Sermons and miscellaneous musings from St. John of Shanghai Orthodox Church in Vancouver, BC, Canada - mostly by Fr. Justin Hewlett.
We have betrayed the Image of God. Our only choice is whether we will be Judas or the sinful woman.… Read on
We need stories, and the story we need right now is that of St. Mary of Egypt.… Read on
St. Gregory demonstrates that we can know God, and that the pursuit of this knowledge is worth defending and dedicating our lives to.… Read on
The central realization, in Proverbs and Genesis and the Gospel, that wisdom and worship are what actually extend life and give it meaning… Read on
The old stories of Gideon and Barak and St. John Chrysostom remind us how we, as men and women of faith, understand history, especially including our own personal history.… Read on
We live on a knife edge. Evil is at the door. It is late – but not too late. There is light in the midst of darkness, a light which illumines, when we cry aloud, when all other lights have gone out.… Read on
The Great Canon equips us for the journey of repentance that is both Lent and life… Read on
Practical instructions from the Gospel and the Epistle readings given to us to consider as we embark on the great endeavour of Great Lent … Read on
A warning and an encouragement: We need to know both the judgement and the mercy and love of God.… Read on
Fr. Peter gave the best exegesis of the parable of the Prodigal Son that I've heard recently, so well worth listening to a little harder than usual (given the slightly poorer quality audio)!… Read on
The best way to get at the Church's understanding of the Feasts is to look at the Old Testament readings for that feast.… Read on
Abba Sisoës and the importance of understanding ourselves as “the chief of sinners”… Read on
Looking at some of the structure of Luke's Gospel to understand the importance of persistence in prayer and the nature of the Kingdom of God… Read on
What is the point of our diversity? How does speaking the truth in love make us one?… Read on
We know what we need to do; Christ in His baptism shows us how to do it.… Read on
The magi and the shepherds who were thereBeheld a wonder that we cannot share;Absent, as usual, will we never seeA revelation or epiphany?When will it be our turn in Bethlehem?… Read on
What shall we do to inherit eternal life?… Read on
St. Paul's conclusion and its context… Read on
Returning to that which ultimately unites: the Resurrection… Read on
A Christian approach to sexuality and judgement… Read on
How to love and leave judgement to the One who is ultimately qualified to judge, while still staying committed to the Truth… Read on
As we unite ourselves to our head, the Messiah, by serving to one another in love, we participate in His sacrifice and are grafted into His body, the race of the people of God… Read on
Saint Paul explains how God's provision for us has always made salvation possible for all: the word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart, so you can do it; Christ, the promised seed of Abraham, enables us to live in love as God calls us to.… Read on
Saint Paul's teachings about sin and slavery … Read on
Reader James blesses us with stories of Saint Columba and Saint Aiden … Read on
We are called to become the saints of North America… Read on
It is the Spirit of God which enables us to judge rightly, so our job, if we want to be truly rational, is to deny ourselves in order to acquire the Holy Spirit: to live and to love after the pattern of the Logos… Read on
Happy Father's Day and Happy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council Day!… Read on
Learning from our Lord how to communicate in our own era… Read on
Evil is out there. How do we resist and find the courage to face it?… Read on
God works in and through even our greatest evil and failures to bring about His resurrection life… Read on
How God, working with both those who are for us and those who are against us, teaches us not to fear, but to love… Read on
The best we have to offer, and the best that God has to offer… Read on
He who robes the setting sun in clouds of royal purple is robed by us in the purple of mockery; yet He prays from the cross for us, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'”… Read on
Do we think that we are broken or that God is?… Read on
”At the end of all things, we will be with God in glory, but in the meantime, we're waiting…”… Read on
Jerusalem's response to the chaos of the coming of Christ – and our own… Read on
How undertaking the work of the cross heals us… Read on
How we tend to respond to the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, and what that teaches us about ourselves and about repentance… Read on
What we know about the Last Judgement is scary, but, considering what's at stake, very good news!… Read on
How to live as we near the world's end… Read on
How do we actually assist one another? A homily reflecting on a conversation prompted by my Doxacon presentation on The Deaths of Arthur: http://podcast.stjohnofshanghai.org/TheDeathsOfArthur.m4a… Read on
Our Creator's care for the ordinary should inform our response to the cares and concerns of ordinary life… Read on
Understanding Paul's defence of justification by faith as a discussion between Jewish Christians… Read on
Today we honour that which our culture fails to appreciate: the world-changing significance of the humble faithfulness of Joachim and Anna in their respective roles.… Read on
Abba Isaac teaches us about prayer as a way of life with reference to the Transfiguration… Read on