St. Paul American Coptic Orthodox Church Podcast - Sermon
Jun 28, 2026 · 28 min · 10 segments
Fr. Kyrillos Ibrahim - Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Paoni. The greatest spiritual danger isn't demonic possession, but the gradual resistance of the Holy Spirit through sin, negligence, and…
So in the gospel today, we see, uh, a sort of dramatic scene of a demon-possessed man, and of course, uh, it's frightening just to even, uh, read about such a scene.
Um, and perhaps some of you have even encountered, uh, someone who was, uh, under the, the power of a, of a demon and went through an exorcism.
Uh, these things are, are, are often common in, in, in places in Egypt where still places things like magic and sorcery and things are practiced.
And in many other places in the world, um, this kind of reality is, is still very much a, a prevalent experience among the people of God that they, um, see that, uh, when we open ourselves up to the demonic, to the work of Satan, that it can reach the point of even a demon possessing the physical body of a person.
And yet, as dramatic as that scene is, and as frightening as it might be, and as, as beautiful of a miracle as it is to release one from such a power, um, this isn't really the greatest danger that our Lord points out in the gospel today.
There are, um, there is a, a greater danger which is sort of, uh, seen through those in the scene today who are not necessarily physically possessed by a demon, but who have resisted the work of God in their life, who have slowly been degraded in their relationship with God, that they don't even perceive, they don't even see the great danger that they're in.
I mean, God forbid that any one of us ever experience, uh, ourselves or somebody that we know or love to be possessed by a demonic spirit.
But all of us have to be careful of a greater danger, which is that subtle resistance of the spirit, the negligence of God's work in our life, and the, um, and the lukewarmness that sets in.
So in the gospel today, we see, uh, a sort of dramatic scene of a demon-possessed man, and of course, uh, it's frightening just to even, uh, read about such a scene.
Um, and perhaps some of you have even encountered, uh, someone who was, uh, under the, the power of a, of a demon and went through an exorcism.
Uh, these things are, are, are often common in, in, in places in Egypt where still places things like magic and sorcery and things are practiced.
And in many other places in the world, um, this kind of reality is, is still very much a, a prevalent experience among the people of God that they, um, see that, uh, when we open ourselves up to the demonic, to the work of Satan, that it can reach the point of even a demon possessing the physical body of a person.
And yet, as dramatic as that scene is, and as frightening as it might be, and as, as beautiful of a miracle as it is to release one from such a power, um, this isn't really the greatest danger that our Lord points out in the gospel today.
There are, um, there is a, a greater danger which is sort of, uh, seen through those in the scene today who are not necessarily physically possessed by a demon, but who have resisted the work of God in their life, who have slowly been degraded in their relationship with God, that they don't even perceive, they don't even see the great danger that they're in.
I mean, God forbid that any one of us ever experience, uh, ourselves or somebody that we know or love to be possessed by a demonic spirit.
But all of us have to be careful of a greater danger, which is that subtle resistance of the spirit, the negligence of God's work in our life, and the, um, and the lukewarmness that sets in.
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