O Almighty and everlasting God, Who didst give to Thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach Thy Word: grant, we beseech Thee, unto Thy Church, to love that Word which be believed, and both to preach and receive the same; through the Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

One of the themes of my preaching and teaching that I emphasize is how God makes the human being. This comes directly from Scripture, in Genesis chapter 1, on the sixth day of creation, we have the words: “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Here God begins the project of making man, of making, in fact, the human image of God. Saint Paul calls this making in Genesis 1 “the first Adam.” That word “adam” means both a singular male, and it means all of humanity as such. We need both meanings to properly understand this Scripture, and particularly to properly understand what God is doing when He says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

The two meanings align with the literal and spiritual interpretations of this passage. In the literal sense of this passage, God makes a singular male human being: “Let us make a man.” Yet in the spiritual sense of this passage, God is saying “Let us make humanity itself.” And in this spiritual sense, “Let us make humanity itself” shows us that God began the project of making the human image of God in Genesis, and completed this project, brought it to perfection and consummation, on the Cross in Jesus Christ crucified, which Christ Himself confirms when He says “It is finished.” It is attested by Saint Paul who calls Jesus Christ “the last Adam.” What is finished is the project of revealing to the world the human image of God, the making of humanity after God’s image. Christ on the cross is the image of the fullness of humanity made in the image of God. Christ on the cross is the full revelation of sacred humanity. Instead of the beastly humanity which is the natural condition of all human beings who are lost and alienated from God, Christ shows the sacred humanity available to all who deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. This is the Gospel revealed by Christ.

There are many directions I could go with this teaching and the implications of this teaching, this fact of God’s regenerating power. The one I want to emphasize in this sermon is the implication for us, the implication for human beings—for the sacred humanity revealed in its fullness on the Cross is the sacred humanity God desires us to have; the sacred humanity God desires us to achieve through our cooperation with His unbounded grace. As Christ says to Moses in Exodus 19.6: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Saint Peter himself elaborates on this with his words: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” To paraphrase the song of the 24 elders and the four living creatures in Revelations 5: “Christ has made us a kingdom and priests to our God, and we shall reign on earth.”

All of this is what Saint Paul is talking about in our Epistle. He writes: “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, Who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.” Of ourselves alone, we can do nothing good from our mere beastly humanity. This is the life of the flesh that Paul teaches about, and humility demands that we acknowledge that we are not sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us. Rather, everything we have is from Christ: our sufficiency is from God.

We see this in our readings, first in the dialogue between Moses and God. Moses says, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent . . . I am slow of speech and of tongue.” In his beastly, natural humanity, Moses is utterly unable to do what God commands him, which is to speak to the children of Israel as their leader. But Christ assures Moses, saying “Who has made man’s mouth? . . . I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Moses is made sufficient by what he receives from God: everything he has is from Christ, is gift of Christ. And because of this, Moses is able to fulfill his role in God’s plan for salvation. Secondly we see this as well in our Gospel account. Before Jesus was brought a man who was deaf with a speech impediment. Christ anointed the man with His mercy, and by this anointing grace his ears were opened, his tongue released, and he proclaimed the Gospel of salvation in Christ—that is, of spiritual health in Christ.

My dear brothers and sisters, we are Moses, and we are the deaf man. In our beastly, natural condition, we cannot speak holy words. But because of Christ we know the words of heaven, which we say in the Liturgy and in prayer: in the Liturgy and in prayer, Christ is our mouth and He teaches us what to speak. And in our beastly, natural condition, we cannot hear God speaking to us through the heavenly choir of angels, but when Christ opens the ears of our heart, we can hear them sing “Holy, holy, holy.” Our beastly humanity is transformed into sacred humanity.

Our sacred humanity is our natural state infused with Christ’s grace, which equips us for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. By His grace, we are able to fulfill our role in the royal priesthood. Given the words to speak, and the actions to do, we are able to offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; we are able to live with virtue and self-surrender; we are able to pray, we are able to do works of mercy. And we are able to receive the Eucharist, which is our spiritual food that feeds us with Christ’s mercy which makes possible God’s plan for us to show forth the human image of God as living stones built into a spiritual house, truly participating in Christ because we are equipped by Christ, Who is our true foundation, the Eternal Word and Son of God, Who lives and reigns with Him in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Saint Paul teaches us today about delivering to others what has been received. The gift of the Gospel brings with it the responsibility to proclaim the Gospel to others, which we do through the acts of mercy. But it is a responsibility born of grace: if we are thankful to God—if we are “eucharistic,” which means a life of thankfulness to God for everything we have because everything is gift—then how can it be but joy to share with others the grace we have ourselves received? Mary, after the annunciation, went with joy to Saint Elizabeth, and for both of these women, everything was gift: Jesus was gift to Mary; Mary was gift to Elizabeth; Christ’s presence in utero was gift not only to Saint John Baptist in utero, but was gift to all of them. All was joy; all was gift, and delivering to others what was received.

To live eucharistically is to imitate the Saints in always seeking to deliver and pass on to others what we have received: we have received the innumerable blessings of the Gospel and we are to deliver the Gospel to others around us that they will likewise be blessed by Christ’s mercy, that others partake in this same Life in Christ crucified and risen.

Paul spread the Gospel, despite his sinful background. The same applies for S. Mary Magdalene, a woman filled with seven demons before she met Christ and through Him was purged of her demons: she was so able to share the Gospel of the risen Christ that she is known as an apostle to the apostles. Saint Peter denied Christ three times, yet became the leader of the apostles proclaiming Christ crucified and risen to many lands.

Yet today a great many Christians do not do this. What might hold us back? Something seems to keep us from sharing with others the Gospel light of Christ which we have received. Perhaps one cause is that people have not been taught of the necessity to imitate the Saints in proclaiming the Gospel. And in that case, it cannot be held against them, but rather against the priests of the Church, who are charged to teach their flock. The spiritual literature and wisdom of the Church over 20 centuries indicates an additional cause: having hangups that derive from personal sin. And most commonly in spiritual literature, the sin that is most discussed is pride. Perhaps it is some kind of pride within us that we must overcome in order to share the Gospel with others. Something about pride, and therefore something as well about humility (because humility is the antidote to pride).

To begin, let us reflect on our Gospel passage. The parable we hear today is that of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. We are well familiar with this parable. And I want us to reflect on the parable again and do so along with the teaching from Paul. In the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector, we hear of the Pharisee who compares himself to others and finds himself best. In the words of Jesus at the end of the Parable, the Pharisee is the person who exalts himself. The Pharisee judges others and gives himself the prize. The Pharisee is the image of pride.

Our Lord Jesus also presents to us the Tax Collector. The Tax Collector does not even raise his eyes to heaven, and only says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He judges no one except himself, and again in the words of Jesus, the Tax Collector is he who humbles himself. “Everyone,” Jesus Christ says, “who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” The Tax Collector is the image of humility. And it is the Tax Collector who proclaims the Gospel.

As we consider this parable, and think about our own lives, we are drawn to say “I will aim to be like the Tax Collector,” and indeed this is what Jesus expects of us. We are to seek to imitate the Tax Collector and in all things regard ourselves with deep humility. Yet as we consider this parable, we might also be drawn to say, “and I will not be like the Pharisee. I will not imitate him. He is not worthy to be imitated.” And while it is understandable to think this way, notice the holy trap our Lord laid for us: in trying to not be like the Pharisee, we unwittingly imitate him, because as the Pharisee looked at the Tax Collector and judged himself better than him, if we regard the Pharisee as a person inferior, we are doing what he does, even as we deride him. Striving to imitate the image of humility tempts us toward pride.

I think what keeps Christians from sharing the Gospel with their neighbors is this kind of pride, the subtle pride of striving outwardly to be like the Tax Collector while secretly thinking ourselves to be special, with a quiet, even invisible, high estimation of ourselves. For us to be able to pass on the Gospel to others, for us to fulfill Christ’s commandment to proclaim the Gospel in our lives to others, we must show ourselves objects of Christ’s mercy and pity. This means having a constant sense of being a sinner; a constant sense of our need for a Savior, a profound sense of the mystery of God, and a deep sense of thanksgiving to God everywhere and in all places which is the eucharistic life.

To truly share with others what we have received, yes, let us imitate the Tax Collector, like him we may long beyond all things for the mercy of God, which gives us peace: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This simple prayer inspired by the Tax Collector is the most used prayer by Christians. It recognizes the divine majesty of Christ; it receives the fact of His resurrection; it expresses our need for Christ through true humility; and it asks Him for mercy, which is what we need for salvation, and what we seek to share with others, for sharing mercy is evidence that Christ is resurrected. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner: Lord Jesus Christ, give us all mercy, O Holy One Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

O God, Who on this day didst take to Thyself Blessed Mary, the ever-Virgin Mother of Thine only-begotten Son: grant that we who celebrate her glory may be aided by her prayers, and may come to share her heavenly and eternal joys; through the same The Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

This is unedited audio of my parish’s Saturday morning class in which we study Scripture with the help of the Church Fathers. This class is currently reading On the Lord’s Prayer by S. Cyprian of Carthage.

In this episode, we look at chapters 19-21. I take a close-reading approach to the text, and I read aloud every word of the text. It is found in this volume which I suggest you purchase if you want to follow along in the most effective way. Enjoy!

If you like this content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions go a long way towards supporting my online ministry. Click below to subscribe!

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Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation: that, like as we do rejoice in the festival of blessed Clare of Assisi, Thy holy Virgin, so we may learn to follow her in all godly and devout affections; through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

“It is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery.” This is important to always remember, because our God, being an awesome God, is greater than anything we can imagine. In the words of the great English monk and theologian, Saint Anselm, “God is that, than which nothing greater can be conceived.” God is beyond the conditions of time and space; He is outside creation, beyond creation. And yet, wonder of wonders, our great and transcendent God makes Himself known by what He chooses to reveal: we know of God’s actions, His plan of salvation, His revealing of Himself in Jesus Christ, and the workings of the Holy Spirit. We know His actions which are revealed, but the very nature of God is beyond human language, beyond human comprehension, beyond human capacity. God is mystery.

And yet the highest and most incomprehensible wonder is not merely that we can have relationship with God, but that the way we have relationship with God is through prayer. Thus it is to the mystery of prayer—even the sacrament of prayer—that we turn today.

In our first reading, we heard the beginning of the beautiful prayer by Saint Solomon as he dedicated the Temple. It is a long prayer, and we heard just a part of it. Note Solomon’s words: “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you!” There he articulates what we have been reflecting upon: the mystery of God, even larger than heaven and the highest heaven.

Prayer is spiritual activity. Prayer is our lifting up of the heart and mind to the living God. In prayer, we lift up our heart to Him Who is above the highest heaven, by Whom and through Whom and in Whom all things are made. And prayer is not only expressed through words, but also by actions. Anything we do which is conditioned by awareness of Him and conscious relationship with Him is prayer. Anything we do for the glory of God, even the most menial task, itself is prayer. Prayer is our supreme activity because it embodies our relationship with God.

In our Gospel account from Saint Luke, Jesus drove out those whose actions were not prayer. He drove out the money-changers and those vending various goods. They cannot be part of the worshipping community because, Jesus said, “My house shall be a house of prayer.” Therefore prayer is what is most fundamental about worship. Prayer makes a church legitimate in the eyes of Jesus Christ.

Prayer has four characteristics. Adoration, thanksgiving, penitence, and petition. Adoration is simply beholding God, in awe and wonder and holy trembling: simply beholding God the Eternal, God the Incomprehensible, God the Perfect; God Who is Himself Holiness, is Himself Love, is Himself Beauty. We see this when Solomon says, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath.” There is nothing like God, anywhere; and Solomon begins his prayer simply beholding and adoring God. When we ponder the awesomeness of God, the magnificence of His Divine Majesty, we are offering adoration to Him.

From adoring God flows thanksgiving. We are drawn into thanksgiving to God for Himself, for His mercy. We see this in Solomon’s prayer when he thanks God for “keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servant who walk before you with all their heart.” Furthermore, Solomon offers thanksgiving with the words, “You have kept with your servant David my father what You declared to him. You spoke with Your mouth, and with Your hand have fulfilled it this day.” We give thanks to God not only for the many blessings of this life, but especially for Jesus Christ, God’s only-begotten Son and Eternal Word; for His Nativity, His taking of our flesh and redeeming all of humanity; we give thanks for the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, Who teaches us all things and guides us into all truth, and Who reveals Christ to us in the opening of Scripture and the breaking of bread. There is so much to be thankful to God for; so much that, as has been said, the primary sin is to not express our gratitude to God, to not simply say, “Thank you, God.”

Penitence is to see God clearly and to see self clearly. And in this true vision of both God and self, and God and His people, we perceive the difference between God and us, and this difference is immense: He is Creator, we are creature, and each of us is one of countless creatures all created by the Divine Maker. This as well we see in Solomon’s prayer: “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you;” and then in a penitential tone Solomon adds: “How much less this house that I have built!” Solomon understands deeply that God is Creator of all, and that which Solomon has built to be small and nothing next to God. Solomon sees things clearly. There is the old axiom “to know thyself.” Christians know ourselves to always be in need of a Savior, and this Savior is Jesus Christ and Him alone. To have this self-knowledge is what it means to be a sinner. A sinner is truly penitent, and the prayer of the sinner always reflects penitence: to be a sinner is to know oneself as always in need of Jesus, our Saviour, and His mercy, His loving-kindness, His steadfast love. This is to take on the attitude of the Tax Collector, the Publican. He said, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” He asks for God’s mercy. One does this out of true penitence, a true understanding of God and right-relationship with Him as His creature. This is humility. Penitence is being reality-based, and being reality-based, our penitence brings into focus the vocation God has given us.

Petition grows out of the other characteristics of prayer. Adoring God, we realize that He is the source of all being, for which we are thankful; seeing self in His sight, we realize that without Him we are nothing and even worse than nothing. Laying ourselves down in penitence, seeing Him as Creator and ourselves as creature, thanking Him for all He is and all He does, we are encouraged to act upon the promises of our Lord and ask for the supply of our needs. This we see in Solomon’s prayer when he says, “Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that you eyes may be open night and day toward this house.” He also adds, “Listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.” We petition God, confident that He is but waiting for the cooperation of our desire to give more than we ask or think. We ask for recovery from sickness, safety from illness and danger, success in some project or venture, for ourselves or for others. We also can, and should, ask for spiritual gifts – for grace, the virtues of faith, hope and love, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit: asking for wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, reverence, and fear of God. These gifts from God transform our mind and heart into the mind and heart of Christ.

Thus we see in Solomon’s prayer the fullness of all four characteristics of prayer, indeed the fullness of eucharistic life: adoration, thanksgiving, penitence, and petition. It is an example of robust prayer to God Who is beyond creation, beyond time and space, yet closer to us than our very breath and heartbeat, and Who makes Himself known to us through our heart and mind, and through all the creatures of creation, especially the human ones. So from our Collect: Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

O GOD, who on the mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thine only-begotten Son wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistering; Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may be permitted to behold the King in his beauty, who with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

In the audio provided, both lessons are read, and then followed by a homily by yours truly.

A Lesson from the Gospel according to S. Luke, 16.1

Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

A Lesson of Commentary by the Ven. S. Bede

There are those who know nothing of the innermost feelings of compassion and the works of mercy which are owed to their neighbours, and yet nevertheless consider themselves truly faithful because of their chastity, vigils, prolonged prayer, full faith, fasting, and other virtues that the love of God is accustomed to engender. But, as the Judge Himself attests, “One who is faithful in a very little,” that is, in the riches that ought to be shared with the poor man, “is faithful also in that which is greater,” namely in that impulse by which he desires specially to cling to the Creator and to become one spirit with Him. But he who neglects to dispense the temporal things that he possesses in the right way, deprives himself of the glory of eternal things about which he boasts. As Saint John says, “He who does not love his brother, whom he sees, how can he love God, whom he does not see?” (1 John 4.20) And as the same says: “If any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3.17)

There is much to consider in the Epistle of S. Paul. While it may seem that there is a jumble of teachings, in fact there is a single link to bring each one together. This link is found in Philippians 2.12 with these words: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” With awe, wonder, and trembling, take up your salvation, he tells the Church. Now, “salvation” means health, specifically it means spiritual health. Thus Paul’s teaching is: “Work on your spiritual health, and do so with awe, wonder, and trembling before God.” By our work we will no longer be idolators, or sexually immoral, or habitual sinners. Instead we will be transformed by the Gospel, by Christ, by His grace.

Salvation in heaven begins with working towards spiritual health in this life. And yet this working towards, or working out, of salvation means specifically our cooperation with the grace God gives to the baptized as our daily Bread: Eucharist, as well as that of Scripture, which make Christ known. The invitation Christ makes in John 1.39–“Come and see”—is the invitation to find Him in the opening of Scripture and to find Him in the Breaking of Bread. All of Scriptures (the books of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms) are about Him, Jesus taught; and the consecrated Bread and Wine are His Precious Body and Blood. He is our salvation. So our working out of our spiritual health is the life of looking for Him in Scripture and Eucharist, and finding Him, and being fed by Him, transformed by Him, made holy by Him.

Paul also teaches provocatively in his epistle. Paul tells us that while the children of Israel ate the same spiritual food, and drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that the Rock was Christ. He identifies in no uncertain terms the God of the Israelites as Christ. He says that the grace of Christ was available to the children of Israel following Moses. Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased. God was not pleased because most of the children of Israel did not cooperate with the grace Christ made available to them. Instead of choosing Christ, they choose idolatry, the pineapples of sexual immorality, and disobedience of all kinds. God showed great tolerance for their sinfulness. God knows our human condition, for He is our creator. Paul as well emphasizes that God does know that we face temptations, and that God allows us to face temptations, to learn to endure them and to learn through the struggle how to choose God by cooperating with His grace, rather than our normal fleshly tendency to kick against the goads.

What Paul intriguingly presents in this passage as the remedy for our salvation is the Eucharist. Just as the children of Israel drank from the spiritual Rock which was Christ, we drink and eat Christ in the Eucharist. And this for Paul is the process of working out and towards spiritual health, week in and week out. He says, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” We find salvation, we find spiritual health, by means of the Eucharist, of Holy Communion, by means of receiving Christ’s precious Body and Blood.

Receiving the Eucharist, for Paul, is not an option, but necessary for finding spiritual health. And again, eternal salvation in heaven begins with us receiving the Eucharist in this life. Being regular in receiving the Eucharist is part of our labor and work. This is attested to by the 3rd century Church Father, S. Cyprian of Carthage in his teaching on the Our Father prayer. S. Cyprian writes “Jesus makes it clear that those … who receive the Eucharist … are those who live.” “We ask that we be given our bread, that is Christ,” Cyprian says, “so that we may remain in Christ, and live through His sanctification”—live, that is, through the holiness and transformation fostered by the Eucharist received regularly.

Our Lord also teaches on salvation, and does so cryptically, because it is told as a parable. In this parable of the shrewd servant, the servant cheats his master to make friends with the tenants. And, Jesus said, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” We would expect the master not to do so. Yet Our Lord’s parable finds light in the darkness, and teaches righteousness through an example of iniquity. The deeper message of this parable is that the children of Light, that is, the members of the Church, should regard their salvation with the level of priority as the children of this world do their worldly goals of wealth, fame, and possessions; as they struggle and fight for those, we should struggle and fight for our salvation. The seriousness with which the dishonest servant takes his cheating is an exact description of what God expects of the children of light, in order to obtain a far more important, an infinitely greater, and more noble object–spiritual health, the uprooting of sinful habits.

And so, again, eternal salvation involves our work and our labors in this life to uproot out of our heart anything that gets in the way of our love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. We do this work and labor by cooperating with the grace of the Eucharist—of Christ in us, sacramentally—and by keeping commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, which He gave us as the gift of Himself in His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, which is living eucharistically. We are to love God and love our neighbor like Christ loves us, and our work is to replace our unholy habits with holy habits that render our love for God and neighbor so robust that in our love, people see Jesus Christ Himself.

Therefore towards our end which is heaven, and eternal salvation in Christ, let us indeed work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and do so through the daily Bread which is Christ: revealed in Scripture and received in the Eucharist, cooperating with His grace by keeping of Christ’s word and commandments, which enable us to do all such good works as God has prepared for us to walk in, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who gave Himself for us and for our salvation; He Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

This is unedited audio of my parish’s Saturday morning class in which we study Scripture with the help of the Church Fathers. This class is currently reading On the Lord’s Prayer by S. Cyprian of Carthage.

In this episode, we look at chapters 16-18. I take a close-reading approach to the text, and I read aloud every word of the text. It is found in this volume which I suggest you purchase if you want to follow along in the most effective way. Enjoy!

If you like this content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions go a long way towards supporting my online ministry. Click below to subscribe!

Subscribe now

Almighty and most merciful God, Whose Son didst vouchsafe to be received in the house of blessed Martha: grant we beseech Thee, at the prayer of her who lovingly welcomed HIm, that we of Thy mercy may be received into our heavenly home; through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

O God, Who didst vouchsafe to give grace to blessed Saint Anne that she might be worthy to bear the Mother of Thine only-begotten Son: Mercifully grant that we who rejoice in the observance of her feast day may by her intercession find favour in Thy sight; through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

A Reading from a Homily by Kosmas Vestitor, a Byzantine lay preacher who lived in Constantinople and died circa 850.

Today is the day that offers thanksgiving to the progenitors of the Theotokos, through whom the beginning of salvation for everyone has come about. Indeed, the festival of the parents is that of the daughter. For just as a child is glorified too in the glory of its mother, so also is a mother glorified in the blessing of a child. Today there is happiness in remembering the righteous with speeches of praise. It came to pass in times of old that there was a righteous man from the tribe of Judah named Joachim. He was a man distinguished in holiness and righteousness; a man who was notable in nobility and wealth; a man who was single-minded in his offerings of sacrifices; a man in every way well-pleasing to God; a man of the longings which come from the Spirit. For since he was childless and consumed with desire for a child, he fathered the bride of the Holy Spirit. As a man he truly achieved this, since God hearkened to his prayers and granted him the one who was “beyond all the tabernacles of Jacob,” or to put it another way, the daughter who is worthily deemed higher than all created things in heaven or on earth. And he had a pious wife, whose name was Anna, who also came from the royal tribe of Judah since she was a descendant of David. She was a woman who rejected all evil; a woman who lived faithfully before God with her husband; a woman who regularly attended the temple of God along with her own spouse, with prayers, fasts, and pleasing, bountiful gifts a woman who in unanimity of soul and bodily chastity always possessed constancy of understanding with her husband. For she was not mischievously transformed, like Eve, but was instead joined to her husband as a helper both in the living out of virtues and in daily supplications to God. For the two grew equally weary in their prayer of yearning for a child in the same way that a farmer, together with his wife, when they have worked some barren land, sow the seed and, through prayer, expect to gain a good crop of fruit. Anna lived not as Eve lived with Adam, but as one who shared in thanksgiving and worked with Joachim on spiritual good deeds; and she was truly a “better half ” who completed the union with her husband perfectly. For whereas Eve became the producer of pain for the world by means of the fruit of a tree, Joachim’s Anna represented joy for the Creator by means of the fruit of her womb.

Continuing with the homily by Kosmas Vestitor

It is well known to everyone that Mary the Theotokos was given the good news in the Galilee of the gentiles, in the house of Joseph the carpenter, who had been made the Virgin’s husband in order to ward off the devil’s deception. And again, it is clear that she gave birth to Christ in Bethlehem and that her native land happened to be the same city as that of her mother, just as the oration will demonstrate below. For Mary’s ancestral home was situated near the pool by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, according to the text, where Christ who was also our God raised up and cured the man who had lain as a paralytic for thirty-eight years, since he was about to go forth from that house symbolically as the Shepherd of rational sheep. For this reason the grace of baptism is also foreshadowed by the pool of water there, for the illness of chronic deceit that has paralysed the souls of men, just as in the functioning of limbs, has been healed by purification of the Spirit through water, just as the spiritual bread of life was leavened in the figure of Bethlehem. And here Christ was revealed in the form of an angel to Abraham, and he also wrestled with Jacob in angelic shape. For he is the One who came to bring good news to those who are far away and those who are nearby; he is the Gospel of righteousness; he is the One who carried out the commandment of the God and Father by means of angels; he is the “Messenger of great counsel”, to whom the Father became Counsellor and said, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness”. He is also the Bread of true life which was predicted in advance by the name of Bethlehem; for “Bethlehem” means “house of bread,” which was baked in the ashes in Abraham’s tent, that is to say, bread which was leavened in secret, or the flesh of the Savior that was begotten from the Virgin and Theotokos, Mary. It is therefore fitting, on account of these things, to say that the Lord blessed the house of King David on account of his descendant, life-bearing Mary. He blessed the house of the righteous Joachim and Anna on account of their hallowed daughter. He blessed the house of Joseph on account of the bride, the truly pure and ever-Virgin Mother of Christ and Theotokos Mary, who had been entrusted in civil law to him alone. Hence, and on account of these things, thrice-blessed are the parents of the Mother of God, to whom the whole world is indebted!

A life of constantly reflecting on the fact of our Baptism means that everywhere and in all places Christ can be found, Christ can be heard, Christ can be spoken to, His divine majesty adored; and His mercy asked for and received. As Saint Paul writes in Galatians 3.27: “For as man of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Even as Moses writes: “The Word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart”: the Word being Christ, the Eternal Word of the Father. Recognizing this fact—recognizing this unsearchable gift—unveils for us the mystery of our existence in Christ, and His existence in us. And what happens to people when mystery is unveiled? What happens is that they are transfigured, and the eyes of their heart see in a new way—with the eyes of Noah after he leaves the ark and beholds a beautiful world, cleansed of evil and full of grace. This is what the upcoming Feast of the Transfiguration celebrates: that knowledge of the truth of Christ, fully God and fully man, opens the eyes of our hearts to see the uncreated light of heaven shine through Him. And this mystery of transfiguration matters quite a bit for our lives in the Church, as we will see shortly.

I am going to bring Paul’s teaching today together with that of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. From Paul we have him exhorting and encouraging us to live according to the Spirit. To live according to the Holy Spirit. He says, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” And then Paul adds, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” That word “sons” can trip people up, so let me say firstly that “son” means sharing in the activity of something. It means sharing the nature of it. So “sons of God” means sharing and participating in God’s activity, indeed participating in Him Who shares Himself with us eucharistically as our Daily Bread. Mary Magdalene was participating in Christ’s glory on Easter morning in a manner which was eucharistic–for she was partaking of Him Who is the Eternal Bread of Heaven. Peter, James, and John participated in Christ’s glory at the Transfiguration, and their participation was eucharistic in the same way.

To reflect upon Paul’s teaching that “All who are led by the Spirit of God are participating in God’s activity” is to perceive that Paul is teaching about the eucharistic life. Life led by the Spirit of God reveals Christ Whom we receive as heavenly bread. What hinders such life and impedes participation in this life is, according to S. Paul, living according to the flesh, according to self-centeredness, concupiscence, measuring one’s life by worldly values rather than holy values. To be led by the Holy Spirit requires the putting off of self-centered, worldly living, and instead thinking, living, and acting according to Christ’s sacred humanity. To be led by the Holy Spirit means we continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as God has prepared for us to walk in.

What we hear from our Saviour Jesus Christ in Saint Matthew’s Gospel is that we must beware of false prophets—that is, false teachers—and recognize good teachers, that is good Priests who preach the true Faith of Christ Crucified and Resurrected. Such people are, by definition, those who are led by the Spirit of God, participating in the redemptive stream of Christ’s living water. These people are not living according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And Jesus says, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” By the fruits, then, we recognize holy Preachers of the Word of God.

What are the fruits by which we recognize holy Preachers of God’s Word? This is another mystery of God—the mystery of Him being known through preaching, through His chosen Preachers, those chosen and ordained to proclaim the faith of the Church through preaching. How do we recognize them? What fruits are we looking for?

What we are looking for are preachers who have been transfigured by the Gospel, transfigured by the uncreated light of Jesus Christ, preachers fully led by the Holy Spirit. And the specific way to recognize holy preachers is that in them we see what are called the Fruits of the Spirit. There are nine Fruits of the Spirit, and these nine come from Paul’s teaching to us in Galatians 5:22-23. There is revealed to us that the Fruits of the Spirit are: Love, Joy, Peace, Long-suffering (patience), Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness (sometimes just faith), Gentleness (that is, meekness), and Self-Control (or temperance). These are qualities that people living according to the Holy Spirit show in their life, illustrate in their actions, their words, and exhibit as part of their personality.

These are what we are to look for in Preachers, that we can separate and distinguish between true preachers and false preachers, between good and bad, between ones we should listen to, and ones we should not. Every healthy, godly tree bears good fruit that we must use to recognize the holiness of the tree. We look for in Preachers the qualities of Love, Joy, Peace, Long-suffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. By these, the mercy, love, and presence of Christ is revealed through the Preacher, through any truly Christian person.

Holy preachers are those who themselves are transfigured. The nine fruits of the Spirit are the proof that the preachers have been transfigured by Christ and are being led by the Holy Spirit. And we therefore can have full trust in such preachers, that the Holy Spirit has filled that person, and that we can not only listen to them, but be led by them, for it is the Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us into all truth. We can not only listen to them, and be led by them, but in fact be fed by them, because what they preach is Christ crucified and resurrected; what they preach is Christ Who is the eternal Bread come down from heaven; what they preach is He Who is known by the opening of Scripture and breaking of Bread. Holy preachers preach only the Truth–Truth Who is Jesus Christ Himself, Who lives and reigns with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

O God, who didst vouchsafe to call blessed Mary Magdalene, by the voice of thine only-begotten Son, from the multitude of her sins unto the grace of repentance and the dignity of thy service: mercifully grant unto us; that, by her intercession and example, we may be delivered from the bonds of our sins, and may attain unto the glory of everlasting felicity. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In the audio provided, both lessons are read, and then followed by a homily by yours truly.

A Lesson from the Gospel according to S. Mark, 6.35

And when it grew late, the disciples of Jesus came to Him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late; send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.” But He answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” And He said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then He commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied.

A Lesson of Commentary by the Ven. S. Bede

Jesus said to them: “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they knew, they said: “Five, and two fish.” By the five loaves of the Apostles, and two fish, the whole scripture of the Old Testament is signified. By the five loaves, namely the five books of the Mosaic law, by which the knowledge of divine eternity, the creation of the world, the course of the passing age, and the true religion of serving God became known to mankind. By the two fish, the Psalms and the Prophets are represented, which fed the people educated in the law of God with the new sweetness of grace from the promise of the Lord’s incarnation. By this threefold distinction of sacred Scripture, we are taught by the Lord’s authority that the entire series of the old instrument is comprehended. For appearing to the disciples after the resurrection, the Lord Himself said that “it was necessary that all things that were written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms concerning Me should be fulfilled” (Luke 24). And when He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and to hand them over, spiritually understood, to the faithful listeners, as though blessing the apostolic loaves and the fish, and multiplying them with the gift of internal sweetness, He ordered them to be distributed to the crowds. Well, according to the Gospel of John, the loaves, which signify the law, are reported to have been barley loaves, which is mainly the food of animals and mostly of rustic servants, because to those just beginning and not yet perfect listeners, harsher and more coarse precepts must be entrusted. For the natural man does not receive the things that are of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2). And therefore the Lord, giving gifts according to each one’s strength and always provoking toward more perfect things, first feeds five thousand with five loaves, second four thousand men with seven loaves, third entrusts the mystery of His flesh and blood to the disciples: at last He grants the great gift to the elect, that they may eat and drink at His table in His kingdom.

I will begin this morning by again quoting from Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey, among the most important Anglican voices of the 20th century. He said: “The life of a mature Christian is continually responding to the fact of our Baptism.” For him, Baptism means a new life of listening, reflecting, and discerning—a whole life of repentance and humility that the eyes of our heart which were blinded by sin and ignorance can be opened to see what was previously hidden, and to be fed and nourished by what was previously invisible and unknown to us. By Baptism we see and think differently.

One of the mysteries the Baptism begins to unveil is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which we receive only after we are baptized, thus the Eucharist, a profound mystery itself, is also one of the aspects of the mystery of Baptism and of baptized life in Jesus Christ. And we cannot help but be reminded of the Eucharist hearing of the feeding miracle in Mark 8, the feeding of the 4,000 which was itself not the Eucharist, but was remembered by the apostles proclaiming the Gospel as a preview of the Eucharist and Christ’s ability to endlessly feed us with Himself.

In considering the Eucharist, the mystery of Holy Communion, it is helpful to bring to mind the traditional attitude of Anglicans toward the Eucharist, which is also the attitude of the undivided Church of the first one thousand years. Why do we believe that the bread and wine become Christ’s precious Body and Blood? Because Jesus said so. Simple as that. He said so, and He is the Son of God, through Whom all things are made: so what He says and does is true.

This attitude is captured by the 17th century Bishop Jeremy Taylor. In his book, The Rules for Holy Living, he wrote: “Dispute not concerning the secret of this mystery, and the precision of the manner of Christ’s presence in it: it is enough for you that Christ shall be present to your soul, as an instrument of grace.” Anglican theology and practice has always accepted the doctrine of Christ’s real and actual presence in the Eucharist, that the Eucharist conveys to those who receive it in faith real and objective grace. We hear all of that in Jeremy Taylor’s teaching. But we also hear a strong caution to not dispute concerning the mystery of the Eucharist, nor struggle to understand how the bread and wine become Christ’s precious Body and Blood. Accept it is what Jesus said it is: His Body and Blood, and therefore accept the Eucharist as an objective means of grace, because He is presence and He always gives grace and mercy to those who seek it. The mystery of the Eucharist is really the mystery of Christ we receive in and through the Eucharist.

We hear from Paul a variety of teachings about the mystery of God. As Saint Paul writes in Ephesians 3:5: “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” In Colossians 2:2-3: Paul tells us that he taught that we “may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” And earlier in Colossians: “this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So to speak of the mystery of God, in such a way as to not provide easy answers to every question, is how Saint Paul himself taught. Paul sought to make us progressively aware of a mystery, which means becoming progressively aware of Jesus Christ: Him as God, Him as Man; Him begotten before all worlds; Him taking upon Himself our human nature; Him Crucified, Him Resurrected; Him Who died for our sins, Him Who is always alive.

Paul taught profoundly about the mystery of Eucharist. These teaching most obviously is found in 1 Corinthians 11, and these words: “I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

In this first written teaching about the Eucharist that we find in the Church, we find Paul reiterating our Lord’s instruction: to receive the Eucharist for the remembrance of Him – that the remembrance of Christ is the purpose of receiving the Eucharist. And here it helpful to know that the word in Greek which is translated as “in remembrance” in English is anamnesis. There is no simple and elegant translation of anamnesis into English. Anamnesis in clunky English means something like “the making actually present again.” Thus “do this in remembrance of Me” becomes” “Do this—for the making actually present again—of Me.” The common English “in remembrance” might be the best choice of sub-optimal options, but it might make Christians think that the Eucharist is for simply remembering Christ, like we might remember our grandmother, or that one thing we did once when we were younger. It does not mean that. Jesus instructed us, and Paul reiterated for the apostolic Church, that in receiving the Eucharist we receive into our bodies His actual presence, the same presence as if He were standing among us and walking with us. Indeed the same presence of Christ that Saint Mary Magdalene experienced when she heard Christ call her name.

My brothers and sisters, this is a mystery and we need not seek easy answers to the question of how it all works. Let our trust in Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man, suffice for us. Jesus told us to eat and drink His precious Body and Blood which the Holy Spirit gives us through His transformation of bread and wine. So let us eat and drink and know His precious Body and Blood as His gift to us! Why is the bread and wine His Body and Blood? Because Jesus said so.

In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying “I believe you, Jesus.” In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying, “I believe you are alive and resurrected in Your Church, of which You are the head.” In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying, “Thank you, Jesus. I believe you are alive and resurrected in me—in me, a member of Your Body the Church.” In receiving the Eucharist, we are saying, “Thank you Jesus, we love you, and we know that You love us also”—You, Who live and reign with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

When Jesus was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

(Saint Mark 10:17-22)

“It is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery.” These words of a 20th century British theologian (Kallistos Ware) speak directly to the theme of these Sundays after Trinity, which is the “Eucharistic Life.” What that theologian teaches is that by the Christian life, we are made more aware of a mystery. In the Church, we find many things that are characterized as “mystery.” And that is because in the Church, the word “mystery” connects with revelation. To say that Christianity is mystery is to say that Christianity is a revealed religion. In our Christian life, we are made more conscious of the truth which is only revealed in Jesus Christ through the workings of the Holy Ghost.

When the Church speaks of “mystery,” it does not mean puzzle or conundrum. People read mystery novels, like Sherlock Holmes; people watch television programs and movies that are under the category of “murder-mysteries.” But “mystery” in the Church does not mean either of those. Mystery in the Church means truth that is only revealed to the people of God when it is God’s plan to do so. The life of a Christian, being a continual initiation into the reality of Pentecost, is the life whereby through the Liturgy and Sacraments, through repentance and humility, we are made more and more aware of truth that is revealed; of truth that is hidden; of truth that defies the constraints of human language.

There is perhaps no better illustration that Christianity involves profound mystery than the Sacrament of Baptism. As the Baptismal Liturgy expresses: in the water of Baptism we are buried with Christ in His Death; by the water of baptism we share in His Resurrection; and through the water of Baptism we are reborn by the Holy Ghost. The Sacrament of Baptism means being born again, to continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Our sin is forgiven, we are given an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and love God, and the gift of joy and wonder in all our works.

In Baptism, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own for ever. In Baptism, we are made one with Christ, a member of His Body the Church, and members one with each other in Christ, Who is our Head. In Baptism the Saints of old become our friends, our colleagues, our family, our fellow war-farers. We are able to recognize plainly the fact of Christ in them. Saints of the Church are both Christ’s (with an apostrophe s; that is, belonging to Christ), and they are christs (plural, as in little christs). Like the Saints, through Baptism are able to walk in the newness of life, united with Christ in His resurrected and glorified Body. And when we are baptized, we are able to feed on Christ: feed on him through faith in Holy Communion, and through Him revealed in Scripture: Christ is the Bread of Life, He is our daily Bread, and through baptism, we eat He Who is our life, our health, and our salvation. We eat Him that we might fully become Him Who we eat.

In Christianity, there is a close connection between the words “mystery” and “sacrament.” The Greek word mysterion means a hidden truth or secret that God has now revealed—especially His plan to save us through Jesus. The early Church used this word for the special church rituals like Baptism and Eucharist, seeing Baptism and Eucharist as visible signs that make God’s invisible grace real to us. When the Church in the West began using Latin, they translated mysterion as sacramentum, which became the word “sacrament.” The Church of the East continues today to call these rites “the Mysteries,” while the Church of the West calls them “Sacraments.” Both words basically mean the same thing: holy actions that hide and reveal God’s presence and power at the same time. They not only reflect the Gospel, but Baptism and Eucharist are the Gospel: the good news of being joined to the Body of Christ, and the good news of being fed by Christ so as to more become Christ.

In our selves, Christ wants us to see the mystery of Himself. He wants us to become aware of the mystery, the sacrament, of Christ in us. The mystery of Baptism led the greatest Archbishop of Canterbury of the 20th century, blessed Michael Ramsey (who died in 1988), to write: “The life of a mature Christian is continually responding to the fact of our Baptism.” Only a mystery enveloped in hiddenness demands a whole life of response, a whole life of listening, reflecting, discerning, and doing. The fact of baptism demands, in the words of Saint Paul, that we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. As Paul teaches, our old self has been crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, indeed that we are set free from sin. Set free and enabled to love everyone without condition; free and enabled to bless those who abuse us, strike us, or take from us; free and enabled to love our enemies, do good, lend, and expect nothing in return. We are enabled to live eucharistically: everywhere and in all places giving thanks to God. We are enabled say with the Prophet Job: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God; Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.”

To live within the revealed mystery of Christ is to live sacramentally; it is to live baptismally, and it is to live eucharistically, which means a life of thankfulness to God. in the words of another 20th century British theologian (Alexander Schmemann): “All that exists is God’s gift to man, and it all exists to make God known to man, to make man’s life communion with God. It is divine love made food, made life for man. God blesses everything He creates, and, in biblical Language, this means He makes all creation the sign and means of His presence and wisdom, love and revelation: ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good.’ Man is a hungry being. But he is hungry for God. Behind all the hunger of our life is God. All desire is finally a desire for Him.” Indeed a desire for Jesus Christ Himself, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.