Thursday, December 25, 2025: St. Herman of Alaska, St. Spyridon
GALATIANS 5:22-6:2
LUKE 6:17-23; MARK 9:10-15
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ! Today we have the joy of commemorating two amazing great saints, St. Spyridon and St. Herman of Alaska. And both these saints, they bring to us, they flesh out for us the teachings of our Lord in the Epistle today.
The Apostle Paul, he says, bear one another’s burdens, and therefore, fulfill the law of Christ. And in many ways, this is one of a multitude of ways that the Gospel can be summed up in a short action, in a short phrase. But also, the Gospel can be summed up in the lives of saints.
Especially if you look at St. Herman, and we look at how St. Herman, he truly bore the burden of the people. Not just his people, the Russian people, the Orthodox people, but also the people who he came to love, the Aleuts, the people of Alaska. St. Herman bore the, at times, unfortunate abuse and greed of his countrymen, being in that land, abusing the natives there. Abusing them for the sake of their greed and their ignorance. He bore that burden. St. Herman bore the burden and the mistrust that had been earned by those Russian trappers and such, those fur trappers, by those native people.
St. Herman bore that burden and earned that trust by laboring, and in many ways, submitting himself to those native peoples. But St. Herman also bore the ignorance of those native peoples. Them not knowing the fullness of Christ, and him bearing that ignorance was why he was compelled to open his heart and his mind to find ways to connect with them – not just intellectually, but through the heart.
And this bearing of the burden for the sake of Christ, this is so important for all of us because we recognize that, oftentimes we can think that simply speaking to someone, trying to teach them something about the faith, something about Christ, that we think that’s sufficient, but it’s not. It’s never sufficient, especially these days, to just have words.
You must have a heart that is willing to love and willing to bear burdens. And it’s in the bearing of burdens that we begin to actually bear the burden of the other, but more importantly, we begin to bring and manifest the love of Christ. You see, Christ Himself in the Gospel today, when the disciples were questioning about the resurrection of the dead and what did it mean, Christ points and He says, you know, yes, Elias, in fact, has come.
And when he came, the people there did whatever they wished with him. What is Christ speaking about? Christ is speaking about the fact that there was this eternal reality, unfortunately, that the good often must suffer for those who are, shall we say, less good. The good must always suffer for those who are struggling, for those who are ignorant, and for those who are lost.
This willingness to suffer and to struggle is the bearing of the burden, and it can never just be empty words. It has to actually be through the love of heart, the expression of heart. This is what all the prophets have done from time immemorial, and all the prophets were making way for Christ because Christ is that ultimate fulfillment of not just word, logos, but flesh.
Very soon, we will have the great feast of the Nativity Feast coming up shortly for us on our calendar. And in that time, we’re going to recognize and we’re going to be filled with joy that God has indeed come in the flesh and borne the burden of our sins and our ignorance. And we see that ministry has continued throughout the ages, through all the saints, such as St. Spyridon and St. Herman, and it will continue until the coming of our Lord and His second coming.
And so for all of us, we must be people not just of word and speech, but of hearts that are willing to bear the burden of those around us. And in doing so, we will find Christ in the world until the time of His second coming. Through the prayers of St. Herman and St. Spyridon, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
Amen.
Sunday, December 21, 2025: St. Patapius of Thebes
COLOSSIANS 1:12-18
LUKE 17:12-19
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. Amen. In the Epistle today, St. Paul speaks of how Christ is the image of the invisible God, and how all things are made for Him, by Him, through Him, whether they be visible or invisible. So Christ, He is the Pantocrator, He is the ruler over all.
He understands and sees and knows all things, and He establishes an order according to His good wisdom. This wisdom is fully manifested and maintained in the life of the Church. And this wisdom is what we partake of when we partake in the sacraments, because the sacraments are the manifestation of grace – God’s energy, God’s presence.
God is fully present in His grace, in His sacraments. The sacraments bring to us Christ, Who is invisible. The sacraments manifest Christ to us. And in particular, of the sacraments, there is one that is of the utmost necessity, which is, of course, as most of us understand, confession. Confession is so important, because the confession and the sacrament of it is the means by which we become cleaned.
In the Gospel today, we have these 10 lepers. These lepers are infected. I think we need to take a little moment and have some understanding about leprosy. Hansen’s disease, as it is now known, but in the ancient time it was called leprosy. It’s a disease that afflicts the body. And one of the first signs of someone having leprosy is a numbness. One of the ways that they would know someone was a leper was that they would get some sort of wound or cut and they would not notice it.
So many of you may be familiar with King Baldwin, right? He’s a bit popular these days. Well, the reason why he’s known as the Leper King, one of the reasons why they knew he had leprosy was because as a child he was playing and his tutor noticed that he had been cut and he did not notice the cut. It didn’t bother him.
He had no pain. And so from that point, his tutor understood that he had been in fact infected with leprosy. So leprosy, if we’re looking at it spiritually, oftentimes is a matter of us becoming indifferent to our sin and indifferent to the things of God.
And so this is where we begin to trust our own thoughts and trust our own way of being. And very soon we are going from a different, if you will, trajectory from where God would have us to go. And so these invisible things that infect us, these thoughts, these ways of thinking and being which are contrary to what God has, they begin to sully us and to dirty our minds and our hearts and our actions.
These lepers, they cry out to Jesus, “Master, have mercy on us.” And this first step of calling out to God is the first step of becoming clean, but it isn’t enough. The next step is obedience. And so the Lord says, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And so we have to understand also as the majority of us are Protestant converts, converting from Protestantism and all being Americans that this is difficult for us. But this is the order that God has established. Why? If you notice, it says that they were made clean even on the way. Even on the way. they’re made clean. What’s this about? It’s about obedience and it’s about faith because they went out of obedience to what the Lord had said and they went out of obedience to the established order that God had put into place. God established the priests and we see the priesthood as an act of God.
The priesthood in and of itself is a sacrament. God established the priesthood so that He would be manifested amongst His people in the world. And so this is one of the key errors – and I would dare say it’s even worse than error, it’s intentional – in regards of the Protestant Reformation because the removal of the priesthood from the religious and spiritual life of those who would be God’s people in fact leaves them without a doctor, leaves them without a shepherd and it leaves them to be exposed by these, let’s say, parasites that affect the mind and the way of being.
And so the confessional is the place where we are cleansed, and just by simply obeying and following the sacramental life as God has given it to us, that of itself is a means of cleaning. Why? Because fundamentally, in order to enter into confession you have to acknowledge, “I am wrong. Something about the way I’ve been thinking or being is off.”
So just that very moment in which you say, “Yes. I am wrong,” that’s a step of justifying God, and we move forward. Now the other issue becomes one which is difficult but we see this in our lives. How many of us took for granted our fathers? Their love, their care. How many of us took for granted our parents? How many of us even now that are married take for granted our spouses? There’s an expression that goes something like this: Familiarity breeds contempt. Familiarity breeds contempt and so oftentimes we become used to having a clean pen and food to eat.
We become, shall we say, numb. We are taking for granted the good things that God has given us. God has taken us and cleaned us and fed us and we forget. We forget what God has done. And this is what happens. You see the nine that did not return. The Lord himself says, “Were there not 10” Why is there only one that returns and why is this one a foreigner?” How should we understand the foreigner? Well the foreigner is the one who is outside. The foreigner is one who recognizes what he does not have. The ones who are inside have become complacent. The ones who are inside are the ones who have taken it for granted. They have begun to hold the thing in contempt. And this is why the Samaritan who returns is so important to us. Because that movement of being reminded of where we’ve come from that in itself is a great gift to us. Because when you remember what God has done for you – as it says in the Scriptures, “When I found you, you were naked and bloody and no one cared for you.” This is the Lord speaking to His people, which Israel is us.
We must always remember where we’ve come from and in so doing we will never take for granted the good things of the Lord and we will never disdain the invisible God who makes Himself visible through His priests and through His sacraments. The church is the place where we find salvation. The church is the place where we are made clean. The church is the place where we encounter Christ here and now. Not just noetically but incarnationally. God heals us of our sores in body, soul, and mind.
May we continue to never disdain the Lord, never to disdain His sacraments and His work. May we always humbly submit ourselves as good sheep, trusting that the Good Shepherd will provide for us an eternal life that is clean and pure. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Friday, December 19, 2025: St. Nicholas
HEBREWS 13:17-21
LUKE 6:17-23
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst! Today we are commemorating our great father, St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. St. Nicholas is famous for many things.
St. Nicholas is famous for his zeal. St. Nicholas, at the First Ecumenical Council, when hearing the blasphemous words from Arius, denying that Christ is God, but rather saying that Christ is a creation, St. Nicholas, unable and unwilling to bear the blasphemy, struck Arius. Silencing him in holy zeal.
St. Nicholas also is known for being very bold and courageous in his desire for justice. St. Nicholas, at one point in time, became aware that there were three men who were about to be unjustly executed. St. Nicholas boldly went before the executioners and stayed the swords of the executioners with his own hands.
St. Nicholas also being known for being very generous and giving to those who are in need. We know of the account of the young maidens who were looking to be betrothed but could not afford it, and so St. Nicholas would bring gold to them. All these things, his generosity, his boldness, his zeal, all these things characterize St. Nicholas, but they all come from one thing: St. Nicholas had love.
He was bold because of his love for Christ. He was courageous because of his love for Christ, which gave him a love for his fellow man. He was generous because out of his love for Christ and his love for his fellow man, St. Nicholas learned to love not the world and not the things of the world, but rather that all his love was focused on Christ. And so today, on this day that we commemorate St. Nicholas, we are joyful because we have an intercessor in heaven who has a love of Christ, and because he has such deep love for Christ, we know he has a deep love for us. Through the prayers of St. Nicholas, may the Lord Jesus Christ our God continue to bless us and keep us. Amen.
Monday, December 15, 2025: Prophet Habakkuk
2 TIMOTHY 2:20-26
LUKE 20:27-44
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst!
The Church, she does many things, and one of the things that she does is she bears witness to what God’s intention is. And God’s intention is something that has been established. And although the means by which God’s intention is revealed are not always, from our perspective, congruent with the end, with the intention, nevertheless, God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And so we see that God has deigned for man to be with Him. We all standing here, whether it be because we were raised godless or we were raised as Protestants or we were just simply raised in this world with a materialist perspective, we have all been longing for understanding and insight into our vocation as human beings.
In the Gospel today, the Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection come to the Lord and they question Him. And what they receive is the correction of their error. The Lord gives them the truth and the clear teaching, in fact, they are in error and they do not understand not only the Scriptures, but they don’t understand God’s intention. God’s intention is that man would live eternally and be like God. Ultimately, this is what is behind “They are not given into marriage.”
Now, we understand that marriage is something that God has blessed. The wedding of Cana is the Lord’s first miracle. And if you understand this, the narrative of the scriptures begins in a garden with a wedding and ends in a city with a wedding.
And so marriage is blessed, but we must be clear: Marriage is a symbol for us. The end point of marriage is to really communicate the marriage between God, His creation and Him. This is the purpose, actually, of marriage. Marriage is to instruct man into the desire of God that God would be united with His creation. And so marriage in the Church, in the Orthodox Church, in the Church of Jesus Christ that He established, His body, is given to man for this purpose, to instruct us.
We look and see another type of the Church, which is the Mother of God. And the Mother of God, in a perfect way, reveals this to us also because the Mother of God gave birth to the Lord Christ. And yet the Mother of God maintained her angelic, shall we say, disposition.
She maintained it. And this is a sign to us. This is a sign to us that regardless of how we find ourselves, whether monastic or married, that like the Mother of God, we are to maintain this disposition, this angelic disposition, this disposition which holds above all things the desire to be in union with God.
And so whether it is house or spouse or children, all of these things ultimately must be left behind. Not because they are of no value, but because they’re simply there to point us to something higher. When we think of all the groping that is done by the heterodox, by those who are not Orthodox, they’re looking for something. They have the scent of truth. They have the scent and the hint that something greater, like a shadow flickering on a wall, is about them, but they’re longing for something. And the reason for that is because they have no monastics.
They have no monastics. I mentioned a couple of minutes ago about God’s intention. And that although the means may not seem congruent with the intention, it is. And what I mean by that is this. The birth, the genesis of monasticism, technically, is one of a somewhat political nature.
When the Church entered into a truce, and if you will, a kind of marriage, in the same way that back in the day you would have kings marrying maybe a rival king. They would marry their daughters off. I’m at war with this other king. There’s tension. I want to not only make peace, but maybe expand our empire. They would marry their daughters. And so the Church entered into a marriage, if you will, with the state.
When the Church, she gained legal freedom within the empire, this is when the first monastics formally began to flee into the deserts. Now, you can make the mistake and think, “Well, monasticism is just a response to a political situation.” But you would be mistaken. And as I said, we must be careful to not look at the historical context, quote unquote facts, and assume that they can always tell us what God’s intention is. Because God’s intention was always that this icon would come forward.
This is why when the Lord talks about those who are made eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom, this is what he’s speaking of. And also take in mind Elijah and Elisha had no wives. Take in mind the practices even now that monasticism holds.
These are practices that we point to in the Old Testament. So we see that this state of being is like a seed that should be planted in the heart of every Christian. Why? Because the Lord Christ Himself said those who are going to be granted life in that age and the resurrection and they will die no more will be like the angels.
And the monastic life is the angelic life. And the Lord deemed and desired that that icon would be brought forth for His people to understand their ultimate goal, their end point. Regardless of how we feel, regardless of what we’ve been taught, we must take the word of the Lord and the witness of the Church above all else.
When we have this understanding, when we see the Lord’s purpose, then everything else becomes so simple. Everything else finds its place. And we no longer seek to question the Lord. Rather, we say to the Lord, “May it be done to me, according as You have said.” This is the word of the Mother of God, who is the first Christian, if you will. And this should be the word of all of us.
“May it be done to me, Lord, according to Your will.” Whether we are married or monastic, may we recognize that the angelic life is what God has intended for all those who wish to live in the life of the resurrection. Through the prayers of the Holy Fathers of Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Sunday, December 14, 2025: Prophet Nahum, St. Philaret the Merciful
EPHESIANS 6:10-17
LUKE 18:18-27
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ! Well, today might be just a little bit of a long one, because I want to take the time to break something down for everyone.
You know, we live in a wonderful time, a wonderful age. And information is just, it’s abundant. You can learn about anything and everything. And this is fairly good — it has its problems, though. Oftentimes, people can get the form but don’t have the function.
And they can begin to, you know, there’s oftentimes… It’s cute. Back in the day, at least when I was a kid, like a kid kid, it wouldn’t be that crazy for a dad to put his son on his lap and, you know, kind of drive. And, you know, the kid pretends he’s driving. This is before seat belts were like really a thing, you know. And it’s cute to see a little kid on his daddy’s lap pretending to drive. The problem with that is that the child actually doesn’t know how to drive. And God forbid the child thinks like he can drive and ends up killing people and himself, right? We can understand that.
And so in the same way, we oftentimes hear a Gospel. And many of us have heard certain Gospels and certain teachings over and over and over again. And we have an idea of the form but not quite the function, how the thing works. And so I want to take a little bit of time to break something down because in the Gospel today, I think we see very clearly where a knowledge of the armor of God in respect of its form, but how it functions, when it’s lacking it can end up being deadly.
Today we have a man who, as the Gospel says, goes and is seeking to test Jesus. He’s seeking to test Jesus. And so he goes and he asks of Jesus these things. And it says that he’s seeking eternal life. Well, the Lord answers him, keep the commandments and you’ll find life. And he says, I’ve done this from my youth. I’ve done it. And then Jesus says, well, you’ve done well. Sell all that you have and come and follow Me.
And as it plays out, he’s not able to do that. Now, let me share with you some, let me submit to you something. You know, we live in a time because of information where people can learn about something, they have the form, but they don’t have the function. They don’t know how to properly use it. So everyone’s an expert now. But if you’re in the military, if you’re in any kind of service where people’s lives are, you know, dependent on you, or you’re in a type of work where what you’re doing is very serious, you learn very quickly: You can’t just have the vanity, the vanity of appearing like you know what you’re doing. You have to know what you’re doing. You have to.
And so people, they go, “Yeah, the armor of God, I know.” But because our age is so vain, people want to pick up, and I hate to do this, but there are aspects to the armor that are kind of easier to pick up. And it’s kind of like a little kid playing soldier. It’s cute, but when it gets serious for business, it’s not going to do anything.
This man, he had certain aspects of the armor. The helmet of salvation: His mind was on eternal life, he was asking about it, he was thinking about it. But his mind wasn’t able to really– the armor wasn’t working. Why? Because other parts of the armor were missing.
Faith. You see, the shield of faith that Paul talks about, and this is where people oftentimes get mistaken – the shield of faith is not the knowledge of doctrines, just so we’re clear. And so many people today, they imagine themselves as crusaders. They imagine themselves that they’re going to defend the faith, that they’re the ones that have been chosen to make sure that everyone knows what true Holy Orthodoxy is.
But the shield of faith that St. Paul’s talking about is not the knowledge of doctrines. It’s the trust in the living God. That’s the faith that extinguishes the fiery darts of the enemy. It isn’t you knowing something and being able to quote something and being able to feel like you’re better than other people. In fact, that in itself is a fiery dart.
The sword. The word. The Scriptures. Another dangerous weapon. So many people, and those of us who are coming from Protestantism, we know this very well. We’ve seen so many people kill themselves and others playing with this sword. They think they know. They think that they’re going to teach everybody what the Scriptures mean, and they’re going to teach everybody what real truth is. And all they end up doing is wounding those who should be their comrades and themselves.
You see, the thing that the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the sword have in common is that they make you look like a soldier without actually being one. They’re very easy to pick up and put on and feel like you’re doing something when you’re actually not. You see, the man, he had the faith. He was Jewish. He was lecturing Jesus about what the law was. But he had no idea what he was talking about.
What did he lack? Well, he lacked the shoes of peace. You see, the shoes, they’re not really glamorous. They don’t really show anyone that you’re tough and ready for action. And so because they aren’t as subject to vanity, people don’t put them on. And this is, you know, the people rushing into battle. They’re going to defend, clickety-clack, the faith. They’re going to defend, you know, the purity of the community gossip. But if you have your feet shod with the Gospel of peace, what that means is you will move in the good news of the peace of Christ. Your motivations, while you’re even engaging, will be set forth in peace. That man did not come in peace. It says this in the Scripture. He came to test Jesus. He didn’t come for peace. He came there looking for a fight.
Well, what else was he lacking? He was lacking the belt of truth. See, people think that the shield of faith is all the ancient and esoteric teachings of the Orthodox faith. “Aha, look how I’ve studied.” It’s not it. And in fact, the Gospel and the belt of truth is the very thing that girds the inner being of the man. Without having the truth of Christ, you are vulnerable in every aspect of your inner being.
What good is it for you to have a heavy shield and a heavy sword and a real fancy, tough-looking helmet if your core isn’t structured, if it isn’t supported? That’s what the belt does. The girdle supports the core. And I tell you as a crippled man, when your core is weak, good luck walking, let alone swinging heavy iron. It doesn’t work. So without truth undergirding everything that you are, you are vain and that vanity will delude you into picking up something and you’re not even ready to wield it, you see. Vanity. He lacked truth. When the Lord spoke to him, he was not able to recalibrate. He fell apart.
The breastplate of righteousness. If you drop your shield, if you drop your sword, you can still hope to live if you have the guarding of your heart. If your heart is guarded in such a way that the purity and the goodness and the love that is God is guarding your heart, you can survive one of these fiery arrows. But that man did not have the breastplate of righteousness. Well, how do you know? Because when the Lord says to him, “Sell all that you have and come follow Me,” he was sad. His heart could not withstand it because his heart was not righteous. His heart was not rightly orientated to God. His heart was orientated to this vain world that is passing away.
When the heart is girded with righteousness, the heart can withstand anything. St. Philaret, who we are commemorating today, his own wife turned against him because of his desire to please God. He was willing to give everything, every ounce of substance and wealth he had for those who needed it. And his own wife – which is a common thing, actually. Think about Lot, right? Think about Job’s wife. This happens.
Well, your closest ones, your loved ones, as the Scripture says, will oftentimes be your enemy. And his own wife sought to tear him away from serving God with the abundance of his heart. St. Philaret had the breastplate of righteousness. Because even though the enemy was able to get past his defenses, the shield of faith, the sword, and had that dagger, it didn’t puncture. It didn’t go through. The darts of the enemy – this is spiritual language, and if you’re not spiritual, you’re going to miss it.
And it can be hard. You can become hard in your heart and turn away from what’s being said here. Because you know better. But the question is, do you? Do you know better? Because if you do, then gird yourself like a man and prepare yourself to stand in that evil day that St. Paul talks about. Because it will come. But if you don’t know better, then heed the word of the Lord. And gird your whole self with the armor of God, not just those parts that everyone can see. And in doing so, you’ll find eternal life. Through the prayers of St. Philaret, Lord Jesus Christ our God, help us to guard ourselves so that we may inherit eternal life.
Monday. December 8, 2025: Apodosis of the Entry of Our Lady into the Temple
1 TIMOTHY 5:1-10; HEBREWS 9:1-7
LUKE 19:37-44
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst! The foundations of the world – not in their creation, but in the world’s self-governing, in the world’s awakening – the foundation of the world in this sense, in the sense of our responsibility, its foundations are built on murder.
Eve murdered the bond that was established for her and for Adam when she turned and listened to that beguiling spirit. And so that bond was severed. And that bond being severed produced an actual murder. Her own sons were at enmity with each other and Cain slew Abel. Now, an interesting thing is said. The Lord says to Cain, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me.”
Your brother’s blood cries out to Me. We see from the foundation of the world, this stone and the mortar. The stone being the body left behind, and the mortar being the blood crying out. And from that time forward, all the cities, all the nations of this world have been built on murder. The children of Cain were the ones who went out and they were the first builders of cities. And every great city in this world has always been built on blood, on murder. Every great household in this world has been built on blood, on murder.
And so since every great city and every great household has been built on blood and on murder – and I hope you understand, I mean both the metaphorical sense in regards of division, disobedience, the severing of love, the bonds of obedience, and also literal murder. How do you think families get their money? So this is the foundation of the world.
This is not the foundation in the sense of God establishing the world. God made the world to be a place of wonder and joy; a place of abundance. There’s no need for murder when there’s abundance.
Where does scarcity exist? Is there ever really scarcity? You know, there are spirits and influencers in this world and they will tell the masses, “We have a problem with the climate, we have a problem with overpopulation.” Anyone who’s traveled and not been completely intoxicated with their own destination, meaning going to party or whatever they’re going to do, they’re observant, they learn very quickly, this world is not overpopulated.
Why is that narrative given that this world is overpopulated, that there’s scarcity of resources? Well, where there’s a perception of scarcity, there’s murder. And upon that lie, the foundations, more foundations are built, more murder. So as I was saying, the Lord did not build this world, did not create this world for that intention. But nevertheless, the gift of free will that God has given creation is oftentimes used to build.
In the Gospel today, when the Lord says, even if these stop, the very stones will cry out. Those people there witnessing him, celebrating him, those wicked Pharisees, asking him, saying, Teacher, make your disciples stop.
Murder. The very stones would cry out. You see, the foundation of Jerusalem was no different than any other city. And the same God that created the world and meant wonder and joy, wanted it to be filled with good things, that was the same God that was there. The voice that brought forward the universe, the voice that spoke life, the voice that imbued this world with abundance and not scarcity, is the same one that said, “You do not know the time of your visitation. Oh, if only you knew the things that made for peace.”
What is He speaking of? He’s speaking of His own death. He’s speaking of His own death. You see, because Christ could not, Christ being God, could not come in and do just as every other tyrant, every other leader, every other king would have done. When He says, oh, if you knew the things that made for peace, He’s not talking about, “If I can just come in here with a bigger, better army than the Romans, then everything will be fixed.” Why? More blood. It just brings more blood.
So the only thing to do is you have to have the purest of blood. And so when he says, oh, if you only knew the things that make for peace, the only thing that will make peace is for the Prince of Peace to lay down his life. And now the thing that we always wonder is, “I don’t understand though, how is it that Christ’s life and His blood, what else could that possibly do? How does that cease anything?”
Here’s how it ceases things. The problem with blood, the problem with building empire is, again, competition, perception, envy. The problem with envy is she’s greedy. She’s never filled, you see, because it becomes all the same. Everything’s washed in red. But something profound happens when purity is introduced, when holiness is introduced, when the divine is introduced. These foundations that I’m speaking of, they’re man’s foundations. They’re the demon’s foundations.
But there are two things that you should understand. Number one, God alone is uncreated. There is nothing that compares to Him. The devil is not the opposite of God. There is no opposite to God. God is, period. And so since God is, when He introduces Himself, there is no rebuttal. There is no critique. There’s nothing but Him. And His sacrifice satiates hell. His sacrifice satiates death. And in fact, death and hell cannot hold Him.
All of our families, every single one of us here, our families, to some degree or not, is built on murder and blood. Whether it’s, as I mentioned at the beginning, literal, making money, getting money, procuring land, or whether if it’s a more emotional, interpersonal dynamic.
It’s up to us to recognize the visitation. It’s up to us to introduce the purity of the Lamb into that bloodline. And it’s up to us so that our bloodlines, our families, our households, our cities, are no longer built on blood. Because He’s offered all that’s needed. And what’s left for us is to accept that offering and then establish the true Jerusalem, the true cities of peace. Ponder what I tell you.
Because the reality is that soon we will take Holy Communion. And you won’t just be hearing a metaphor in a homily. You’ll be experiencing the very thing that I’m talking about. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, grant us Your holy peace. Amen.
Sunday, December 7, 2025: St. Catherine of Alexandria
EPHESIANS 5:8-19; EPHESIANS 6:10-17
LUKE 13:10-17
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is in our midst! Well, as we are making our way, moving into the depth of the Nativity fast, it’s an opportune time to talk about something which may seem out of season for some of you, but I assure you it’s the proper season for it. I want to talk about spiritual warfare.
I want to talk about spiritual warfare. The Nativity fast, we are awaiting the Incarnation of our Lord, but I would remind all of you a very important part of the Nativity story. Do you remember how Herod sought to manipulate the wise men? Do you remember how Herod sought to thwart the work of God? And do you remember how Herod, in trying to thwart the work of God, had all the innocents slaughtered up until two years of age? So this is actually a very opportune time to talk about spiritual warfare.
And in the Epistle today, both Epistles, St. Paul is warning us to walk circumspectly in the first Epistle, and then in the second Epistle, he speaks about the fact that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. And he warns us, he encourages us what we should do. We have to stand fast in these evil days.
Are these days evil because the Lord created evil? No. The days are evil because of the wickedness of the fallen ones and those who would seek to be beguiled by them.
In the Gospel today, we have this woman who is bound with an infirmity for 18 years. And the Lord himself says that this woman was bound by Satan. Now, all infirmity is not essentially demonic, but there are times when it is. In this case, it was. And the Lord says 18 years, essentially saying, can you imagine 18 years, this woman is bound. And the Lord frees her. He delivers her.
He brings her this salvation, if you will. Now, do you observe the response of the Pharisee? Do you observe it? Does the Pharisee rejoice? Does the Pharisee have his eyes open and say, “I’ve dedicated my whole life to studying the Scriptures and upholding the law, finally, I see the Messiah.”
No. What is this? It’s spiritual warfare. Saint Joseph the Hesychast, he teaches, when grace comes, watch, because temptations will follow.
So oftentimes, and here’s the thing, it’s not a matter if God will bless you, it’s a matter of when. God loves you. Knowing God, being in the church, that in itself is a grace and a blessing, not a matter of if, but when God blesses you. Are you watching? Many of us do not know this. And so what happens is, God works in our life. He gives us a blessing, but very quickly, because we’re not watching, because we haven’t been taught, the devil comes.
And here’s what’s very important for you to know: The devil cannot thwart God, but he can rob you. He can rob you. You see, God moved in this woman’s life, and very quickly, the Pharisee, being the vessel of the devil, wanted to undermine her faith, wanted to undermine the faith of all those who witnessed God’s work. The devil, working on the Pharisee, wanted doubt to be sown in the hearts of those who just received the grace of God, you see? And so in your life, when God works, watch. Be watchful, because the devil will come, and he will try to steal that good seed from you.
This is when the Lord’s talking about the birds of the air. When the word is given, they come and they steal it. The devil can’t stop God working in your life, but he can get you to give it away. He can rob you. We have to watch. When we expect the good things of the Lord, we should expect resistance.
My brothers and my sisters, my sons and my daughters, our Christian life, every Liturgy is a battle cry. We are proclaiming God’s victory. We’re proclaiming God’s kingdom. Every day in our life, when we offer our prayers to God, we’re coming before God. We’re presenting ourselves. At night, when we say our evening prayers, we’re presenting ourselves to God.
This world will always be a place of battle. Period. Full stop. There is not going to be a time or a place, as long as you have air in your lungs, that there will not be a struggle. Our problem is that we don’t want to believe that. In our hearts, we know it’s true, but we don’t want to believe it. We want this life to be Disneyland. We want this life to be something, anything, other than what it actually is. And that, in and of itself, is spiritual warfare.
The Lord came so many thousand years ago. Why? It says very clearly in the Gospels, the Lord came to undo the works of the devil. The Incarnation is about the liberation of man. The resurrection is about the liberation of man. This Divine Liturgy, every Divine Liturgy, is about the liberation of man. Man must be freed from the grip of the devil, so that he can be what he was always meant to be, which is to be a son, an image bearer of the Most High.
This Nativity Fast, I want you to focus not on the gifts that you’re going to give one another. I want you to focus on the gift that God is trying to give you. And I want you to watch and to make sure that the devil doesn’t rob you of the gift that is coming to you.
Not if, but when. Through the prayers of Saint Joseph, Lord Jesus Christ our God, help us to grow in our vigilance. Amen.
Thursday, December 5, 2025: Entry of Our Lady into the Temple
HEBREWS 9:1-7
LUKE 10:38-42; 11:27-28
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ! Today on the feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the temple, we are celebrating the bringing of Our Lady, the Mother of God, as this miraculous and pure offering from her mother and her father, Joachim and Anna, being brought into the temple where she, as a young child, as a virgin, would be nurtured and raised in prayer, and where she would begin her familiarity, her understanding, and her relationship to the spiritual world being ministered and visited to by angels at this time. And it’s important for us to remember that this, in of itself, is a miraculous event because women were not allowed in the temple, in the old temple.
And so we can say to ourselves, Well, what does this mean? How should we understand the fact that the rules were broken? If you remember, there was a time when King David and his men, David was fleeing from Saul, and he was hungry. And he hampered upon the place of the temple, and he ate the showbread, the bread that was offered in the temple. And no one was allowed to eat that bread except for the priests. And yet, David, being inspired by the Spirit, took the bread. And our Lord, he spoke about this when he was accosted by the Pharisees. And they said, Why are you eating on the Sabbath? Why are you picking grain on the Sabbath? And the Lord spoke of David taking the showbread.
This also is one of those holy exceptions. They are not the standard, per se, but there are these miraculous exceptions, there are these spiritual exceptions that God allows for a purpose. Never to break the law, but to confirm the law of love. And the law of love is the undergirding of everything that God does. And this is of the utmost importance for us, because in our own lives, we will find these moments in which we think that the miraculous is impossible. And in fact, that is a right thought.
Because if it was possible, by our measure, it wouldn’t be a miracle. We too often are looking for things in the wrong way. We assume with our mind and our logic and our experience, which is valid, that certain things are just the way that they are.
And it’s a good thing to accept things. It’s good to be humble before God. But I want everyone to be clear. Being humble before God in the face of adversity, being humble before God in the face of insurmountable odds, which means you’re not complaining, which is good. We should not complain. Which means that you’re not despairing, which is good. We should not despair. But we should also not give up hope. We shouldn’t think that God can’t do something out of the ordinary. Because He can, and He does.
And more importantly, when we get to know Our Lady, she oftentimes breaks through in ways that only she can, that only heaven can. And this is the point. Because those moments where the exception happens, they happen precisely so that you can remember that God is with you. The exception happens precisely so you can know and have no doubt that it was God. That it wasn’t a fluke. That it wasn’t some sort of, you know, accident. The exception happens precisely so that you know that all of heaven is watching. And more importantly, that heaven sees you and will help you and be with you.
This is the point of the exception. So many of us come to these moments in our lives. And yes, we’re doing well, as I said earlier, to be humble. But be careful. Because sometimes what we think is being humble is just really laying down and dying. And that’s not what Christ is asking of us. He’s asking of us to hold in faith. Remember when the Lord was crucified, He said, No man takes My life from Me, I give it up. The Lord didn’t go to the cross as a loser. He went to the cross trusting in the power of the Father to raise Him from the dead. You see, that was the exception. Christ’s resurrection was the exception.
And so in the same way, there is an exception that God has if you hold to faith. Pray to Our Lady, and on this day especially, may the grace of this Liturgy and may the grace of her presence be an encouragement to all of you to look for that exception in your life that God and only God can bring. And through the prayers of the Theotokos, may the Lord grant us our hope. Amen.