Sunday Homilies by Fr. James Graham

Homily for Second Sunday after Pentecost (7 June 2026) Romans 2:10-16…………….Matthew 4:18-23 Today’s reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew tells the story of the call of the first Apostles, Andrew and Peter, then James and John. The story is short and simple. Jesus sees two fishermen, Andrew and his brother Peter, and tells them to follow Him and He will make them fishers of men. Immediately, they leave everything and follow Him. James and his brother John, two m

Homily for All Saints (First Sunday after Pentecost) Hebrews 11:33-12:2…………….Matthew 10:32-38, 19:27-30 Today the Church celebrates the Sunday of All Saints. Every year, on the Sunday after Pentecost, we remember and honor all the faithful and strong Christians who followed our Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostles did, witnessing and preaching and teaching and baptizing all the people of the world. Pretty clearly, the earliest tradition of our Church mostly regarded as saints

Homily for Pentecost (Seventh Sunday after Pascha) Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11…………….John 7:37-8:12 Today the whole Church celebrates the Pentecost—the 50th day after the Resurrection—the day on which, according to the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples of Jesus received the gift of the Holy Spirit that empowered them to speak in different languages and so to fulfill the Lord’s command to go and teach all nations. For this reason, Pentecost is often called “the birthday of

Homily for the Sixth Sunday after Pascha (Sunday of the Holy Fathers) Acts of the Apostles 20:16-18, 28-36…………….John 17:1-13 The Scripture readings for this Sunday’s commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council call our attention to three foundational elements of the Christian Church: Unity, True Doctrine, and Bishops. These three elements stand at the heart of the First Ecumenical Council, which convened in the Byzantine (now Turkish) city of Nicaea i

Homily for the Fifth Sunday after Pascha (Sunday of the Man Born Blind) Acts of the Apostles 16:16-34…………….John 9:1-38 In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the man in charge of the jail where the Apostles Paul and Silas are being held asks one of the most important questions any person can ever ask: “What must I do to be saved?” “What must I do to be saved?” he asks, even though in a way he has just been saved. When the earthquake broke open the jail, he was

Homily for the Fourth Sunday after Pascha (Sunday of the Samaritan Woman) Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30 and John 4:5-42 Today’s Gospel story of the encounter of the Samaritan Woman with Jesus at the well gives us a dramatic example of how accepting Christ into our lives can change us completely. This story also shows us again how God chooses unlikely or unexpected people to demonstrate how He wants us to live. This woman has three strikes against her—she’s female, she’s Sa

Homily for the Third Sunday after Pascha (Sunday of the Paralytic) Acts 9:32-42 and John 5:1-15 On this third Sunday after Pascha, the Scripture readings give us three stories of healing and three stories of faith. People often focus on these healings as miracles—two men restored to mobility after years of paralysis and one young woman restored to life after she had died. Because Jesus healed him, the paralyzed man gained faith in God and in himself. Because Peter healed A