WEBVTT

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

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of the Holy Spirit. It seems apocalyptic almost

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for us in California these days. In the book

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of Revelation, the angels pour out bowls of God's

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wrath upon the earth. Plague, fire, flood, and

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it all seems to be happening to us in California.

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But it's not the end of the world, I assure you.

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But I think... It is at these times that we are

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reminded by these events that we're not in charge,

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that God is in charge, and that we need him.

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You know, I don't know if you've ever been in

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the house of someone who has cats, and they don't

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really keep the house clean, you know, the litter

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box clean, and you get in the house and it's

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like the smell is overwhelming, but they don't

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notice it at all. They're kind of nose blind.

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I think we become kind of nose blind to the fact

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that we're not in charge. We go about our lives

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as though, you know, we can go to the bank, we

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can get money. We go to the store, we can get

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food. We do all these things. We have the illusion

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that everything's in our control. And it takes

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a disaster like this to remind us that we're

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not in control. We celebrate today another disaster

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that befell the great city of Constantinople,

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the imperial city. It's very strange, this feast

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of the deliverance of the city of Constantinople

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from barbarians is really not very well... among

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the Greeks, but amongst Russians, it's a big

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deal. It's almost a major feast. But in fact,

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it was Russians who were attacking the city of

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Constantinople before they were Christians. They

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were the ones who were delivered, who the Theotokos

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appeared over the city in the sign of deliverance.

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They were the ones who were defeated. And I think

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as we go through these weeks before the rains

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come and fires stop and... As we endure this

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virus, we need to ask the Mother of God very

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fervently for her to extend her protecting veil

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over us, our city, and our state. And as a reminder

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to us that we're not in control. We need her.

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We need God to deliver us, even now. Even now.

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God bless you all.