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Confessing Christ

Fr. Apostolos shares on All Saints Sunday, "The memory of all the saints, those who we know and those whose names only God knows, may be we inspired by their witness and their confession from all of those from ancient times to more recent times for whom there was no turning back."




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The Cross and Suffering

Fr. Apostolos shares about suffering on the Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Holy Cross. He quotes an abbot, "The one who has suffered nothing in this life has been abandoned by God."




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Collaborating with Jesus

Fr. Apostolos talks about synergy with Christ.




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Strength through Weakness

Fr. Apostolos shares about real strength from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians.




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Suffering in This Life or the Next

Referencing the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Fr. Apostolos shares about suffering. "Suffering can make no sense to us unless we view it from an eternal perspective. Our suffering is made worse because we have lost the vision of the goal of suffering."




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Thanksgiving

Fr. Apostolos shares three reasons to be grateful and three suggestions to consecrate the Thanksgiving holiday.




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Taming Desire

As we approach Great Lent, Fr. Apostolos reflects on the stories of Jason Gibson and Zaccheus. "As we apply the energy of our will and labor to tame our desires so that they serve us and as we avoid the trap of being enslaved by our desires, we can overcome our wounds and learn how to soar in the spiritual life."




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Is God Coming Today?

Fr. Apostolos shares about the flash mob that gathered on Palm Sunday and at the trial of Jesus.




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Overcoming Spiritual Paralysis

Fr. Apostolos shares on the Sunday of the Paralytic. "Once healed and loosed from his paralysis, the paralytic took up his mat and started walking. So too must we shake off whatever form of spiritual paralysis has us in its grip and start walking actively, energetically, and intentionally in the Holy Orthodox faith God has given us."




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Transfiguration and the Courage to Change

Fr. Apostolos encourages us that it is possible to change. May we approach the Feast of the Transfiguration "with a sense of humility and anticipation that we too might be radically changed into that same image from glory to glory."




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Entering the Temple

Fr. Apostolos talks about the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, and the difference between being AT church, IN church, and THE church.




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Thanksgiving and Spiritual Nourishment

Fr. Apostolos talks about feeding ourselves spiritually, not only physically."Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."




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Christmas Carol Sing-a-long

Fr. Apostolos shares the story of the Nativity of Christ, interspersed with Christmas carols.




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The Kingdom of Heaven

Fr. Apostolos talks about the exclusive nature of our citizenship in the Heavenly Kingdom. "No one may hold dual citizenship in the Kingdom of God and any other kingdom."




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Missionary Dating

Fr. Apostolos shares from St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, "We are the temple of the living God."




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Coming Home

Fr. Apostolos talks about the Prodigal Son and the loving father.




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Hobo Steak and Fasting

Fr. Apostolos talks about the history and importance of fasting.




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Repentance as Healing from the Cancer of Sin

Fr. Apostolos speaks about repentance as healing from the cancer of sin. Sin is that foreign substance in us which, if left untreated, will produce in us spiritual death, and God provides the treatment.




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Surviving the Desert

On Graduation Sunday, Fr. Apostolos speaks to the spiritual desert into which our graduates enter when they leave home for college or the workplace.




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The Building Blocks of Faith

Fr. Apostolos shares about the miracle of the feeding of the multitudes with the five loaves and two fish, and encourages us to offer our best unto the Lord.




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Learning to Love the Nails

Fr. Apostolos talks about the importance of the Cross.




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Divine Worship: Blessed is the Kingdom

Fr. Apostolos addresses the Sacrament of Kingdom invoked at the opening of the Divine Liturgy followed by a treatment of "Peace" as the precondition for prayer.




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Divine Worship: the Gathering of the Faithful

Fr. Apostolos continues the series on Divine Worship, discussing the beginning of the Synaxis of the Faithful and of the prayers leading up to the Great Entrance.




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Divine Worship: the Sacrament of Offering

Fr. Apostolos continues the homily series on Divine Worship, addressing the Sacrament of Offering and the potential that exists to redeem our work-a-day lives through the offering up to God of a portion of our labors, in this case the bread and wine of Holy Communion.




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The Coming Change

Fr. Apostolos connects the gospel on the Rich Young Ruler with the change in church attendance, exhorting us not to get waylaid with the cares of this world.




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Dressing the Vine

Fr. Apostolos delivers a timely reminder to bear good fruits and tend the garden that we have been given.




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Embracing the Suffering of the Cross

Fr. Apostolos talks about the importance of embracing the Cross of Christ, despite the challenges that go along with it.




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The Grace of Thanksgiving

Fr. Apostolos addresses how to walk in the grace of thanksgiving and gratitude in our day-to-day lives.




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Being Good Stewards

Fr. Apostolos talks on stewardship and addressed the role that Christian stewardship plays in bridging the gap between the material and immaterial aspects of our faith. By consecrating the material resources of our lives to God we can escape the trap of reducing our faith in Jesus Christ to a disembodied philosophy.




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Writing the Books of Our Lives

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a short homily on what we will all write in the New Year on the pages of the books of our lives.




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Hoping in God

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a homily based on St. Paul's exhortation to Timothy about hoping in God.




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Saying No to Cheeseburgers

Fr. Apostolos Hill discusses the Sunday of the Cross and the importance of learning to pick up our cross in the simple day-to-day choices we make.




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The Knuckle Song

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a homily on the Sunday of St. John of the Ladder, discussing the need for growth and progress in the spiritual life just as we anticipate growth in every other aspect of our lives and of our children's. The opening illustration referenced a song from the Dr. Demento Show.




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Finding our Place in the Crowd

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a homily on finding our place in the crowd that greeted Jesus in His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.




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Dispelling the Darkness

Fr. Apostolos Hill reflects on the verses of the Gospel of Matthew about the eye as the light of the body and how we might dispel the darkness around us with the Light of Christ.




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Crew Members, Not Passengers

Fr. Apostolos Hill shares a homily centered on the Epistle reading and St. Paul's admonition that we exercise the spiritual gifts given to us for the building up of the Body of Christ.




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Meaningful Youth Ministry

Fr. Apostolos Hill exhorts us to embrace a new paradigm for parish youth ministry that focuses on spiritual development and less on entertainment.




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Cultivating a Hunger for Heaven

Fr. Apostolos Hill speaks on the theme of the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise and how we acquire a thirst for the Kingdom.




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Knowing God

Fr. Apostolos Hill likens the experience of knowing God to that of meeting his bride. The effort we put into spending time together is a blueprint for entering more deeply into our union with Jesus.




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The Redemption of Suffering

"If you're suffering today, know this: you are on the right path. If you're not suffering, that's when you should be worried. If you are suffering in this life, God is with you. If you don't find life easy and comfortable, you're doing it right." On the Sunday of the Cross, Fr. Apostolos shares about the redemption of our own suffering through the suffering of Christ.




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Is Real Change Possible?

Fr. Apostolos Hill talks about deconstruction of determinism on both a personal and corporate level. The change Jesus invites us to experience is one He Himself provides. To suggest that real change is impossible, as determinists insist, is to abandon the path of salvation.




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Back-to-School Blessing

Fr. Apostolos Hill shares a short homily and prayers for the back-to-school students. The first prayer at the end for parents to offer for their children is from Fr. James Meena of blessed memory which was written in 1978 and printed in the Word magazine. The second prayer is one that Fr. Apostolos wrote for the Cathedral students.




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Growing in our Faith

Fr. Apostolos Hill talks about the parable of the sower and how we must grow in our faith.




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Meaning of Orthodox Christmas

Fr. Apostolos Hill dives into what we mean when we say, "Christ is born, Glorify Him" as well as other Orthodox Christmas meanings.




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Living Our Values

Fr. Apostolos Hill offers a simple message about living our values in the New Year by challenging whether or not the demands placed on or time and resources align with our Orthodox faith. It is an invitation to slow down and to resist the impulse to race frenetically through the year ahead for fear of falling behind the expectations of others.




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Citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom

Fr. Apostolos Hill's homily talks about citizenship in the Heavenly Kingdom and how repentance is the entrance exam.




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On Being Aghios

Fr. Apostolos Hill preaches about All Saints' Day and what it means to be not of this world, or, Aghios. He reminds us of the distinction of being in this world but not of this world and the importance of striving to be Aghios each day.




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Of the Kingdom and kingdoms

Fr. Apostolos Hill offers a Lord of the Rings based depiction of the centrality of the Kingdom of Heaven as the context for our lives in Christ, and a clean break from the various "kingdoms" which vie for our loyalties here below.




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Touching Jesus

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a simple homily from the Gospel about touching Jesus during a period of necessary distancing.




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Blindness of Ingratitude

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a homily on the blindness of ingratitude, while wearing a blindfold for effect. This is the perfect reminder for those listening to be grateful for that which is given to them.