12 07 2025 Bishop Nikodhim Visitation St Nicholas Southbridge

His Grace, our bishop, Nikodhim, paid a visit to our parish for our patronal feast day today. The Hierarchical Liturgy was beautiful, and the ceremonies were unique to a bishop’s visitation. Our small choir sang superbly.

His Grace’s sermon focuses on the mercy of God toward the woman who had been tormented by a severe illness for 18 years. He mentions how some of the religious leaders were angry when Jesus healed her on the Sabbath, and how that shows us that God’s mercy is not limited to certain days. The leaders attempted to stand in the way, but the lesson for us is to become vessels through whom God’s mercy can flow—not for our own glory but for his.

Link to today’s Liturgy:  https://youtu.be/3v72X-bpZNU

11 30 2025 Feast of St Andrew the First Called, St Nicholas, Southbridge

The homily today, “The Quality of Mercy is Not Strained,” focuses on the Orthodox Church as the Church of Mercy. We ask the Lord’s mercy, we speak of His mercy, perhaps a hundred times in every Divine Liturgy. We use the term so often that it is easy to overlook the magnitude of its importance to our salvation—and the salvation of the whole world. Without mercy, there is no love, no forgiveness, no true repentance, no hope for finding a way out of the darkness.

As we move deeper into the Nativity Fast (Advent), let’s aim to redirect our thinking toward the mystery of the coming feast of our Lord’s birth—Christmas, when God’s Mercy and Love took flesh among us.

Link to today’s Liturgy: https://youtu.be/XJipii-csVw

11 23 2025 Sunday Divine Liturgy St. Nicholas Southbridge

Today’s sermon, “The Thankless Fool,” focuses on the story of the rich man who failed to show gratitude to God and love for his neighbor. He thought he had it all and would retire in comfort, only to die and leave his wealth behind. It was his attitude that brought him to a bad end. What does this have to teach us?

Link to today’s Liturgy: https://youtu.be/Z3xBUvOQt40

11 16 2025 Sunday Divine Liturgy St Nicholas Southbridge (Feast of St Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist)

The sermon today, “St Kosmas the Aetolian (Shen Kozma Berati): Patron of Role Model for St Kosmas Academy”

A new school is being formed in Worcester, MA, grounded in the classical tradition and Orthodox faith. St Kosmas is our patron and role model because he helped found almost 100 grammar schools and 10 high schools in the region that is now Greece and Albania. The measure of his achievement was his martyrdom near the city of Berat, in modern-day Albania. The holy teacher and preacher was too successful for the Muslim Turkish authorities and other vested interests of his time (the mid-18th century).  He was martyred by hanging without trial for the good work he did in preserving our faith in a time of persecution. 

Our Nativity project this year is raising funds for the new school, which we hope will open a kindergarten and perhaps a first grade next fall. Over the following years, we hope to add grades until we ultimately have a K-12 school. We invite you to join us in our project of hope in our troubled times.

Link to Liturgy: https://youtu.be/Tvvz6dNMxkA 

11 02 2025 Sunday Divine Liturgy St Nicholas Southbridge

Today’s sermon, “Lazarus is at Our Gate: Do We See Him?” is based on the appointed gospel reading in which poor Lazarus, whom the Rich Man ignored for decades, dies and goes to the bosom of Abraham (heaven) while the Rich Man ends up in torment for his cold-heartedness.

The question we face as individuals and as a church community is whether our eyes are closed to the suffering around us or open and seeking ways to help others. Do we see the poor and demeaned in our midst as our brothers and sisters, or do we find excused to let them suffer? The stakes are very high, indeed.

Link to today’s Liturgy: https://youtu.be/BgyY65To8Zc

10 19 2025 Sunday Divine Liturgy St Nicholas Southbridge. Third Sunday of Luke, Prophet Joel, St. John of Kronstadt

The sermon today, "Are Miracles Still Possible in Our Age of Unbelief?" is based on the Epistle and Gospel readings for this Sunday.

Europeans and North Americans live in a time where miracles are considered impossible. They are either misunderstood science, the figments of overactive imaginations, or outright deceptions. The only miracles acknowledged by the great minds of our age are the human-made wonders of technology and Artificial Intelligence. We, not God, are the miracle workers.

But there are still places on Earth where people are open to the wonderful works of God, though those places are considered backward and unenlightened. And yet, the future of the Church is in the hands of those so-called ignorant people. When the rich and mighty of the world are finally exhausted by their attempts to play God, it will be the humble and faithful believers of the Global South who will bring the living, miraculous faith that opened a vision of heaven to St. Paul and raised the son of the widow of Nain at the hands of Jesus.

Link to today’s Liturgy: https://youtu.be/SszbRuOZXSs

10 12 2025 Sunday Divine Liturgy, St Nicholas, Southbridge

Today’s sermon, “Good Soil for Growing the Word of God,” is based on the gospel for the day. How do we become good soil for growing our faith? What is the process? How do we persevere?

09 28 2025 Sunday Divine Liturgy, St. Nicholas, Southbridge

The sermon title today, “Now Is the Acceptable Time! Now is the Day of Salvation!” is taken from the appointed Epistle reading and the appointed Gospel reading for today. 

Jesus calls us to become disciples, and the first commandment to being a disciple is to become a “fisher of men,” meaning to bring others to Christ—starting right here and now. 

But first, I have to ask myself about my own faith. Am I really a disciple of Christ? Do I truly believe that Christ dwells in my heart, that I am first and foremost a Christian, and that God comes before all else in my life? This is the definition of a Christian, and it is tough to follow. The good news is that if we give ourselves to Christ, He will supply what is lacking in us. 

If we are unsure about our faith, now is the time to make a decision. This is the acceptable hour. This is the day the Lord has made for us to turn to Him, and it is a choice we must make each and every day for the rest of our lives. If we’re afraid of the cost of discipleship, then let’s remind ourselves that everything good we treasure finds its end and fulfillment in Him. And what is not good, is best letting go of, anyway. Let’s start now. There has never been a better time to begin.

LINK TO TODAY’S LITURGY: https://youtu.be/w3EWs2qz5cs

09 21 2025 The Sunday After the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, St. Nicholas, Southbridge

The sermon, “Take Up Your Cross and Follow God’s Foolish Way,” is based on today’s appointed Gospel reading and the epistle from last week (The Feast of the Cross).

To be a Christian is to be a bearer of the Cross. St Paul teaches us that the foolishness of God is wiser than any kind of human wisdom. The unconverted world will see the way of the cross as empty of good philosophy and practical politics—basically a useless waste of time better spent on personal growth and in working towards a better world.

But philosophy has led us to death-dealing political ideologies, and self-worship ends with the grave. This world’s wisdom has proved foolish and empty. So, why not give the foolishness of the Cross a try? We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Link to today’s Liturgy: https://youtu.be/758JRg6RNJs