Sermons

Below is a collection of  homilies from our pastor, Fr. Robert Holet.

• Christ's Encounter with the Blind Man, and with St. Paul 05/23/2017
  The Gospel of the Sunday of the Man Born Blind bears a number of interesting parallels with the conversion, life and ministry of the holy Apostle Paul.  The sermon today explores these, particularly in light of sacred mission of the Church, and its call to ministry.
• The Holy Fire of Mothers Day 05/20/2017
  The Holy Fire of Pascha is instructive for us as an example of the care of the divine life of God, entrusted by Him to the Mothers of His Children
• Christ Enters Jerusalem and Restores the Temple- Palm Sunday 2017 04/13/2017
  The Feast of Palm Sunday, recalling the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem, was typified in the restoration of Jerusalem, and the Temple, by the faith of the Maccabean brothers two centuries earlier.  Their exploits help us to understand why spiritual zeal and uncompromising faithfulness to the Covenant is the Lord's mandate to the Church today as well. […]
• Veneration of the Cross - March 2017 03/23/2017
  The Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross calls us to self denial - and surrender of everything in this life, so as to follow Christ.
• Making Baseball Players or Making Saints? 08/20/2016
  Sports serve as a great example of how dedication and discipline, even at an early age, if applied consistently an wisely, can enable children to develop talents, gifts an aptitudes. If the spiritual gifts lie in the soul are to be used effectively, how can we develop these for use in the Church and for our spiritual fulfillment of God's will in our liv […]
• Receiving the Gifts - How do we Engage the Gifts of the Spirit ? 07/06/2016
  The Feast of Pentecost is the Church's commemoration of the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostolic Church.  But how do we identify these gifts - and then engage these gifts in our personal lives?  The saints are the people who so received these gifts and put them to use to the glory of God.
• Holy Baptism - Seeing and Living in Christian Obedience 06/28/2016
  The occasion of a baptism in Church on the sixth Paschal Sunday (The Man Born Blind), allows us to see the elements of the Baptismal rite of the Church and how we are to live and mature as Christians in obedience to Christ.
• On the Holy Angels 12/02/2015
  The invisible, mysterious angelic hosts not only reveal to us the spiritual nature of existence, but are active in our lives as intercessors and sacred messengers of God's truth in a fallen world and our personal lives.
• Trusting God Entrusting Children 09/12/2015
  Parents face many challenges today in our secular society as their children grow up - moving from the security of home, to school, to special events like Church camp, etc.  Parents are challenged to trust God and see their children as His own.  In trusting Him, an atmosphere of trust can be fostered that will bring confidence to the child and manifest the bl […]
• Going from Hungry, to Fed, to the Lake to Christ 08/26/2015
  The Church calendar rarely has sequential readings but such is not the case of the passage from St. Matthew's Gospel where Peter walks on the water.  To understand the fuller context of this miracle, it's helpful to review the previous week's Gospel - the Feeding of the Five Thousand.  And by seeing what's in common between the two, we ca […]
• The Feeding of the Five Thousand - and the Liturgy 07/27/2015
  Our Orthodox Divine Liturgy. contains the fundamental elements of the Miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand in St. Matthew's Gospel.  The gathering of the believers, the teaching and healing of Christ, the 'dismissal', the prayers of Thanksiving, the Miracle, the Distribution and the gathering of the fragments are all elements of the wee […]
• Models of Discipleship-Two Centurions 07/17/2015
  The occasion of Christ's healing of the young servant of the Roman centurion poses the question for us - how did this man come to trust in Christ's authority and ability to heal this servant.  The story of the conversion of the centurion Cornelius in Acts 10 may hold some clues as to how he came to believe and trust in Christ, and how we might as w […]
• The Feast of Pentecost - Spiritual Watershed of Grace 06/24/2015
  This Great Feast, concluding the Paschal Season, fills the Church with every gift of the Spirit.  There is no need for 'another Pentecost' or even a Revival.  The Lord is present today, in the Church.
• Feast of the Ascension - Short Homily of the Liturgy 06/24/2015
  This Feast continues to reveal the glory of Christ as we are sustained in the celebration of the Risen Lord and motivated to do the spiritual work before us in the spirit of the Apostolic Church
• The Glory of Christ Revealed 06/24/2015
  The healing of the Man Born Blind was a sign of the revelation of the Glory of Christ.  This glory shines through the Church in her communion with the Risen Lord and the in power of the Holy Spirit.
• The Saving Work - Revisiting the Tomb 05/23/2015
  The Holy Myrrhbearer Salome and her companions are remembered on the Third Sunday of Pascha.  Their willingness to do the 'dirty work' brought them to the glory of discovering the risen Lord.
• The Confluence of Living Waters 05/23/2015
  The occasion of Holy Baptism, the celebration of Mid-Pentecost, and the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman serve as a confluence of spiritual streams on the grace of God through our Encounter with Christ, the Teaching which illumines, and the Holy Spirit which sanctifies us.
• The Holy Women and Men of Africa 03/23/2015
  The lives of the saints of Africa inspire us to holy Christian living.  This third presentation in the series on African Christianity (March 2015) gives us examples of how the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, the saintly  hierarch Athanasius the Great, and the holy monks St. Moses the Black, and St. Tekla Haymanut, leading very different lives in differen […]
• The Surprising History of African Christianity 03/17/2015
  Dr. Bill Black presents the first of a series sponsored by St. Nicholas parish on the History of African Christianity.  This session, held on UVA grounds in conjunction with Black History month. February 2015
• Restoring Harmony and Communion with God 03/06/2015
  The reading of Genesis 1 during the first week of Great Lent offers us a glimpse of what God had intended for humankind.  The spiritual life leading to Communion with God is our realization and fulfillment of His restorative love.

Additional Sermons can be found at Podbean