Sunday, October 27, 2013

Homily - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/27/13

In his homily, Fr. Rankin reflected on the Gospel of the Gerasene demoniac who filled with many demons and Jesus cast them out into a nearby swine herd.  Fr. Rankin used a well known reading from radio personality Paul Harvey entitled if "If I Were The Devil".  Fr. Rankin read this and spoke about it in the context of the Gospel reading of the Gerasene demoniac and how just as Jesus cast out the demons 2,000 years ago, He can do the same for our world today.

Homily - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/27/13


Gospel - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/27/13

Byzantine Catholic Gospel reading for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost.  The Gospel reading came from Luke Chapter 8:26-39:

26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And as he stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.


Gospel - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/27/13

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Homily - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/20/13

Homily given by Fr. Rankin on the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost.  Fr. Rankin spoke about the Gospel parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.  To illustrate what it means to turn your life around and follow Christ, Fr. Rankin used the story of Oskar Schindler and his moment of conversion when he realized what was happening to Jews in Poland at the hands of the Nazi's.

Homily - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/20/13

Gospel - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/20/13

Byzantine Catholic Gospel reading for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost.  The Gospel reading came from Luke 16:19-31:

19 “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’”


Gospel - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost - 10/20/13

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Homily - Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council - 10/13/13

Homily given by Fr. Rankin on the Sunday of the Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council and the 21st Sunday after Pentecost.  Fr. Rankin briefly spoke on the iconoclasm and how that was broken by the 7th Ecumenical Council.  Afterwards, Fr. Rankin reflected on the parable of the seed sown on good and rocky ground.

Homily - Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council - 10/13/13

Gospel - Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council - 10/13/13

There are two Gospel readings for this Sunday.  One for the Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council and the other for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost.

The reading for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost came from John 17:1-13:

 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do; and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.
“I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word. Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee; for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine; 10 all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

The reading from the 7th Ecumenical council came from Luke 8:5-15:

“A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns;and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 
And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said,“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.  11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in timeof temptation fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.


Gospel - Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council - 10/13/13

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Homily - 20th Sunday after Pentecost - 10/6/13

Homily given by Fr. Rankin on the 20th Sunday after Pentecost.  Fr. Rankin spoke on the culture of death in our society and how it runs against the Gospel reading proclaimed at the Divine Liturgy.  Fr. Rankin used the story of Fr. Paulo and Fr. Felipe Lizama, twin brothers recently ordained to the priesthood.  Their mother was told that the baby in her womb was growing to be seriously deformed, with three arms and two heads. and was encouraged by the doctor to have an abortion.  Their mother chose to accept the gift of the child, which turned out to be two healthy boys who are now priests for Jesus Christ.



Gospel - 20th Sunday after Pentecost - 10/6/13

Byzantine Catholic Gospel reading for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost.  The Gospel reading came from Luke 7:11-16 and reads:

11 Soon afterward he went to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said,“Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”


Gospel - 20th Sunday after Pentecost - 10/6/13