Become Orthodox Podcast: Recent Episodes
St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
The mission of this church is to serve those English-speaking Coptic individuals and families, as well as serve those who have converted to Coptic Christianity by offering only English and Coptic service. By God’s hand, we strive for an organized and thriving church that will nurture a sense of fellowship within its congregation, and focus on raising its youth with diligence, so that future generations may understand and fully appreciate the beauty of the holy sacraments and enjoy an intimate relationship with God.
Ondos - Coptic Hymn for the Apostles’ Fast by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Homily given by Father Moses Samaan on the second Sunday of the holy 50 days. April 30, 2023.
Fraction for Covenant Thursday - Fr. Moses Samaan by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Michael Samy delivers the word of the Holy Spirit on the eve of Friday. April 13, 2023.
Homily from Subdeacon Neil Bishay on the Eve of Thursday of the Holy Week of Pascha. April 12, 2023.
Fr. Moses Samaan gives us the word of The Holy Spirit on the day of Palm Sunday. Sunday April 9, 2023.
Fr. Moses Samaan gives a homily about the paralytic man and what we can learn from his story on the fifth Sunday of Lent. March 26, 2023.
Michael Samy gives his homily about the importance of the cross on the feast of the cross. Sunday March 19, 2023.
A sermon given by Fr. Moses Samaan at St Gregor OC about the Prodigal Son on the 3rd Sunday of Kiahk. March 12, 2023.
How to deal with spiritual warfare - a homily given by Neil Bishoy at St Gregory OC. March 3, 2023.
Homily given by Angelo Mishriki about the readings during the commemoration of Archangel Michael on February 19, 2023.
Homily on St. Gregory the Theologian by His Eminence Metropolitan Serapion on October 4, 2022
Holy and Divine Liturgy on the Second Sunday of Kiahk 2021 by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Fr. Moses reflects on some perhaps forgotten aspects of the Nativity Fast, which is known in the West as "Advent."
Bright Saturday: Psalm 151 (Anok Pe Pigouji) by Andrew Ibrahim by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
In the gospel reading we just heard, the gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast (Lent), the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, we hear the Samaritan woman telling our Lord Jesus Christ that the well is deep. Her words here are a prophecy concerning the depth and beauty of her story. This is a fantastic story that we could speak about for days on end. It is truly a deep well of living water.
In this 54th installment of the Orthodox Bible Study from St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church, Fr. Moses begins Genesis 32 with the Holy Patriarch Jacob having just made a covenant with his father-in-law, Laban, and now meeting angels of God and even wrestling with a "Man"...
If you haven't caught up with our Orthodox Bible Study, please check out our playlist with all the current videos.
Our Lord teaches us how we should begin this journey: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Mt 6:6). This is the beginning of our journey of the Great Lent. We must go into our secret rooms–or our closets as some translations say–and pray earnestly to our Father in heaven.
Why did the Lord choose Jonah in light of his disobedience? A reflection for the Fast of Jonah/the Ninevites 2021.
Tonight, with God’s grace, we are going to begin at Genesis 29:31 and continue studying the life of the Holy Patriarch Jacob who is now newly married not only to one, but two wives...
Homily on the Parable of the Sower (Lk 8:4-15) by His Eminence Metropolitan Serapion (Sunday, November 15, 2020)
Our Savior entered a city in southern Galilee called Nain with His disciples and a great multitude. At this point, we see a stark contrast: on the one hand, a great crowd is entering the city joyfully with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Life of the World, at its center; on the other hand, another great crowd is leaving the city with sadness and mourning with a dead man at its center.
What does it mean?
There was a certain monk who was negligent in his life, not paying any attention to his soul. Instead, like so many people, he lived day by day for the cares of this world...
Now, if we could summarize this reading with one word, it would undoubtedly be “Woe,” W-O-E. This word is a type of exclamation that oftentimes expresses sadness, pain, or even a curse in the Old and New Testaments...
When faced with a divided nation and various problems throughout the Church, what are we to do?
One day, our Lord Jesus Christ stood by the lake of Gennesaret, which is at the west of the Sea of Galilee, and saw two boats standing by the lake. Outside these boats, the fishermen were cleaning their nets. They had worked all night to catch fish, but had caught nothing, and now, it was morning, and all they could do was clean their nets. Our Savior, seeing this sad scene before Him, entered one of the boats, the boat belonging to Simon Peter, and spoke to the multitudes from the boat. When He finished, our Lord told Peter, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Lk 5:4). Even though it was an illogical request, Peter trusted and obeyed the Lord and we all know what happened next. they caught such a great number of fish that they had to call in other fishing boats to help them carry it all. After this great miracle, Peter fell down at our Lord’s feet and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Lk 5:8). In response, our Lord told him, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men” (Lk 5:10).
Homily on the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Lk 16:1-12)
People have historically struggled to understand the meaning of this parable, because the unjust steward’s actions were, well, unjust. So, what does it mean?
In this recording from 2009, Fr. Moses meditates on the history of the Holy Cross and where its pieces are today.
Fr. Moses discusses the wretched man in Matthew 12 who was blind, mute, and confused while asking whether we've been deceived into being like him.
Recordings from the Great Feast of Pentecost 2020 at St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Fr. Moses Samaan explores the theme of love and union in the story of the Samaritan Woman
Fr. Moses meditates on the shortest verse in the Holy Scripture and what it teaches us, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fr. Moses examines two ways in which the Samaritan Woman was ruled by anxiety and how she ultimately overcame it through her encounter with Christ.
Fr. Moses speaks about the virtue of gentleness, how our Lord Jesus Christ modeled it in the story of the woman caught in adultery, and how we can acquire this virtue.
A meditation for the 29th of the Coptic month, which commemorates our Lord Jesus Christ's Annunciation, Nativity, and Resurrection, by Fr. Moses Samaan
A papal message written by St. Pope Kyrillos VI to Coptic Orthodox faithful who emigrated out of Egypt shortly before his blessed departure.
Carrying The Cross With St John Chrysostom by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
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Flight of Hagar and her discussion with the Angel of the Lord
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God Reiterates the Promises to Abram
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Abram and Sarai get new names
Our Lord Jesus Christ used parables to relay divine truth to us. In the same way, our Mother, the Holy Church, continues to nourish us with stories as we progress towards the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Abram refuses to accept a reward from the king of Sodom
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Abram's Faithfulness
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Sarai's Barrenness and Her Plan
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Five parallels between Abram/Sarai in Egypt and Moses/Hebrews in Egypt
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Abram and Lot's Dispute
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The Salvation of Lot
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The Mysterious Figure of Melchizedek
Holy Theotokos as the Mother of Sorrows (Fr. Moses Samaan) by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Homily on St. Panteleimon the Unmercenary Healer and the Orthodox Understanding of Sickness and Healing
Spiritual Growth of a Servant by H.E. Metropolitan Serapion (April 2016) by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Holy Gospel for the Feast of the Nativity by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
In this Gospel reading, we encounter a dialogue between our Lord Jesus Christ and a young man who was rich. The dialogue begins with the young man asking our Savior, “Good Lord, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Our Lord responded to him and listed all of the commandments that lead to life: “‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” (Mk 10:19) The man then told the Lord that he had done all of these things since he was young. Our Lord then looked upon him with love and told him: “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me” (Mk 10:21) Not being able to give up his earthly possessions and riches, the young man left sorrowfully and did not follow the Lord.
On The Healing Of The Demon - Possessed, Blind, And Mute Man by Metropolitan Serapion by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Orthodox Bible Study on Matthew Week 1 - Background, Characteristics, and Authorship Fr. Moses Samaan
The Holy Forerunner: Let us Prepare the Way for Christ! (Fr. Moses Samaan) by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Vigil of the Holy Theotokos 2017 at St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church, Orange County
Glory to our God Who has brought us together on this holy day, the Feast of Pentecost, the Fiftieth Day after the Feast of our Lord’s Resurrection. In this glorious Feast, we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Holy Apostles and the Church. For this reason, our Gospel reading this morning from John 15 and 16 spoke to us about the coming of the Holy Spirit, Who proceeds from the God the Father, and guides the faithful throughout their lives.
The great Orthodox scholar, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, began his diary entry for April 22, 1973 with these words: “Joy! How it flows out of these unique days, Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday.” Indeed, having just heard most of John 11, which recounted our Lord’s magnificent miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead after he had spent four days as an unbreathing, malodorous corpse, our hearts are full of joy, because this is the last and greatest sign of our Lord’s Resurrection from the dead.
On the Sixth Sunday of Pentecost, in our Gospel reading from John 16, we hear the sweet words of our Savior inviting us, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you… Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (Jn 16:23–24). With these words, my brothers and sisters, our Lord invites us to do something that should be at the very core of our Christian lives: our Lord is inviting us to pray.
Divine Liturgy on the Feast of Thomas Sunday 2017 by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Homily on the Feast of Thomas Sunday 2017 by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Homily on the Healing of the Man Born Blind February 5, 2017
Reflection Hearing Transformation
Forgiveness, Part 2: "How to Forgive" by Michael Salama.
Part 1 is NOT needed to benefit from this recording.
Homily on the Feast of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos (2017)
- Background
- The Death of the Holy Theotokos and our Death
- Death and Silence
Homily for the Feast of our Lord's First Miracle at the Wedding of Cana in Galilee 2017
Statement on the Barbaric Attack at the Coptic Cathedral of St. Mark 12/11/16 by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Holy and Divine Liturgy with Bishop Kyrillos (Nov. 20, 2016) by St. Gregory American Coptic Orthodox Church
Homily for the Second Sunday of Hatour delivered by His Grace Bishop Kyrillos, Auxiliary Bishop for Education in the Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California and Hawaii
The Parable of the Sower is about how people receive the Word of God in their hearts. A sower went out to spread his seed and some of the seed fell on the rod, some on the rock, some among the thorns, and some on good soil. The Sower, of course, is our Lord Jesus Christ and the Seed that is being sown is the Word of God. The different landing places of the seed represent an image of the hearts of people and the different ways in which they receive the Word of God.
Our Savior entered a city in southern Galilee called Nain with His disciples and a great multitude. At this time, another great crowd was leaving the city in a funeral procession for a young man, the only son of his widowed mother, who had recently died. When our Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her from the midst of the crowd, “Weep not,” and touched the open coffin so that those carrying it stood still. He then manifested His glorious Divinity to all by commanding the dead young man, “I say to you, arise.” This young man was raised from the dead in front of both great crowds and our Savior presented him back to his mother.
A certain man was brought to our Lord Jesus Christ; he was demon-possessed, blind, and mute. In other words, he could not see, he could not speak, and he could not even think clearly, because one or more demons had taken up their abode inside of him. Sadly, these senses that he needed for faith were entirely closed off. Our compassionate Savior, on seeing the condition of this man, had mercy and restored him to wholeness by casting out all sickness and evil spirits from him.
Homily on the Life of St. Gregory the Theologian by Fr. Gregory Bishay
Feast of St. Gregory 2016