A straightforward reading of today’s Gospel passage would lead us to believe that if we pray for something, we would receive that from God. “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, and knock and the door shall be open to you.” (Luke 11: 9-13)

Are you a hypocrite? As Christians, this is something we all think about; or, in fact, we might have been called a hypocrite by someone; or considered ourselves to be a hypocrite a few times in our life. Whatever the case may be, the understanding of what makes someone a hypocrite or not, is convoluted. Here, I will attempt to bring some clarity into this complex discussion.

In the Gospel Reading today Jesus scolds the Pharisee, Sadducees and Scribes, the “spiritual elites” of his time, by saying they were not willing to repent, or rather change their ways, when John the Baptist came to them in righteousness; however the tax collectors and harlots were willing; therefore, they will enter into the Kingdom of God. It is interesting to note here that Christ was referring to the idea of “change.” That is, how the one type or group of people, were willing to change; but the other, too stubborn and set in their ways, were unwilling.

In the Gospel reading today we hear that Christ sends out his disciples two by two to cast out demons, heal the sick and preach the Good News. (Mark 6: 7-13) Here, we are intrigued that the disciples are given the ability to cast out demons, heal the sick and preach the Gospel, primarily because these “abilities” or rather “giftings” was something they never had before; and now Christ freely gave such “giftings” so that His Mission here on earth might be accomplished. In some way or the other, we want these “giftings” too! Because as humans we want the miraculous. But we should understand that the disciples (at that time and place) were called to a specific ministry, and as such, needed those “giftings” in order to fulfill the plan of God. Even though we might not have the gift of healing, preaching or casting out demons, Christ has sent all of the members of St. Luke “out,” not necessarily “two-by-two,” but maybe “by family” or “by individual,” to do a particular type of ministry, here at this time and place. If we come to that truth—that realization—then we will make our Christian experience meaningful.

When we consider the valuable things in our life, what do we think about? Cars, houses, assets, these are the things that we consider as valuable; because the word “value “ in our American culture is closely associated with monetary worth, that is, money. For example, we would say, “What’s the value of this car?” Or, we would say, “What’s the value of this home?” But when we use the word “value” do we ever consider our very own lives. The bodies that we have, don’t they have value? What would be the cost of your arm, leg, or foot? The answer is simply: we can’t put a price on it. It’s priceless!

We were blessed with the presence of Rev. Fr. Mathew Alexander, this past Sunday, who delivered the homily which was taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke 14:7-11.

When we think of the word “feeding” what we think about is eating food. Or, it may be feeding children, if any. “Feeding” is predominantly associated with the eating of food or feeding food to others.

In the Gospel reading today Jesus says that we are to feed on Him, literally and spiritually. Literally, we feed on His Body and Blood during Qurbana. Spiritually we feed on Christ throughout the week by reading the Bible, saying the Prayers of the Church, listening to Orthodox Sermons, reading the Lives of the Fathers and other Holy Books. As Orthodox Christians, we do the former but neglect the latter. Instead, throughout the week we tend to “feed” on movies, music, and books that are not necessarily beneficial.

How can we feed on Christ throughout the week?

In the year of Our Lord, 1858, Abraham Lincoln, soon to be President of the United States of America, gave a speech that will forever be remember in the pages of American history. The title of that speech is “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Read more: https://stlukemission.org/sermons/the-battle-of-the-mind

We were blessed with the presence of Rev. Fr. Joice Pappan, this past Sunday, who delivered the homily which was taken from the Gospel of Saint Matthew 15: 32-39. Learn more at https://stlukemission.org/sermons/the-compassionate-christ

What do we normally do with leftover food? We either store it away to be eaten later, or throw it away. Whatever the case maybe, we don’t treat it the same as we did when it first came out of the pot or oven. In other words, we treat the food differently, because now it has another classification. Its importance has changed. That is, the way we look at the food has changed.