In today's Gospel reading, we hear the parable of the rich fool.  In the homily, Abp. Irineos touches on the Fool's delusional pursuit of self-sufficiency, his soul killing greed, and ultimately what it means for us to be rich toward God.  Drawing on the patristic teaching, Abp. Irineos urges the faithul to take stock of their own giving of alms and to do what they can, to the greatest extent that they can.

On the 6th Sunday of St. Luke, Abp. Irineos shares the gospel reading of the Gadarene Demoniac and challenges the faithful to consider both the power of Christ and our own weakness before Him.  Beginning with a discussion of the position of the demoniac and the fear of the townspeople, Abp. Irineos compares the Demoniac's transformation by Christ with our own quest for Theosis.

While serving at Holy Annunciation following his ordination, Fr. Pachomios delivered the Sunday homily on the Parable of the Sower.  Fr. Pachomios urged the faithful to be attentive daily to their cross, as a means to assure that we stay within the good ground!

On the second Sunday of St. Luke, Abp. Irineos challenges that faithful to embody Christ's call to us to follow the Golden Rule and love unconditionally with the expectation of personal benefit or recognition.  Drawing on free market theory, Abp. Irineos shows that Christ's call to the faithful is to reject the transactional nature of human relationships that our modern, Western culture has engrained in us, and rather to love in the same way that our Father loves us.

On the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross, Abp. Irineos discusses how the Gospel reading today shifts us from the Feast's veneration where we are called to fall down before the cross in worship to Christ's command that if we are to follow Him we must first deny ourselves and take up our own cross.  This forbearance calls us to patiently endure our own afflictions, fight against the passions, forgive those who have wounded us, and to preach the Gospel in a world that may mock or persecute us.  The Cross does not belong just to Christ, but to all Christians who seek to follow Him.

On the 13th Sunday of Pentecost, the Church appoints for hearing the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers from the Gospel of Matthew.  This parable is full of meaning and the Fathers have expounded on the meaning of it far beyond its obvious prophecy of rejection and murder of Christ.  One of the interpretations holds that the "hedge" placed around the vineyard represents the Law and its design to set the bounds for the conduct of its followers.  

As the Church stands as the new Israel, in today's homily, Abp. Irineos ponders what our hedge is and why we need one.

On the Feast of Pentecost, Abp. Irineos speaks on the sending of the Holy Spirit as the culminating act in the gradual revelation of the Holy Trinity.  Drawing on the Festal Oration of St. Gregory Nanzianzen, Abp. Irineos suggests that the revelation of the Trinity to mankind over time reflects a cautious approach of the Father and of Christ, such that man was burdened only with so much as he could bear.

Thus, we see the day of Pentecost as that appointed time in which mankind, having encountered the Father and having seen the Son, is now prepared to receive the Spirit in its Divinity, so that we may be drawn to our loving God, for the salvation of our souls.

On the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, Abp. Irineos gives the background on the Arian heresy and, calling on other examples from Church history, reminds the faithful that the truth is never determined by how many adherents or followers are to be counted.  Often time, the bishops of the Church have fallen into heresy or error and been corrected by a small handful of faithful confessors.  From the Arian heresy to the Soviet catacombs, the true faith is determined by faithfully preserving that which is received, not by gathering the greater number of people who would follow you.

On the Sunday of the Blind Man, Abp. Irineos shares the patristic understanding of this Gospel account, and explains how the blind man and his healing represent the salvation of the Gentile race.  May all of us who have received the light, confess Christ before the world as the blind man did before the Pharisees!

On the Sunday of the Paralytic, Abp. Irineos examines the admonition of Christ, " Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."  Can sin actually make us sick? This is a statement that today is shocking to many – a connection between our sins and bodily illness or infirmity – seems to run counter to what modern science commands us to believe.  But it has been a long held understanding of the apostolic fathers and the Church, that indeed, there is a connection between our sins and our bodily health and integrity.