Telling The Story

Hi, welcome to "Telling the Story." I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's "Telling the Story" is inspired by the gospel reading for the fourteenth Sunday of Luke, found in St. Luke's gospel chapter 18 and verses 35-43, the story of the Blind Man healed on the road to Jericho. I try to tell this story from the perspective of the blind man, and I add a part to the story about something the healed man wanted to do before following the Lord. Today's "Telling the Story" is entitled "A Little Revenge."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story. I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for the thirteenth Sunday of Luke, found in St. Luke's gospel chapter 18 and verses 18-27, the story of the Rich Young Man who walked away from Jesus when our Lord said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." I wonder, where did this young man go? Perhaps he went to find another, less demanding prophet to follow. Today's Telling the Story is entitled "The Pliable Prophet."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story. I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for the ninth Sunday of Luke, found in St. Luke's gospel chapter 12 and verses 16-21, the story of the Foolish Rich Man. I set this story in a contemporary context, the story of a self-made businesswoman named Maria. Today's Telling the Story is entitled "Set for Life."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story. I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for the eighth Sunday of Luke, found in St. Luke's gospel chapter 10 and verses 25-37, the story of the Good Samaritan. I imagine what it would be like to hear this story told in a contemporary context, and so today's Telling the Story is entitled "Scott and the Samaritans."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for the fifth Sunday of Luke, found in St. Luke's gospel chapter 16, and verses 19-31. This is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Being a dog lover makes me wonder how the dogs who licked Lazarus' sores would tell the story, so today's Telling the Story is entitled "Lazarus' Dogs."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for the seventh Sunday of Luke, found in St. Luke's gospel chapter 8, and verses 41-56. This is the story of the raising of Jairus' daughter, but also includes the story of the woman who had suffered an interminable flow of blood for twelve years who was healed by touching the hem of Jesus' garment, and so today's Telling the Story is simply entitled "Touch."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the Sunday gospel reading for the 6th Sunday of Luke, which is taken from St. Luke's 8th chapter and verses 26-39, the Healing of the Gadarene Demoniac. Today I give one of the pigs who ran down the steep bank and drowned in the sea a chance to tell his story. Today's Telling the Story is entitled, "Pigs."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for the Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, taken from St. Luke's gospel chapter 8 and verse 5-15, known as the parable of the Sower and the Seed. Today's Telling the Story is a lighthearted look at the relationships between the different kinds of soil, and is entitled "Mediation Agreement."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel for the third Sunday of Luke, found in St Luke's gospel chapel 7 and verses 11 -16. This gospel describes the miracle of the raising from the dead of the widow's son just outside the village of Nain. The boy spoke as soon as our Lord brought him back from the dead, which made me ask the question: what was he saying? Today's Telling the Story is entitled "Eternity."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Luke, St. Luke's gospel chapter 6 and verses 31 through 36. Today I picture in my mind the thoughts that Judas had when he heard the words of our Savior, "your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish." A man like Judas may well have been insulted by those words. Today's Telling the Story is entitled, "Judas, Ranting."

Hi Welcome to Telling the Story I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's telling the story is inspired by the gospel for the first Sunday of Luke, which comes from St. Luke's 5th chapter, verses 1 - 11, the story of Jesus calling the fishermen to follow Him. I asked myself: what would it have been like to see this miracle take place? The title of today's Telling the Story is "Nets."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for the Sunday after the Holy Cross, St. Mark's gospel, chapter 8 verse 34 through chapter 9 verse 1. This is the passage that talks about us bearing our crosses, and made me think of all the ways that this happens in our lives. Today's Telling the Story is entitled "Forgetting."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, which falls on a Sunday this year. Her birth is truly the beginning of our salvation! But I've always been intrigued by the appearance in the Divine Liturgy itself of the name of one of the ancient Greek goddesses - the word does not refer to the goddess, it's there because in modern Greek the word means need, compulsion, or necessity. I wonder - what would this non-existent goddess say to try and gain followers today in our present culture? Today's Telling the Story is entitled "Ananke."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel for the Indiction - that is, the Ecclesiastical New Year - from St. Luke's gospel (4:16-22). In that gospel, our Lord announces His Messiahship by quoting from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 61. I wonder what was going through Isaiah's mind when he received these words from God, and how he imagined that they would be used in the future? Today's Telling the Story is entitled "The Acceptable Year."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel reading for 9th Sunday of Matthew, St. Matthew's gospel chapter 14, verses 22 - 34, the story of our Lord Jesus (and briefly, St. Peter) walking on the water. I wonder what St. Peter was thinking about that incident when the boat finally made it to the shore? Today's Telling the Story is entitled "Why Did I Do That?"

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host, Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the 8th Sunday of Matthew, St. Matthew 14:14-22, it's the feeding of the 5000. I invite you to go into the mind of St. Matthew with me as he finds himself in a large group of hungry people, and he's the only one who thought to bring food. Today's Telling the Story is titled, "Matthew."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host, Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel of the 7th Sunday of Matthew, St. Matthew 9:27-35, the story of the two men healed of their blindness by our Lord. Every time I read this, I wonder: why did Jesus instruct the healed men to tell no one about the miracle? Today's Telling the Story is entitled "Two Healed Men."

Welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel for the 6th Sunday of Matthew, that's St. Matthew 9:1-8. In this story, it sounds like our Lord is saying that two different phrases say the same thing. Imagine that someone in the crowd wondered about that, even for the rest of his life. Today's Telling the Story is entitled, "Grammar."

Hi, welcome to Telling the Story, I'm your host Fr. David Smith. Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel of the 5th Sunday of Matthew, St. Matthew's story of the Gergesene Demoniacs. Sometimes when I read this story, I wonder - what leader of that community had the task of telling our Lord that He was not welcome, that He should leave? Today's Telling the Story is titled "The Mayor of Kursi."

Today's Telling the Story is inspired by two of the healing stories in St. Matthew's gospel, chapter 8 - the leper and the Centurion's servant. I imagine a third healing before Jesus arrives at St. Peter's home - a lame man. Today's Telling the Story is entitled "Dust."

Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the Sunday of the Fathers of the 4th Ecumenical Council, the one held in Chalcedon in 421. We know that military guards watched over the tomb of St. Euphemia at the time a miracle took place there, and this week's Telling the Story imagines what it would be like to hear one of the guards tell what he saw there. Today's Telling the Story is entitled "St. Euphemia's Tomb."

Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the gospel for the second Sunday of Matthew, the calling of four disciples, the brothers James and John, and the brothers Peter and Andrew. The title of today's Telling the Story is "Zebedee."

Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the Sunday of All Saints, the Sunday after Pentecost. What would it be like to interview one of the many unnamed saints who dwell in God's heavenly kingdom right now?

Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the great day of Pentecost and the important point that the apostles first proclaimed the message at the temple in Jerusalem.

Today's story describes a miracle that rescued one of the early church fathers from persecution and arrest, told by a spider who saw everything.

In the story of the Blind Man from John chapter 9, which the Church designates for the 5th Sunday after Pascha, after the man is healed it almost seems as if Jesus abandons him as he faces opposition to his healing. Today's Telling the Story lightheartedly recalls a time when I experienced something similar.

The woman that Jesus met at the well in Sychar walked to the well with turmoil on her mind and heart. Today's Telling the Story imagines what her thoughts might have been, inspired by this Sunday's reading from the 4th chapter of St. John's gospel.

Today's Telling the Story is inspired by the ominous last line of the gospel reading, picturing the healed man betraying Jesus to the religious authorities and participating in the Lord's trial.

Many years after the resurrection, one of the Myrrhbearing Women questions the reality of what she witnessed that morning.

In today's episode, Fr. David reflects on Thomas' experience of the ten days following Jesus' arrest.

Today's Telling the Story, inspired by Pascha the feast of feasts, focuses on the resplendent emptiness of the empty tomb.

In today’s episode of Telling the Story, Fr. David reflects on the Feast of Palm Sunday in the voice of the donkey who carried the Lord into Jerusalem.

In today’s episode of Telling the Story, Fr. David imagines what St. Mary of Egypt’s angel might have to tell us about Mary’s life.

In today’s episode of Telling the Story, Fr. David, inspired by the commemoration of the Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus, wonders if there might be another ladder as well.

Fr. David Smith shares a story for the Sunday of the Holy Cross. The Scripture reading is Mark 8:34-9:1.

Fr. David Smith shares the story of St. Gregory Palamas. The scripture reading is Mark 2:1-12.

The Icon Procession written for the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Gospel reading John 1: 43-51