WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:03.640 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:08.060 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I wish all of you a 00:00:08.060 --> 00:00:11.199 happy and joyous Saint's Day. Today being All 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:16.539 Saints, it's your Saint Day today too. Think 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:19.559 with me for a minute. If I were to take, and 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:25.679 I did, music lessons or language lessons, then 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:29.339 with time and effort, I expect some results. 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:34.850 If I plant a fruit tree and care for it, I expect 00:00:34.850 --> 00:00:37.710 in due course, at the right time of the year, 00:00:37.770 --> 00:00:42.649 some fruit. If I exercise my body or run a race, 00:00:42.670 --> 00:00:44.689 or for me something a little more reasonable 00:00:44.689 --> 00:00:48.090 than running a race, like maybe fast, there's 00:00:48.090 --> 00:00:54.429 an expectation coming from this investment. So 00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:58.990 what result are we expecting now today? What 00:00:58.990 --> 00:01:04.170 has been invested? What have we given? What's 00:01:04.170 --> 00:01:09.269 the Lord given? What effort has been made? It's 00:01:09.269 --> 00:01:15.189 all from Christ. The incarnation, the cross, 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:20.769 the tomb, the resurrection, the gift of the Holy 00:01:20.769 --> 00:01:24.010 Spirit. God has done everything to gather us 00:01:24.010 --> 00:01:27.310 together, to make us one, to bring him to himself, 00:01:27.590 --> 00:01:31.579 to sanctify us, to wash us, to save us, to Destroy 00:01:31.579 --> 00:01:36.500 death and sin and shame and those powers that 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:41.379 have control over us. Banished by Christ. And 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:44.579 the gift of the Holy Spirit from heaven. The 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:48.359 spirit of love. The spirit of unity. The spirit 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:55.239 of conciliarity. The spirit of goodness and truth. 00:01:56.859 --> 00:02:04.450 So today, we see. What has been cultivated by 00:02:04.450 --> 00:02:11.550 the Holy Spirit from Pentecost is saints. The 00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:14.909 Holy Spirit makes us holy, makes people holy. 00:02:16.050 --> 00:02:19.509 The word holy and the word saint in Greek, agios, 00:02:19.509 --> 00:02:24.330 same word. Saint Demetrius, Holy Demetrius. Holy 00:02:24.330 --> 00:02:27.439 God, Saint God. It doesn't sound right in English, 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.060 but it's the same word. And if we remember that, 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:32.460 then we know that the holiness comes from God. 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:38.639 No one could number the cloud of witnesses, the 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:42.240 great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us, saints 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:46.599 venerated by name in the church, and many more, 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.979 far more, who humbly treasured God in the hidden 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:54.629 depths of their heart, unknown to all. Preserved 00:02:54.629 --> 00:02:57.789 from the praise of people. No service is written. 00:02:58.689 --> 00:03:02.150 But the multitude, the majority of saints are 00:03:02.150 --> 00:03:05.810 those that are not known from every walk of life, 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:11.729 every land, rich and poor, free and slave, men, 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:17.250 women, and children, beyond counting. But what 00:03:17.250 --> 00:03:21.750 is a saint? What is a saint? A saint is a heavenly 00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:26.289 human being. When I say heavenly, don't think 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:31.370 of clouds with some angels playing harps. Think 00:03:31.370 --> 00:03:34.090 of this. Have you ever seen something that catches 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:37.050 fire and is completely consumed in the flames? 00:03:38.349 --> 00:03:41.469 That's a saint. And that fire is God's love. 00:03:42.710 --> 00:03:46.530 God's saints, says St. John of Damascus, of their 00:03:46.530 --> 00:03:52.669 own free will, united themselves with God. received 00:03:52.669 --> 00:03:56.610 him into the habitation of their heart. And having 00:03:56.610 --> 00:03:59.229 thus received him through grace, they became 00:03:59.229 --> 00:04:04.030 in their very nature like unto him. Saints are 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:12.210 like God. In them, God rests. God rests. The 00:04:12.210 --> 00:04:17.990 incredible, inconceivable, uncircumscribable 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:23.329 God rests in the heart. of the person who loves 00:04:23.329 --> 00:04:27.930 him. And St. John of Damascus says they become 00:04:27.930 --> 00:04:31.470 treasures and the pure habitation, the pure home 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:35.990 of God. That's a saint. And we have been given 00:04:35.990 --> 00:04:39.269 the same grace, the same Holy Spirit. We are 00:04:39.269 --> 00:04:42.050 beneficiaries of the resurrection. We are joined 00:04:42.050 --> 00:04:45.009 to Christ in holy baptism. What are we lacking 00:04:45.009 --> 00:04:52.180 except resolve? Our Savior Jesus Christ speaks 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.759 of loving God so much, and this is what our resolve 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:58.959 needs to be, to love God so much. With such fire 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:02.439 in the heart that when he said, when Jesus said, 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:05.800 you heard today, he who loves father or mother 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:09.279 more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.839 son or daughter more than me is not worthy of 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:14.800 me. When we hear that, we understand that the 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:18.920 real, proper, sacrificial, emotionally and psychologically, 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:23.860 healthy love for our family, our spouse, our 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:28.579 friends, is only possible if we love God first. 00:05:28.939 --> 00:05:34.259 Because He gave them to us. This is the way of 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:39.160 the saints. And saints attract us. You heard 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:41.779 the Beatitudes. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:44.139 are the peacemakers. Blessed are the pure in 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:50.449 heart. They attract us. Because people are attracted 00:05:50.449 --> 00:05:55.129 by love and not condemnation. Saints don't condemn. 00:05:56.889 --> 00:06:00.089 Condemnation does not liberate. It oppresses. 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:04.009 And the saints, when you are close to a person 00:06:04.009 --> 00:06:07.870 who is sanctified, you feel liberated and free 00:06:07.870 --> 00:06:14.449 and completely loved. Since they have unceasing 00:06:14.449 --> 00:06:18.860 prayer. My Christ. they say to him constantly, 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:25.819 come into my heart, my Lord, my Jesus, my Christ, 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:32.199 come and dwell in me. And Christ comes and dwells 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:36.319 mystically in their hearts. It's very simple. 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.319 When you call someone dear to you, someone you 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:47.720 love, come to me. Doesn't that person come? Will 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:51.079 not Christ come when you call him? Whatever you 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:54.819 ask of me, I will give you. And we always say, 00:06:54.860 --> 00:07:00.379 come and dwell in us. But the saint perhaps, 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:02.939 and we can attain this too, the saint says it 00:07:02.939 --> 00:07:06.959 with her or his whole mind. He says it with her 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.579 or his whole heart. And Christ enters the heart. 00:07:12.939 --> 00:07:17.569 And that person has picked up the cross. And 00:07:17.569 --> 00:07:22.529 said no to the impulses and the passions of sin. 00:07:22.689 --> 00:07:26.189 And turned away from that. Each Christian, we 00:07:26.189 --> 00:07:29.509 are like sportsmen in an arena running to get 00:07:29.509 --> 00:07:33.670 a prize. St. Paul says, keep the race. Keep going 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:36.410 on the race. Christ is the finisher of the race. 00:07:37.509 --> 00:07:41.769 And each person, if you fall, you rise again. 00:07:42.089 --> 00:07:46.829 And you keep running. Pentecost. Last week and 00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:51.290 this week, it continues, revives our spirit, 00:07:51.329 --> 00:07:54.870 our weariness, helps our burdens for one another, 00:07:55.110 --> 00:08:02.509 for the world, our worries and cares. Then we 00:08:02.509 --> 00:08:04.750 can bear whatever tempests of life, whatever 00:08:04.750 --> 00:08:08.129 difficulties, pain and sorrow we have. And we 00:08:08.129 --> 00:08:10.949 can be joyful too, because we know Christ loves 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:16.339 us. But let's understand again, Christian life, 00:08:16.540 --> 00:08:21.000 the life in Christ, has an ascetic component. 00:08:22.139 --> 00:08:25.939 It requires a struggle, not against other people, 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:29.480 but against ourselves first, before we can stand 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:32.899 for truth and say what is right and speak a prophetic 00:08:32.899 --> 00:08:36.840 word from God. We have to oppose ourselves. He 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.379 who does not take up his cross and follow me 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:47.879 is not worthy of me. We have to cut sin from 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:51.879 our life. Let the old Adam die in us so that 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:55.820 we can be free and have that liberty and freedom 00:08:55.820 --> 00:09:00.779 that the saint has. Then the impulses of selfishness. 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:02.899 We know where they come from and we turn away. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.639 The laziness that may afflict us, we know where 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.679 that's coming from. Suggestions of the evil one 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:13.509 and just our own poor nature. And we turn away 00:09:13.509 --> 00:09:17.509 the fear and anxiety, suggestions from the evil 00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:20.490 one. We know that this is not from God, and we 00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:22.950 turn away. This is what it means to pick up your 00:09:22.950 --> 00:09:26.370 cross, deny yourself. And when our life has become 00:09:26.370 --> 00:09:31.389 difficult, as it is now for everybody in all 00:09:31.389 --> 00:09:34.690 kinds of ways, then we hold tightly to the cross 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:37.110 like the saints do, the cross that the Lord has 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:40.029 given each one of us. And we say to ourselves, 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:47.700 Wisdom, stand aright. And doubts and hesitations, 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:51.639 imaginings and anger and fear and thoughts about 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:54.860 what if there is no God, they will come to mind. 00:09:55.639 --> 00:10:02.360 What if all this is stupid? We have only our 00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:06.840 weakness. It's okay. We have only our weakness 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:11.080 to offer to the Lord. In our weakness, God's 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:16.080 grace is strong, and he acts. Then we say, like 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:19.799 the saint, my God, you exist. Send me your Holy 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:25.759 Spirit. Dwell in my heart. I wish all of us, 00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:30.559 each one of us, to be a saint, to be the habitation 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:36.240 of God, as St. John of Damascus said. To unite 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.399 ourselves to God. To let him be in the habitation 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:44.220 of the heart. To be a heavenly human being. To 00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:46.379 always seek to be with Christ. To live as St. 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:49.299 Justin the martyr and philosopher said in the 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:53.700 second century. He wrote this. To live in likeness 00:10:53.700 --> 00:10:58.820 of God. To live in his truth. To live in his 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:02.360 chastity. And to live in his love for mankind. 00:11:03.980 --> 00:11:07.779 And St. Silouan said something similar. St. Silouan, 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:11.419 who died in 1938 on Mount Athos, said something 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:13.980 similar. He said that the task of the Christian 00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:20.419 is to expand our personal I so that I doesn't 00:11:20.419 --> 00:11:25.320 just mean me. I, when we stand before God, not 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:29.440 only includes me, but all those who I love and 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:33.720 all those who love me. So that my I, as we grow 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:38.279 spiritually, our personal identity expands, so 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:40.539 that when we stand before God in prayer, we cannot 00:11:40.539 --> 00:11:43.740 think of ourselves alone, but of everyone, our 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:45.799 wife, our husband, our children, our family, 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:47.779 our friends, our parish, our people, our nation, 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:52.139 those who love us, those who hate us. The saints 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:55.720 are those whose personal I expanded to embrace 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:58.559 the church, and the peoples, and the nation, 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:02.110 and everyone. Which is why people feel liberated 00:12:02.110 --> 00:12:05.429 when they meet a saint. And every Christian is 00:12:05.429 --> 00:12:09.509 called to be like that. You are called, we are 00:12:09.509 --> 00:12:12.789 called to be saints. There's much more to say. 00:12:13.929 --> 00:12:18.169 Another time. About how we become closer to the 00:12:18.169 --> 00:12:21.129 saints. How we call upon them to help us in our 00:12:21.129 --> 00:12:23.669 time of need. Especially now in our time of need. 00:12:23.889 --> 00:12:26.909 For now, let's read the lives of saints every 00:12:26.909 --> 00:12:29.460 day, every morning. And we'll speak of those 00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:35.080 things another time. For now, as I end, I want 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:38.700 to recall for us that our parish is named the 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:41.500 protection of the Holy Virgin and the icon of 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:51.299 the protection. I'm placed out today. This is 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:56.700 an icon of all the saints. All gathered, lifting 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:59.639 up their hands. their hearts in prayer, with 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.799 the Theotokos at their head, asking for mercy 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:06.100 for the world, the protection of God, for the 00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:09.360 love of God, for the transformation of sorrow 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:15.159 into joy, of suffering into good health, to ignorance 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:20.320 to understanding, godly understanding. This is 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:22.919 the unity of the world, the unity of the Church. 00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:26.919 This is how we are. Don't ever forget you are 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:31.700 standing in line with these people and lifting 00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:35.379 up your hands and you're saying, all saints of 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.340 God, pray to God for us.