Sunday, November 27, 2005
Fr. Peter started with a quote, "God made man in His image and ever since, man has been trying to return the favor." We give God our attributes when we trying to justify our sins. We've seen the signs in front of churches: "All Welcome Here." These are some of the same churches that proclaim the "Jesus of tolerance," which accept anyone without saying anything about a person's sin.
Jesus does indeed accept everyone, but He also calls all to repentance and says, "Go and sin no more." There is a difference between God's image and God's likeness. We are all created in His image and are called to grow into His likeness. As Peter says in one of his epistles, "We become partakers of the divine nature. Our job is to live in His image and realize His nature in us. How?
Fr. Peter mentioned that we are to exercise the disciplines, including: confession and receiving forgiveness; fasting; praying; and giving alms (a way to love others as God loves us).
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Fr. Peter spoke about the Apostle James, the brother of the Lord, whom we are commemorating today. James, one of the 70 apostles, was the first bishop of Jerusalem. He was called James the Just, because of his righteousness. His other name is Camel Knees, because, as tradition holds, he spent so much time praying on his knees that he developed callouses that made his knees look like a camel's knees. This James is also the author of the Epistle of James and of the first liturgy used by the Church (which is still used in Jerusalem to this day). He was a great teacher who converted others.
Why is it important to commemorate saints such as James? Fr. Peter shared two reasons:
1. Saints shows us what we are capable of becoming by God's grace. The saints instruct us to be more than we are. To say that we are all that we can be is to deny God's power.
2. The saints continue to intercede for us. Who better to pray for us than Camel Knees? In his epistle, James writes that the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. He knew this from firsthand experience.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Fr. Peter shared from this morning's Gospel reading, the parable of the sower. The seeds represent various types of people: those with hard hearts, those who have no root, those who allow Christ to be choked out by earthly cares, adn those who allow the Word to take root and bear fruit. The message of this passage is to "Be Good Soil."
Fr. Peter noted that in our lives we are not always the same soil. We can be different types of soil at different times in our lives. He shared an example of a young woman in his youth group who bore good fruit. Several years later, she saw Fr. Peter and told him that she had made decisions that were not bearing Godly fruit in her life. However, last year, Fr. Peter saw her again and was glad to hear that she is now actively involved in a church and is bearing good fruit again.
Fr. Peter reminded us to be vigilant to remain good soil and to not give up on others who may not be open to receiving the Word now. God doesn't give up on them, and they may be ready to receive the "seed" at another point in their lives.
Sunday, October 9, 2005
Fr. Peter shared from this morning's Gospel reading, St. Luke 7:11-16. The widow of Nain was burying her only son, full of grief. Not only was she now alone, she also had no one to take care of her. Jesus saw her mourning and raised her son from death. This story shows two things about God:
1. His power over death. This story, along with other examples from the Scriptures (Elijah raising the son of the widow of Zarephath, Jesus raising Jairus' daughter and Lazarus) were given to us that we may believe that God is all powerful. Jesus' resurrection was even greater than the above examples; his resurrection can translate us into an immortal existence, whereas the the widows' sons, Jairus' daughter, and Lazarus were returned to mortal life; they died again.
2. His compassion. The story of the widow of Nain is one of the few examples of Jesus healing someone without anyone asking. Jesus saw the woman's tears and responded out of his love and compassion for her.
Fr. Peter reminded us that it is proper for us to mourn when someone dies. However, we are not to weep as those who have no hope. God's power gives us life and his compassion gives us comfort.
Sunday, October 2, 2005
Fr. Peter started by talking about how Bishop ANTOUN regularly "yelled" at our parish, "Next year you will break ground. Next year you will consecrate a new Church building." Even though it may have sounded like yelling, Bishop ANTOUN said these things as a loving father for our parish. In the same way, Fr. Peter admonished us to show more respect to God by being on time to Church and not going in and out of the nave during Divine Liturgy.
He shared a story from his teen years when he attended a Jefferson Airplane concert (his favorite band). He arrived early so as not to miss anything, and even though the concert started late and lasted five hours, he stayed for the whole concert (and ended up being grounded for getting home late). We make time for the things we value. Do we value being in the presence of God enough to arrive on time, stay involved so as not to miss anything, and be glad when the Divine Liturgy may go longer than anticipated?