WEBVTT

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

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of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. Well

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today, this Sunday, today January 5th, we are

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at a crossroads. We are on the 12th day of Christmas.

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And you can look around and still see some Christmas

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decorations here in the church adorning it. are

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on the first Sunday of the new year, 2020. And

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it is the pre -feast of the baptism of our Lord

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and God and Savior Jesus Christ, which was the

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reading of this morning's gospel. And we have

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all these things here at once with us as we stand

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at this crossroads and we celebrate these events.

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But there is even another crossroads that we're

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at this Sunday. John the Baptist, John the forerunner,

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baptizes the Lord Jesus Christ in the Jordan

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River, and it is a crossroads of the old covenant,

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which the prophet, the greatest prophet, John,

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is there, and of the New Testament, the new covenant

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that we have through Christ, of moving from the

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law to grace and mercy. and forgiveness that

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we enter into in our own baptisms, just as Christ

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was baptized. You know, these are the words spoken

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by the prophets about John the forerunner. Behold,

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I send my messenger before your face, who will

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prepare your way before you, the voice of one

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crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of

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the Lord. Make his paths straight. And then we

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have the words of John about our Lord and God

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and Savior, Jesus Christ. From the book of Luke,

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chapter 7, it says, For I say to you, among those...

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Oh, sorry, wrong one. This is Jesus speaking

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of John. For I say to you, among those born of

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women, there is not a greater prophet than John

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the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom

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of God is greater than he. How could that be?

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The greatest prophet, John, and yet for each

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one of us who enters into the baptismal waters

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and then is chrismated with that holy oil and

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now somehow We are greater. It's hard to believe.

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But it's done through the power of God. That

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somehow the Holy Spirit enters us in a way that

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changes us that wasn't done before. Because Christ

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had not come. Because Christ had not died on

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the cross. Had not resurrected, ascended to heaven.

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And all these great events that we know have

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happened in history as we await for the second

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coming of Christ. These things had not happened

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for the prophets yet, but now for us they have

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happened. And we enter into the church, we enter

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into life, we enter into a time where we need

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to take the words of the great prophet John and

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apply them to ourselves. If you look at the column

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here, St. John the Forerunner, it says, Repent

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ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He

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was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course,

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heaven came with him and comes to us through

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Christ and sanctifies us and all our humanity,

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everything that we are. John said of Jesus, There

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comes one after me who is mightier than I. whose

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sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and

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loose. I indeed baptize you with water, but he

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will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And that's

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where we are. We have the Holy Spirit to help

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us. When we do that first step of repentance,

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and we declare that we are going to step away

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from the things that have been a part of our

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past, that have pulled us away from God, and

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that we are now committing ourselves to come

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closer to God, and we enter into that life, and

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we follow where God leads us, and we are sanctified

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and changed and made holy. That's where we need

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to be. Let me read to you from the Gospel that

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we will read shortly. when we bless the waters

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this very day, it came to pass in those days

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that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, who

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was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately,

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coming up from the water, he saw the heavens

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parting and the Spirit descending upon him like

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a dove. And then a voice came from heaven, You

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are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

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This was the time, that major crossroad, when

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we left the old covenant and we entered into

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the new covenant. We left the time of the prophets

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and we entered into the ministry of Jesus Christ

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who calls his disciples. Shortly after this,

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he goes into the wilderness and then he comes

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out and calls his disciples. And we begin this

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time that we are in now as we await the second

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coming of Christ. Well, I couldn't neglect that

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this year is 2020. And when I think of that number,

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I think of 2020 vision, right? And so how could

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we pass this first Sunday of the year and not

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say that we need... 2020 spiritual vision. That's

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what we need. We have the Holy Spirit to guide

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us. All we have to do is listen to God, to follow

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the commandments, to walk the life that has 2020

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vision, and we can walk in a way that we've never

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done before. But we don't sometimes. There are

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some people that are in darkness. They are blind.

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They don't have any vision. We are a part of

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the church. We are here. We're not blind. But

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sometimes we can be nearsighted. And sometimes

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we can be farsighted. And we don't have 20 -20

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vision. Nearsightedness. When we don't see others

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because our vision is so close it's looking at

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just ourselves. That's a problem. If we are just

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thinking about ourselves, how could we ever love

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anyone else? And the answer to get rid of your

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nearsightedness is to look to God. To take your

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eyes off of yourself and to look up to heaven

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and to give thanks to God for the salvation that

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we have. And the moment that we have thanks in

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our heart, then the Holy Spirit is able to really

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shine in us. And once God is shining through

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us, then we can love others around us and we

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have 20 -20 vision. Of course, there's farsightedness

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as well, where we're looking off in the future

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so much, afraid of what will happen. We're filled

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with fear. We've lost our hope. We've lost our

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trust in God because we're saying, well, what

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if this? What if that? What if the other? I'm

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running out of money. I don't know what's going

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to happen. Or whatever the problem is. Maybe

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I'll never get married. I'll never have children.

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I'll never who knows what. You could fill in

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the blank. But we're filled with fear instead

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of with faith. And the answer to this farsightedness

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is once again to put our eyes. on the Lord, and

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to, instead of being afraid of the future, be

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trusting in God that he's taking us to a wonderful

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future, that he's going to bring us to a place

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of beauty and eternal life. St. Clement of Rome

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says this, So while we are on earth, let us repent.

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For we are like clay in a workman's hands. If

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a potter makes a vessel and it gets out of shape

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or breaks in his hands, he molds it over again.

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Similarly, while we are in this world, let us

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too repent with our whole heart of the evil we

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have done in the flesh so that we may be saved

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by the Lord while we have a chance to repent.

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By doing the Father's will and keeping the flesh

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pure, and by abiding by the Lord's commands,

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we shall obtain eternal life. Eternal life. Never

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-ending life. Joy in God's presence forever.

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Our hearts beaming. How could we not strive for

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that? But it requires us now to repent. The Apostle

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Paul writes in Titus, the book of Titus, For

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the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath

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appeared to all men, teaching us that denying

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ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live

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soberly, righteously, and godly in this present

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world, looking for that blessed hope in the glorious...

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appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus

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Christ. So now we are here in 2020, and we need

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to have that spiritual vision of the 2020 vision.

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And all it takes is us saying yes to God. Yes,

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I want that. Do you want that vision? Do you

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want to see the world? with God's view of the

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world? I do. We're at a crossroads. Christmas,

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we've got the 12th day of Christmas. Tomorrow,

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Theophany, the first Sunday of this new year.

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What better time than right now to commit ourselves

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to grow and be sanctified and become holy? and

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to move forward from this crossroads on the road

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carrying the cross. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory

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to God.