Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from July 21, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from July 28, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon for August 4, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from August 18, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon for August 25, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon for September 1, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon for September 8, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from September 15, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from September 22, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon for September 29, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from October 13, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from November 3, 2024.

Since God will judge the secrets of men according to St. Paul's letter to the Romans, it just makes sense to order our lives so that our secrets don't undo our words and our faith.

Sts. Peter and Paul were two men from the opposite ends of Jewish society and yet each found a way to not only value each other but also challenge each other. In a Church broad enough to hold these two very different men, we are called to embrace each other and be enriched by the diversity of gifts we each possess.

The Roman Centurion, a Gentile, shows more faith than all of Israel, according to the Lord's observation. How is it an "outsider" without all the benefits of centuries of religious education can see more clearly than the whole of israel shaped by centuries of examples and theology? Turns out being an insider is no guarantee that you won't end up outside!

There is a huge difference in trying to be something and living either the realization that you ARE something. It changes your motivation and your attitude about who you are. Well, you ARE the light of the world.

When the disciples were confronted with the impossible task of feeding 5,000 men plus women and children, they forgot that their Lord was all they needed!

Circumstances can be intoxicating and Fr. Barnabas says that true contentment begins in the heart not with our circumstances.

Trust is a foundational building block of any relartionship. Without it there simply is no way to have anything more than some superficial connection. But trust requires risk. And we humans avoid risk most of the time. Jesus challenges us to risk trusting Him.

When faced with a life-changing forgiveness of a huge debt, this man in our Gospel Lesson revealed his own wicked heart by not showing that same forgiveness and mercy to his fellow servant. It did not end well for that wicked servant. And it won't end well for we who refuse to forgive from the heart!

We hear it all the time - God loves you - but our modern world has so lost the depth and beauty of God's love, we are in danger of emptying this profound truth of its powerful meaning. Today we look at a familiar passage of scripture with new eyes, with God's eyes, and what we discover is life changing!

Why does the Church offer us the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross? Because the Christian faith is about dealing with reality and having our all too easy temptations to delusions and the fantasy of what I'm afraid of or what I wish for blind us to the reality God wants us to embrace! Waking up is hard, but it has to be done!

The message of the Cross is God's invitation to you and me to break the destructive patterns of our lives and embrace the wise pattern of Purgation, Illumination, and Union in a perpetual growth and maturity pattern of becoming like Christ! It is a pattern that gives life instead of the slavery of the destructive patterns of selfish living!

Isn't it interesting after the Lord blessed Peter and his partners in their fishing business, Peter saw himself as a sinful man and asked the Lord to leave him? But that's the risk of standing so close to the Light. It reveals who you really are! But Christ invites us to be close to Him without fear or shame and allow His Light to set us free!

We have all heard the Golden Rule, but there is so much more to this passage and it has everything to do with a very serious challenge to the status quo of our lives. After all, even sinners love those who love them!

Avoiding the twin temptations of fear and wishful thinking.

The Gadarene Demoniac had been reduced to an animal existence by his misuse of his freedom. Jesus comes and heals him and he is finally in his right mind. Are you in your right mind?

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus confronts us today about a real change in the way we think. Only the courageous will comply!

Matthew was a hated tax collector for the occupying Roman Empire. His encounter with Jesus Christ changed him forever. It is this life changing encounter that invites us today to further renew the spirit of our minds about just what is this Christian life anyway!

Jesus uses seemingly harsh language when a father brings an epileptic son to the Lord for healing. But it's only because it's only this kind of language that can break past the selfishness of our own hearts to teach us how to have faith the size of a mustard seed!

A Servant owes his Master millions and he's forgiven. Then this wicked servant turns on a fellow servant who owes him a few dollars and he throws his co-worker in prison! The Master is not happy and takes His servant he had forgiven such a great debt and throws him into prison too! So shall the Father do to everyone who doesn't forgive "from the heart."

Why does the Orthodox Church celebrate the Elevation of the Holy Cross? A device meant for torture and a grizzly death is held up, venerated, and even kissed! Why? Well, because what humanity meant for evil, God transformed into Victory and Life!

There wasn't a Jew within the sound of Jesus' voice when He said if any man would be my disciple, he must take up his cross... You see, there's only one use for a cross, and that's for an execution. The Christian message invites us not only to follow Christ but to die to everything that isn't like Christ in our lives. That's what it means to "bear your cross!"

All great religions have a form of the Golden Rule. But in the Christian Faith this wisdom has specific wisdom on not only how to actually follow the Golden Rule but to share this faith with others.

What a very familiar passage is this passage about a sower planting seed! We've heard this message forever, but I wonder, do we know how to cultivate "god soil" in our lives so that the seed of the Word of God will grow within us?

The Gadarene Demoniac was possessed by a "Legion" of demons. His spirit was so fractured and divided that he was not only his own worst enemy, but he was a threat to all around him.

On the Sunday of the Synaxis of the Archangels, we confront the challenge of hearing the Message from the Messengers of God. But to be able to hear, we must first want to hear. Do you want to hear what the Messenger says to the Churches?

The guests invited to the rich man's banquet didn't value their invitation to his dinner as much as they valued other things. In the end, none of the expected elite got to go, but the most unexpecting group were invited and enjoyed the hospitality of the rich man!

So, why, on the Sunday before Christmas, does the Church call us to read this lineage of Jesus? Because there's an irreplaceable power to community memory. And more so for we moderns who have sacrificed our attention span for entertainment!

The crowd followed the Lord into a "lonely place" knowing full well there was no food there. But heir courage and desire for Christ overcame their fear of physical hunger. Does your love and desire for Christ overcome your fear of lesser desires?

Jesus confronts two men who have become "demoniacs" that is these men had so been overcome by their passions and unbridled desires that they were more animal than man. What a powerful picture of the dangers to us in today's society! Learn how the Faith is meant to tame the passions!

The Feast of Pentecost celebrates the Coming of the Holy Spirit on the first disciples of Jesus. But why? As followers of Christ, we too, have been given the grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives as well. So, does the closeness of the Spirit in your life reflect a reality or an untapped resource?

Jesus promised His disciples that He would transform them from fishermen to "Fishers of men." How does that apply to us today as Orthodox Christians? In fact, why are you Orthodox?

Our society has become a place where Radical Autonomy has been elevated to the highest good. What "I" want is considered the highest value and the measure of the happiness of my life. But Christianity has a different value system based on Radical Communion.

On the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, we are confronted with the commun hunger of all humans, the common thirst of all of us: to be loved and to love. But how do we avoid the traps of trying to fulfill this hunger and thirst in the wrong way? How do we avoid wrecking our lives by bad choices?

On the Third Sunday of Pascha we are called to remember the healing of the Paralytic 38 years sick. Jesus asks him a question and confronts him with a command: "Do you WANT to be healed?" and "Take up your pallet and walk." The power of desire and obedience challenges us to allow the grace of God to transfigure our past from a burden to a badge of grace and mercy.

The Sunday of the Myrrhbearers shows us some courageous women who, even when faced with an impossible task (who will roll the stone away) nevertheless kept on going to minister to the Lord. But even when they were confronted with the empty tomb and the news of the Lord's resurrection, they left the place afraid! Our world is facing some impossible tasks as well and we traditional believers are confronted with the societal earthquake of a changin moral climate. When faced with these realities, what kind of example will we leave our children? Will we allow society to silence us? Or will e face a scary time with determination and faith?

Let's face it, the unexpected happens in life. And when it does, the danger is always being knocked off one's feet in the process. So, since the unexpected always happens, it seems silly not to prepare for it! The unexpected certainly took the disciples by surprise when the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead. They didn't expect the Lord to be declared the "King of Israel" at the Triumphal Entry, and they didn't expect the crowd that hailed the Lord as the Son of David at the first of the week to turn on Him by the end of the week. The unexpected happens in life. And today we learn how to expect the unexpected!

The word "impossible" is thrown around a lot, but the technological advances in our lifetimes would look like magic to previous generations. I wonder what will be commonplace tomorrow that we call "impossible" today? Both our Epistle Lesson and our Gospel lesson use words like "possible" and "impossible" on this Sunday of St. John Climacus. And the whole point is to drive home the truth that it IS NOT impossible for you to become like Christ, especially when you have His Grace and Power assisting you up the "ladder of Divine Ascent!"

On the second Sunday of Great Lent the Church focuses our thoughts on the paralyzed man whose four friends tore a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was and let their friend down before the Lord so that he could be healed. Everyone, including the paralyzed man, was surprised when Jesus said his sins were forgiven when they expected the Lord to heal his physical paralysis. It turns out the Lord wanted to heal both his spiritual AND physical illnesses. And the Lord wants to do the same for us, if we have the faith!