Sunday Homilies by Fr. James Graham

Homily for 19th Sunday after Pentecost / 2nd Sunday of the Holy Cross 2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9.....Luke 6:31-36 Sometimes the Epistle and Gospel readings for a Sunday complement each other in unexpected and challenging ways. Today, for example, the selection from St Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians challenges us to untangle the Apostle’s rhetoric before we can work out his message. On the other hand, our Lord Jesus Christ makes His message quite clear in the passage

Homily for 1st Sunday of the Holy Cross, 18th after Pentecost 2 Corinthians 9:6-11.......Luke 5:1-11 Probably we think we know the message of the story of the miraculous catch of fish in today’s Gospel reading. Surely it tells us that Jesus Christ has chosen us to help bring Him a miraculous “catch” by preaching and teaching the Good News of Salvation and “fishing for people.” But notice that this passage from St Luke’s Gospel also shows us God’s great generosity. After an

Homily for the Sunday after the Holy Cross Galatians 2:16-20.....................Mark 8:34-9:1 Twenty-five years ago, the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross came only five days after the previously unimaginable attacks of what we now call simply “Nine-Eleven,” when terrorists hijacked four American airplanes full of passengers and flew two into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. They planned to s

Homily for the Sunday before the Holy Cross Galatians 6:11-18.......John 3:13-17 The Holy Cross has such an important part in God’s plan for our salvation that we dedicate two Sundays to it in addition to a special feast day. We celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14, so today we observe the Sunday before the Holy Cross, tomorrow is the feast itself, and in a week we’ll have the Sunday after the Holy Cross. On all of these days, our readings

Homily for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost (6 September 2026, 24 August 2008 2 Corinthians 4:6-15...........Matthew 22:35-46 In today’s reading from St Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle talks about his ministry—and he makes clear that it is not his ministry in any kind of selfish or egotistical way. Yes, he is the minister, the one who proclaims the Gospel, the one who teaches, but he does all this with other followers of Jesus, so he always says “we,” no

Homily for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost 2 Corinthians 1:21-2:4..................Matthew 22:2-14 At first reading, the parable of the great wedding banquet seems very unfair. The king seems to over-react to everything. When the original guests refuse his invitation, he sends his soldiers to kill them and destroy their city. Then he sends his servants to fill up the wedding feast with people off the streets. Finally, the king spots one of these new guests not wearing the

Homily for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost 1 Corinthians 16:13-24......Matthew 21:33-42 The parable of the vineyard and the wicked tenants is a familiar one. Sometimes people interpret it as a warning about God’s anger—and to some extent it is. But primarily it is a story that explains the idea of stewardship—that is, properly taking care of what God has given us to take care of. In a parable, we know, everything stands for something else. So, in this parable, the landowne

Homily for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost 1 Corinthians 15:1-11..........................Matthew 19:16-26 In today’s reading from his first letter to the people of Corinth, St Paul writes, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace towards me has not been in vain.” And in today’s reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew, Jesus tells His disciples that it is impossible for human persons to achieve salvation on their own, “but for God all things are possible.”

Homily for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost 1 Corinthians 9:2-12......................Matthew 18:23-35 Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. ~ 1629 AD Claude Vignon We don’t come across many places in the Holy Gospels where Jesus threatens us or warns us about the anger or punishment of God the Father. Usually, the Gospels tell of God’s mercy, love, forgiveness, and healing. So, when we do read a Gospel story that tells of anger and punishment, it really stands out. When we

Homily for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost 1 Corinthians 4:9-16....Matthew 17:14-23 Ilyas Basim Khoury Bazzi Rahib (17th c. Iconographer, Egypt) People have many titles for priests—reverend, pastor, vicar—but probably the one that priests like best is simply “Father” (or “Padre,” “Abouna,” etc.) This title shows affection as well as respect. It shows a kind of relationship that originates in love, not in power. The title “Father” reminds us that a priest should model his li

Homily for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost 1 Corinthians 3:9-17.................Matthew 14:22-34 Jesus Walking on Water. Daniel of Uranc. 1433. Armenian Manuscript. We usually read this story of Jesus’ walking on the water as proof of Jesus’ divine power. But what if we try to see these events as the disciples saw them—especially Peter—and then see how the story applies to us? St Matthew tells us that the disciples have been trying to get across the Sea of Galilee all night,

The Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils. Titus 3:8-15.....................Matthew 5:14-19 In today’s reading from St Matthew’s Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us, “You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine, so that other people may see the good that you do, and give glory to your Father in heaven.” We read this passage today because it fits our commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the first six Ecumenical Councils, which comes

Homily for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Romans 15:1-7…………….Matthew 9:27-35 In the passage from St Paul’s Letter to the Romans that we read today, the apostle delivers a heartfelt exhortation on unity, harmony, and mutual support in the faith community. But he includes, almost as an aside, a sentence that also deserves our attention. He says, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of

Homily for Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Romans 12:6-14…………….Matthew 9:1-8 Two things stand out in today’s Gospel story of Jesus’ healing the paralyzed man. First, Jesus forgives the man’s sins before He heals his paralyzed body. And, second, when He heals the man, Jesus tells him to stand up, pick up his pallet, and go to his home. From this we learn that spiritual healing always goes ahead of, or along with, physical healing, and that part of healing is moving ahead, getti

Homily for Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (28 June 2026) Romans 10:1-10…………….Matthew 8:28-9:1 At first, we might find it hard to figure out the point of this story from St Matthew’s Gospel about the demons that Jesus cast out of two men into a herd of pigs. This story contains a number of confusing elements. Why does Jesus speak only to the demons, not to the men? Why do the demons ask to be sent into the pigs? Why do the pigs jump off the cliff into the water? Why aren’t

Homily for Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Romans 6:18-23…………….Matthew 8:5-13 In today’s Gospel story, Jesus heals the slave of the Roman army officer and is amazed at the officer’s attitude of accepting Jesus’ authority. The Roman officer basically says to Jesus that everyone is a slave to someone: his slave obeys him, he obeys his superior officers, and the forces of sickness obey God. St Paul talks to the Roman Christian community also in terms of slavery. He tells them t

Homily for Third Sunday after Pentecost Romans 5:1-10…………….Matthew 6:22-33 The great mystery of suffering has confronted and baffled and confounded the human race for thousands of years. It challenges our faith directly and profoundly. People always ask, “Why do I have to suffer?” as if they think life is meant to be perfectly calm and smooth and easy. They say, “I can’t believe God is making me suffer like this,” as if they think that God decides to torment certain people ju

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