WEBVTT 00:00:01.550 --> 00:00:08.369 Glory to Jesus Christ. The Lord said that, you 00:00:08.369 --> 00:00:12.830 just heard these words, the wisdom is not revealed 00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:15.710 unto the mighty and the powerful and the wise, 00:00:15.890 --> 00:00:24.809 but revealed unto babes. So let's consider ourselves 00:00:24.809 --> 00:00:31.339 children, babes, in understanding. and ask God 00:00:31.339 --> 00:00:36.579 to reveal to us what he made today. The Lord 00:00:36.579 --> 00:00:41.159 also said that the one on the good ground is 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:45.619 the one with the good and noble heart. So let 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:50.420 us open our hearts today to understand together, 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:56.799 meditating on this passage from St. Luke. Today 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:02.520 is the feast day of St. Luke as well. which is 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:04.519 why we had that second gospel that mentioned 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:07.540 the 70 apostles, of which he was one of those. 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:20.079 His relics were in Constantinople up until 1204, 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:24.400 when the crusaders came through, and they took 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.959 the relics along with lots of other things from 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:32.480 the city, and they ended up in Padua. in the 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:37.280 Cathedral of St. Justina, and they were forgotten. 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:43.019 Until the early 90s, when one of the metropolitans 00:01:43.019 --> 00:01:46.859 of Greece, the metropolitan of Theva, where St. 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:51.879 Luke was martyred in central Greece, that metropolitan, 00:01:52.099 --> 00:01:57.079 Hieronymus, asked, he knew that the relics had 00:01:57.079 --> 00:01:58.859 been stolen. You know, Greeks don't forget stuff 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:03.760 like that. 1204, not that long ago for them. 00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:08.319 It's still smarting. Of course, lots of things 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.879 were taken. The Vatican Museum is full of things 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:16.699 from Constantinople. He knew, and he asked the 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:19.180 Bishop of Padua for these relics, and the Bishop 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.460 of Padua had no idea they were there. He started 00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:23.919 an investigation. They discovered they actually 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:29.210 had the body of St. Luke. a major portion of 00:02:29.210 --> 00:02:35.210 the relic was returned to Theva, where now they 00:02:35.210 --> 00:02:40.229 stream myrrh occasionally, and the faithful can 00:02:40.229 --> 00:02:43.370 go and pray and ask St. Luke for his intercessions. 00:02:43.770 --> 00:02:46.689 So the apostles are very much alive with us. 00:02:47.009 --> 00:02:52.090 Let us briefly examine the words that the holy 00:02:52.090 --> 00:03:02.039 apostle received from the Lord. This famous parable 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:03.800 of the sower, you've heard it a million times. 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:11.120 One of the primary and important spiritual teachers 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:13.840 these days, Father Maximus, Archimandrite Maximus 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:20.879 Custance from Holy Cross, noted that beginning 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:26.930 in 2009, that the New York Times ran a series 00:03:26.930 --> 00:03:31.969 of articles focusing on accidents and fatalities 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:38.530 involving distracted drivers. And you know what 00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:43.889 they're distracted with. And surgeons placing 00:03:43.889 --> 00:03:49.909 calls and texting during surgery. Medical technicians 00:03:49.909 --> 00:03:54.229 texting while running cardio. Pulmonary bypass 00:03:54.229 --> 00:03:56.430 machines. I don't mean to scare anybody that 00:03:56.430 --> 00:03:59.990 might be having surgery coming up. Anesthesiologists 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.629 who are shopping online for airplane tickets. 00:04:04.310 --> 00:04:08.330 Social media interruptions, as you know, look 00:04:08.330 --> 00:04:12.150 around, you yourself probably know this from 00:04:12.150 --> 00:04:15.270 experience, happen at least every 10 minutes. 00:04:16.569 --> 00:04:19.209 It's been calculated that in the U .S. alone, 00:04:19.490 --> 00:04:25.370 over 12... billion collective hours are spent 00:04:25.370 --> 00:04:32.850 browsing on social networks every day not a year 00:04:32.850 --> 00:04:36.410 not a couple months but every day 12 billion 00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:41.730 collective hours we each have some of those hours 00:04:41.730 --> 00:04:46.740 to ourselves i know that alongside These statistics, 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:49.360 there's all kinds of anecdotal evidence, which 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.399 you know yourself, such as in September 2003 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:58.000 on one of the BART trains in San Francisco, the 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.399 train passengers were all looking at their cell 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:04.519 phones. They did not see a man pull a gun, who 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:07.180 stood there trying to get attention, but the 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:13.620 people were focused on their phones. It ended 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:18.199 in a tragedy. A man was shot and killed. I'm 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:22.399 recounting these details, these statistics, to 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:26.600 tell you, not to tell you, it's bad to be distracted. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:29.459 I think we know that. That's not the lesson. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:34.100 Nor am I telling you it's bad to use social media. 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:39.300 That's another topic. Probably is. This isn't 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:44.240 about distraction. It's about... distraction 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:51.139 as a symptom and the cause of the loss of God's 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:56.300 presence in the soul it's about what happens 00:05:56.300 --> 00:06:00.740 when the mind and the heart and our attention 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:05.139 which is all connected just like the toe bone 00:06:05.139 --> 00:06:07.930 is connected to the foot The mind, the heart, 00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:10.649 and our attention is connected. When that attention 00:06:10.649 --> 00:06:13.850 and the heart and the mind becomes like a hoarder's 00:06:13.850 --> 00:06:18.610 garage, full of sins and distractions, the weeds 00:06:18.610 --> 00:06:22.569 are multiplying with anxiety. And there's not 00:06:22.569 --> 00:06:27.870 much useful for the journey to eternal life to 00:06:27.870 --> 00:06:34.660 be found packed in that spiritual garage. This 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:39.259 gospel is about making a choice of where my attention 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:45.740 is going to go. Of deciding what I value, intentionally 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:50.980 value, what I pursue, knowing my life is short. 00:06:52.660 --> 00:06:56.100 The judge is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is 00:06:56.100 --> 00:07:01.860 here. And if after I leave this service today, 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:06.920 And just forget about the gospel lesson I just 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:12.040 heard about the sower and the seeds, the words 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:16.199 of the Savior. Then it's as if the words of Christ 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:23.860 have come true in me. Those by the wayside are 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:28.699 the ones who hear. Then the devil comes and takes 00:07:28.699 --> 00:07:32.899 the word out of their hearts. lest they should 00:07:32.899 --> 00:07:37.339 believe and be saved. Let's not forget, we're 00:07:37.339 --> 00:07:40.500 meant to consider these readings all week long. 00:07:40.939 --> 00:07:44.579 We're meant to store them in our heart and consider 00:07:44.579 --> 00:07:49.379 them through the day. And when we do that, when 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:52.399 we meditate on it that way, God will reveal to 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:58.459 us his message. God will unfold for us what we 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:06.589 can't understand. You know, conquerors in the 00:08:06.589 --> 00:08:12.170 ancient world, after overcoming their enemy, 00:08:12.329 --> 00:08:16.670 would put stones and rocks and lime and salt 00:08:16.670 --> 00:08:20.889 on the ground so their enemy's land could never 00:08:20.889 --> 00:08:26.389 be useful again for a long time. Now this is 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:31.740 about clearing that field today. We don't want 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:34.679 to be the hard and stony ground. We want to be 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:37.899 the ground that some work has been done, that 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:41.220 the soil has been broken up, it's been amended, 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:45.919 the weeds have been pulled out. I remember when 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:50.059 my parents bought our first house. I guess I 00:08:50.059 --> 00:08:53.000 was 12. I must have been 7th grade. It was in 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.320 Aurora, Colorado on Vaughan Avenue, a new housing 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:02.799 area. $28 ,000 for a four -bedroom house and 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:06.320 a basement with it and a backyard. But the front 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:11.740 yard was just dirt and rocks. And I remember 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:15.720 feeling conquered and beaten down by my enemy, 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:21.399 my dad. I was 12 at the time, so kids are a little 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:26.860 dramatic. Who wanted me to go out there, because 00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:28.700 he's going to work every day and it was summer. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:32.539 I had nothing to do. Go out there and take all 00:09:32.539 --> 00:09:36.500 the rocks out of that front yard, clear the whole 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:39.399 thing, break up the soil because the sod guys 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:44.419 were coming. That's what we're doing with our 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:47.220 soul. That's what we're doing with our heart. 00:09:47.259 --> 00:09:51.580 When it gets messed up, attend to thyself, it 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:56.120 says in Deuteronomy 15 .9. Attend to thyself. 00:09:57.129 --> 00:10:02.149 that there be no hidden or iniquitous word in 00:10:02.149 --> 00:10:07.350 thy heart. Christ himself is telling us this, 00:10:07.350 --> 00:10:10.909 and he interprets the parable for us very simply. 00:10:12.230 --> 00:10:15.370 The sower and the seed, he tells the disciples 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:19.090 and the women disciples that are there too. I 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:21.330 say that because in the passage before, they 00:10:21.330 --> 00:10:25.919 were all there. And when asked why he speaks 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:29.440 in parables, he tells them, quoting a passage 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.480 from the prophet Isaiah, that those who can hear 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:36.879 it will understand. Those that don't want to 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:42.539 hear it, they will walk away and reject it. The 00:10:42.539 --> 00:10:47.960 seed, the seed that the sower, God, is throwing 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:54.360 out before him as he goes everywhere, religious 00:10:54.360 --> 00:11:00.200 idea, a set of principles about faith that we 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:07.639 adhere to. Nor is it a feeling of grace. The 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:13.000 word of God, the seed, the word of God is Christ 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:20.330 himself. He's been given to us. He's not merely 00:11:20.330 --> 00:11:24.269 some human word or idea concealed within a religious 00:11:24.269 --> 00:11:26.830 message. However great and overwhelming that 00:11:26.830 --> 00:11:30.789 message might be, behind the message of the gospel 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:35.230 stands Jesus Christ himself, the Son of God, 00:11:35.409 --> 00:11:39.929 the Word of God. As St. Paul puts it, having 00:11:39.929 --> 00:11:42.750 been given to us, my little children for whom 00:11:42.750 --> 00:11:47.289 I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ. 00:11:47.929 --> 00:11:52.789 Be formed in you. Christ is being formed in us. 00:11:52.809 --> 00:11:57.570 This is the goal of what Christ did. And he grows 00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:01.870 in our hearts like an infant grows. And more. 00:12:03.210 --> 00:12:05.350 Listen, do you remember? We heard this just a 00:12:05.350 --> 00:12:07.009 couple weeks ago at the Feast of Protection. 00:12:07.789 --> 00:12:10.470 Jesus said that those who hear the word of God 00:12:10.470 --> 00:12:14.470 and keep it are what? That's his mother and his 00:12:14.470 --> 00:12:19.460 brother. How do we know, then, that we have this 00:12:19.460 --> 00:12:21.940 gift? How do we know that we are taking care 00:12:21.940 --> 00:12:27.980 of the soil of our heart? St. Simeon, the new 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:31.240 theologian, gives us the following example. Very 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:37.159 clear. A woman who is pregnant with a child can 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.899 be absolutely certain that she's carrying a child, 00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:45.240 even though there's no obvious sign of her pregnancy. 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:50.159 And other people don't suspect it. The same is 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:52.539 true of those who welcome the word of God into 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:59.220 their heart and who cultivate the ground. God's 00:12:59.220 --> 00:13:02.100 not going to send us a taxi to take us to heaven. 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:12.720 We are responsible to cultivate the ground. We 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:17.720 understand. Very well then, when we have that 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:21.120 nourishing seed of the word of God within us. 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:28.159 How, again I ask, not by getting all Pentecostal 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:31.559 about it, not by getting all anxious about it. 00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:40.200 No, one discovers very gently one day in the 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:44.379 midst of trouble, in the midst of problems, in 00:13:44.379 --> 00:13:48.120 the midst of anxiety, in the midst of our own 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:52.860 moment, one discovers that the heart is quiet 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:58.019 and peaceful. One discovers when saying, O Heavenly 00:13:58.019 --> 00:14:02.179 King, that truly one is comforted by the Comforter. 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:07.519 One discovers when we say, Our Father, give us 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.000 this day our daily bread, we really believe it. 00:14:13.230 --> 00:14:18.049 And what joy then starts to grow. And a good 00:14:18.049 --> 00:14:22.710 and noble heart is exalting before God for this. 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:28.529 One discovers exactly in the midst of difficulties 00:14:28.529 --> 00:14:31.509 what St. Paul related. You heard it today. After 00:14:31.509 --> 00:14:34.529 his visions, Christ says to him, my grace is 00:14:34.529 --> 00:14:39.590 sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect 00:14:39.590 --> 00:14:45.820 in weakness. My strength is made perfect in weakness. 00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:50.379 Therefore, most gladly, I will boast in mine 00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:53.360 infirmities that the power of Christ may rest 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:58.480 upon me. What a bold statement, to boast in infirmities. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:02.559 And there is not only peace and sufficient grace 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:08.649 of God, but the story. as I've mentioned already, 00:15:08.909 --> 00:15:11.690 is about the struggle to keep that gift in the 00:15:11.690 --> 00:15:17.830 heart. Not just by avoiding sin, but by something 00:15:17.830 --> 00:15:21.029 much more positive, much more helpful, much more 00:15:21.029 --> 00:15:24.990 nourishing, and that is to desire, to pursue, 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:28.909 to put energy into acquiring the remembrance 00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:33.470 of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can spend so much 00:15:33.470 --> 00:15:41.539 time Focusing our energy on something that has 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:47.139 no eternal value. There's a picture the other 00:15:47.139 --> 00:15:49.759 day. I admit, I saw it on Facebook, speaking 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.799 of distractions, of a hearse pulling a U -Haul. 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:59.659 So I guess some people think they can take it 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:07.580 with them. No, it's work. The Lord has given 00:16:07.580 --> 00:16:12.940 us a share in the labor. You see, he doesn't 00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:15.200 do everything for us. He says, you come, you 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:22.720 work with me. And what does he say? This beautiful 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:29.320 story today, over and over. The good ground are 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:31.879 they which in an honest and good heart, having 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:37.250 heard the word, keep it. The keeping of the word 00:16:37.250 --> 00:16:40.590 is the labor, and we bring forth much fruit. 00:16:41.049 --> 00:16:44.850 My beloved Elder Porphyrios, who died December 00:16:44.850 --> 00:16:49.730 2, 1991, has said that God placed a gift in our 00:16:49.730 --> 00:16:55.990 souls, the seed, Christ himself. He says this, 00:16:56.169 --> 00:17:01.330 if we imagine the good as a garden full of flowers, 00:17:01.549 --> 00:17:06.549 the good thing that we pursue. trees and plants, 00:17:06.769 --> 00:17:12.470 and we imagine the evil that we know about. Not 00:17:12.470 --> 00:17:16.250 in other people, by the way. We are not to judge. 00:17:16.269 --> 00:17:19.430 We may discern sin, but we are not to judge. 00:17:20.970 --> 00:17:23.910 We imagine the evil as weeds and thorns and the 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:27.289 power as water. Then what can happen is as follows. 00:17:27.410 --> 00:17:30.490 When the water is directed to the flower and 00:17:30.490 --> 00:17:34.450 the garden, Then all the plants grow. They blossom. 00:17:34.529 --> 00:17:37.470 They bear fruit. And at the same time, the weeds 00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:39.650 and the thorns, because they are not watered, 00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:43.710 wither and die. And the opposite, of course, 00:17:43.730 --> 00:17:46.829 can also happen. It is not necessary, therefore, 00:17:46.990 --> 00:17:51.849 to concern yourself with the weeds. Don't occupy 00:17:51.849 --> 00:17:55.509 yourself with rooting out evil. Christ does not 00:17:55.509 --> 00:17:57.910 wish us to occupy ourselves with the passions, 00:17:57.990 --> 00:18:03.079 but with the opposite. Channel the water that 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:07.000 is all the strength of your soul to the flowers, 00:18:07.059 --> 00:18:10.279 and you will enjoy their beauty, their fragrance, 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:14.380 their freshness. You won't become saints by hounding 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:18.140 after evil. You won't become saints by hounding 00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:22.259 after evil. Ignore evil. Look towards Christ. 00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:26.019 He will save you. Occupy yourself with singing 00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:30.029 hymns, the triumphant hymns of the saints. and 00:18:30.029 --> 00:18:34.029 the martyrs, and the Psalms of David. Study Holy 00:18:34.029 --> 00:18:37.230 Scripture and the Church Fathers. In this way, 00:18:37.369 --> 00:18:42.190 says the elder, your soul will be softened, sanctified, 00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:47.150 and assimilated to God. This is repentance, brothers 00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:50.609 and sisters, and I promise you, the Lord has 00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:54.150 given us each an allotment of time for this repentance. 00:18:55.109 --> 00:18:59.869 Let us not spin our wheels. On the concrete. 00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:05.670 Let's apply ourselves to what the Lord said in 00:19:05.670 --> 00:19:09.750 the gospel today. And we shall be saved. Amen.