On August 27, the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal & Canada celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City, co-served by: cathedral dean Archpriest Andrei Sommer, Hieromonk Theognost (Kogan; cleric of Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack, NY), and Protodeacon Nicolas Mokhoff (cathedral cleric).

Singing at Liturgy was the Synodal choir under the direction of conductor Vadim S. Gan.

A large number of cathedral parishioners came to pray at the service, many of whom communed of Christ’s Holy Mysteries. Upon completion of Liturgy, Archbishop Gabriel addressed the faithful with a sermon on the Gospel reading of the rich young man, in which he said, in part:

"The Lord turns to His disciples and says that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And the apostles ask in surprise, ‘Who then can be saved?’. At that time, wealth was considered a blessing from God, and the Lord responds, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’

"We see in the example of this Gospel reading how the Lord lets us think about what is more important to us – following Christ or becoming attached to earthly things, because this Gospel passage does not only refer to wealth individuals. The Lord did not say that rich people will not be saved. He merely said that this is difficult, because more often than not a rich person is so attached to his or her wealth, to earthly things, that it becomes difficult to think about God, about the spiritual life and, most of all, about the Kingdom of Heaven. But there are rich and prosperous people who can use their wealth for good and righteous works. And they do are not so attached to their wealth that they become slaves of it. That is where sin lies, and that is the point of what the Lord is saying.

"In another place in the Gospel, the Lord says, ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you,’ that is, all the rest, all that is needful, God will give you. And when man thinks of earthly things, how he might be better off, more comfortable, then of course he cannot think on the spiritual.

"Entering into the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, let us remember her earthly life after the Lord ascended into heaven. As we know, the Mother of God thought about how she might depart sooner to be with her Divine Son. Few of us can say that we ask for Lord to depart this life sooner. Rather, man more often thinks about how he might prolong his life on earth. But the Most Holy Theotokos lived for the spiritual, and awaited the future life. Several days before her dormition, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she must prepare to depart for eternal life. She was not upset, but overjoyed, that the time had finally come for her to go on to eternal life. This must also be the most important thing for us, that we prepare, that we not forget God, and that we not forget about our eventual departure for eternal life."

After the service, the cathedral sisterhood organized a luncheon in the church hall.