WEBVTT 00:00:01.260 --> 00:00:04.040 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:08.380 of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. And 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:15.400 spraza come a joyous feast day. Before I address 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:17.879 some remarks about the Gospel and Epistle, I 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:24.339 just want to affirm and express my love for all 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:28.739 of you, and express my congratulations that we 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:31.739 have reached the end of Lent. And now we stand 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:36.100 on the eve of Great and Holy Week. And today 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:39.000 we celebrate this feast day. I congratulate this 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:43.439 feast day. I want to express again that I miss 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.380 all of you. That I hope that very soon we can 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:53.060 come together by God's grace. This Holy Week 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:57.140 is going to be difficult. You might think it's 00:00:57.140 --> 00:01:00.280 easy for the priests because... You don't really 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:01.820 have to, as a priest, you don't really have to 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:04.620 see anybody in between services. You come to 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:07.099 church, you do the service, you stream it, you 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:10.319 put on these little devices, you know, which 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:15.859 12th grade audiovisual class didn't really prepare 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:19.920 us for. And we do the service, we go home, and 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:23.879 nobody bothers us. But this is not an easy thing 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:30.420 that's quite a burden. The prophet Zechariah 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:35.219 said something centuries and centuries before 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:42.299 in an inspirational vision about the Messiah 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:48.700 who would come to lead, to be the king, and how 00:01:48.700 --> 00:01:54.900 he would come and enter into the city, precisely 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:59.859 as Solomon did. on a donkey when he was anointed 00:01:59.859 --> 00:02:05.459 king. The prophet Zacharias says this, Do not 00:02:05.459 --> 00:02:10.740 fear, O daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king comes 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:17.460 to thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:23.500 and riding upon an ass, upon a colt, the foal 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:28.610 of an ass. St. Gregory Palamas says that your 00:02:28.610 --> 00:02:32.370 king, the one that comes, doesn't arouse fear 00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:36.469 in those who see him. Nor is he an oppressor 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:40.389 or an evildoer accompanied by shield -bearers 00:02:40.389 --> 00:02:46.449 and spearmen, warhorses, in our case tanks, and 00:02:46.449 --> 00:02:52.849 jets, and bombs, and mortars, and internet warfare. 00:02:53.449 --> 00:02:57.879 His banner is humility. poverty, and lowliness. 00:03:01.259 --> 00:03:05.780 This is all history, yes, but it's history that 00:03:05.780 --> 00:03:08.419 directly affects us because without that day, 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:14.960 we would not be here. That day, to begin with, 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:21.680 gives us such hope and consolation in our troubled 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.650 times. St. John's account of the entrance into 00:03:24.650 --> 00:03:29.509 Jerusalem itself is primary for us. The beauty 00:03:29.509 --> 00:03:33.530 and humility of that Mary who came to Jesus. 00:03:33.889 --> 00:03:36.969 And we hear again another woman anointing his 00:03:36.969 --> 00:03:41.449 feet. This is our stance now. This is how we 00:03:41.449 --> 00:03:43.229 have to be if we're going to even understand 00:03:43.229 --> 00:03:46.930 what Palm Sunday means. We have to be like that 00:03:46.930 --> 00:03:49.949 woman. coming to Jesus, knowing he's going to 00:03:49.949 --> 00:03:53.949 be crucified, and seem a failure to those around, 00:03:54.189 --> 00:03:58.509 to the people that had expectations. Jesus doesn't 00:03:58.509 --> 00:04:02.110 come to fulfill our expectations. He comes to 00:04:02.110 --> 00:04:05.330 give us what we need, what we're desperate for, 00:04:05.449 --> 00:04:10.789 and we don't even know. St. Paul's letter to 00:04:10.789 --> 00:04:15.169 the Philippians also encourages us, helps us 00:04:15.169 --> 00:04:18.470 celebrate. St. John describes the entrance into 00:04:18.470 --> 00:04:23.410 Jerusalem. Jesus is acclaimed as king. The Christ, 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:26.709 we lift up the palm branches, we acclaim Jesus 00:04:26.709 --> 00:04:31.269 for ourself as our king. That's why it means 00:04:31.269 --> 00:04:36.569 so much to us now. The one who is the vanquisher, 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:40.050 as it says over and over we sing it, the vanquisher 00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:45.399 of death, over sin, over life. over everything 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:49.319 we can offer him, over everything in our life, 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:56.319 everything we hope for. He is king of that. Those 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:00.939 who rejected Christ out of fear and pride, and 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:05.579 still do, they saw the same miracles that everyone 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:09.379 else saw. And still, they sought to put Christ 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:17.670 to death. The selection of St. Paul's letter 00:05:17.670 --> 00:05:20.509 to the Philippians is beautiful and inspiring, 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:23.550 but it may seem a strange choice for this day. 00:05:23.629 --> 00:05:27.149 It mentions nothing about the cross, the passion, 00:05:27.290 --> 00:05:31.290 nothing about Palm Sunday, and St. Paul doesn't 00:05:31.290 --> 00:05:37.009 speak of that anyway. So why? Once again, it's 00:05:37.009 --> 00:05:40.550 my contention that like that woman, if we don't 00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:45.930 have the qualities that St. Paul is, commanding 00:05:45.930 --> 00:05:50.970 us, exhorting us to acquire. We will never, not 00:05:50.970 --> 00:05:55.329 just be able to not celebrate Palm Sunday, or 00:05:55.329 --> 00:06:00.430 Holy Week, or Pascha, and our baptism will be 00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:06.490 a sham over the years. Here's what St. Paul says. 00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:12.629 Rejoice in the Lord always. This is the eve of 00:06:12.629 --> 00:06:16.490 the saddest week. for Christians to contemplate 00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:20.329 the betrayal of mankind over their Savior, the 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:26.790 loving, humble one who comes on a donkey. But 00:06:26.790 --> 00:06:30.069 still, St. Paul, writing from prison in Rome, 00:06:30.209 --> 00:06:35.790 before his own execution, rejoice in the Lord 00:06:35.790 --> 00:06:41.910 always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your gentleness 00:06:42.569 --> 00:06:48.709 be known to all. I wonder, do we think of that 00:06:48.709 --> 00:06:53.689 when we encounter others these days online or 00:06:53.689 --> 00:07:00.310 in a line? The Lord is at hand. And he truly 00:07:00.310 --> 00:07:04.170 is. He truly is, brothers and sisters. Be anxious 00:07:04.170 --> 00:07:09.750 for nothing, he says, but in everything by prayer 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:14.139 and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:17.560 requests be made known to God and the peace of 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:23.939 God, the shalom, irini, which surpasses all understanding, 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:28.860 will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus 00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:32.839 Christ. We have to pray for that peace, that 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:37.680 shalom, so our heart will be guarded in this 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:43.500 evil age. Finally, brethren, He says, whatever 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:46.959 things are true, and let me say, the word brethren 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:49.920 means men and women. It sounds like brothers, 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:53.000 but it means men and women. Finally, brethren, 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.800 whatever things are true, whatever things are 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:59.300 noble, whatever things are just, whatever things 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:03.660 are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:08.439 things are of good report, if there is any virtue, 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.589 and if there is anything praiseworthy, Meditate 00:08:11.589 --> 00:08:16.209 on these things. That's our stance for Holy Week. 00:08:16.509 --> 00:08:19.230 That's why this reading is chosen by the church 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:23.089 for the last over 1 ,500 years. The things which 00:08:23.089 --> 00:08:26.209 you learned and received and you heard and saw 00:08:26.209 --> 00:08:32.250 in me, these do. And the God of peace will be 00:08:32.250 --> 00:08:38.179 with you. It's the hope of that peace. The word 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:41.100 shalom or irini sounds like peace. The word peace 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:48.279 sounds like something different. Pax. The Roman 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:54.440 peace. Insured by military force. Irini. Shalom 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:58.100 is from God. It's in the hope of that. That enables 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:02.700 us to live. Enabled us to endure the trials of 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:07.690 life. That life brings us. This time when we're 00:09:07.690 --> 00:09:12.750 troubled or stressed or confused or angry, frustrated 00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:17.070 about the situation, which means we're lost, 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:24.190 basically, as everyone else in society. And then 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:29.190 we think all our efforts, everything, swept away 00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:32.490 by death and by time, as if we had never existed. 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:37.320 And people will look at us, Orthodox Christians, 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:40.620 and say, well, Christians are no different than 00:09:40.620 --> 00:09:49.940 us. Christians have worldly expectations and 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:56.500 hopes too. Why should we become Christian? Why 00:09:56.500 --> 00:10:01.379 should we believe in Christ? Well, to the contrary. 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:05.620 As Father Maximus from Holy Cross quoted St. 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:10.500 Silouan, St. Silouan said this in prayer, O Christ, 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:15.879 don't give me more joy, or else my heart will 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:23.179 break. But what do we say? Christ, don't give 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:26.399 me more stress, or problems, or difficulties, 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:30.259 or else my heart will break. Do you see the difference? 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:35.000 Let's beg our Savior that we may live not just 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:40.820 Holy Week and Pascha and the bright season, but 00:10:40.820 --> 00:10:44.980 all our life, remembering the Lord is at hand. 00:10:45.899 --> 00:10:51.460 Rejoice, and again I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:53.100 be known to all.