Today's Sermon in a Nutshell:

Today's Sermon in a Nutshell:

Just a week ago we were all glued to the news as so many vessels frantically raced to find and rescue the passengers on that missing mini-sub. Sadly, we learned the horrific truth that the sub had imploded: compressed and crushed by the immense pressure of the ocean.

Although not in the same way, everyone knows the feeling of pressure, that experience of being pressed down upon from all sides until we feel we cannot take it anymore. The pressures of stress, anxiety, worry, and fear…socio-economic pressures, as well as the pressure of simply trying to maintain a rigid righteous life amidst an ever-compressing world of sinfulness. 

In his second letter to the Church in Corinth, St. Paul writes: “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.” (2nd Cor. 4:8-9)

Paul wrote this to remind all Christians that no matter the pressures put upon us, or the tribulations that come our way, we will be able to survive them because we have the strength of Christ for support; protecting us and keeping us safe. And given the status of the world we live in, that is good news indeed!

Fr. John