All Saints Homilies

The Christian hope is based on an oath God made to a man from Mesopotamia 4,000 years ago. Fr. Pat looks at the irony of hope, its source, and how we should go about strengthening it.

Baptism and the Chalice represent the sacramental initiation into a new identity founded on union with Christ; thus the two questions Jesus put to the sons of Zebedee are for us today as well.

Christ died for each of us personally, but he also died for families; and the context of the family is often the locus in our experience of the Cross. Fr. Pat considers three individuals whom Jesus loves as a family: Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.

Fr. Pat looks at the story from Mark 2 of the paralytic being lowered through the roof.

Lent, and particularly the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, is a time to reflect upon our being made in the image of God, our having an affinity to Christ, and our being healed by Him.

As Lent begins Fr. Pat considers Jesus' words about the abundant life, about building one's house upon a rock, and about His standing at the door and knocking.

Fr. Pat speaks on the Gospel of the Final Judgment, and what it teaches us about Christ.

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we see a Father who has lost a child who bears his image, a son running from himself, and an elder brother who is glad he is not like his younger sibling.

The parable of the Publican and the Pharisee teaches us much about prayer. Father Pat looks at three things: the meaning of the temple, the issue of repeated prayer, and authenticity when speaking with God.

Jesus' encounter with the Syrophoenician woman as recounted by Matthew (Chapter 15) has much to teach us when we consider Phoenicia's history, the woman herself, and the meaning of the bread.

The Parable of the Talents is often used as a reminder to be the best you can be. It's really about the structure of history and the Lordship of Jesus.

Fr. Pat reflects upon the meaning of these words that Jesus said to Zacchaeus, considering where God abides, what it means, and who is our best model of one who lives with the understanding of these things.

Fr. Pat reflects upon the healing of the blind man of Jericho as recounted in Luke Chapter 18.

In this reflection, Fr. Pat considers what we have to learn from those in the Nativity story who look into the sky and ponder the moon and the stars.

Fr. Pat explains the Holy Eucharist as Flaming Coal and Divine Bread.

On the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, Fr. Pat compares our Lord's Mother with the rich man in Luke 12, today's Gospel reading.

Fr. Pat reflects upon the inseparability of the message of Christ from the Person of Christ, and how that affects three aspects of our lives: our piety, our forgiveness of others, and our justification.

In this homily, given on the Sunday after the Elevation of the Holy Cross, Fr. Pat looks at the cross through the eyes of Paul, Peter, and John.

Fr. Pat discusses three words from the first chapter of 2 Corinthians.

In the parable of the Vineyard and the Vinedressers, Jesus is not giving a moral teaching, as might be expected, but rather is presenting His own story about His relationship to God and to the people of Israel. Fr. Pat discusses this.