Homily - Through the Cross to Pascha
OrthoAnalytika
Great Lent 2026; Sunday of the Cross “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24) Christ is talking as if “coming after” or “following” Him is something good. What is that all about? Where is He going? Where is He leading us? Christ talks about “denying” ourselves. In the next verse He ties that to being willing to die. This sounds important. We need to get it right. There is a great lie in our world: that all religions are basically the same. But Scripture warns us that the devil himself can appear as an angel...
info_outline
Homily: Not Pundits or Prosecutors, but Pastors and Priests (On Silence)
OrthoAnalytika
In a world shaped by outrage and constant commentary, the Christian calling is different. Drawing on Scripture, the Desert Fathers, and the theology of St. Gregory Palamas, this homily explores why Christians must learn to speak in ways that build up rather than tear down. Sometimes the most faithful response is simply silence. --- Homily Notes: St. Gregory Palamas “Let Us Be Quiet” There are moments when the most truthful response a human being can give … is silence. What do you meet in silence? On Holy Saturday, during the First Resurrection service, we sing these words: “Let all...
info_outline
Homily: Matter, Incarnation, and the Art of Communion
OrthoAnalytika
Homily for the Sunday of Orthodoxy On the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the Church celebrates more than the restoration of icons in 843; she proclaims the full implications of the Incarnation. Drawing from St. John of Damascus, St. Theodore the Studite, Genesis, and the theology of beauty, this homily explores how Christ restores not only matter, but humanity’s creative vocation. In Him, we are not merely icons — we are iconographers, shaping our marriages, friendships, and parishes into visible proclamations of the Gospel. --- The Restoration of the Image — and the Hands That Shape It ...
info_outline
Homily - The Throne Room Now: Judgment, Mercy, and the Work of the Liturgy
OrthoAnalytika
On the Sunday of the Last Judgment, the Gospel reveals that judgment takes place not in a courtroom, but in the throne room of God—a reality the Church enters every Sunday in the Divine Liturgy. This homily explores how worship forms repentance, trains us in mercy, and sends us into the world with lives shaped by the pattern of Christ’s self-giving love. --- The Throne Room Now: Judgment, Mercy, and the Work of the Liturgy A Homily on the Sunday of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31–46) When we hear the Gospel of the Last Judgment, our attention is usually drawn—rightly—to the...
info_outline
Homily - Judgment, Worship, and the Throne of Glory
OrthoAnalytika
Meatfare/The Last Judgment Matthew 25:31-46 On the Sunday of the Last Judgment, the Gospel reveals that judgment takes place not in a courtroom, but in the throne room of God—a reality the Church enters every Sunday in the Divine Liturgy. This homily explores how worship forms repentance, trains us in mercy, and sends us into the world with lives shaped by the pattern of Christ’s self-giving love. --- The Throne Room Now: Judgment, Mercy, and the Work of the Liturgy A Homily on the Sunday of the Last Judgment Matthew 25:31–46 When we hear the Gospel of the Last Judgment, our...
info_outline
Homily - Love That Refuses to Dominate
OrthoAnalytika
The Father Who Does Not ControlA Homily on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son St. Luke 15:11-31 In the parable of the Prodigal Son, our attention is often drawn to the repentance of the younger son or to the resentment of the elder. But before we look at either son, we must first look carefully at the father. What stands out immediately is not simply the father’s mercy at the end, but the way he loves throughout the story. The father gives an astonishing amount of freedom to his sons—but his love is not passive, negligent, or withdrawn. It is neither controlling nor indifferent. It is...
info_outline
Homily - The Publican, the Pharisee, and the Seeds of the Kingdom
OrthoAnalytika
Sanctifying the Moment: The Publican, the Pharisee, and the Seeds of the Kingdom Fr. Anthony Perkins; Luke 18:9-14 All of creation is good—and yet it was never meant to remain merely good. From the beginning, God made the world not as a finished product, but as something alive, dynamic, and capable of growth. Creation was designed to become better, to move toward beauty and perfection. Humanity was placed within it not as passive observers, but as gardeners, stewards, and priests—called to tend what God has made and lead it toward and into His glory. This brings us to the heart of...
info_outline
Retreat - Justifiable but Not Helpful: Discernment in an Age of Manipulation
OrthoAnalytika
In this pair of talks, Fr. Anthony examines why discernment so often fails in the Church—not because of bad faith or lack of intelligence, but because discernment is a matter of formation before it is a matter of decision. Drawing on insights from intelligence analysis, psychology, and Orthodox anthropology, he shows how authority, moral seriousness, and modern systems of manipulation quietly exploit predictable habits of perception, producing confidence without clarity. True discernment, he argues, is neither technical nor private, but ecclesial: formed through humility, ascetic practice,...
info_outline
Class - The Architectural Beauty of Eden
OrthoAnalytika
From Eden to the ChurchBeauty, Architecture, and the Space Where God Dwells Christian architecture is not primarily about style or preference. It is about ordering space so that human beings learn how to dwell with God. The Church building is Eden remembered and anticipated—a place where heaven and earth meet, so that God’s people can be formed and then sent back into the world. Key Biblical Insights 1. Eden Was God’s Dwelling Place Eden is first described not as humanity’s home, but as God’s planted garden—a place of divine presence, beauty, and order. Genesis...
info_outline
Homily - The Green Hand of Hell
OrthoAnalytika
Luke 17:12-19; The Grateful Leper I've included my notes, but I didn't follow them, choosing instead to offer a meditation on the "go show yourself to the priest" part of the Levitical command and noting how we do the same - and will all do the same one day at the Great Judgment. Homily: Healing, Vision, and the Mercy of God Onee of the things that sometimes gives people pause—especially when they encounter it for the first time—comes from the Book of Needs, in the prayers the priest offers for those who are sick. If you have ever been present for these prayers, you may have...
info_outline Homily: The Sunday after Theophany
Hebrews 13:7–16; Matthew 4:12–17
This homily explores repentance as the doorway from darkness into light, and from spiritual novelty into mature faithfulness. Rooted in Hebrews and the Gospel proclamation after Theophany, it calls Christians to become not sparks of passing enthusiasm, but enduring flames shaped by grace, sacrifice, and hope in the coming Kingdom.
----
Today’s Scripture readings give us three interrelated truths—three movements in the life of salvation and theosis.
First: darkness and light.
Second: repentance as the way from darkness into light.
Third: what children of the light actually do once they have been illumined.
Point One: Darkness and Light
In today’s Gospel, St Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah:
“The people who sat in darkness saw a great light;
and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned.”
This is not merely a poetic description of history. It is a diagnosis of the human heart.
Scripture teaches us that our calling as human beings—our calling as Christians—is to become “children of the light and children of the day.” Light is not something we admire from a distance. It is something we are meant to live in, to be shaped by, and to reflect.
Darkness, in Scripture, is not simply ignorance. It is disorder. It is the twisting of desire. It is the heart turned inward on itself. And Christ comes—not merely to expose darkness—but to heal us of it.
That is why today’s epistle begins by reminding us:
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7)
Light becomes visible in lives that endure. The Christian life is not meant to flash briefly and disappear. God desires something steadier—not sparks, but flames.
Point Two: Repentance — Leaving the Darkness
Immediately after this proclamation of light, Christ begins His preaching with a single command:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
If we want to be part of the Light of Perfection, then the darkness in our lives and in our souls must be removed. Repentance is not optional. It is the doorway into illumination.
Here we must confront a deep confusion in our culture—and often in our own hearts. We have the relationship between happiness and goodness exactly backwards.
We tend to think: “It is good for me to be happy.”
And then we go looking for ways to become happy.
But Scripture teaches the opposite:
Happiness is not the path to goodness.
Goodness is the path to real happiness.
The epistle warns us:
“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods.” (Hebrews 13:9)
Indulgence does not strengthen the heart. Novelty does not strengthen the heart. Only grace does. There is a danger here for neophytes because Orthodox is novel for them; there is an experiential conflation of the happiness that comes from new fascinations and their new connection with The Good Itself. More on this in a moment.
Back to repentance. Repentance is how the heart is strengthened. It is how the flickering light of intention becomes steady. The iterated acts of repentance that constitute the Christian life is how God turns sparks into flames.
Repentance and Tears
This will bring tears. Christ does not say, “You have suffered enough—come get comfortable in the light.”
He says, “Repent.”
Repentance is rarely pleasant. We do not repent because it makes us happy, although it occasionally will in the short term; again, because of our fascination with things that are new and shiny. But regardless, we do not repent for happiness; we repent because the darkness that has accumulated in our souls cannot survive in the presence of the Light and we want to grow in that light. And that is going to involve suffering on account of the darkness that is within us; a darkness that has often come to define us.
The epistle reminds us:
“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp, and bear the abuse he endured.” (Hebrews 13:12–13)
Repentance means leaving what is familiar and comfortable. It means stepping outside the camp. It means allowing the old life to die so that a new one can endure.
Point Three: What Children of the Light Do
Christ does not defeat the devil in the wilderness and then rest. He immediately begins His ministry.
And so must we.
We do not hide the light God has given us. We let it shine. And because we have been given different gifts, we shine in different ways.
But we must be clear about the direction of this life:
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)
Children of the light do not live for momentary brightness. They live toward the Kingdom. God is not basing the establishment of His Kingdom on bright flashes of enthusiasm; He is forming it on the constancy of the saints—not sparks, but flames.
Marriage, Monasticism, and Mature Joy
Many people experience spiritual puppy love when they first encounter Christ and His Church. And thanks be to God for that—it is a real gift.
But puppy love is not the same thing as mature love.
The Church teaches this most clearly through marriage and monasticism.
Marriage matures love through patience, forgiveness, sacrifice, and daily fidelity.
Monastic life matures love through obedience, stability, and perseverance.
Both proclaim the same truth:
love becomes real when it stops being about how we feel and starts being about who we are becoming.
Hebrews names this life plainly:
“Through him let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God… Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:15–16)
This is the rhythm of mature Christian life—ordinary faithfulness, repeated again and again, until the light no longer flickers but until we all bear and share the eternal flame that is God’s energies, constantly working through us and transforming us and this world towards His perfection in an ending tide of theosific grace.
This is how Christ forms His people: not sparks, but flames.
The Call
All of us are called to worship, and if we are new to this the spark of our participation is infinitely greater than the darkness we once new — but it is still only the beginning of life in Christ.
We have been given great gifts—individually and as a parish. We must guard against using them just to make ourselves feel good, and start using them to bring light.
May Christ, the Light who has dawned upon us, make us children of the day—
no longer sparks, but flames.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.