In this Sunday Gospel Sermon, Fr. Michael Sorial invites us to take a journey when Matthew was called by Jesus Christ to follow him. The least expected is who Christ calls and works wonderfully through them.

The Least Expected

When we look at the Beatitudes, we are not only hearing instructions for Christian living, we are gazing into a portrait of Christ Himself. Each blessing is not just a command to follow, but a description of the heart of our Lord. In the Beatitudes, Christ is both the model and the fulfillment. And He invites us, His children, not merely to admire the picture, but to enter into it ,to be conformed to His likeness, so that the world may also see the face of Christ in us. Tune in!

The Image of Christ in the Beatitudes

Every word in the Bible is there for a reason! Why were the linen cloths folded neatly??

The Linen Cloths

When the heat rises, God does not always pull us out. He often meets us in the fire and burns away the chains. In Part 2 of the Witness series, Fr. Elijah explores how faithful endurance turns suffering into freedom, formation, and testimony.
What you will hear:
• Daniel 3 revisited. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego enter the furnace bound and walk out unbound. The fire has no power over them, and the Fourth is with them.
• Why God does not always remove hardship. The goal is not comfort but salvation and deeper union.
• From pain science to spiritual life. Rumination magnifies pain, while gratitude and outward love rewire the heart toward healing.
• Living martyrdom today. Schools, jobs, and family life become places of daily witness.
• Practical responses in trials. Ask “Lord, where are You in this and what are You forming in me” and practice thanksgiving in all things.
• An eternal lens. This life is a dot compared to forever. Christ joins us in every furnace.
Scripture touchpoints: Daniel 3, Job 1 and 13, Hebrews 12, 1 Peter 4, Psalm 23, 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
If you are walking through the fire, take heart. The chains are the only things meant to burn, and Christ is with you in the midst.

Witness - Part 2: The Chains are Burned in the Fire

This powerful Nayrouz message calls us to look to the martyrs—the great cloud of witnesses—as examples of courage, purity, and unwavering faith. Their stories remind us that the Christian life is not about comfort or compromise, but about striving daily for holiness and perfection in Christ.
Through vivid examples of women, mothers, and entire communities who gave their lives rather than deny their faith, we see how the Church is built on sacrifice and endurance. Just as God sustained Israel in the wilderness with manna and living water, He sustains us today through the mysteries of the altar and the life of the Church.
This talk is both a challenge and an encouragement: to carry our daily cross, to live the life of Jesus through the liturgical year, and to cling to Him in every moment until we reach the promised land. Be faithful unto death—and you will receive the crown of life.

Martyrs and Nayrouz: Striving for Perfection with Christ

Part 1 of our series on “From Scandal to Saint” tells the powerful story of St Theodora the Penitent. A respected Christian woman falls into adultery, flees in shame, disguises herself as a monk, and embraces a life of tears, prayer, fasting, and hidden obedience. Accused falsely. Banished unjustly. Silent under ridicule. Through deep repentance, God transforms her into a miracle worker whose holiness outlasts every scandal. This talk challenges a culture of ease and comfort, calls us to vigilance against temptation, and shows how grace can turn our deepest failures into healing for others.

From Scandal to Saint - Part 1: St. Theodora the Penitent

This series presents a detailed teaching on the Ten Commandments, emphasizing their significance as a covenant between God and His people rather than merely a set of rules. It begins by explaining that the Commandments were given on two tablets on Mount Horeb in a dramatic and awe-inspiring event, highlighting their divine origin and importance. This sermon stresses that the Commandments came with promises of blessing for obedience, illustrating God’s desire for a relationship based on love and covenant faithfulness.
The Ten Commandments are divided into two groups: the first four address our relationship with God, and the remaining six concern our relationship with others. This division reflects the biblical teaching that the greatest commandments are to love God fully and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. This series explores how these commandments are not just ancient laws but reflect a timeless moral order implanted in human nature, supported by psychological studies showing innate moral awareness in infants.
This sermon also clarifies that different faith traditions number the Ten Commandments differently but agree on their total number and core principles. The first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me,” is elaborated upon extensively, revealing it as a call to exclusive worship of God, grounded in the historical fact that God freed the Israelites from slavery. The discussion extends to modern forms of idolatry, such as the worship of money, pleasure, or power, and explains that God’s commandments are not burdensome but protective and life-giving. Reflection on the commandments as a joyful and protective guide in a sinful world.

The Ten Commandments [Part 1]

Tune in for Day 1 of St. Mary’s Revival 2025 as Father Arsanious explores “Love Without Hypocrisy” based on Romans 12:9. This powerful message challenges us to love genuinely, hate evil, and cling to what is good—living as followers of Christ in all areas of life.

Love without Hypocrisy

Tune in to Father David as he reflects on the “Imitation of Christ” during the Fast of the Virgin Mary, challenging us to live out our faith authentically, being Christ-like in our daily interactions and to those around us.

The Imitation Of Christ

This sermon offers a detailed theological examination of the Ten Commandments, with a primary focus on the first three commandments, and an emphasis on the second commandment, which prohibits making carved images or idols for worship. Father explains that this commandment forbids worshiping God through physical idols, a common practice among pagan nations that believed their gods were physical objects. However, the commandment does not ban the use of icons or religious images as reminders of God or the saints. Examples from the Old Testament and church tradition, such as the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant and the bronze serpent made by Moses, illustrate how God commanded the 2nd commandment.
  God is supreme, beyond physical representation, creator of all things, and incomparable to any creature or object. The commandment warns against limiting God by attributing to Him physical likenesses or finite images for worship.
Furthermore, the natural consequences of idolatry often affect subsequent generations, as children learn values and beliefs from their parents, underscoring the importance of godly parenting.
 The name of God is unique and should be treated with reverence and honor

The Ten Commandments [Part 2]

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