In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. It seems apocalyptic almost
for us in California these days. In the book
of Revelation, the angels pour out bowls of God's
wrath upon the earth. Plague, fire, flood, and
it all seems to be happening to us in California.
But it's not the end of the world, I assure you.
But I think... It is at these times that we are
reminded by these events that we're not in charge,
that God is in charge, and that we need him.
You know, I don't know if you've ever been in
the house of someone who has cats, and they don't
really keep the house clean, you know, the litter
box clean, and you get in the house and it's
like the smell is overwhelming, but they don't
notice it at all. They're kind of nose blind.
I think we become kind of nose blind to the fact
that we're not in charge. We go about our lives
as though, you know, we can go to the bank, we
can get money. We go to the store, we can get
food. We do all these things. We have the illusion
that everything's in our control. And it takes
a disaster like this to remind us that we're
not in control. We celebrate today another disaster
that befell the great city of Constantinople,
the imperial city. It's very strange, this feast
of the deliverance of the city of Constantinople
from barbarians is really not very well... among
the Greeks, but amongst Russians, it's a big
deal. It's almost a major feast. But in fact,
it was Russians who were attacking the city of
Constantinople before they were Christians. They
were the ones who were delivered, who the Theotokos
appeared over the city in the sign of deliverance.
They were the ones who were defeated. And I think
as we go through these weeks before the rains
come and fires stop and... As we endure this
virus, we need to ask the Mother of God very
fervently for her to extend her protecting veil
over us, our city, and our state. And as a reminder
to us that we're not in control. We need her.
We need God to deliver us, even now. Even now.
God bless you all.