Homily 674 – 35 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaFebruary 8, 2026Epistle: (135) 1 Corinthians 6:12-20Gospel: (79) Luke 15:11-32 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. This morning I want to talk for a minute about the Epistle reading. There are some things in the Epistle that hearing it read aloud you may not notice or realize.

Homily 673 – 34 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaFebruary 1, 2026Epistle: (296) 2 Timothy 3:10-15Gospel: (89) Luke 18:10-14 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me not to comment on events around us and the environment in which we live. But I recognize that any comment I would make would be somewhat divisive, with some cheering and some anger, regardless of what I said.

Homily 672 – 33 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaJanuary 25, 2026Epistle: (285-ctr) 1 Timothy 4:9-15 and (151) 1 Corinthians 12:7-11Gospel: (94) Luke 19:1-10 and (36) John 10:9-16 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. One of the many things that has always amazed me is the curiosity of Zacchaeus.

Homily 671 – 32 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaJanuary 18, 2026Epistle: (280-ctr) 1 Timothy 1:15-17Gospel: (93) Luke 18:35-43 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone accuse someone of being blind. Well, those who know I’m a baseball fan, or a hockey fan, may know.

Note: This homily was prepared for January 4 and also January 11, 2026, but was never delivered because of my illness and lack of voice. Homily 670 – 30 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaJanuary 4, 2026Epistle:  (298) 2 Timothy 4:5-8Gospel:  (1) Mark 1:1-8 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God.

Homily 668 – 27 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaDecember 14, 2025Epistle: (257) Colossians 3:4-11Gospel: (76) Luke 14:16-24 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. The Gospel this morning may give us an unexpected answer to a very common question. The question is straightforward. What do I need to do to be saved?

Homily 667 – 26 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaDecember 7, 2025Epistle: (229) Ephesians 5:9-19Gospel: (85) Luke 17:12-19 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. One of the more striking elements of the accounts of Christ’s interactions with people while He was in the world, we find that more often than not, it is the foreigner, the gentile, the non-Jew who provides the example for us.

This is homily #666 for me. And this Sunday we ended up cancelling services for a snowstorm. Perhaps superstitious, perhaps not, but either way, this is what I had planned to say if we had Church today. (Fr. Marty) Homily 666 – 25 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaNovember 30, 2025Epistle:  (224) Ephesians 4:1-6 and (131) 1 Corinthians  4:9-16…

Homily 665 – 24 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaNovember 23, 2025Epistle: (221) Ephesians 2:14-22 and (213) Galatians 5:22-6:2Gospel: (66) Luke 12:16-21 and (43) Matthew 11:27-30 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Why do we accumulate stuff? That is the question at the heart of the Gospel reading for today.

Homily 664 – 23 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaNovember 16, 2025Epistle: (220) Ephesians 2:4-10 and (131) 1 Corinthians 4:9-16Gospel: (53) Luke 10:25-37 and (30) Matthew 9:9-13 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. So this gets tricky. Christ takes a conversation, and in essence turns it on it’s head.

The Life of Our Fathers: An Introduction to the Bible in the Orthodox Church by Silviu N. Bunta My rating: 5 of 5 stars I suspect this may end up being the most important text on the place and role of Scripture in my lifetime. Fr. Silviu has done an absolutely amazing task in recovering the role that Scripture played in the early Christian Church, and the role it should continue to play today, as not something to be studied, but something to be lived.

Homily 663 – 22 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaNovember 9, 2025Epistle: (215) Galatians 6:11-18Gospel: (39) Luke 8:41-56 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. The account of the woman with the issue of blood, like everything in the Gospels, has so much in it that is instructive for us.

Homily 661 – 20 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaOctober 26, 2025Epistle: (331-ctr) Hebrews 12:6-13, 25-27 (Earthquake), (200) Galatians 1:11-19 (Resurrection), (292) 2 Timothy 2:1-10Gospel: (27) Matthew 8:23-27 (Earthquake), (83) Luke 16:19-31 (Resurrection), (52) John 15:17-16:25 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. I want to talk this morning about the importance of History.

Homily 660 – 19 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaOctober 19, 2025Epistle: (194) 2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9Gospel: (35) Luke 8:5-15 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. We spend a lot of time in Church talking about discipleship, and following Christ, and what Christ asks of us. Many times we discuss how God expects us to behave, or how He expects us to live – us, meaning all of us.

Homily 659 – 17 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaOctober 5, 2025Epistle: (182-ctr) 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1Gospel: (26) Luke 6:31-36 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Sometimes, we hear the first line of today’s gospel reading and we just stop for a moment. Such a pithy, meaty statement. We recognize it immediately – the Golden Rule.

Homily 658 – 16 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaSeptember 28, 2025Epistle: (181) 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 and (176) 2 Corinthians 4:6-15Gospel: (17) Luke 5:1-11 and (24) Luke 6:17-23 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Some days we feel like Simon Peter, don’t we. Maybe more Simon than Peter, if we’re honest.

Homily 657 – 15 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaSeptember 21, 2025Epistle: (203) Galatians 2:16-20 and (176) 2 Corinthians 4:6-15Gospel: (37) Mark 8:34-9:1 and (92) Matthew 22:35-46 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. A little liturgical trivia. Today is the leavetaking of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Homily 656 – 14 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaSeptember 14, 2025Epistle: (125) 1 Corinthians 1:18-24Gospel: (60) John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30-35 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Today we remember the finding, the uncovering, of the true Cross. It is a solemn day, a fast day, tempered by allowing fish and oil and wine, since it is on a Sunday.

Homily 655 – 13 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaSeptember 7, 2025Epistle: (215) Galatians 6:11-18 and (166) 1 Corinthians 16:13-24Gospel: (9) John 3:13-17 and (87) Matthew 21:33-42 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Are you ready? This Sunday, we are preparing for something – something important. The Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, which we celebrate formally next Sunday, but we start thinking about it today.

Homily 654 – 12 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaAugust 31, 2025Epistle: (158) 1 Corinthians 15:1-11Gospel: (79) Matthew 19:16-26 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God. In the account of the Rich Young Ruler, we should all probably see ourselves. And we should all probably be concerned about our fate as we hear the words of our Savior.

Homily 653 – 11 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaAugust 24, 2025Epistle: (141) 1 Corinthians 9:2-12Gospel: (77) Matthew 18:23-35 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God. You would think that being an accountant, I’d really know what to say about this lection from the Gospel. It is about a king wanting to settle accounts with his slaves.

Homily 651 – 9 APEHoly Transfiguration, Ames, IowaAugust 10, 2025Epistle: (128) 1 Corinthians 3:9-17Gospel: (59) Matthew 14:22-34 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God. Last week, we spoke a bit about faith being an obsession with Christ, and doubt being a distraction from Christ. This morning in the account of the Epileptic son, we are again confronted with this idea about faith and doubt.