Sunday Homilies

The Unforgivable Sin

The Unforgivable Sin

A quick summary of what happened in this Gospel is that the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons through the power of demons, and Jesus responds with two answers. The first answer shows the error of the Pharisee’s logic, but I want to focus on His second answer; that answer is from verses 28-30. “‘Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation’— because they said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’”

Take Ownership of Your Spiritual Life

Take Ownership of Your Spiritual Life

In the narrative of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, presented today in the Gospel Reading, taken from Luke 9: 10-17, we can observe how the many thousands of people who were following Christ found themselves in a deserted place in the evening with nothing to eat. The disciples become ever so concerned with the multitude of people and their need for food. So, they asked Christ to tell the people to go away and get food and drink in the nearest town before the sun set. Christ’s reply to this request is interesting and should be noted. He tells them, “You give them something to eat.” It is my inference, here, that Christ was challenging the disciples, putting them in an impossible position, because they had no way of getting food (enough for everyone).

God Will Not Cast You Out!

God Will Not Cast You Out!

St. Silouan the Athonite, a contemporary saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church, writes that there are two thoughts that can destroy a Christian:

Thought 1: when a person thinks that he or she is not a sinner, or that the person becomes prideful about his or her spiritual life or spiritual accomplishments

Thought 2: when a person thinks that God will NOT accept him or her due to sin or that God will not forgive them.

St. Silouan’s words are insightful in that it provides for the Orthodox Christian a view of two spiritual perspectives. The first is someone who relies on his or her own efforts as a means to salvation. The second is someone who ends up in a state of hopelessness. The latter is what I want to focus on for today’s message.