WEBVTT 00:00:00.910 --> 00:00:03.310 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.310 --> 00:00:06.950 the Holy Spirit, Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. 00:00:08.730 --> 00:00:14.570 Today, we celebrate the Feast of St. John the 00:00:14.570 --> 00:00:20.129 Theologian, the Evangelist, the Apostle, and 00:00:20.129 --> 00:00:24.629 I have, it's my patron saint, so I have a particular 00:00:24.629 --> 00:00:32.100 closeness to St. John. And in a certain way, 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:39.159 St. John converted me into the Orthodox Church. 00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:43.399 I had just started coming. This is 30 years ago. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.159 I had just started coming to church a little 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:49.719 bit, a little bit. But I was perplexed. And it 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.079 might seem odd, but I was wondering, is Christ 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:03.590 God? Is he God? This really bothered me. And 00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:08.930 I said, you know what? I'll find out. And this 00:01:08.930 --> 00:01:14.030 is how I'll do it. I'll just take a Bible, and 00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:18.090 I'll just randomly open it up to a spot, and 00:01:18.090 --> 00:01:21.590 I'll put my finger down and see what it says. 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:27.689 And I open it up, I put my finger down, and it 00:01:27.689 --> 00:01:33.200 said, And the word was made flesh and dwelt among 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:38.239 us. It was the most direct answer that you could 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:43.439 possibly get. And at that moment, sort of a light 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:49.680 went off inside of me. And I knew. I knew for 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:57.060 sure that Jesus Christ was God. About nine months 00:01:57.060 --> 00:02:01.920 after that, I was baptized. And actually, today, 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:08.500 today is the 30th anniversary of my baptism. 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:12.379 Because I was baptized on the feast of St. John 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:17.479 the Theologian. So obviously, I was already named 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.280 John, so I took this. I mean, this is, not only 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:23.120 did he convert me, but, you know, here he is, 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:29.400 right here. My baptism. Shortly after that, only 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:32.800 a few years later, I started a mission over in 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:37.680 Sonoma, and we named the mission after St. John 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:44.219 the Theologian. During that time, I studied the 00:02:44.219 --> 00:02:47.360 Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation and 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.259 everything he had written, but I also studied 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:53.680 his life. And St. John, I'll just give you a 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.569 thumbnail sketch of his life. As we heard today, 00:02:57.870 --> 00:03:02.250 he was called by the Lord as a fisherman. He 00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:08.530 was called out, and he just went. He gave it 00:03:08.530 --> 00:03:10.629 all up, and he followed Christ. He gave up everything. 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:13.509 He followed Christ. Then he followed him all 00:03:13.509 --> 00:03:16.009 the way through his ministry. He was there, the 00:03:16.009 --> 00:03:19.629 only apostle. He was the only one there at the 00:03:19.629 --> 00:03:26.340 Lord's crucifixion. He never left. And because 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:32.120 he was there, the Lord put him as the protector 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:35.979 of his mother, as we also heard today's gospel. 00:03:39.860 --> 00:03:45.419 So I felt like this is a great saint for me to 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:48.419 have. And it says also in there he was a saint 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:53.419 beloved by Christ. Christ loved them all, but 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:56.750 particularly John. He's the one that laid his 00:03:56.750 --> 00:04:07.490 head on his chest. St. John, then, after the 00:04:07.490 --> 00:04:11.830 crucifixion, after the ascension, then they drew 00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:15.090 lots for like where they each would go, each 00:04:15.090 --> 00:04:17.389 apostle, what part of the world he would go to. 00:04:17.829 --> 00:04:21.709 And the part of the world that he drew was Asia 00:04:21.709 --> 00:04:27.019 Minor. But he put it off because he had to take 00:04:27.019 --> 00:04:29.860 care of the Theotokos. He took, as we heard also 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.500 in today's gospel, he took her into his own house 00:04:32.500 --> 00:04:40.399 and took care of her until her dormition. Once 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:49.199 she was ascended to heaven, then he left and 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:53.829 he took his close disciple. Prochorus with him 00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:59.949 and they went into Asia Minor. They had many 00:04:59.949 --> 00:05:02.829 events and many things happened and many miracles 00:05:02.829 --> 00:05:05.829 and he converted many people. But they ended 00:05:05.829 --> 00:05:09.769 up in Ephesus. And he was there for a number 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:14.990 of years and growing the community. But then 00:05:14.990 --> 00:05:18.009 there was a persecution of the church happened. 00:05:19.089 --> 00:05:23.370 And he was turned in. He was arrested, and he 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:30.189 was taken all the way to Rome. And in Rome, they 00:05:30.189 --> 00:05:32.970 decided they were going to kill him. So they 00:05:32.970 --> 00:05:36.509 actually tried to poison him. They gave him poison 00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.730 somehow, some way, didn't work. Just, you know, 00:05:39.750 --> 00:05:43.470 poisons didn't work on him. So then they decided 00:05:43.470 --> 00:05:47.509 they would boil him in oil. So they had a big 00:05:47.509 --> 00:05:51.370 cauldron, and they boiled the oil, and they... 00:05:51.579 --> 00:05:54.720 lowered him into it. Nothing happened to him. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:00.980 They pulled him out. He was perfectly fine. This 00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:06.060 really scared the emperor. He said, I don't know 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:07.939 what's going on here, but I think we're going 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:10.079 to take this guy and put him somewhere else, 00:06:10.139 --> 00:06:17.160 not around here. So they sent him journeying 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:19.480 across through the Aegean, and they sent him 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:24.129 to an island. It was called Patmos. And it was 00:06:24.129 --> 00:06:27.930 actually being used as a quarry at the time. 00:06:27.990 --> 00:06:30.430 So he was there basically as a prisoner, as a 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:38.769 slave, quarrying rock. Now, this part of the 00:06:38.769 --> 00:06:40.629 story right here, when he ends up in Patmos, 00:06:40.709 --> 00:06:43.790 is a part sort of where I come back into it again. 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:50.069 Back in the year 08, I was blessed by God. to 00:06:50.069 --> 00:06:54.649 go to the island of Patmos. And my wife, who 00:06:54.649 --> 00:06:57.529 is over here, and a dear friend of mine, my godson, 00:06:58.050 --> 00:07:01.430 Joseph, we went with my son, and we all went 00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:06.490 to Patmos. And it was in Patmos that ultimately 00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:10.310 St. John wrote the Gospel of John, and he also 00:07:10.310 --> 00:07:17.589 wrote the Book of Revelation. Now, the Gospel 00:07:17.589 --> 00:07:21.720 of John, You know, he didn't just go and sit 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:24.480 down in the shade, you know, and let's see if 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.399 I can remember what happened. You know, it wasn't 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:32.579 like that at all. He fasted first for 10 days. 00:07:33.899 --> 00:07:36.379 And they're on top of a mountain. Fasted for 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:40.199 10 days. Then an angel came to him and said, 00:07:40.220 --> 00:07:45.639 fast for another 10 days. And he did. And his 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:48.199 scribe, because St. John, by the way, couldn't. 00:07:48.569 --> 00:07:52.089 Couldn't write, read or write. Couldn't do it. 00:07:52.490 --> 00:07:56.550 He was just a simple fisherman. But his scribe, 00:07:56.550 --> 00:08:01.930 he says, go get paper. Come back. He fasted for 00:08:01.930 --> 00:08:05.189 the other ten days, and then all of a sudden 00:08:05.189 --> 00:08:10.529 there was lightning and thunder and all this 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:13.730 commotion in the heavens, and he said, okay, 00:08:13.970 --> 00:08:20.120 write what I say. And he starts, in the beginning 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:24.500 was the word. And the word was with God. And 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:27.680 the word was God. And so on it goes through. 00:08:31.980 --> 00:08:36.379 I was blessed when I was on Patmos to go up on 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:39.120 top of that very mountain. And there's a monastery 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:42.639 up there now that's dedicated to St. John the 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:47.549 Theologian. And it's up there where the gospel 00:08:47.549 --> 00:08:52.370 was given. And it was a lovely place. I went 00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:56.549 up there and just prayed and was there. Here's 00:08:56.549 --> 00:09:02.789 the place where this gospel came from. Then the 00:09:02.789 --> 00:09:09.470 next day, we went down the hill and we went into 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:14.720 the cave of the revelation. That's where St. 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:19.500 John went when the book of Revelation was revealed. 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:24.299 The whole vision of it was revealed to him. And 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:27.720 we went there, and it's small. You see on that 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:33.879 icon there, there's a cave. It doesn't look exactly 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.799 like that now, but it's a cave. And we went there, 00:09:36.860 --> 00:09:39.340 and we went in, and it was Sunday, and they were 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:43.019 having divine liturgy. Very, very, the altar 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:48.100 is a lot smaller than the one we have here. Very 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:51.620 small. And there was a monk, a higher monk in 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:53.480 there. He was doing the liturgy. He was getting 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:57.740 ready to do the liturgy. And I came in with my 00:09:57.740 --> 00:10:00.899 friends, and we're in there, and, you know, wow, 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:06.740 we're in the cave. And all of a sudden, my son, 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:09.360 who speaks Greek, who's lived in Greece for quite 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:13.649 a while, He went up and he spoke to the priest 00:10:13.649 --> 00:10:15.769 a little bit, and the priest goes, come, to me. 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:19.809 He says, come. He takes me in the altar. He's 00:10:19.809 --> 00:10:21.649 just getting ready to do the liturgy. I venerate 00:10:21.649 --> 00:10:23.909 the altar. I go in, and he points over in the 00:10:23.909 --> 00:10:26.330 corner. He says, you know, they were saying, 00:10:26.370 --> 00:10:29.210 go over there, you know, and be against that 00:10:29.210 --> 00:10:33.610 wall. And I went over there, and there were handholds 00:10:33.610 --> 00:10:38.690 in silver in the wall and a plate of silver. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:45.299 This was where St. John was laying down when 00:10:45.299 --> 00:10:48.720 he received the book of Revelation, where he 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:54.139 laid his head, where he put his hands. And the 00:10:54.139 --> 00:10:58.440 priest, the haramunk, told me, go there. And 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.639 I laid down and I put my head there and my hands, 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:05.220 and he started the divine liturgy. And I just 00:11:05.220 --> 00:11:08.990 started weeping and weeping and was... basically 00:11:08.990 --> 00:11:13.230 sort of lifted out of myself. I mean, it was 00:11:13.230 --> 00:11:15.470 so extraordinary. It was like, you know, one 00:11:15.470 --> 00:11:17.950 of the most, probably the most spiritual event 00:11:17.950 --> 00:11:24.269 of my life. And I was just there in this, and 00:11:24.269 --> 00:11:27.070 I wasn't even thinking that much. It was all 00:11:27.070 --> 00:11:31.970 happening in my heart. That I was there with 00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:35.750 St. John through all this time since he'd been 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:40.929 there, but I was there with him. And the whole 00:11:40.929 --> 00:11:43.610 book of Revelation is like being opened up, not 00:11:43.610 --> 00:11:48.169 to me personally, but it's happening. It's happening 00:11:48.169 --> 00:11:55.870 like it always happens. And again, it was the 00:11:55.870 --> 00:11:58.309 most extraordinary liturgy I've ever been in 00:11:58.309 --> 00:12:04.610 my entire life. And again, I just wept and wept 00:12:04.610 --> 00:12:11.009 and wept. Because it was so beautiful. It was 00:12:11.009 --> 00:12:20.669 so extraordinarily powerful. St. John, he was 00:12:20.669 --> 00:12:24.029 freed from the island of Patmos. Another emperor 00:12:24.029 --> 00:12:27.970 arose in Rome and freed all those people that 00:12:27.970 --> 00:12:33.450 he had sent there that were religious prisoners. 00:12:34.049 --> 00:12:38.269 So St. John went back to Ephesus. and lived there 00:12:38.269 --> 00:12:43.190 for quite a number of years. And it became a 00:12:43.190 --> 00:12:48.990 very vibrant, growing community. And John lived 00:12:48.990 --> 00:12:53.590 to be old. It's not quite sure, but he was at 00:12:53.590 --> 00:12:55.730 least 100, because he was young when he was with 00:12:55.730 --> 00:12:57.549 Christ. I mean, he was in his late teens probably. 00:12:58.509 --> 00:13:02.590 But by the time he reposed in Ephesus, he was 00:13:02.590 --> 00:13:08.629 over 100. He got old and he got weak. And he 00:13:08.629 --> 00:13:10.549 couldn't even hardly move around much anymore. 00:13:11.710 --> 00:13:14.029 And so they used to take him to church. He couldn't 00:13:14.029 --> 00:13:17.190 quite walk there. So they would carry him in. 00:13:18.190 --> 00:13:23.409 Like in a chair. They would carry him in. And 00:13:23.409 --> 00:13:26.990 they'd bring him in through the church. And the 00:13:26.990 --> 00:13:29.750 people would come up to him. Wanting to receive 00:13:29.750 --> 00:13:34.690 a blessing. And they wanted a word from him. 00:13:35.820 --> 00:13:40.580 And the word he gave them was, love one another. 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:47.240 Just love one another. That is good enough. And 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:50.080 he would say it over and over again. Just love 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.220 one another. That is good enough. And the people 00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:55.379 would come up to him and say, how come you always 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:58.340 say that? He says, because it's the Lord's commandment. 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:01.419 It's the Lord's commandment that we love one 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:06.379 another. So just love one another. And that's 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:11.860 good enough. Now, why do I want to tell this 00:14:11.860 --> 00:14:17.279 story? Well, first, is that each one of us, each 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:23.740 baptized person, has a saint that you've taken 00:14:23.740 --> 00:14:29.639 their name. That saint is close to you. Close. 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:33.929 So we should sort of open our heart up. to that 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:38.409 saint and pray to them and just try to be close 00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:42.669 because it's very important. You know, it's not 00:14:42.669 --> 00:14:44.809 like you're just named because, well, you know, 00:14:44.830 --> 00:14:49.309 my grandfather was named John, you know, so, 00:14:49.409 --> 00:14:51.769 I mean, that's how I was named earlier. You know, 00:14:51.789 --> 00:14:54.230 it's because my grandfather was a John. But no, 00:14:54.389 --> 00:15:01.409 beyond that, we want to be close to that saint. 00:15:02.570 --> 00:15:08.870 But also, the other part of this homily is that 00:15:08.870 --> 00:15:14.370 we remember St. John the theologian. We keep 00:15:14.370 --> 00:15:21.610 him close to our heart. St. John, his gospel 00:15:21.610 --> 00:15:27.289 is like the highest gospel. When people study 00:15:27.289 --> 00:15:30.929 scripture, you start off by studying Genesis. 00:15:31.769 --> 00:15:34.769 And then you work your way through. The last 00:15:34.769 --> 00:15:43.929 book you study is the Gospel of John. And the 00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:49.529 highest part of that Gospel is the prologue to 00:15:49.529 --> 00:15:55.070 John, the prologue to that Gospel. It's the center, 00:15:55.129 --> 00:15:57.789 as far as Scripture, it's the center of the church. 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:05.049 We all know what's the center feast day for the 00:16:05.049 --> 00:16:10.509 church? It's Pascha. What do we read on Pascha 00:16:10.509 --> 00:16:14.070 night at the liturgy? It's the first reading 00:16:14.070 --> 00:16:18.309 of the year, if you will. We read the gospel, 00:16:18.450 --> 00:16:22.769 the prologue to the gospel of John. In the beginning 00:16:22.769 --> 00:16:30.019 was the word. So it creates like the center that 00:16:30.019 --> 00:16:36.659 all scripture revolves and moves around. Also, 00:16:36.700 --> 00:16:39.299 of course, I mean, there's his epistles, which 00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:42.279 are astonishing. There's also the book of Revelation. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:45.559 Now, many people read the book of Revelation, 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:47.159 sort of skim around through this and that, and 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:49.200 they're looking for things. They're looking for 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:52.580 signs, you know. Ah, this is a sign that... The 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:54.919 end is near. This is a sign that the end is near. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:56.639 This is a sign that the end is near. People have 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:00.799 done this forever. But there's a part of the 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:05.720 book of Revelation that we all need to read and 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:08.220 try to remember and have close to our heart. 00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:19.359 And this is the very end. The very end. It's 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:26.099 after... The descent of the city of God. See, 00:17:26.140 --> 00:17:30.940 if God descends, and then he says this, and he 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:33.619 said, and he showed me a river of the water of 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:38.539 life, clear as crystal, coming forth from the 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:42.700 throne of God and the Lamb. In the midst of the 00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:46.460 city street, on both sides of the river, there 00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:50.690 was the tree of life. bearing twelve fruits, 00:17:50.910 --> 00:17:53.069 yielding his fruit according to each month, and 00:17:53.069 --> 00:17:58.710 the leaves for the healings of nations. And there 00:17:58.710 --> 00:18:01.430 shall be no more a cursed thing, but the throne 00:18:01.430 --> 00:18:05.349 of God, and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his 00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:08.349 servants shall serve him. And they shall see 00:18:08.349 --> 00:18:12.930 his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:17.970 And night shall be no more, and they shall have 00:18:17.970 --> 00:18:23.549 no need. Of light of lamp. Or light of sun. For 00:18:23.549 --> 00:18:26.470 the Lord God. Will shed light upon them. And 00:18:26.470 --> 00:18:30.309 they shall reign forever. And ever. And then 00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:36.990 the very end. The very last. Sentence. In the 00:18:36.990 --> 00:18:43.390 book of Revelation. He says. Amen. Come Lord 00:18:43.390 --> 00:18:50.359 Jesus. The grace. of our Lord Jesus Christ be 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:52.460 with you all. Amen.