The Good Shepherd Blog
Discovering Our Gifts and the Virtue of Filotimo
Preached by Sub Dn. Timothy Grace on the Sunday commemorating St. Paisios of Mount Athos, this sermon draws on St. Paul's letter to the Romans to explore both the unique gifts God gives each of us and the calling shared by all Christians. Through the lives of the saints, the Greek virtue of filotimo — a loving eagerness to do good — and the words of C.S. Lewis, Timothy shows how we grow in holiness by forgetting ourselves and losing our lives in Christ.
Christ Conquers: Freedom from Bondage and the Fruit of the Spirit
Fr. Geoff Harvey reflects on the deliberate contrast between this Sunday's Gospel and Epistle: the two demoniacs enslaved by evil, and the fruit of the Spirit that grows in those who follow Christ. Drawing on the sobering example of Judas, he calls us to stay close to Christ, cultivate one fruit of the Spirit, and bear one another's burdens.
The Faith of the Centurion: Humility and the Work of Repentance
Daniel McInnes reflects on the Gospel account of the Roman centurion who comes to Christ on behalf of his suffering servant. He draws out the centurion's remarkable humility, his compassion for one beneath his social standing, and his unwavering faith in Christ's authority to heal. Daniel challenges us to turn that same gaze back on ourselves and to take up the work of repentance and the life of virtue within the Church.
Where Is Your Heart Fixed? Seeking First the Kingdom of God
Fr. Nicholas Frazer reflects on the Gospel and Epistle readings and the single question they place before us: where is your heart fixed? Drawing on Christ's words about the eye, treasure, and anxiety, he shows how seeking God's kingdom first transforms worry into trust, resting our lives in the love of a faithful Father.
The Saints of Antioch: Three Lessons for the Antiochian Orthodox Church
Sub Dn. Timothy Grace reflects on the Sunday of the Saints of Antioch, drawing on the lives of three great Antiochian saints — St. Raphael of Brooklyn, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Marina of Antioch — to highlight three enduring qualities of the Antiochian Orthodox Church: a cosmopolitan missionary spirit, a practical and grounded faith, and the grace of bearing suffering with heavenly hope.
Called to Holiness: The True Purpose of the Church
Fr. Geoff Harvey reflects on the Sunday of All Saints, exploring the Orthodox Church's true purpose: to transform ordinary people into saints. He examines what holiness really means, the commitment it requires, and how we are all called to become citizens of God's eternal kingdom, using the lives of the saints as witnesses to Christ's transforming power.
Living Water and the Harvest: A Sermon for Pentecost
In this Pentecost sermon, Daniel McInnes traces the Jewish roots of the feast back to the Torah's harvest festival, and shows its Christian fulfilment in the descent of the Holy Spirit. Drawing on Christ's words about living water in John's Gospel, he calls the Church to be filled with the Spirit and go out into the world to bring in the harvest of souls.
One in Faith, One in Love: The Council of Nicaea and the Trinitarian Life
In this sermon for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, Fr. Nicholas Frazer reflects on the Council of Nicaea and Christ's high priestly prayer in John 17. He draws together the Church's Nicene confession with the call to trinitarian prayer, worship, and unity — showing how truth and love, Orthodoxy and orthopraxy, belong inseparably together in the life of the Church.
Blindness, Trust, and the God Who Works in Unexpected Ways
In this sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Pascha — the Sunday of the Blind Man — Sub Deacon Timothy Grace reflects on Christ's healing of the man born blind alongside the story of Paul and Silas in prison and the life of Abba Anastasios. He explores God's apophatic nature, the call to trust his hidden work in our own darkness, and how this freedom can lead us to wonderworking acts of grace in the world.
The Well, the Witness, and the Worldwide Mission
In this sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Pascha, Fr. Geoff Harvey reflects on the encounter between Christ and St. Photini at the well of Samaria, drawing together the Gospel of John and the Acts of the Apostles. Under three headings — the well, the witness, and the worldwide mission — he explores how Christ meets us in our weakness, how transformed people naturally proclaim Christ, and how one encounter at a well can overflow into a missionary church that reaches the whole world through the power of multiplication.
