ELEVATION OF THE CROSS

September 14

UPDATES

9/18/16 Sermon on Gal. 2:15-21

9/14/16 Sermon on Elevation of the Cross

9/13/16 Homily at VIgil for Elevation of the Cross

9/11/16 Sermon on Sunday after the Nativity

9/08/16 Sermon on the Nativity of the Theotokos

9/07/16 Homily at VIgil for the Nativity of the Theotokos

9/04/16 Sermon on Matthew 18:23-35

8/28/16 Sermon on 1 Cor. 4:9-16

8/21/16 Sermon on 1 Cor. 3:9-17

8/14/16 Homily at the Vigil for Dormition

8/14/16 Sermon on 1 Cor. 1:10-18

8/07/16 Sermon on Sunday after Transfiguration

7/17/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Fathers of the Fist Six Ecumenical Councils

6/26/16 Sermon on Sunday of All Saints

6/12/16 Sermon on Sunday after Ascension

6/09/16 Sermon on Ascension

6/08/16 Homily at the Vigil for Ascension

6/05/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Man Born Blind

5/29/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

5/22/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Paralytic

5/15/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Myrrbearing Women

5/8/16 Sermon on Thomas Sunday

4/29/16 Homily on Matins of Holy Saturday

4/29/16 Homily on Vespers of Holy Friday

4/28/16 Sermon on Holy Thursday

4/27/16 Homily on Matins of Holy Thursday

4/26/16 Homily on Matins of Holy Wednesday

4/24/16 Sermon on Palm Sunday

4/23/16 Sermon on Lazarus Saturday

4/17/16 Sermon on Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

4/10/16 Sermon on Sunday of St. John of the Ladder

4/3/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Cross

3/27/16 Sermon on Sunday of St. Gregory of Palamas

3/20/16 Sermon on Sunday of Orthodoxy

3/17/16 Homily on the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

3/14/16 Homily on the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

3/6/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Last Judgment

2/28/16 Sermon on Sunday of the Prodigal Sun

2/21/16 Sermon on Sunday of Publican and Pharisee

PASCHA 2016

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

One of the great challenges confronting the celebration of Pascha and therefoe the integrity of the Gospel and the faith of all Christian believers is the condition of the world. Our surroundings both local and global are collectively riddled with injustice, suffering, war, poverty, loneliness, intolerance, and death. Ostensibly nothing seems to have changed. We announce Christ is risen yet humanity is beset by misery. We proclaim the end of death but remain afraid of our own mortality. Certainly one may rightly ask, "Is our celebration based on reality?"

The answer to these and related questions must be found beyond the obvious, beyond the origins of humanity's rebellion against God. The answer rests in realizing that humanity's quest for freedom from God has paradoxically driven all of creation to groan in its misery. Humanity with all creation seeks to be released from its self-imposed enslaving freedom that has placed it in the prison of its own sin and death. (Rom. 8:22 cf.)

Into the very depths of this misery God sens his only begotten Son. It is the beloved Son who takes upon himself sin and death so as to destroy them. He takes upon our misery, he voluntarily gives himself up for the life of the world and its salvation. (John 6) Only the incarnate, pre-eternal Word and Son of the Father can transform human misery into new and eternal life by taking it upon himself and by giving himself over to death.

By breaking the bonds of our misery the very core of all existence is changed. In our Paschal celebration, which is a celebration of baptism, all who are baptized into Christ enter into his death and resurrection and are endowed with freedom. (Rom. 6:1-11) Led by the Spirit into the baptismal mystery our Paschal celebration truly affirms and confirms that indeed Christ is risen from the dead and by his death he has trampled down death.

En agape,

Father Robert