WEBVTT

00:00:00.940 --> 00:00:11.240
Christ is risen. Yes, brothers and sisters, please

00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:19.480
come closer. I ask your forgiveness and your

00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:25.820
patience. Normally, each week, one of the other

00:00:25.820 --> 00:00:29.199
priests will alternate with me and you will hear

00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:34.420
edifying and inspiring sermons from them. But

00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:37.560
instead, you have me every week, every Sunday.

00:00:38.619 --> 00:00:42.240
And that means that I am liable to say, not only

00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:44.799
to repeat myself, but to say something that might

00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:50.320
offend you and might stir something up unwittingly

00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.359
that I've done. So that's why I ask your forgiveness.

00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.179
And so I also ask your prayers that the Lord

00:00:56.179 --> 00:01:01.189
would. enlighten my mind so that I could preach

00:01:01.189 --> 00:01:07.069
the word of God. Now think for a moment how that

00:01:07.069 --> 00:01:13.829
gospel ended. The angels said to the women, why

00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:15.650
do you seek the living among the dead? He is

00:01:15.650 --> 00:01:20.230
not here. Go, tell his disciples and Peter, remember

00:01:20.230 --> 00:01:23.030
Peter had betrayed the Lord and he was probably

00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:26.500
feeling... less than that big and not worthy

00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:29.340
to be called a disciple. And the angel said,

00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:35.159
go to them and tell them. And what did the women

00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:42.480
do? They ran away and they told no one. I'm intrigued

00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:46.840
and I'm amazed and I'm comforted that the church

00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:50.900
gives us such realistic accounts, not a made

00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:53.730
-up fictional account of the gospel. but a realistic

00:01:53.730 --> 00:01:56.310
account as the one we had today in Mark. What

00:01:56.310 --> 00:02:03.069
an ending! And we saw the same on Pascha, the

00:02:03.069 --> 00:02:06.730
Gospel on Pascha, not at the liturgy, but later

00:02:06.730 --> 00:02:10.250
in the day. Thomas said, unless I see you will

00:02:10.250 --> 00:02:13.009
not believe, end of the Gospel reading that day.

00:02:13.090 --> 00:02:16.009
And last week we heard the conclusion of that.

00:02:16.889 --> 00:02:20.610
So we're encountering the disciples. Of the Lord.

00:02:20.710 --> 00:02:23.990
In their doubts and their fears. And their uncertainty.

00:02:26.550 --> 00:02:29.990
That's where we are sometimes. So the church

00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:33.289
has specifically set for us. Through these readings.

00:02:35.110 --> 00:02:40.590
Our return. Our return to the experience of Joseph

00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:43.710
and the Myrrh bearers. After they had lost all

00:02:43.710 --> 00:02:47.569
hope. The church brings us back to the worst

00:02:47.569 --> 00:02:53.250
place. in the story. We get stuck there too,

00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:56.990
don't we? In our own faith. Because we share

00:02:56.990 --> 00:03:02.030
those same feelings. Sometimes even in the best

00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:05.990
of times. And perhaps we let the so -called best

00:03:05.990 --> 00:03:10.729
of times mask our fears and our doubts and uncertainties

00:03:10.729 --> 00:03:14.870
and the weakness of our faith. We cover it up.

00:03:16.009 --> 00:03:18.550
The gospel doesn't let us do that. It doesn't

00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:23.469
sugarcoat anything. The Savior calls to us, are

00:03:23.469 --> 00:03:27.909
you willing to follow? Take up your cross. This

00:03:27.909 --> 00:03:32.610
is no opiate for the masses. Take up your cross.

00:03:32.810 --> 00:03:38.330
Follow me. And if we say yes, we break through

00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:41.830
that uncertainty. If we say yes, then we say,

00:03:41.930 --> 00:03:48.400
not Christ, but we say, my Christ. Not Savior,

00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:54.879
but my Savior. Not the Lord, but my Lord, Jesus

00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:00.219
Christ. So the Gospel begins with Joseph and

00:04:00.219 --> 00:04:05.039
ends with the women. Joseph bold, the women frightened

00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:09.419
and shaken. Told to announce the good news, but

00:04:09.419 --> 00:04:12.729
they kept silence. On the one hand, we hear that

00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:15.250
account of the righteous Joseph of Arimathea,

00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:17.790
an honorable counselor, as we sing the noble

00:04:17.790 --> 00:04:21.990
Joseph. And he goes courageously to the Roman

00:04:21.990 --> 00:04:25.089
governor, Pontius Pilate, who would just as soon

00:04:25.089 --> 00:04:28.930
crucify anybody as look at them, to ask for the

00:04:28.930 --> 00:04:33.290
body of Jesus. Incredible. So he could bury him,

00:04:33.329 --> 00:04:37.089
yes, and so that the holy body of Jesus would

00:04:37.089 --> 00:04:40.790
not be thrown into the mass pit. The mass rave

00:04:40.790 --> 00:04:46.810
of bodies of executed criminals, yes. But mostly

00:04:46.810 --> 00:04:51.170
because he, Joseph, loved Jesus. He believed

00:04:51.170 --> 00:04:54.370
that Jesus, and he still believed that Jesus,

00:04:54.490 --> 00:04:57.509
in his imperfect way, however it might have been,

00:04:57.610 --> 00:05:01.490
that Jesus was the Messiah of God. And faith

00:05:01.490 --> 00:05:06.870
remained in that man. I'm moved by that. I'm

00:05:06.870 --> 00:05:10.170
inspired by that. While the disciples hid in

00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:13.230
fear, and it was reasonable for them to hide

00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:14.889
in fear because they thought that they would

00:05:14.889 --> 00:05:19.629
be next to be arrested and crucified. Joseph

00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:24.449
goes to Pilate. What a dangerous thing to do

00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:29.170
for a follower of an executed criminal. And the

00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:32.750
account ends, as I said, and as you heard, with

00:05:32.750 --> 00:05:35.129
the angel telling the women, eight of these righteous

00:05:35.129 --> 00:05:39.120
women, and if we look... On the north wall, we

00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:44.139
see the women at the tomb, and on the right -hand

00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:49.980
side, the angel saying to them, Why are you seeking

00:05:49.980 --> 00:05:55.740
in this place the life of all? Don't you know

00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:59.819
he is not here? And the guards were struck as

00:05:59.819 --> 00:06:03.480
if asleep. This is a beautiful, beautiful image

00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:09.560
for us right now. The women went out, though,

00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:14.060
and quickly fled from the sepulcher, for they

00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:17.160
trembled and were amazed. Neither said they anything

00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.060
to anyone, for they were afraid. The women may

00:06:20.060 --> 00:06:26.139
have fled in trembling, but they went to the

00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:33.019
tomb out of love, in the darkness, with their

00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:37.319
uncertainty, with their fear. knowing that they

00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:40.160
could not do what they went to do, which was

00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:42.459
anoint the body, because the stone was in front

00:06:42.459 --> 00:06:46.439
of the tomb. What tremendous grief they had.

00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:50.319
They could not have imagined two days prior that

00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:52.279
they would be in that position. Their life had

00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:56.019
changed completely, utterly. They had darkness

00:06:56.019 --> 00:07:00.259
of heart. But they went. They went. They had

00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:05.730
expectations of Jesus all along. and even that

00:07:05.730 --> 00:07:09.290
day, but they couldn't imagine what God had planned

00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:13.329
for them. This is our first lesson today. No

00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:19.370
matter what expectations, let's also add uncertainties,

00:07:19.370 --> 00:07:24.529
seeming impossibilities of our faith, of our

00:07:24.529 --> 00:07:27.629
life, of the events in our life, whatever darkness,

00:07:27.709 --> 00:07:33.670
despair, loss of hope, loss of joy. Remember,

00:07:33.730 --> 00:07:37.810
the women came in that state to anoint the Lord.

00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:46.410
And they heard a word from the angel. Never stop

00:07:46.410 --> 00:07:50.790
praying, brothers and sisters. Never stop asking

00:07:50.790 --> 00:07:54.790
the Theotokos to stand with you, to uphold you,

00:07:54.930 --> 00:08:00.029
to intercede for you. Always come to Christ.

00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:04.019
Never think that God doesn't love you. Banish

00:08:04.019 --> 00:08:06.680
the thought. Instead think, do I love Christ?

00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:14.259
Do I love Christ? Because he is risen from the

00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:17.480
dead, and so all our attitudes, our words, our

00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:22.019
thoughts, our actions, our ideas can be shaped

00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:25.959
by the fact that Christ is risen. As it says

00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:28.279
at the end of the Gospel of Mark, the very, very

00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:30.420
end, you didn't hear this today, this part, the

00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:34.759
Lord... working and confirming the word through

00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:38.679
the accompanying signs. St. Gregory Palamas says

00:08:38.679 --> 00:08:43.559
that those signs for us are not great ones, not

00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:45.860
spectacular epic ones, but they're good ones.

00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:49.000
They're simple ones. They're our faith lived

00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.740
out in action. The resurrection as the center

00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:57.080
of our life. If someone asks us or someone asks

00:08:57.080 --> 00:08:59.519
our acquaintance, someone close to us, what is

00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:02.820
he or she like? Are they going to say, oh, he's

00:09:02.820 --> 00:09:05.919
wrapped up in this. Oh, she's completely obsessed

00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:10.440
with that. Oh, she doesn't really care. Oh, he

00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:14.399
is into all kinds of things. Or are those closest

00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:22.899
to us going to say, that's a lover of God. We

00:09:22.899 --> 00:09:25.740
have to show our expressions for God. Like the

00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:28.139
women, we may think we're bringing something

00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:33.789
to do for Christ. They came to anoint. They couldn't

00:09:33.789 --> 00:09:36.389
anoint. But it turns out that God does something

00:09:36.389 --> 00:09:42.389
for them. The Lord ends up anointing us. That

00:09:42.389 --> 00:09:45.070
is, he sends us grace to cleanse our hearts.

00:09:45.129 --> 00:09:49.190
We pray to him, even in our distraction and our

00:09:49.190 --> 00:09:52.529
troubles. And by coming close to Christ, even

00:09:52.529 --> 00:09:56.269
a little bit, he reaches out to us. He draws

00:09:56.269 --> 00:10:02.549
himself to us. He and grace is drawn down to

00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:09.830
us. But beyond that, and those are important

00:10:09.830 --> 00:10:13.590
points, and I could end there. And some of you

00:10:13.590 --> 00:10:16.049
probably thinking, well, he should end there.

00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:21.029
But here's why we keep the day. Here's why we

00:10:21.029 --> 00:10:23.149
keep this date. And we not just dedicate today,

00:10:23.289 --> 00:10:26.029
but this whole week is dedicated to the Myrbaran

00:10:26.029 --> 00:10:28.070
women. The entire week, all the hymns, all week

00:10:28.070 --> 00:10:32.210
long, are dedicated to them, Joseph and Nicodemus,

00:10:32.309 --> 00:10:36.230
the eight women and the two men. We keep it because

00:10:36.230 --> 00:10:39.809
everything changed on that Friday and Saturday

00:10:39.809 --> 00:10:43.779
and Sunday. And it isn't just those witnesses

00:10:43.779 --> 00:10:46.860
to the crucifixion, death, and burial who experienced

00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:49.500
the spiritual earthquake and the rolling away

00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:53.740
of the stone and the good news. Because right

00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:56.500
then and there, everything about this world,

00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:00.860
about creation, about history itself, was revealed

00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:04.419
in the cross and the death and the resurrection

00:11:04.419 --> 00:11:07.860
of Christ. So powerful. Listen to these words

00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:13.179
of Fr. George Causio. As he recalls his time

00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:22.480
in prison, in a Romanian prison. During Pasca

00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:30.600
of 1981, I was in the prison of Ayud. Early that

00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:32.519
morning, when the guards were changing shifts,

00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:37.659
I broke every diabolical rule of the prison by

00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:41.200
saying to the guard, one of the cruelest, Christ

00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:45.480
is risen. Christos anviat. He hesitated for a

00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.600
few moments in which, like lightning, I saw passing

00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:52.940
on his face the innocence of his childhood. When

00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:56.179
his mama or grandma led him by the hand to the

00:11:56.179 --> 00:11:58.580
church and when he heard the angelic voice of

00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:02.320
the priest saying, Christ is risen. After this

00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:04.700
moment of hesitation, he softly answered me.

00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:11.809
Adeverat. In truth, he is risen. It was for me

00:12:11.809 --> 00:12:16.889
the most assuring proof that I was never misled

00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:21.929
in this regard. The one who was torturing me

00:12:21.929 --> 00:12:24.909
was confirming the resurrection of the Lord.

00:12:25.090 --> 00:12:32.230
I cried in silence with tears of joy. Christ

00:12:32.230 --> 00:12:35.909
has risen in your heart even before I or someone

00:12:35.909 --> 00:12:38.090
else could tell you and you knew this fact and

00:12:38.090 --> 00:12:41.690
confirmed it, Father George says. The same as

00:12:41.690 --> 00:12:44.929
my guard, when you cried from the deepest, unarguable

00:12:44.929 --> 00:12:48.250
conviction, in truth he is risen, Christos unviat,

00:12:48.250 --> 00:12:53.250
adeverat unviat. It appeared that the cross,

00:12:53.370 --> 00:12:56.190
and it would seem so to Father George in his

00:12:56.190 --> 00:12:59.490
desperate place in 1981 in that horrible prison,

00:12:59.710 --> 00:13:02.029
it would appear that the cross of Christ was

00:13:02.029 --> 00:13:07.870
a human tragedy. Pilate, sure, take the body.

00:13:09.090 --> 00:13:12.789
But no. as Christ silently moves towards the

00:13:12.789 --> 00:13:16.649
cross and the end of his life, as that human

00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:21.409
tragedy reaches its climax, his triumph, his

00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:24.529
victory over evil, his glorification becomes

00:13:24.529 --> 00:13:29.090
more and more obvious. Since sin and evil have

00:13:29.090 --> 00:13:32.549
not disappeared, on the contrary, they still

00:13:32.549 --> 00:13:35.850
constitute the basic law of this world and our

00:13:35.850 --> 00:13:38.610
life. Bad things still will happen. Terrible

00:13:38.610 --> 00:13:42.509
and hideous events will continue to happen. Yesterday

00:13:42.509 --> 00:13:49.350
and today, but not forever. Listen to this hymn

00:13:49.350 --> 00:13:52.129
from Holy Saturday. Hades is king over mortal

00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:54.649
men. The grave is king over mortal men, but not

00:13:54.649 --> 00:13:58.389
forever. Laid in the sepulcher, mighty Lord,

00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:01.950
with thy life -giving hand thou hast burst asunder

00:14:01.950 --> 00:14:05.200
the bars of death. To those from every age who

00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:07.500
slept in the tombs, thou hast proclaimed true

00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:11.600
deliverance, O Savior, who art become the firstborn

00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:16.840
of the dead. Pascha was not only then, it is

00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:20.120
now. The Mary and women and Joseph and Nicodemus

00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:23.740
continue in us in our care for the church. Pascha

00:14:23.740 --> 00:14:27.159
is the victory over everything that wars against

00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:33.559
us. And it shows us that all authority as the

00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:37.039
Lord says, has been given unto Christ in heaven

00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.620
and on earth. Christ is risen.