WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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Glory to God. It may be a cliche, and people

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quote it all the time, the words of the apostles

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on the Mount of Transfiguration, but it is good

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for us to be here. And it's good for us to be

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here, more of us, than I've seen in church at

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one time since March. That's a long time. That's

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a long time to miss you and for us to miss being

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together. We're not in the church, but keep in

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mind what St. Maximus said, that each of us is

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to be like a church. We all have our narthex.

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We have the holy altar, which is our heart, the

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holy place, which is our body, and we meet God

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in the place of the heart. So this we strive

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and we struggle to reach by God's grace in ourselves.

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So while we may not be in the church building,

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each one of you, what did St. Paul say? It's

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the temple of the Holy Spirit. Each one of you

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has been purchased by God through the cross and

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the resurrection. Each one of you. It's to be

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a reflection of Jesus Christ. Today I'd like

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to speak a little bit about Father Jacob, St.

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Jacob of Alaska, and a little bit about the epistle

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to the Romans that you heard, the first epistle.

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You heard four readings today. What a wealth,

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what a banquet of consolation and hope. In this

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reading from Romans, St. Paul says, That the

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scriptures are the source of our hope. So a person

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that has no hope is like someone that's anemic

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or dying of hunger. You need food. You need protein.

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You need iron. A person who has no hope needs

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the scriptures. So I'll say a little bit about

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Romans and a little bit about St. Jacob. This

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noble, incredible man whose journeys... really

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were like St. Paul's, very much so, and tragedies

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and troubles. He came back to where he was going

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to serve, and after his wife died, and his house

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had burned down. One thing after another. He

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asked a blessing in order to become a monk after

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his wife died, and the bishop said, sure, we

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can do that, but you'll have to wait until a

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replacement comes, which never happened. He had

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a diocese that was 2 ,000 miles, as much as the

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diocese of the West, but as the only priest in

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most of those territories. So we sang today,

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O Righteous Father Jacob, Adornment of Alaska,

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thou didst offer thyself as a living sacrifice

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to bring light to a searching people. St. Jacob.

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to those searching people, they lived a very

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rudimentary village, Alaskan village, and harsh

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life. But don't think for a moment they were

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savages, either morally or spiritually. They

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knew there was a creator. They knew that all

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life came from this creator. They gave thanks

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to God. the creator for all things that they

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received. They knew that the world was a transcendent

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place, that there were angels and that there

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were demons. They knew that after this life,

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their soul would move on. Heavenly things were

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not strange to these people. Unlike our present

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society, technologically obsessed and spiritually

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and morally devolving, How can we believe in

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evolution when we see what we see? Obsessed with

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technology, spiritually and morally devolving

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all the time. Unlike our people, ourselves, our

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minds, our hearts are so fragmented, we can barely

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pull a thought together to stand before God.

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Unlike us, the peoples of Alaska discerned immediately,

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almost immediately, a fulfillment and a truth.

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about Jesus Christ who reveals God in the power

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of the Holy Spirit. They accepted the gospel.

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They knew this. They discerned this. Our contemporaries

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can't see this. We have a hard time preaching

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to people in our society. And of course, the

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account of St. Matthew that you heard is relevant

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there. The blind men, except... We don't go to

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Christ. The blind men in the gospel went to be

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healed. We think that blindness is natural. This

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is our world that we live in now. The life of

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St. Jacob says this. When he was clothed in the

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garments of the priesthood, he was found to be

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clad with zeal as with a cloak. And so he threw

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himself completely into his sacred service. to

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his parishioners, his deep love for God and for

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his flock, was evident in everything that he

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did. Having no anxiety in this life. Remember

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the teaching from Matthew 6? Why are you anxious

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for this and that? Having no anxiety for things

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in this life. He experienced the harshness of

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cold, wet, traveling long distances in that condition,

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illness, hunger, exhaustion. For to him, Life

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was Christ. Christ was his life, and his life

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was Christ. And he knew, as St. Paul said, the

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power of the resurrection in himself. And that's

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why those who met him were so receptive to what

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the gospel that he was preaching. It's exactly

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what we heard in the gospel. In the epistle today,

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this describes St. Jacob. Those who are strong

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ought to bear the scruples of the weak. Strong,

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by the way, means steadfast and confirmed in

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the faith. And to bear with the scruples the

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infirmities of the weak does not mean to put

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up with them. As in, oh Lord, come on. These

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people. It means something more profound. It

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means to carry with love. God's love, not our

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own. God's love to carry those who have moral

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weaknesses, spiritual weaknesses, misunderstandings,

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and yes, even prejudices. Those that are strong,

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and if we think we are strong, probably not.

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ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak.

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St. Paul is teaching us, and the example of St.

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Jacob shows us, demonstrates us, that we are

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perfected. Yes, perfected. We've reached our

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goal, made holy and like Christ, by struggling

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to fulfill these words of St. Paul. Note well,

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please, that the Christian life is one of common

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union. Community. Together as one in Christ.

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This is unity from above. This is not political

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ideas, or because we like church music, or icons,

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or vestments, or some kind of cultural thing.

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This is unity from above. Unity of one faith,

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One baptism, one Lord, and one Eucharist. This

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means, brothers and sisters, that all of us that

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share the same faith, the one Lord, one baptism,

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one Eucharist, have sensitivities, perhaps hopes,

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aspirations, weaknesses, all of which are indispensable

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to my life. and your life. I'm saved through

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my brothers and my sisters. And I am saved through

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them. What we do, St. Paul is teaching us, we

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don't do for ourselves, but we do for the spiritual

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benefit of our brethren. Brethren is men and

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women, by the way. It's the way St. Jacob lived,

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it's what he shows us. It's what we've had since

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the beginning of this month. St. Sergius on the

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first Sunday. St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain

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on the second Sunday. St. Seraphim of Sarov on

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the third Sunday. St. Jacob of Alaska on the

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fourth. Are we getting the message? I may not

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make choices with only myself in mind. Let each

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of us, says St. Paul, please his neighbor for

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his good. To do good things. Leading to edification,

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he says. Edification means building up, right?

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The word edifice means building up. In our words,

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actions, thoughts, opinions, we are to build

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up our neighbor with our faith. To edify one

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another. What we don't have, we can't give. It's

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not sufficient either that I avoid scandalizing

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you. That's not enough. And here, a word of caution

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about social media. Once again, as I mentioned

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months ago, I don't need to go into that again.

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Our Christian way is hard. Some may think it's

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too demanding. But let me be clear. What St.

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Paul is telling us is this. If my neighbor is

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not edified by me, not improved, it's not my

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neighbor's fault. The moral failure is mine.

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I'm responsible for building him up. Because

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if I truly am a temple of the Holy Spirit in

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Christ, it's possible. It's possible. Because

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we depend upon Christ to do all things. It's

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not that we add a little God to our own effort.

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We have nothing without the Lord. We're the thief

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next to Christ on the cross, unable to do anything

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by our own power. But Christ says, you'll be

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with me today in paradise. If you, like me, find

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this kind of love for neighbor, lacking and you

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find weakness and an inability to follow St.

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Paul's words here, well, just don't say, well,

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St. Jacob was a saint and I'm not. So, again,

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it all comes from God. We aren't asking God to

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add to my efforts. We depend solely on him. The

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native peoples of the Yukon, didn't come to Christ

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because Jacob was a nice man, although undoubtedly

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he was, or had great arguments about theology

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and logical answers. They came to Christ because

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he was Christ to them. He reflected Jesus Christ

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to them. He had light in himself. Radiating from

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the prayer of the heart. The Jesus prayer. Lord

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Jesus Christ. Son of God. Have mercy on me. He

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had love and truth. Which is Christ. And the

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presence of the Holy Spirit. He was the temple

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of the Holy Spirit. Wherever he went. There was

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the church. What to do for us. Keep this in mind.

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And I'll close with this. Saint Nicodemus. Nicodemus

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of the Holy Mountain, a saint of the 18th century,

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says this, the grace of the Holy Spirit which

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is given mystically to every Christian when he

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is baptized acts and is manifested in proportion

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to our obedience to the commandments of the Lord.

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That is, if a Christian obeys the commandments

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of the Lord more, grace acts with him more. While

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if he obeys them less, grace acts less within

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him. Talk doesn't do it. Action, motivated by

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prayer, which bestows godly love, which bestows,

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and this is the gift from God, peace of heart

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and joy. Joy in each other. Joy in the life God

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has given us. Joy in salvation. Joy in the liturgy.

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Joy in communion. joy in the forgiveness of sins,

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joy in this world that we live in, joy and hope

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of what we have. Now may the God of patience

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and comfort grant you to be like -minded toward

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one another according to Christ Jesus, that you

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may with one mind and one heart glorify the God

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and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers

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and sisters, receive one another, just as Christ

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also received us to the glory of God. Amen.