30
Apr 2023
The Lord Jesus appeared many times after the resurrection and before the ascension. And the night before, Jesus appeared before His disciples at the sea of Tiberias when they went fishing and caught nothing. But what happened early in the morning as they got close to the shore, Jesus appeared, but they did not recognize Him. “Children, why don’t you cast a net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some,” he said. Can you imagine any of us going fishing the whole night? And you tried everything.......
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05
Mar 2023
We celebrate St. Ephrem—one of the greatest saints of our church. He was a great teacher, and God gave him so much of the Holy Spirit so that he could interpret the whole Bible. Today, we also recognize the healing of the leper. The verse for today is Proverbs 14:30 “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” So, whether it is leprosy, envy, or any sin, we all need spiritual healing. So, we need to remain in our faith and be strong. Revelations 2:10 says,......
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26
Feb 2023
In John 2:1-11, we learn of some disciples who were invited to a wedding, but what is the bridegroom’s name or relation? We don’t know. But we do know that two hours later, they ran out of wine. Mary then intervened and said to Jesus to do something about it. “Do whatever He tells you,” she said to the servants. They filled the six jars with water, and Jesus turned them into wine. So, what do we get out of this short story? Turning the water into wine symbolizes what is yet......
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19
Feb 2023
Today we recognize the faithful departed who went to heaven, paradise. Of course, they are enjoying real life with God. We pray for them for every Holy Liturgy, but today is a special day, and they may pray for us as well. Remembering what happened in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, where many passed away, today’s sermon is called, “The Earth is the Lord’s.” Earth belongs to the Lord from Day One when he created everything else. This is when we know everything was desolate, full of darkness. And in six......
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12
Feb 2023
The definition of the priest is the one who offers sacrifices to God and teaches His word. As it says in the Bible, “For the lips of the priest shall preserve knowledge because he is the messenger from the Lord almighty, and the people seek instruction from him.” – Malachi 2:7 So teaching the word of God, my beloved, is not a choice of the priest. It is something he must do. Go to theological school to learn, and on the day of ordination, the Holy Spirit gives him talents. The priest......
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05
Feb 2023
As you know, Simeon carrying the Lord Jesus is part of the event for presenting Christ in the Temple. Who is Simeon? He was a righteous man waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. He was also a Hebrew scholar and translator. In 250 BC – almost 300 years before Christ was born — the ruler of Alexandria sent a letter to Lazarus, the high priest of the Jews, asking for the Old Testament books so translators can do it from Hebrew to Greek in 70......
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29
Jan 2023
As Abouna prepares the altar, and the choir sings, we all say and sing, “In Your Light, Lord, We Shall See Light.” Why do we sing? Before Jesus comes to our planet, the majority of the people in this world walked in darkness, which means they worshiped all different creatures except the creator. And they committed all different kinds of sins as well. So that’s why the Lord Jesus had to come to our planet. To announce to the world, “I am the light of the world, and he who follows me......
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22
Jan 2023
We recently celebrated St. Anthony’s feast. St. Anthony was considered one of the many saints, so it is a good reminder to talk about the saints. We must remember how much they considered us and prayed for us in heaven. “Others have labored,” it says in the book of John to mean the prophets, “and you have entered into their labors.” So, this is what happened to us, my beloved. The saints labored very hard and loved the heart so much that we have the church we have today. The saints have......
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15
Jan 2023
So, according to today’s feast, our Holy Fathers arranged an appropriate reading from St. Matthew Chapter 13. The passage explains how Jesus got on a boat that day, and a large crowd gathered around them as He spoke to them about many things in parables. A sower went out to sow, and some seeds fell on the path. Some of them fell on rocky ground, other seeds fell upon thorns, and other seeds fell upon good soils. The sower is the Lord Jesus, and the seeds are the word of God. And......
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08
Jan 2023
Today we are celebrating the epiphany, the baptism of the Lord. And repentance and confession lead to the treasures of God. The word Epiphany means the appearance of the Holy Trinity. And so, the appearance was as follows: First of all, seeing the Lord Jesus, who has no sins standing in the river Jordan for what reason? The repentance of baptism. “This is my beloved son,” says the Lord, and the Holy Spirit descends to form the Trinity, the father, son, and Holy Spirit. Why are the Holy Spirit and the water......
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