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Revelation - Session 14

OrthoAnalytika

Release Date: 02/14/2025

Homily - Metropolitan Saba on Seeing Suffering Brightly show art Homily - Metropolitan Saba on Seeing Suffering Brightly

OrthoAnalytika

Title: Seeing Suffering Brightly: Faith, Discipline, and the Light of Christ Matthew 7:27-35; The Two Blind Men In this homily, Fr. Anthony shares Metropolitan Saba's teaching from the 2025 Convention that true spiritual vision begins not in denial of suffering, but in faithful endurance of it, transforming evil through thanksgiving and trust in God. Drawing on real martyrdom and lived faith in places like Damascus, he challenges us to see God’s love even in discipline and to witness to Christ with joy, courage, and unwavering hope. For a complete text of His Eminence, Metropolitan Saba's...

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Homily - The Paralytic (Everything is AWESOME!) show art Homily - The Paralytic (Everything is AWESOME!)

OrthoAnalytika

Everything is Awesome! James 5:10-20; St. Matthew 9:1-8 (Riffing on St. Peter Chrysologus) Over the last few homilies, I have tried to share an approach to living that looks for the good, and the beautiful, and the true in all things so that we might have joy in them and nurture them towards greater glory.  Today, I am going to continue this lesson by applying it to scripture.  Of course, in this case we are not nurturing scripture to greater glory, but we always grow in our appreciation of its goodness, beauty, and truth so that those virtues might grow within us. Let’s go...

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Homily - The Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon show art Homily - The Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon

OrthoAnalytika

The Sunday for the Fourth Ecumenical Council Titus 3:8-15; Matthew 5:14-19 Note: the recording includes a few seconds when Fr. Anthony's mind went apophatic and he forgot a critical detail.  Real life is like that sometimes!   First Council: Nicea in 325 (vs. Arius) "And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:  Who for us men and our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of...

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Homily - On Seeing and Encouraging the Good in the Centurion, our Neighbor, and our Nation show art Homily - On Seeing and Encouraging the Good in the Centurion, our Neighbor, and our Nation

OrthoAnalytika

In this homily on St Matthew 8:5-13 (the faith of the Centurian), given on the Sunday after the Feast of American Independence (7/6/2025), Fr. Anthony continues to remind us of our calling to order creation, focusing on the evangelic method that looks for the good in something and working to make it better.  Christ did not focus on the faults of the Centurian, but on what was good in Him so that it might become his defining characteristic and thus guide him (in Christ!) towards the better, the more beautiful, and the True.  He encourages us to do this for our neighbor and our...

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Homily at Camp St. Thekla - Pastoring the Cosmos towards Perfection show art Homily at Camp St. Thekla - Pastoring the Cosmos towards Perfection

OrthoAnalytika

This homily was given at an outdoor chapel up in the mountains at Camp St. Thekla on the 27th of June, 2026.  The recorder was a few feet away from Fr. Anthony, so the recording has a chorus of insects as background noise.  In the homily, Fr. Anthony describes our calling to identify and nurture the good in creation (to include that in our souls!) towards perfection.  Enjoy the show!

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Homily at Camp St. Thekla - Sts Peter and Paul show art Homily at Camp St. Thekla - Sts Peter and Paul

OrthoAnalytika

This homily was given on the 26th of June 2025 at Camp St. Thekla in Cleveland, South Carolina, at the celebration of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (offered in anticipation).  In it, Fr. Anthony reflects on the bold faith and deep friendship between these two pillars of the Church. Drawing from their distinct personalities— Peter the confident fisherman who was always both bold and repentant and Paul the intellectual missionary who was always ready to live and sacrifice for his beliefs.  Father encourages all of us to recognize how God uses our unique gifts for a greater...

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Homily at Camp Thekla - On Prophecy (at the edges) show art Homily at Camp Thekla - On Prophecy (at the edges)

OrthoAnalytika

This homily was given at Camp St. Thekla in Cleveland SC, on June 24, 2025, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Fr. Anthony used it as an opportunity to encourage all the campers who felt like they didn't belong.  It touches on the themes of prophecy, being called, and how to listen for the voice of God.  Enjoy the show!

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Homily - Acquiring Peace and the Spiritual Gut Check show art Homily - Acquiring Peace and the Spiritual Gut Check

OrthoAnalytika

The Feast of All Saints Hebrews 11:33-40; 12:1-2; St. Matthew 10:32-33; 37-38; 19:27-30 After clearing up potential confusion about "leaving" families as a sure way to heaven, Fr. Anthony asks how we are doing with the gifts of the Passion, Resurrection, and Pentecost (THE Holy Spirit!) God has given us to assist us in our healing and perfection.  He encourages us to do a gut check on how we are doing by looking at the degree to which criticism and praise pull us from our peace.  Enjoy the show!

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Homily - Pentecost and the Gift of Communification show art Homily - Pentecost and the Gift of Communification

OrthoAnalytika

Pentecost: The Language of Love This episode explores Pentecost as more than a miracle of tongues—it's a call to unity through the divine language of love. The Holy Spirit empowers us to truly listen, love, and live in communion. Through grace, repentance, and the Eucharist, we are formed into the family of God—one in purpose, diverse in gift, united by love.  Enjoy the show!

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Homily - The Sunday after Ascension show art Homily - The Sunday after Ascension

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The Truth Matters This homily explores why truth is essential—in logic, relationships, and faith. It examines the unique role of religion, the danger of distorting truth (like Arius did), and the deep meaning of Christ’s incarnation, resurrection, and ascension. Standing on the Rock of Christ, we’re called to live in love and invite others to the truth God gives as a gift.  Enjoy the show!

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More Episodes

Revelation Class 14 – 19; Heading to the Final Showdown
12 February 2025
Revelation, Chapter Fifteen - Twenty 

 

Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2018), 79–.

Chapter Fifteen

John sees in heaven the tabernacle of testimony from the Book of Exodus, the traveling tent of the divine presence that Moses and the Israelites carried through the desert. This tent, however, is “heavenly,” which means that it is the original model, the very pattern that Moses copied (Ex 25:9, 40; Acts 7:44; Heb 8:5). …

The tent itself is full of the cloud of the divine presence, the very cloud that led the Israelites through the desert of old. When that tent was dedicated in the desert, the divine cloud took up residence within it (Ex 40:34–38). That cloud later took residence in Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 8:1–12), where Isaiah beheld it (6:1–4). In prophetic vision Ezekiel saw that cloud return to the second temple built in 520–16 (Ez 44:4).

Chapter Sixteen

… As in the account in Exodus, the intent of this [these] plague[s] is that the idolaters should repent, but in neither case does it happen. …

… Verse 15 contains a well-known saying of Jesus, in which he compares his final return to the coming of a thief in the dead of night. This dominical saying is preserved in the Gospels of Matthew (24:43) and Luke (12:39)….

Chapter Seventeen

John’s vision of the woman on the scarlet beast is better understood if one bears in mind certain features of his cultural and religious memory [idolatry as fornication; Jezabel as a wicked woman with loose morals connected with Baal;  Proverbs on good vs. bad woman (Wisdom vs. Folly); Cleopatra? And Berenice (daughter of Herod); and the city of Rome]. 

Chapter Eighteen

This chapter deals with the city of sin, Babylon. It is not a prophecy of the downfall of Rome, such as that of AD 410 for instance, but an affirmation of hope for the downfall of what the pagan Roman Empire stood for. …

John’s complaint against the economic and commercial idolatry of his time should be regarded against the background of the Bible’s prophetic literature, especially the prophecies of Amos and Isaiah, who spoke out frequently against the unjust practices of the business world that they knew. price fixing, monopoly, widespread unemployment, and so forth. Actually, such considerations are among the most common in the Bible.

We observe that John does not see Babylon fall. An angel tells him that it has already happened. John, that is to say, has no violent vision. There is no projection, here, of a vindictive spirit; it is, rather, the divine resolution of a cosmic problem. …

Chapter Nineteen

The previous chapter spoke of the destruction of Babylon, pictured as a woman dressed in scarlet. …. We begin the chapter with the “Alleluia.” Although our own experience may prompt us to associate that fine prayer with the sight and scent of lilies, here in Revelation it resounds against the background of smoke rising from a destroyed city. The worship scene portrayed here is related to victory over the forces of hell…

By portraying the reign of God as a marriage feast, John brings together three themes, all of them familiar to the Christians of his day. [banquet; wedding; garments]…