In the Gospel reading Christ even now stands in our midst to speak to our hearts.

Do the words “God is love” mean God could never be wrathful?

Fr. Lawrence says it is safe to say that the allegorical method has fallen upon hard times in the scholarly world.

Fr. Lawrence Farley speaks at Daniel Chapel at Furman University on February 6, 2018. Fr. Farley explores the nature and end of humankind from an Eastern Orthodox Christian perspective.

In my Protestant days, I had no problem with anyone talking about Mary—so long as it was Christmas. On Boxing Day, that was it. Over. No more talking about Mary. What are we anyway, Catholics? It was understood that when we packed away the Nativity set, all talk of Mary got packed up along with it. And my proof that Bible-believing Christians should not talk about Mary? The New Testament never did. Well, hardly ever did—just long enough to narrate the Christmas story. Was she in the Acts of the Apostles? Not really. Was she in the Epistles? No. So there you go: no talking about Mary or calling her blessed.

Recently I heard a very dark and serious song about the judgment of God and His wrath against sinners. It was the folk song “Great God Almighty’s Gonna Cut You Down” (accessed here). I was not aware of the song before; apparently it is an American folk song. The oracular Wikipedia informs me that it was first recorded by the Golden Gate Quartet in 1946 and issued in 1947 by the Jubalairies, and since then has been covered by a variety of singers in country, folk, electronic, and black metal genres, including such singers as Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, and Elvis Presley. It takes some imagination to contemplate someone singing both about blue suede shoes and the wrath of God, but that’s America for you.

I forget, in the course of my long life as a Christian, how many times I have heard people assure me that “God will never give you more than you can handle”. By this they seemed to mean that God knows my emotional limits and capabilities, and will make sure that no disaster befalls me that will tax me emotionally beyond my present strength. Sometimes they affix a Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 10:13 to it to make their case: “No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it”. I must report however, on the basis of my long life as a Christian, that the assuring notion that God will never give anyone more than they can handle is nonsense.

In his book Reflections on the Psalms, C. S. Lewis wrote a chapter on praising which began with him saying that “It is possible (and it is to be hoped) that this chapter will be unnecessary for most people”. In the same spirit, I hope that this and subsequent episodes on the topic of predestination will be unnecessary for most people.

In my last episode, I examined Paul’s words in Romans 9 and their bearing upon the classic Reformed teaching about predestination—i.e. the notion that before the creation of the world God had already chosen some to be saved and some to be damned, and that these choices were based solely upon His sovereign will, and that furthermore, our human choices to accept or reject Christ were simply the outworking of God’s primordial decisions. Those whom He chose to be saved He would draw to Himself so that they would accept Christ, and those whom He had chosen for damnation He would harden so that they would reject Christ. Those teaching this often refer to Paul’s words in Ephesians 1 in support of their views, so we will examine that passage here.

Fr. Apostolos explains that the Gospel message is the meaning of Christmas.

Fr. Apostolos explains that God's forgiveness depends on our willingness to forgive those who have trespassed again us.

Fr. Apostolos speaks on knowing God and merely knowing about Him as we celebrate the memory of St. Gregory Palamas.

Fr. Apostolos shares from 1 Corinthians 3, reminding us that our bodies belong to the Lord, "The temple of God is holy, and that is what you are."

"We are called to be saints. We are called to fellowship with God. We are called to sanctification and true freedom in Christ. We are called to lay hold of eternal life. May we ever strive to walk in that manner, worthy of the high calling as we press on in our Lenten journey."

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

Fr. Apostolos shares about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "As we celebrate the Sunday before the Exaltation of the Cross, may we commit ourselves every single day and every single hour of every day to living the message of the Gospel and thanking God that He loved us so much that He came."

Fr. Apostolos talks about the true worship of God, "This week, as we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord of glory into the Temple, may we be reminded that we come into this holy place not in a state of mere passive observance, but in one of active, noetic worship of the One who alone deserves all glory, honor, and worship: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now until the ages of ages."

Fr. Apostolos begins with the story of Brittany, a young girl he briefly knew who suffered from an incurable skin condition who demonstrated for him how to carry a cross. The gist of the homily is simple: there can be no resurrection without a death and no Paschal celebration without the Cross.

Fr. Apostolos talks about God's mercy.

Fr. Apostolos shares from the first epistle from Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. "Trying to overcome our passions, we often feel like our best is not going to be good enough. If that's the case, you should take heart, because you are not the first, nor will you be the last. You are not alone in that feeling."

Fr. Apostolos talks about the key of humility that unlocks God's grace.

Working from the Epistle reading in Colossians, Fr. Apostolos underscores the basic spiritual truth that our oneness in Christ precludes every possibility for bigotry of any kind and that we, as Light-bearers, must light the way out of the fear and ignorance that gives rise to such base and passe divisions.

Fr. Apostolos discusses the importance of remembering the love of Christ in our lives, and that we are good enough.

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.

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

Fr. Apostolos Hill preaches on the Prodigal Son and how easily we write off others and ourselves from the reach of God's love. Another impassioned plea that mostly falls on deaf ears in our fraught times.

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.

Fr. Apostolos Hill's homily is centered upon the Gospel reading of the Good Samaritan and the role each of us is called to play in pulling robbed and beaten victims of sin from the ditches of life.

In Fr. Apostolos' Cathedral homily, he talks about the challenges we are facing with COVID-19 as a Church and as a nation. Fr. Apostolos likened the shuttering of our various distractions to the "Alone with God" time our youth enjoy in the camping ministry.

Fr. Apostolos Hill returns after undergoing eye surgery to reattach the retina in his left eye. He speaks about the times when God allows us to undergo trials to strengthen our Faith in Him and sharpen and correct our priorities.

On the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, Fr. Apostolos Hill shares on the Prophet Micah's closing comment on God throwing our sins into the depths of the ocean. As St. Mary's life indicates, we cannot out-sin the measureless mercy of God's love.

Fr. Apostolos Hill addresses the Parable of the Sower and the Seed of the Gospel which is but scarcely proclaimed, having been supplanted by an array of false ones.

In my "Spam Suspects" email folder today, I noticed some spam which used Google as a redirection service, by linking to http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.somespamsite.com. When trying this technique with some other site, I found that google responds to this query with a 302 redirect to the site in question. Clearly, the spammer was using this system to lure people who trust Google... (176 words)

Sermon on the Sunday of the Blind Man (John 9:1-38)

Sermon on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (I Corinthians 3:9-17; Matthew 14:22-34)

Sermon on the Leavetaking of the Elevation of the Precious Cross (Galatians 2:16-20; Mark 8:34-9:1)

Sermon on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (II Cor 9:6-11; Luke 8:5-15)

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost