The services are full of beautiful images, many of which teach us new ways to accomplish the spiritual life. We look at a hymn from Vespers which talks about the clever thief who “stole” forgiveness. We are told to emulate him, and we speak of the many ways in which we can emulate the good thief. We have no excuses! It doesn’t matter how bad we are. If we are clever we can find a way. “When the good-hearted thief beheld Thee, the fruitful Vine, O Christ, he became a better thief and more skilled, for with a few words he quite naturally stole the forgiveness of the ancient offenses. Let us all, then, make haste to emulate him, crying: Remember us also, O Thou Who lovest mankind!” (Tue Vespers, Tone 2, Octoechos, “Lord I have cried”) YouTube:https://youtu.be/85d9T_PrTYI ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85d9T_PrTYI

Full homily from Sun June 9 here: https://youtu.be/PbL0rdvaTbM?feature=shared ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7LuPR9hj5c

This is important. Every inquirer, any parent requesting that their child be baptized, and any believer should understand all of Romans 6. It teaches not only the theology of baptism, but also, as importantly, the moral imperatives of baptism. AUDIO: http://www.orthodox.net/catechism/catechism_2023-08-13+romans-chapter-six+baptism.mp3 VIDEO: https://youtu.be/1L5J7GxnOpk ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L5J7GxnOpk

Parable of the Sower. Any ground can become good ground. The parable of the sower describes four kinds of ground, and only one of them brings forth fruit, that is, leads to salvation. Many times, we think statically about this parable and think that a person is one kind of ground or another and does not change. Actually, any ground can become good ground. The epistle and second gospel tells us two things that we must know and do in order to become good ground. In the Epistle of St. Paul today, he talked about glorying in his infirmities. This is absolutely essential but we must understand what this term means. We also must understand as we glorying our infirmities that God loves us will never abandon us. If we understand these two things, any ground can become good ground. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kQGwKe52A4