Audio Sermons

Sermon: The Shock of Holiness

St. Mary of Egypt

Here is the link to listen to the hymns, readings, and sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, 2008:
http://www.archive.org/details/ShockedByHoliness. On this Sunday we commemorate Saint Mary of Egypt. The sermon is by the Priest David Thatcher, the Rector of the Merced mission parish.

(The link will

lead you off this website, to the host site of my sermons.) 

To see the special texts for this Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, please follow the links for the readings and hymns.

Horizons of the Cross

Here is the link to listen to the hymns, readings, and my sermon for the Sunday of the Cross, 2008:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheHorizonsOfTheCross.
(The link will lead you off this website, to the host site of my sermons.) The Sunday of the Cross comes at the mid-point of Orthodox Great Lent, the third Sunday of the Fast.

To see the special texts for the Sunday of the Cross, please follow the links for the hymns and readings.

Lent: a time to return from spiritual exile

PLEASE NOTE: I have corrected the (original) upload of my sermon, as my first attempt was not successful. I have given the sermon a new name, as I could not edit or delete the first posting of this sermon. My apologies for any confusion. Please use the (new) link below.

Here are the hymnody, readings, and sermon for the last Sunday of the Pre-Lenten season: Forgiveness Sunday, the name reflecting the day's appointed Gospel, wherein our Lord commands us to forgive, if we desire to be forgiven.

Follow the link to listen to our worship and God's Word (it will take you to another website, which hosts our audio ministry): http://www.archive.org/details/AreYouReady

To see the texts for the Scripture readings of the day, please click here for the APPOINTED EPISTLE (Romans 13:11-14:4). Please click here for the APPOINTED GOSPEL (Matthew 6:14-21). To see the texts of the hymnody of the day, please click HERE.

Orthodox Icon of the Last Judgment

The Third Sunday of our Lenten liturgical book, The Lenten Triodion, names this as the Sunday of "the Last Judgment." This is still the pre-lenten season -- the next to the last Sunday before the Great Fast begins. The name of the day is from the appointed Gospel reading, from Matthew (25:31-46); Jesus uses the image of "sheep and goats" that are separated by the shepherd at the end of the day in ancient Palestine. God's going to sort things out, in the end, and the criterion is His love. The epistle reading is I Corinthians 8:8-9:2. The website at the Orthodox Church in America has the hymnody, etc., for the day.

Please click the following hyperlink label to hear my Sermon for the Sunday of the Last Judgment.

May God richly bless you.

In Christ,
Father David ThatcherSaint Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church
Merced, CA

Rembrant's Drawing of the Prodigal Son

Well, we're finally back on track (so to speak) for uploading the recordings from our mission parish's Divine Liturgy -- in particular, the sermon, along with the hymnody and readings for the day. I fell off recording and producing these sermons for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the time that it requires. Please let me know if these recordings are something you find worthwhile.

This is second Sunday of the Pre-Lenten season, with the focus on the Gospel of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, from Luke chapter 15. You may find the recordings at the following site: http://www.archive.org/details/TheDiscomfortingComfortOfRepentance

God bless you!

Father David

The Temple, the Spirit, & Our Worship

The working title for this sermon is "The Temple, the Spirit, & our Worship."
Please click on the following hyperlink for

Father David's sermon for Sunday, November 25, 2007.

The commemorations and readings for this Sunday were the following:

• The 26th Sunday After Pentecost for the Epistle (Ephesians 5:9-19)


• The 10th Gospel of Luke (13:10-17)(Hebrews 9:1-7 and Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28)


• Tone 1 in the Resurrection Cycle (for the Prokeimenon)


• The Leavetaking ("final day") of the postfeast season for the Great Feast of The Entrance of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, into the Temple


• Saints: The Hieromartyrs Clement, Pope of Rome, and Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria

In the recording, I have included (1) the singing of the appointed hymns for the day; (2) the chanting of the readings, including the Prokeimena, Epistle, Alleluiarion, and Gospel; and (3) the sermon itself.

God bless you. Please don't be hesitant to post your comments, positive or not, either on this blog or in the review area of the website where my sermons are located. Thank you.

Love,
Father David

The following link is for the sermon Father David preached on Sunday, November 18, 2007:

http://www.archive.org/details/PrisonersOfTheLord

The "title" of the sermon is "Prisoners of the Lord." St. Paul uses this phrase to describe himself as he entreats the Ephesian Christians to fufill "worthily" the calling" to which they have been called. It's a funny way to describe oneself, considering Paul was in a Roman prison, and speaks volumes about how we should see ourselves in the throes of our lives as Christians.

It was the 25th Sunday After Pentecost for the Epistle (Ephesians 4:1-6), and the 9th Gospel of St. Luke (Luke 12:16-21). We sang Resurrection Tone 8. The main saints for the day were the Martyrs Plato and Romanus.

Please click on this hyperlink for

Father David's sermon for Sunday, November 4, 2007.

This commemorations and readings for this Sunday was the following:

• Tone 6 in the Resurrection Cycle (for the Prokeimenon)
• The 23rd Sunday After Pentecost for the Epistle (Ephesians 2:4-10)
• The 7th Gospel of Luke (Luke 8:41-56)
• Saint: Ven. Joannikios the Great. Hieromartyrs Nicander & Hermes the Presbyter

I apologize for the interruption in the postings of sermons. Due to technical difficulties, the recordings were lost or never made.

God bless you. Please don't be hesitant to post your comments, positive or not, either on this blog or in the review area of the website where my sermons are located. Thank you.

Love,
Father David

An audio sermon by Father David for Sunday, October 14, 2007 that may be found at

http://www.archive.org/details/TheImageOfGodRevealed.

This was the 20th Sunday After Pentecost and 4th Gospel of Luke. On this day we commemorate the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council, in 787 AD. The Scripture passages are Galatians 1:11-19 & Hebrews 13:7 16 for the Epistle readings, and Luke 8:5-15 & John 17:1-13 for the Gospels. Preached at St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church in Merced, CA.

To receive is to remember

Here are the readings and sermon for Sunday, October 7, 2007, entitled "The Remembering Community." I've also added the singing of "Many Years" to our newly enthroned Bishop, His Grace, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin of San Francisco and the West, along with prayers for Fred, Leah, and Allison Elizabeth on the occasion of their birthdays.

The Scripture readings for this Sunday are 2 Corinthians 11.31-12.9 and Luke 7.11-16.

God bless you!

Love,
Father David

This is a holy image ("icon") that is a type of the Holy Trinity (which if itself, of course, cannot be pictured). It is based on Genesis chapter 18, and is called the "hospitality of Abraham." It is very commonly found in Orthodox church temples.

The Scripture passages for the day are the following: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (for the 18th Sunday After Pentecost) and Luke 6:31-36 (from the 2nd Sunday of Luke).

God bless you this week!

Love,
Father David

I have corrected the error in this Sunday's audio recording, and posted anew. Please click on the following hyperlink to listen to the corrected version of the music, readings, and sermon by Father David Thatcher for the 17th Sunday After Pentecost, 2007. In the addition to the regular Sunday commemorations, we also celebrated on this day the Conception of St. John the Baptist.

The Readings for the day were as follows. For the Epistle readings, there were 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 (17th Sun. Pentecost) and Galatians 4:22-31 (Conception of the Forerunner). For the Gospel readings, we had Luke 5:1-11 (for the 1st Sunday of Luke [the so-called "Lucan Jump" always in late September]) as well as Luke 1:5-25 (for the Conception of the Forerunner).

I apologize for the problems; I suspected there was something going on, but thought that I had caught it! It's the ol' "Jack of all trades, master of none" syndrome. God bless you!

Father David

Here are the readings and sermon from Sunday, September 16, 2007 in mp3 format:

http://www.archive.org/details/Sermon.2007.Pent16.Sun-After-Cross

It was the 16th Sunday After Pentecost, with commemoration for the Sunday After the Exaltation of the Cross.

The Epistle readings were Galatians 2:16-20 and 2 Corinthians 6:1-10.

The Gospel readings were Mark 8:34-9:1 and Matthew 25:14-30.

Here are the readings and sermon from Sunday, in mp3 format: http://www.archive.org/details/Sermon.2007.Pent15.Sun-Before-Cross

It was the 15th Sunday After Pentecost, with commemorations for the postfeast of the Birth of the Theotokos, together with the Sunday Before the Exaltation of the Cross.

The Epistle readings were Galatians 6:18-23 and 2 Corinthians 4:6-the end of the chapter.

The Gospel readings were John 3:13-17 and Matthew 22:35-46.

Here is a more recent sermon -- one that I preached on Sunday, July 1, 2007, the 5th Sunday After Pentecost. The Gospel is from St. Matthew, and is about Jesus' triumph over the evil spiritual powers of This Age/World. The recording begins with the chanting of Psalm verses and refrain, then the Epistle reading (from the Romans); then there is the Alleluia verses and refrain and the Gospel reading. Then the sermon. The address, in case the link doesn't work, is http://www.archive.org/details/Sermon.2007.Pentecost5thSundayAfter

Reminder: we are doing it this way, because we have having technical troubles with the "Audio" program presently embedded in this website (see upper right hand of website banner).

God bless you!

In Christ,
Father David