The Word Became Flesh (John 1:1-17)   The Gospel reading for the Divine Liturgy of Pascha begins by stating that the Word (or Logos) of God was present with God in the beginning and is God by nature, and all things were created through Him: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3). Nevertheless, we humans did not know Him who is the life and light of Mankind, and thus were on a hopeless [...]

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) This parable shows us how to be Christian. The father in the parable has two sons, and at certain times we are one or the other. We can sometimes be like the younger son, who in taking his share of the inheritance and living prodigally, is when we fall into sin. The solution to the problem is also shown in this parable when the son humbled himself and returned to the father. We too must humble ourselves, repent, cease from sin, and return to our Heavenly Father. At other times, we can be like the [...]

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-17)   The first passage we read in the first chapter of the first Gospel of the New Testament is the genealogy of Jesus Christ. St Matthew begins his Gospel by calling Jesus the Christ - which means the anointed one - “the son of David, the Son of Abraham” (v1). The first title, “Son of David” is echoed throughout the Gospel of Matthew, because the Evangelist was writing primarily to the Jewish community to impress the fact that Jesus is a descendant of King David. This would have immediately identified Jesus as this [...]

Gospel Reading Sunday October 22 (Luke 8:26-39) A Demon-Possessed Man Healed   Gadara was one of ten cities known as Decapolis east of the Jordan River. In this arid place, a demon-possessed man went about among the tombs where he resided, naked, tormenting himself and those around him. In fear, the locals had him shackled in chains but the ferocity of the demons with which he was possessed was too great to be tamed. Encountering this tormented soul, Jesus asked him his name: “Legion” was the reply. A legion was an armed regiment numbering 6000 soldiers, indicating the man had [...]

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:14-22) 8th Sunday of Matthew Gospel Reading   In this Gospel passage, Christ has been followed by a large crowd, and the disciples believe that there is no way to feed all the people present. Christ then takes two fish and five loaves of bread and multiplies them, feeding the people with twelve baskets left to spare. When Christ heals the sick among the crowd (v 14), He does not test their faith as He usually does by asking whether they wish to be cured. By following Christ into the wilderness straight after the [...]