A Voice From The Isles

Seeing Clearly

We are all called to a personal relationship with the Lord, but first of all, we must recognize that “Jesus Christ is the Lord” – our Lord. To achieve this, we need to have Him cure the blindness of our spiritual eyes, and this calls for an act of loving submission of our wills unto Him.

Unexpected Light

Fr. Gregory speaks about the Woman at the Well who we know as St. Photini. As surely as Photini means “enlightened” it is our calling also to enlighten others with the Light of Christ.

Paralytics All

Christ our God gave the paralytic a choice, and respected his free will, when He asked him:- “Do you want to be healed?”. As always, He asks the same question of each one of us.

Unlocked Doors

Jesus Christ understood that both the disciples and us would be puzzled about how to react to Him after the crucifixion. What did Jesus do? He told the apostle St Thomas and us: “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here with your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” And the apostle St Thomas was empowered by this remarkable encounter with Jesus Christ to overcome unbelief and to say to Jesus: “My Lord and my God.”

Bishop John’s Paschal Letter

The Pascha pastoral letter was read from His Eminence Metropolitan John, Archbishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Deanery of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Pascha in the West and the East

Fr. Gregory reads the sermon "Pascha in the West and the East" by His Eminence, Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos.

One With Christ

Sub Deacon Emmanuel gives the homily on Great and Holy Thursday.

Total Recall

The entry to Jerusalem was a liturgical act; it was the entry into the great holy city of Israel by her rightful King and welcomed by the people as the fulfilling of national hope. Yet it is also proved to be a great disappointment.

Come Forth

Fr. Gregory preaches on the raising of Lazarus from the dead and the significance of the power of the Logos to create life.

Blessedness in Persecution

In this final sermon on the Beatitudes, Fr. Gregory says that persecution can be an occasion of great blessedness.

Asking Jesus

We sometimes approach God and say, “I want you to do whatever I ask.” Does it work?

Peacemaking

The great theme of Lent is repentance. That is the turning of our minds and hearts to God. The fact is that we can only do this through the work of Christ. He is the great Peace-Maker; He makes our repentance possible by His reconciling work.

The 2nd Eve - The Annunciation of the Mother of God

The Theotokos stands for the whole biblical way of looking at the relationship between God and His creation as a mystery of LOVE.

The Cross in Sorrow

Psalm 1 and the Beatitudes both seek to understand the challenging question, ‘Who will be blessed and what does it mean to be blessed?’

Before Thy Cross

The Cross turns all our expectations on their heads; this is God, who is also fully human, suffering and showing utter love to His creatures.

His Mercy Endures Forever

This is the fulfilment of our divine vocation on earth ... to be the people of the covenant, ever relating to the trustworthy God with loving faith and to all people with that very self-same love with which He both loves us and loves all.

Drawing Close to Christ

We each would like to be close to Our Lord Jesus Christ, but when we see many others gathered around Him we are not sure how to place ourselves in a situation in which we, just like the sick man, can be close to Jesus Christ.

Humility

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy

The normal experience of being a Christian is both joy and struggle. There is a deep joy in knowing Christ but also a struggle against demonically inspired forces of violence and rebellion, inside us and outside us.

The Cross in Repentance

The first in a series of Wednesday sermons during Great Lent on the topic of the Beatitudes.

Lenten Call

Man can achieve true delight and true immortality through the grace of God. The reason for our existence is communion with God.

The Big Ask

The Fathers of the Church are very clear that it is not God who separates himself from sinners and punishes them but rather sinners themselves who, through their own bad choices, separate themselves from the Lord and experience in that separation the sufferings of hell, darkness and despair.

Prodigal Son

The guest preacher was Fr. Yves Dubois with a sermon on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son.

O, To Be a Publican

Fr. Gregory gives a sermon on the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee.

Responding to the Light

A sermon on the Feast of the Entry of Christ into the Temple.

Facing Our Needs

Jesus Christ reaches out to each of us in 2012, just as He did 2,000 years ago. However, he does not always give us immediately what we ask for as soon as we ask for His help in our lives.

Zacchaeus – from a sermon of St. John Maximovitch

Lessons from the story of Zacchaeus.

The Preaching of Christ

We have to examine our own lives in relation to the reality that the preaching of Jesus has now begun. We can listen to that preaching of Jesus today in each of our lives.

One Out Of Ten

In the Gospel account, Christ healed the ten lepers by His word, but their healing was conditional upon their obedience. They had to respond for the healing to take effect.

Call of the Deep

Today Christ is baptised in the Jordan, the Spirit alights on Him in the form of a dove and the Voice of the Father from heaven is heard …. “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”

Resolution or Revolution

Fr. Gregory says that we don't need a New Year's resolution but rather a New Year's revolution.

The Great Restoration

The Nativity is a present reality for us Orthodox Christians. It’s not just that we celebrate a past event now; there’s more to it than that. Christ is eternally born for all generations in the same way that he is both referred to in the Scriptures as “slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8] and also eternally risen and alive in the Cosmos.

One To Come

Fr. Dn. Christopher gives the sermon on the eve of Nativity.

Holy Forefathers

Fr. Gregory gives a sermon by Fr. Andrew Phillips on the Sunday of the Forefathers.

The Law of Love

Love is the basis of the Law. In fact loving God is what obedience to the Law is about, and to those struggling to live under the Old Covenant, it still is.

Leaving it Behind

Jesus is challenging us today to follow Him with a deeper commitment, just as He challenged the rich, young man who ran up to question him 2,000 years ago

Attending to the Samaritan

Fr. Gregory gives a sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Friendship With The Saints

We are saved by Christ as part of the Church and our fellow members of the Body of Christ support us both practically and in their prayers. The prayers of the holy people of God are a ferocious weapon in our defence.

Almsgiving

The central importance for the Christian life is almsgiving … helping the poor and those in need.

The Icon of the Theotokos of the Sign

Sub Deacon Immanuel speaks about the new fresco Icon of the Theotokos of the Sign written by Efrem Carrasco on the wall behind the altar at St Aidan’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Levenshulme, Manchester.

The True Image

On God’s Terms

Perhaps it seems capricious and arbitrary of God to deal one way with one situation and remain distant in another; but to demand to know why God does certain things and not others is to demand that He should be answerable to us.

Kingdom Living

If we are to live effectively in the power of God, if we are to know his power to save even in adverse circumstances; then we must listen to him now and do His will, not put it off, not make excuses.

On Being Called

What happens after we have worked hard, done our best and achieved nothing?

Losing It

What did Jesus mean when He said to take up our cross and follow Him? Fr. Gregory teaches about the principle of losing ourselves to gain Christ.

The Healing Cross

Dn. Christopher gives the homily and says that Christ has destroyed death and the power of evil; he dealt with it in His passion. We have to repent to allow this salvation to work within us.

Happy New Year!

Fr. Gregory Hallam reflects on the new liturgical year and three mighty manifestations of the Divine Glory.

Increase Our Faith

What does it mean to have faith and how can we increase it?

Hope in Our Lady

Fr. Dn. Christopher speaks about the Dormition of the Theotokos.

Walking Without Fear

It is fear that hinders our walk with God.

Give To Receive

Deacon Christopher is the speaker today and talks about God doing great things with scarce resources.

Keeping it Personal

Christianity is a personal affair. It is not abstract, theoretical, a speculative philosophy. It is a personal encounter with the living God who is himself three persons sharing one divine nature.

Grow Up!

Sub Deacon Immanuel is the homilist today. There is a light that wants to shine on us. However, it can only shine brightly if we move with Jesus from our childhood homes where we grew up to our present homes where we can now grow into being disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Light of the World

We are called to be lights in the world. We are the representatives of Christ in the world today, so of course we take on the role of being light to the world.

Be Light

St. Symeon teaches that when we pray, the indwelling Light of Christ can lift us up to the very Paradise itself of which St. Paul himself haltingly spoke.

Saints Alive

Subdeacon Immanuel is the homilist and speaks about the celebration of the saints of Britain and Ireland as well as all saints abroad.

Loving Christ As He Is

Deacon Christopher is the homilist today. He says we must be careful to respond to people as they are and in particular we must be aware that Christ is not to be fitted into some expectations of ours. We need to know Him as He is.

Power and Fruit

How does the Orthodox Church understand the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit?

Not Quite God

There is one key issue that we now face in the post-Christian west. In so far as many people believe that there is a God they take the divine to be a simple, abstract, impersonal force

Going Up

Perhaps nothing in the Christian Church has been more misunderstood in the modern age than the Ascension.

Looking Intently

Sub Deacon Immanuel gives the homily on the Sunday of the Blind Man.

From Paralysis to Action

Dn. Christopher is the guest homilist for the Sunday of the Paralytic.

Grief Gives Way To Joy

The Holy Myrrh Bearing Women were the first to proclaim the risen Christ to their incredulous male counterparts.

Free At Last

Deacon Christopher is the homilist on Great and Holy Saturday.

Keeping Watch With Christ

Sub Deacon Emanuel is the homilist for the Great and Holy Thursday service.

A Personal and Social Resurrection

Fr. Gregory encourages us to live the joy of the resurrection all year round.

Cursed No More

Why did our Lord have to suffer and die? We cannot conclude with the benefit of hindsight that this was simply what He had to endure to make the resurrection possible. Orthodox Christianity insists that there is necessary meaning in both the death and resurrection of our Lord.

Hope in the Desert

Today's sermon is given by Dn. Christopher speaking about Saint Mary of Egypt, one of the greatest examples of personal repentance that we have.

Stairway to Heaven

In his sermon on the 4th Sunday of Great Lent, Fr. Gregory says there are two chief enemies of the spiritual life, self-righteous or vainglory and despair.

Venerate the Cross

We need the perspective of the Cross in the midst of Great Lent in order to remind ourselves of the goal of that journey that we undertake through fasting, repentance, almsgiving and prayer. It is that we might come to the beginning of Great and Holy Week with a Godly intention to know nothing else but "Christ and him crucified."

When We Suffer

According to St. Bede, God uses our suffering to stimulate our fortitude, faith, humility, repentance and vigilance.

Overcoming the World

The faith that overcomes the world is the true faith, Orthodoxy, not heterodoxy or otherwise believing.

Why Do We Fast?

When did fasting begin? Did Jesus start the whole thing off? The righteous and the repentant fasted in the Old Testament. Well, what about Abraham then? The fact is, humankind was taught to fast right from the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden.

The Last Judgement and the Love of God

In our lives, crucial choices have to be made and upon these choices our eternal destiny depends.

Merciful Father

Although commonly known as the parable of the prodigal son this story in the gospel today is misnamed. It should rather be called: “the parable of the merciful Father” for the story concentrates all its attention on the compassion of the father.

The New Martyrs of Russia

Fr. Gregory welcomes Fr. Yves Dubois as the guest preacher today.

Crumbs Are Enough

How do we react, what do we do when we pray and God doesn't answer?

Waiting For God

The aged Simeon and the prophetess Hannah were so incredibly blessed to behold the infant Christ, 40 days after his birth, and receive him into the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Other Three Wise Men

We all know about the Three Wise Men who came to worship Christ in the cave, but today we celebrate other Three Wise Men: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom.

Calling on the Lord

Great need calls out great faith.

The Gift Beyond All Gifts

The greatest gift, the Gift beyond all gifts, is the Gift of God Himself in our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Divine Liturgy, that gift of Himself becomes something as basic as food and drink.

Water Water Everywhere

Father Gregory speaks about the significance of water in his homily for the Feast of Theophany.

Preparing the Way (Sunday after Theophany)

We are to point to Christ and not ourselves as we prepare the way for others to receive Him; we decrease that Christ might be glorified in and through us.

The Flight From Egypt

St Matthew sees the flight into Egypt as the fulfilment of Hosea’s prophecy.

All That is Human, All That is God

God came to earth to undo the ravages of sin and death. He could only do this by taking upon himself our flesh.

God’s RSVP

The banquet table is set and the invitation is from God Himself. How will we respond?

The Big One

What is the most important question of all time? Fr. Gregory addresses that in today's episode.

Doing Battle

Fr. Gregory speaks about the spiritual warfare we all face as Christians.

Ready For God

Fr. Gregory speaks about the feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple.

Chariots of Fire

Fr. Gregory speaks about St. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Christ Our Peace

Christ gives peace but more importantly He IS our Peace.

A Winter’s Tale

Fr. Gregory's sermon for October 31 is on neo-paganism and how it is reflected in Halloween.

Deliver Us

Fr. Gregory speaks on the Gerasene demoniac and possession by evil spirits.

Matter Matters

Fr. Gregory speaks on the 7th Ecumenical Council.

The Sparrow in the Hall

Fr. Gregory talks about St. Paulinas of York - one of our wonderful western saints.

The Deep

Fr. Gregory speaks on Luke 5:4-7 when Jesus told Simon to "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

Love Your Enemies

Fr. Gregory speaks on Luke 6:31-36.

Indwelling: Gal 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ.

St Paul startles us by claiming that he has someone living inside him; moreover this person is Christ. But it doesn't stop there! Christ is able to live inside him because he has died, or rather he has been crucified with Christ.