March 29, 2020

Casting Out Our Demons
Through Prayer and Fasting

- Fr. Gregory Edwards Ph.D - Dean -


Today on the Fourth Sunday of Lent the Gospel lesson comes to us from Mark 9:17-31. Father Gregory shares with us how this New Testament reading echoes the Old Testament as well as how it applies in our lives today as we remember Saint John Climacus. This reading tells us about a man who approaches Jesus seeking healing for his son who has a demon. The man comes to Jesus after he had previously sought help from the disciples who failed to heal the boy, although they had been given power from Jesus to perform miracles. Jesus tells the father and us that "all things are possible to him who believes," and He heals the man's son. The disciples ask "why could we not cast it out?", Jesus responds that this kind can only be cast out through prayer and fasting, which are two disciplines Jesus Himself taught the disciples from the beginning of His ministry. The Saint remembered today is John Climacus who suggests thirty practical but disciplined steps to draw closer to God as we cultivate the Grace of God given to us in Baptism and remove our own inner demons.



The Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., was raised in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Orthodox Church while studying for his Bachelor's degree

307 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233 | Fr. Gregory Edwards, Dean | 205.716.3080

Photography Credits: Beth Hontzas - Music: Presbytera Katerina Makiej





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The Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., was raised in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Orthodox Church while studying for his Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies at Brown University. After completing a Master's Degree in the New Testament and early Christianity at Florida State University, he conducted doctoral studies in Greece at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, graduating summa cum laude in 2012. Ordained in 2007, he served parishes in Thessaloniki and Volos for 9 years. He and his wife Presvytera Pelagia lived in Greece from 2006-2016, where their four children were born. He has served as Assistant Professor of Missiology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in New York since 2014. Before coming to Birmingham in March 2019, Fr. Gregory served St. George Greek Orthodox Church in New Port Richey, FL from 2016-2019.