Holy Nativity, Matins and Liturgy

In this sermon, Sub Dn. Timothy Grace explores the Orthodox understanding of suffering, distinguishing between the voluntary hardships we take on through the ascetic disciplines of the Church and the involuntary trials that come to us against our will. Drawing on the day's epistle and gospel readings, he shows how both kinds of suffering, when met with patience and the right attitude, can open the heart to the grace of God. He reminds us that the Church is the place where these two forms of suffering meet, and that even what feels like failure by the world's standards can become our victory in Christ.

In this sermon on the feeding of the five thousand, Daniel McInnes reads St Matthew's account alongside the fuller detail of St John's Gospel, where Christ tests the disciples with the question, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" Daniel draws out how God chooses to work through people who bring the little they have, how the miracle foreshadows the Eucharist, and how the same question — "What will you do?" — meets us in the needs we encounter every day.