commandment? If we actually said to ourselves, individually, I’m going to treat others the way that I want to be treated.
And you said it not because someone else is doing it. You didn’t say it looking at the other person and saying, well, I’ll keep it as long as they keep it. But you kept that commandment because Christ has commanded you. And you keep the commandment because you understand that the lawlessness that will not be tolerated is the lawlessness in the Kingdom. Because in the Kingdom of Heaven, there will be no law breaker. This law will be held by every single one of the citizens without fail. There won’t be the one guy in the corner. There won’t be that one group of people that don’t keep the law.
Every corner and every side of the city of the New Jerusalem, everyone will keep this commandment. They will treat others the way they want to be treated. And the reason for that is because they will see with new eyes. You see, we don’t keep that commandment because we don’t know that God is merciful.
Yes, we know that He’s merciful to us, but to those other ones, maybe not. And the reason for that is because we don’t realize the abundance that’s in God. You see, God can be kind to the cruel. And God can be merciful to those who are lacking mercy. God can give an abundance to those who are stingy because God has and is everything. Because since God knows this, He allows the world to function as it does.
Why? Because the freedom that God has given all of mankind is His perfect, merciful gift. God gives everyone this opportunity to obey His commandment, to hear the law, because it is written on the hearts of men. And so when we love one another – because ultimately, isn’t that the end of this rule? To treat others the way you want to be treated? Well, don’t you want to be treated with love?
I know I do. I know I want to be treated with love, real love. I don’t want to be placated to and bribed because people can’t stand me. I don’t want to be given smiles just to get me to go on my way. I want real love. When I have boogers hanging out of my nose and toilet paper on the end of my shoe, I want someone to say, “Hey, you’re a mess.” That’s love. That’s love. You see, I got you. Because I’m talking about love, and everyone’s thinking about gushy-wushy, having candies and treats and patting each other on the back.
No. The Kingdom of Heaven is filled with people who are real. The Kingdom of Heaven is filled with people who have been through things. The Kingdom of Heaven is filled with people who have borne the cross. And those who have borne the cross, they keep it real. And the people who keep it real, they appreciate it. They value it.
My sons and my daughters, my brothers and my sisters, we’re to be like our Father in heaven, who is perfect. He’s perfect, and he shows his perfection to us by not having any fear. He freely gives. There’s no lack in God. Don’t worry. Be merciful. If we can all treat one another the way we want to be treated, we’ll have paradise not just here, but we’ll be found worthy to enter the paradise and the next world.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Wednesday, October 8, 2025: St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Euphrosyne
GALATIANS 5:22-6:2
LUKE 6:17-23
Well, in the Epistle today, we heard of the Fruits of the Spirit, and we’re all pretty familiar with the Fruits of the Spirit, but I’m just going to go through some of them again: But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Now, there’s something very interesting about the Fruits of the Spirit. And if you think of it this way, the Fruits of the Spirit are growing. I’ve talked about this before, you know, the garden of our heart. Our heart’s kind of like a garden, you know.
Maybe you can even see it like an orchard, right? But the thing that’s interesting about the Fruits of the Spirit, and the thing that I think that’s really important here, is that the Fruits of the Spirit are like the food of heaven. Does that make sense? The food of heaven. Because the food of heaven doesn’t really need a refrigerator.
The food of heaven doesn’t need pesticides. Do you guys know what pesticides are? Pesticides are like poisons that we spray on food sometimes to keep bugs and worms and caterpillars from eating it. But you know what the problem with pesticides are? Pesticides kill bugs, but sometimes they can make humans sick too. And so, earthly food needs pesticides, and it causes the food to not be as healthy as it should be. But the fruits of heaven don’t need pesticide. And the reason why they don’t need pesticides, and the reason why the fruits of heaven don’t need a refrigerator, is because the fruits of heaven, are you ready? They’re spiritual.
They’re spiritual. That’s right. Because the spiritual worms, like you were just asking about, and the spiritual flies, like you were just talking about, and the spiritual ants and bugs, these are the things of the flesh.
Right? Because even though it wasn’t in the Epistle today, just a little bit before that, St. Paul talks about the fruits of the flesh. And these are the worms, and the caterpillars, and the bad bugs. And there are things like envy, and anger, and vanity. You know, these are the things, these are the things that ruin the good fruit of heaven.
But the fruits of the flesh can’t affect the Fruits of the Spirit, can they?
Actually, I’m glad you said that. They can. Because, just like fruits in the gardens here on earth, the fruits of heaven, they don’t need a refrigerator, and they don’t necessarily need pesticides, if you keep the fruits of the flesh away. If the Fruits of the Spirit are being taken care of, they’ll last forever. They’ll be eternal.
But, if we’re negligent – you know what that word negligent means? No. Negligent means you’re not taking care of what you’re supposed to take care of. Have any of you ever had a dog, or a cat, or maybe like a goldfish or a plant, right? What happens if you don’t take care of that pet, or that plant, like you should? What happens? It dies. And before it dies, it usually gets sick and weak, huh? So, a lot of times when we’re negligent in taking care of the Fruits of the Spirit, those fruits, which, they’ll be very good if we take care of them, and they’ll last forever. But if we don’t take care of them, they can become slowly, slowly rotten, and they can die.
Okay? Now, something also very important to realize, and this is something I think is even more important, is that the Fruits of the Spirit and the fruits of heaven, right, they are for someone else. So, Morwenna, if Morwenna is growing certain fruits, let’s say Morwenna wants to grow the fruit of joy. Right? And she maybe says, “I also want to have, maybe the fruit of long-suffering, being patient.” Okay? And let’s just say, maybe Xenia Louise, let’s say she’s like, “Well, maybe I want to have peace. Maybe the other Fruit of the Spirit I want to have is, maybe I want long-suffering too.”
Well, Morwenna’s not going to eat her long-suffering. She has to give hers to you. And you’re not going to eat your long-suffering fruits, you need to give it to her. Does that make sense? Because the Fruits of the Spirit that we cultivate, that we grow within us, they’re for the people around us. I need to be patient in long-suffering for all of you. And you need to be patient in long-suffering for me. We feed each other in heaven.
See, the biggest thing to kill the Fruit of the Spirit, is selfishness, guys. When we just focus in on ourselves, we can’t have any of the Fruits of the Spirit, not one of them. And here’s why: When we are selfish, when all we care about is ourselves, then we’re acting like, “I’m just going to take care of myself and feed myself.” But guess what? That’s not how heaven is. In heaven, everyone is feeding everyone else. Everyone is taking care of everybody else.
And that’s why when someone is selfish and proud, or when someone lacks humility, because a selfish and proud person, they don’t feed other people, right? They don’t share their fruits, right? But guess what? Someone who’s not humble – pay attention – someone who is not humble will not accept fruit from other people.
And this is why many people in the Church, who want to be in the kingdom, it’s like they starve to death. And they’re starving to death because they don’t have any humility. And when someone tries to bring them some good fruit, some patience, some forgiveness, some joy and some love, they think that they’re better than that and “I don’t need anything from you.” And they keep going on and then slowly they get weaker. Slowly they don’t have any fruits. Slowly they die in the spirit, okay?
So we have to remember that the Fruits of the Spirit are given to us to give to others. And the Fruits of the Spirit, we can receive them if we’re humble. If we’re proud, our souls will die. And God wants us to live forever. And the thing is, if we shoo away the works of the flesh, the fleshly caterpillars, the fleshly ants, the fleshly roaches, if we shoo them away, then the fruits that we do get from others, they’ll last us forever.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, October 5, 2025: Holy Prophet Jonah
2 CORINTHIANS 6:16-7:1
LUKE 5:1-11
Today in the Gospel we hear of St. Peter who, although reluctant because his rational mind, his logic, kept him from completely doubting, but still he says to the Lord, well, if You bid, Lord, I’ll cast the net. The Lord saying to him, Cast your net out into the deep, Peter. Cast your net out into the deep. You’ll catch fish. And again, Peter, his logical mind saying, We’ve been at this already. We have found no fish, Lord. But, Peter’s heart was stronger than that, stronger than his rational mind.
And so he obeys and he goes out and lo, he catches an abundance of fish, more than he could have imagined. So Peter says to him, Depart from me, Lord. I’m a sinful man. Peter is embarrassed. Peter’s humbled. And in that, the Lord accepts him and says to him, Lo, I’ll make you even a better kind of fisherman, a fisher of men. The Lord is always looking to save people. The Lord – He is the great fisherman.
Today we are also commemorating the prophet Jonah and many of us are familiar with the life of the prophet Jonah. Jonah was given a word by the Lord and he was to be sent to the Ninevites to preach to them repentance. And Jonah did not want to go to the Ninevites because he knew that the Lord would forgive them. Jonah knew.
Jonah’s heart was hard. Why? Because the Ninevites were a wicked people. The Ninevites were wicked. They did despicable things. The Ninevites did things that were so bad, we can’t even mention them. But just know that the things that the Ninevites did, they’re no worse than the things that we do now. The things that the Ninevites did are no worse than the things we do now in this world, in this country.
And so God was sending Jonah to preach to them, to catch them up in his net that they would turn and that they would live. Jonah fleeing from the word of God because of the hardness of his heart.
He’s on this boat. Now, pay attention: Jonah’s fleeing from God, not because of God’s wrath, not because of God’s cruelty, not because God’s mean, not because God is going to do something harmful. Jonah’s fleeing because God is merciful. Jonah’s fleeing because God is patient. Jonah’s fleeing because God is kind.
This is why Jonah’s fleeing actually. And Jonah, in his hardness of heart, he finds himself on a ship with these sailors and he brings upon them great trouble. Their boat begins to be tossed aside and threatened to be sunk.
And these pagan sailors are wondering what’s going on. Why is this happening? And they’re praying to their gods trying to figure it out. And then Jonah realizes and he says his conscience can’t bear it anymore.
He says, this is happening because of me. All of your misfortune is happening because of me. All of your misfortune, you poor ignorant pagans, is happening because I, who actually know the Lord, do not want to serve the Lord. Do you see? I, who do not want to follow after the Lord’s mercy, His love, His long-suffering, His patience, I don’t want to do that. I want to see those Ninevites punished. And so I brought this upon you, you poor ignorant pagans.
It gets worse. These poor ignorant pagan sailors, when Jonah says to them, you got to throw me overboard, they’re like, no way. We are not going to throw you overboard. It’s terrible when those who don’t know the Lord, when those who don’t serve the Lord, when those who are not called to be the Lord’s people are more cruel, lewd, vicious than those who do not serve the Lord. It’s a terrible thing. And so the storm is so bad, they realize we better do what he says and they toss him overboard.
And so as all of you know, a great whale, a great fish comes and swallows up Jonah and he’s brought down to the depths of Sheol. Now, while Jonah is in the belly of the whale – which is death, right, we all understand this – so while Jonah is in this place of death, he finds that one thing which lays every man low, death.
And it’s in him facing death in the belly of the whale that God begins to turn, finally, his heart. God has finally got the heart of Jonah and he begins to move the heart of Jonah because death is the thing that makes all of us equal before the Lord. And so as Jonah resurrects from the belly of the whale, he is now sent forth to those people, to those Ninevites. Those Ninevites who are just as wicked, just as stiff-necked, just as lewd as we are.
My sons and my daughters, in the Epistle today, the Lord speaking through St. Paul, he says, do not touch the unclean thing. We have a purpose. We have a calling, every single one of us. Those of us who have been baptized and chrismated, those of us who are longing to be baptized, desiring to join the Church, we join the Church for a purpose. And I fear that for many of us, we lose that purpose.
When we lose the purpose for why we first came to the Church, when we lose the purpose for why we are pursuing the Church, well, a storm comes upon us. And Jonah brought misfortune to those poor, ignorant pagans. And so when we as a people do not rest, not in God’s justice, not in God’s wrath, not in God’s vengeance, but when we don’t rest in the fact that God is merciful and long-suffering and wants man to come to repentance, when we don’t rest in that, we miss the purpose of our existence. And we bring misfortune upon others. We bring misfortune upon our families who do not know the Lord. We bring misfortunes upon our neighbors who do not know the Lord. We bring misfortune upon our communities who do not know the Lord. We bring misfortune upon our country, which does not know the Lord. his country does not know the Lord.
And so God is bringing an abundance of fish now. But we must, all of us, remember, we must remember what it means to be the people of the Lord. We must not touch the unclean thing. We must turn away from the unclean thing. We must find ourselves in the temple of the Lord. Yes, in the temple of the Lord, but here in the heart, in the temple of the Lord. You must do the thing that Jonah did not want to do. When we find ourselves being seduced and lulled and looking to touch the unclean thing, we must turn away from it. We must flee from it.
And in doing so, where do we flee to? We flee to the house of the Lord. We flee to the house of the Lord. When you find your prayers are so dull, when you find that you are hard of heart, that when you look at people, you can’t stand them, when you find yourself wanting to isolate yourself from people because you can’t stop judging them, just understand what’s happened.
You’ve lost sight of why you are in the Church. You’ve lost sight of your role as a prophet to the people, and God will send a whale. God can’t help but chastise us. God can’t help. Why? Because God loves us. Because God is merciful. Because God won’t leave us.
Awake, O sleeper. This is what was said to Jonah in that boat. Awaken, O sleeper. We are sleepwalking through our lives. You will wake up one day and you’ll say, “Lord, I’ve lost so many days, so many years. Why? Because I didn’t trust in Your mercy. Because I didn’t turn away from the unclean thing. Why? Because I didn’t think that You would give me a greater catch. I didn’t think that You would give me an abundance of fish. I didn’t think that You could fill my net to the breaking, to the brim. So I turned away from You. I found more entertaining things than being before You. I found excuses. I hardened my heart.”
Let us hear the word of Jonah. And let us be like Peter. Let us humble ourselves. Yes, we’re wicked, unclean men. Great. But what’s next? The Lord accepts us once we acknowledge it, and he sends us out for greater work. He sends us out for greater work.
Young men, isn’t that what you’re looking for? Aren’t you looking for purpose in your life? I know you are. If you had awareness of the purpose of your life, you would not be wasting your time with the unclean thing. You know what I’m saying to you.
My daughters, the purpose of your life. Unfortunately, it’s so obvious. It’s in front of you. Don’t let the devil lie to you. Soften your hearts towards your children. Soften your hearts towards your husbands. That is your mission. That is what God’s called you to do. Love your families. Love your communities. Serve the men of God. And men, honor them. Because without their sustaining you, you can’t fulfill your mission.
Do not harden your hearts, my sons and daughters. Turn away from the unclean things. Let your homes, let your bedrooms be clean, so the chastisement of God will not only go over us, but that others will hear your preaching, and that they could turn away, and that they could live. Through the prayers of the Prophet Jonah, Lord, grant us the courage to hear You, to prophesy of the nations.
Wednesday, October 1, 2025: Mount Tabor School
EPHESIANS 3:8-21
LUKE 4:1-15
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ!
Well, today is Wednesday. And what do we always do on Wednesday? Liturgy. We have Liturgy, yes. But there are some days maybe we don’t have Liturgy. So, what is something that we always do on Wednesday? The exception proves the rule. Hmm? Say it nice and loud.
We fast. That’s right. Every Wednesday, we fast. Every Wednesday and Friday, in fact, we fast. On top of the feast days, right? We have the fasts. The fasts are the times that we set aside for prayer. And that prayer is made strong and powerful through fasting.
Now, if you notice, Jesus Himself, He’s in the wilderness. This is right after He’s baptized. And He’s now going out. He’s being sent out. And He’s doing His work. He’s getting ready to proclaim to the world Who He is. And if you notice something, right? He’s fasting. And his fasting made him able to resist the devil.
Now, you may wonder, why do we fast? Why do you think we fast? Who has an idea? Theodore.
To humble ourselves.
Now, Theodore, to be honest with you, I’m surprised at your answer. Because it’s an A+. We fast to humble ourselves. And when we humble ourselves, guess what happens? The devil can’t touch us. The devil can’t touch us.
Jesus, while He’s fasting, He’s able to tell that the devil is coming to Him and tempting Him. And instead of becoming fearful, instead of becoming scared, or even instead of becoming necessarily angry and losing control, Jesus actually humbles Himself under the authority of the Father. Because when Jesus humbles Himself under the authority of the Father, this is what undoes the devil’s trap.
Because you see, guys, if you pay attention to all the temptations, the devil was trying to get Jesus to fall into pride. Jesus was hungry. The devil knew Jesus was hungry and he tempted Him with something we call self-sufficiency. Can you say that word? Self-sufficiency. It’s a fancy word. And what it means is you can do it all by yourself. You don’t need anybody, especially God.
Self-sufficiency, right? And so the devil was saying to him, Look, I know you’re hungry. So why don’t you just go ahead and make these stones bread? I know you can do it. And Jesus says no, He will live by the word of God, which means the authority of His Father. That’s what that means. The authority of His Father. This is what will sustain Him.
Jesus doesn’t take control. Jesus says no. He submits Himself. He humbles Himself because He’s fasting. And since He’s fasting, the devil can’t do anything. He has to move on. And so the devil also tempts him by saying, look, if you’re really God, right? Jump off the top of the temple and show everybody Your power. Show everybody how miraculous You can be.
Jesus, again, He humbles Himself. And it’s the same thing when the devil takes Him up and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and says, You can have all this. Jesus still humbles Himself.
But how is He able to do that? Through fasting. You see, when we fast, right? We get hungry, right? We maybe can’t play as hard as we want to play, right? It sometimes feels hard to concentrate.
But see, that is exactly when we learn to say no to self-sufficiency. And we say, God, I need Your help. Because listen, the only way that we can resist the devil, the only way that we can resist our sins, our passions, all the things that make us want to act bad – I know you guys don’t have that, but I do, right? Yeah. All the things that make you want to act bad. The only way to say no to it is if you learn how to humble yourself.
And the humbling of self happens through fasting. When you learn to say no to your appetite, when you say, you know what? I want that glass of chocolate milk, but I’m not going to have it. When you say no to that candy, it’s a lot easier to say no to yelling at your mommy. It’s very hard to not yell at your mom or at your brothers or your sisters if you get everything you want all the time.
But when you learn to say no to yourself, then you learn to humble yourself. You learn to listen. You learn to let someone who’s above you teach you something. And then guess what? The fighting, the argument, the anxiety, the worries, all those things begin to go away. Because all those things the devil’s using to try to get you upset, to try to tempt you, just like he tempted Jesus.
But when you fast, you’re given a mighty weapon. Fasting is like carrying the cross for your soul. When Jesus is on the cross, He says no to everything for the sake of love. He says no to the world. He says no to Himself. He says yes to the Father. He says yes to you because he says, I’m willing to do this to show you what it means to be with the Father. And so when we fast, it’s like picking up our cross. When we fast, it’s like saying to the devil, no. And when we fast, it’s like saying to God the Father, yes. I will obey. Yes, I will trust You. Yes, You are the One who’s going to sustain me and feed me. Not the cheeseburger and not my pride. So fasting is so important to us, guys.
And that’s why as soon as you can start doing it, the church teaches us to fast. We fast from the things, not just meat and dairy. We also fast from the things that maybe are distracting us in prayer and distracting us from the things that would help us to be obedient, okay? So let’s start thinking about fasting.
You may feel like you’re too young, but you’re not. You’re not. You can say no to the candy. And if you can learn to say no to the candy, then you can learn to say yes even more so to God. Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, help us to learn how to fast. Amen.