WEBVTT

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Christ is risen. In the name of the Father, and

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of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. You heard,

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you heard the epistle, the healing of the paralyzed

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Aeneas, the raising of Tabitha. You heard the

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gospel. This account describes an isolation of

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38 years. brought on by paralysis this man begging

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probably begging all those decades the only life

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he knows begging to survive alone as he says

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i have no man no one to help jesus says do you

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want to be made whole do you want to want to

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be made well saved the same word I suppose when

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the only life you know has been 38 years, three

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decades plus of begging, I suppose it's obvious

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why Jesus would say that. Because Jesus always

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says the thing that goes straight to the heart

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of the matter. The man heard his voice. The man's

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paralysis, his atrophy. Of his muscles. No muscles

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up to 38 years. Was healed. And he got up. And

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not only did he get up. But he took his bed.

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Which for the Jewish authorities. And their interpretation.

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Well constituted work. So rather than. Giving

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glory. And to God. For this miracle. The authorities.

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found reason to persecute Jesus. 38 years of

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isolation is also going to atrophy the soul.

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Last year on this Sunday, this is the fourth

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Sunday of Pascha. Still Pascha time. And we always

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read this gospel about the paralyzed man, the

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sheep. and we have an incredibly beautiful fresco

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on the south side of the arch at the back of

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this event. On this Sunday last year, Father

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John Shattuck preached a sermon. And he began

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with a wonderful quote by St. Cyprian of Carthage.

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St. Cyprian was martyred September 14th in the

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year 258. St. Cyprian said this, and this is

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what Father John began his sermon with last year.

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Each person falls in isolation, but we are saved

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in the community of the church. Each person falls

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in isolation. You can't be a Christian by yourself,

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but we are saved in the community of the church.

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Of course, maybe he was prophesying, but he couldn't

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have known that a year later, how relevant those

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words would be for us. Here we are, waiting weeks,

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months, okay, not 38 years like the paralytic,

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but nevertheless, unprecedented times, difficult,

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many people dying, all kinds of people trying

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to figure out who's to blame, because that's

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what we do, right, when we're powerless. We want

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to know who's to blame. Unprecedented times.

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The Lord knows the economic struggles that many

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are having. Isolation. No. Not for us in the

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church. No. Separated. Maybe. Yes. But not isolated.

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We should not be isolated. Even hermits are not

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isolated. There at the cave on the hillside of

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Corulia there in the mountain Athos. They're

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not isolated. Because not only are they praying

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for the world and for the people that ask them

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to pray, but we pray too. We overcome every obstacle

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in space and time through prayer. By the power

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of the Spirit. The unity of the Spirit, says

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St. Paul, in the bond of peace. Christ is that

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peace. Christ is that unity. He is our bond.

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Think, brothers and sisters, of the incredible

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miracle you have been given in being a Christian

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and knowing Christ. Before Christ, you were powerless

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like this man. You are isolated spiritually from

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God. You are in the grip of death and sin and

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powerless against those things. All the world

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now is in turmoil about its powerlessness to

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do something about our situation. And that's

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all I'm going to say about our situation because

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you hear about it every single day. But we, as

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Christians, have gone through a miraculous transformation.

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How? In this gospel, by the way, and all the

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gospels, the next three, next week Samaritan

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woman, next week the blind man, are dedicated

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and specifically targeted to the newly baptized,

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which we would have now if we had a normal year.

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But fine. We were baptized too. And it's good

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for them to hear this ahead of time because next

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year they're going to know what they're in for.

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These Gospels have to do with baptism, have to

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do with change, have to do with transformation,

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have to do with rising up from their bed by the

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power of Christ and then picking up that bed,

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doing something, no longer paralyzed by fear

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of death or sin, no longer isolated because they

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are spiritually united to God, to the angels

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and the most holy. theotokos, to their patron

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saint, and to each of us. The miracle, think

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of the great change of life, the miracle of repentance,

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which is something that God initiates in a person.

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We don't come to it naturally. What we come to

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naturally since the fall in the Garden of Eden

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is to turn away from God in shame and in fear.

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Repentance is the gift of the Holy Spirit beginning

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of ember in the heart. Then there's the forgiveness

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of sins when we become accountable to God, to

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the church, to one another. Grievous sins, wounds,

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shameful things washed away in the prayer of

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absolution and in the... Water and the fire of

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baptism. St. John baptized with water. Forgiveness.

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Jesus Christ said, I come to baptize with fire.

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That is the Holy Spirit. That is God's love.

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That is God's mercy. His absolution. His divine

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energy and grace. Get up and walk. Come out of

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the font. And then there's the anointing of the

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Holy Spirit. To make you and me, son, a daughter

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of the Father. Christ becomes, dare we say, but

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the saints say, Christ becomes our brother. And

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the gift of nourishment, the body and blood of

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Christ. So we can share in the resurrection now.

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This is all what's given to us. Let none of us

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bewail, bemoan, and wail our situation. Yes,

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I'm not going to stand in judgment or criticize

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those who are suffering. God knows their situation.

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It's not for me to categorize it in any way.

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But if we have been given all these things that

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I said, and this gospel today points to this

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great miracle of change, The resistance that

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will come against us as Jesus experiences and

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that man experienced right away, expect it. But

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if we've been given this miraculous life, let

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us not forget that we are then like the apostles.

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We're the apostles. We're the disciples. We've

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had this miracle. We are no longer paralyzed

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and fearful of death. My beloved dean of the

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Pacific Central Deanery, the mighty Archpriest

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Basil, said this in a sermon about these miracles.

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Belief in miracles is fundamental to our Christian

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faith. What miracles, you might ask? Well, the

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miracle of creation, the parting of the Red Sea,

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the bush that burned that was not consumed. How

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about the miracle of God taking flesh and dwelling

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among us? The miracle of all miracles. The raising

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of Lazarus. The resurrection of Christ from the

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dead. The ascension into heaven. Don't we believe

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all these things? We do. Natural laws do not

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have the claim to be the only laws. Nor are they

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threatened with being overturned. by the appearance

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of other laws, says St. Nectarius. And St. Augustine

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says miracles are not contrary to nature, but

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only contrary to what we know about nature. And

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don't what we know change? Doesn't it change

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every day? The paralytic waited for God's miracle.

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Patiently? Maybe. Maybe he was used to being

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there. But he had faith at the end, and he had

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hope, and that should inspire us. God loves us

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more than we love ourselves. He wants to heal

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us beginning here, which is why Christ asked

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that question. He could have just said, get up

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and walk, but he needed that man to know that

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a change is coming on the inside first. God's

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timing for each one of us is always perfect.

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Wait on God. He wants what's best for us, you

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and me, for our lives, for our eternal life.

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I guess, and this is Father Basil's final word,

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the miracle of the raising of the paralytic today

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was not the most important miracle described

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in the gospel today. It was the encounter with

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Christ. Praise ye God and his saints. Praise

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him in the firmament of his power. Praise him

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for his mighty acts. Praise him according to

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the multitude of his greatness. Christ is risen.