St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church - Selected Sunday Sermons

Selected Scripture Readings

October 26, 2025 - Feast of Christ the King

Epistle: Colossians. (1: 12 - 20)

Brothers and Sisters! Give thanks to the Father for having made you worthy to share the lot of the saints in light. He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. Through him we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creatures. In him everything in heaven and on earth was created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations, principalities or powers; all were created through him, and for him. He is before all else that is. In him everything continues in being. It is he who is head of the body, the church; he who is the beginning, the first-born of the dead, so that primacy may be his in everything. It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him and by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person both on earth and in the heavens, making peace through the blood of his cross.

Gospel: John (18: 33 - 37)

At that time, Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked him. Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or have others been telling you about me?” “I am no Jew!” Pilate retorted. “It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my subjects would be fighting to save me from being handed over to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom is not here.” At this Pilate said to him, “So, then, you are a king?” Jesus replied: “It is you who say I am a king. The reason I was born, the reason why I came into the world is to testify to the truth. Anyone committed to the truth hears my voice.”

November 2, 21st Sunday after Pentecost

EPISTLE: Galatians. (2: 16 - 20)

Brothers and Sisters! Knowing that a man is not justified by legal observance but by faith in Jesus Christ, we too have believed in him in order to be justified by faith in Christ, not by observance of the law; for by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we are shown to be sinners does that mean that Christ is encouraging sin? Unthinkable! If, however, I were to build up the very things I had demolished, I should then indeed be a transgressor. It was through the law that I died to the law, to live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Gospel: Luke 8: 5 - 15

The Lord told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow some seed. In the sowing, some fell on the footpath where it was walked on and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, sprouted up, then withered through lack of moisture. Some fell among briers, and the thorns growing up with it stifled it. But some fell on good soil, grew up, and yielded grain a hundredfold.’’ As he said this he exclaimed: “Let everyone who has ears attend to what he has heard.’’ His disciples began asking him what the meaning of this parable might be. He replied, “To you the mysteries of the reign of God have been confided, but to the rest in parables that, seeing they may not perceive, and hearing they may not understand. This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those on the footpath are people who hear, but the devil comes and takes the word out of their hearts lest they believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear the word, receive it for a while, but fall away in time of temptation. The seed fallen among the briers are those who hear, but their progress is stifled by the cares and riches and pleasures of life and they do not mature. The seed on good ground are those who hear the word in a spirit of openness, retain it, and bear fruit through perseverance.’’

November 9, 2025 - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

Epistle: Galatians. (6: 11 - 18)

Brothers and Sisters! See, I write to you in my own large handwriting! Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised are making a play for human approval --- with an eye to escaping persecution for the cross of Christ. The very ones who accept circumcision do not follow the law themselves. They want you to be circumcised only that they may boast about your bodily observance. May I never boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through it, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. It means nothing whether one is circumcised or not. All that matters is that one is created anew. Peace and mercy on all who follow this rule of life, and on the Israel of God. Henceforth, let no man trouble me, for I bear the brand marks of Jesus in my body. Brothers, may the favour of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Gospel: Luke 16: 19 - 31

The Lord told this parable: “Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and linen and feasted splendidly every day. At his gate lay a beggar named Lazarus who was covered with sores. Lazarus longed to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. The dogs even came and licked his sores. Eventually the beggar died. He was carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man likewise died and was buried. From the abode of the dead where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus resting in his bosom. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to refresh my tongue, for I am tortured in these flames.’ ‘My child,’ replied Abraham, ‘remember that you were well off in your lifetime, while Lazarus was in misery. Now he has found consolation here, but you have found torment. And that is not all. Between you and us there is fixed a great abyss, so that those who might wish to cross from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross from your side to us.’ ‘Father, I ask you, then,’ the rich man said, ‘send him to my father’s house where I have five brothers. Let him be a warning to them so that they may not end in this place of torment.’ Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.’ ‘No, Father Abraham,’ replied the rich man, ‘But if someone would only go to them from the dead, then they would repent.’ Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if one should rise from the dead.’ “

November 26, 2025 - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

EPISTLE: Ephesians. (2: 4 - 10)

Brothers and Sisters! God is rich in mercy; because of his great love for us he brought us to life with Christ when we were dead in sin. By this favor you were saved. Both with and in Christ Jesus he raised us up and gave us a place in the heavens, that in ages to come he might display his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. I repeat, it is owing to his favor that salvation is yours through faith. This is not your own doing, it is God’s gift; neither is it a reward for anything you have accomplished, so let no one pride himself on it. We are truly his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to lead the life of good deeds which God prepared for us in advance.

Gospel: Luke 8: 26 - 39

At that time, Jesus came into the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When he came to land, he was met by a man from the town who was possessed by demons. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, he did not live in a house, but among the tombstones. On seeing Jesus he began to shriek; then he fell at his feet and exclaimed at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of God Most High, why do you meddle with me? Do not torment me, I beg you.” By now Jesus was ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man, This spirit had taken hold of him many a time. The man used to be tied with chains and fetters, but he would break his bonds and the demon would drive him into places of solitude. “What is your name?” Jesus demanded. “Legion,” he answered, because the demons who had entered him were many. They pleaded with him not to order them back to the abyss. It happened that a large herd of swine was feeding nearby on the hillside, and the demons asked him to permit them to enter the swine. This he granted. The demons then came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd charged down the bluff into the lake, where they drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they took to their heels and brought the news to the town and country roundabout. The people went out to see for themselves what had happened. Coming on Jesus, they found the man from whom the devils had departed sitting at his feet dressed and in his full senses; this sight terrified them. They were told by witnesses how the possessed man had been cured. Shortly afterward, the entire population of the Gerasene territory asked Jesus to leave their neighborhood, for a great fear had seized them; so he got into the boat and went back across the lake. The man from whom the devils had departed asked to come with him, but he sent him away with the words, “Go back home and recount all that God has done for you.” The man went all through the town making public what Jesus had done for him.