WEBVTT 00:00:01.129 --> 00:00:06.690 When I was an altar server as a boy, I didn't 00:00:06.690 --> 00:00:09.429 like this reading because it was so long. We 00:00:09.429 --> 00:00:11.169 had to stand there so long with the candles. 00:00:12.310 --> 00:00:17.550 But now, it's my favorite reading, at least of 00:00:17.550 --> 00:00:29.250 this season. When Jesus says to this woman, if 00:00:29.250 --> 00:00:34.670 you knew, who it was that is speaking to you. 00:00:35.710 --> 00:00:38.390 You would ask him for water, and he would give 00:00:38.390 --> 00:00:41.750 you water for which you would never thirst again, 00:00:41.950 --> 00:00:49.890 springing up into everlasting life. So our question 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:54.770 this morning is, are we conscious of that in 00:00:54.770 --> 00:00:58.869 our life? Do we live according to that in our 00:00:58.869 --> 00:01:03.189 life? Is this a desire, a thirst that we have 00:01:03.189 --> 00:01:10.010 for God? Or is our thirst quenched by many sundry 00:01:10.010 --> 00:01:17.329 things in our life? The fresco of St. Nihilus 00:01:17.329 --> 00:01:19.750 of Sora at the back of our church says something 00:01:19.750 --> 00:01:25.590 like, knowing how brief this life is, avoid the 00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:29.189 tumult of the world. Now this doesn't mean avoid 00:01:29.189 --> 00:01:32.010 charity. This doesn't mean avoid hospitality. 00:01:32.469 --> 00:01:36.049 This doesn't mean avoid taking care of your neighbor 00:01:36.049 --> 00:01:40.049 and watching out for someone. This means don't 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:42.870 let that world be in your heart because there 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:46.769 will be no room for that water to spring up from 00:01:46.769 --> 00:01:52.170 Christ. I've preached on this gospel 15 times 00:01:52.170 --> 00:01:56.150 maybe in the 20 -something years, 22 years I've 00:01:56.150 --> 00:02:01.920 been a priest. So I'm not going to speak about 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:05.200 the Samaritans. Father Stephan, a Mahalik last 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:10.699 night, in his introduction at Vespers to this 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:15.199 Gospel, reminded us, you can see this online 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.080 on their YouTube channel at St. Nicholas, he 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:19.460 reminded us of what our former Bishop Tito used 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:21.800 to say, don't tell people about all the historical 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:24.340 events, they don't need to know. They can look 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:26.740 that up, they don't need to know at the service. 00:02:27.310 --> 00:02:28.930 They need to know it, but they can look that 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:32.409 up themselves. You know about the Samaritans. 00:02:32.490 --> 00:02:34.729 You know that this woman divorced five times 00:02:34.729 --> 00:02:39.909 or had five husbands, was not divorced maybe 00:02:39.909 --> 00:02:43.729 five times. We can't think of Phyllis Diller 00:02:43.729 --> 00:02:49.289 or Jar Jar Borg. No woman could divorce a man 00:02:49.289 --> 00:02:51.509 in that culture, so we don't know why she had 00:02:51.509 --> 00:02:56.110 five husbands. We do know her life was in serious 00:02:56.110 --> 00:03:00.340 disarray. And she had terrible wounds. And she 00:03:00.340 --> 00:03:02.419 had terrible sorrows. And we know that Christ 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:06.800 came a long way around to Samaria. He didn't 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:10.180 have to go through that. And he came to see her. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:14.539 So there's three things I want to tell you about 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:18.500 this today. This wonderful gospel. This conversation 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:22.319 that we are privileged to listen to. It's an 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.530 incredible thing that we can hear so much. of 00:03:25.530 --> 00:03:30.050 the words of Christ speaking to one person, it 00:03:30.050 --> 00:03:32.990 becomes not just a conversation with this woman. 00:03:33.069 --> 00:03:36.569 We know her as Fotini Svetlana, who had become 00:03:36.569 --> 00:03:39.870 a martyr. No, it becomes a conversation of Christ 00:03:39.870 --> 00:03:44.550 with the soul. Our soul. The first thing we ought 00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:48.490 to know is that Christ will do anything to come 00:03:48.490 --> 00:03:56.780 to us. Die on the cross. Leave the glory of the 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.900 kingdom, the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:05.400 Spirit, unspeakable glory of paradise. The creator 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:11.500 of all things, the word of God, became man for 00:04:11.500 --> 00:04:15.479 us. And he searches each one out, no matter where 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:20.579 this person is, the Samaritan woman, the persecutor 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:25.069 Paul, The woman taken in adultery. The thief 00:04:25.069 --> 00:04:29.829 on the cross. You and me. He came to seek us 00:04:29.829 --> 00:04:35.430 out. There's no depth that he won't go to. Whether 00:04:35.430 --> 00:04:40.050 we hide in Hades, he is there. Because he descended 00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:43.529 into Hades when he died. And he filled that place, 00:04:43.610 --> 00:04:46.410 that realm of death, with his light. We ascend 00:04:46.410 --> 00:04:49.189 to the heavens, he is there. No matter where 00:04:49.189 --> 00:04:55.550 we go, he is there for us. The second thing, 00:04:55.649 --> 00:05:04.290 he's going to illumine us. But we have to have 00:05:04.290 --> 00:05:08.170 the desire to continue the conversation like 00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:11.490 this woman in the gospel. The Lord revealed to 00:05:11.490 --> 00:05:14.730 her something about her life that was terribly 00:05:14.730 --> 00:05:19.209 painful. And she could have said, I've got things 00:05:19.209 --> 00:05:24.480 to do. I have to leave now. She said, oh, you're 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.420 a prophet, and she had some religious questions. 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:28.379 She thought, he's a prophet, I can ask some religious 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:31.120 questions. She knew something about the scripture. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.899 She knew something about God. She had some kind 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:41.100 of inkling, the story of salvation. Jacob and 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:46.079 Abraham and the whole story. Even though she 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:51.120 was a Samaritan and a heretic. And she kept the 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.699 conversation going. She stayed to listen to Jesus. 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:59.779 As one preacher said, she was like a string on 00:05:59.779 --> 00:06:03.220 a violin. And the bow touched that string. And 00:06:03.220 --> 00:06:07.120 it sang. And it sang to Christ. And he gave back 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:15.019 to her. He spoke to her about illumination. Worship. 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:19.110 The Father, worship of the Father in spirit and 00:06:19.110 --> 00:06:22.290 truth. That should be a capital S of spirit and 00:06:22.290 --> 00:06:26.629 a capital T. Because we come to the Father only 00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:31.189 one way. Through Jesus Christ, the Word of God. 00:06:31.670 --> 00:06:35.129 And he says he is the way and the truth. And 00:06:35.129 --> 00:06:38.490 we come to Jesus only because the Spirit has 00:06:38.490 --> 00:06:41.370 enlightened us to see Christ. And to know Christ. 00:06:41.649 --> 00:06:44.709 And so we worship God and our whole life becomes... 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:49.079 centered around the worship of the Father in 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:52.279 the Holy Spirit and in truth, which you, brothers 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:54.759 and sisters, were given when you were immersed 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.360 in the baptismal font. And that's why this reading 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:01.600 is here now, to prepare us for Pentecost and 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.959 to remind us of Pascha and the baptisms that 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.560 would have occurred. You were baptized, you were 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:12.420 immersed in the Holy Spirit. That water was sanctified 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:17.370 water. When we say spiritual, we don't mean a 00:07:17.370 --> 00:07:23.089 feeling. We mean the Holy Spirit of God. And 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:26.009 the Word of God was given to you, and you worshiped 00:07:26.009 --> 00:07:30.189 the Father. I said there's three things, but 00:07:30.189 --> 00:07:35.990 I'm going to leave off the third thing. The Lord 00:07:35.990 --> 00:07:40.129 is always with us, but we don't always go to 00:07:40.129 --> 00:07:44.050 God. We don't always continue the conversation. 00:07:45.290 --> 00:07:48.689 This is why there's a real danger that remains 00:07:48.689 --> 00:07:51.350 for us. And this is why I asked you at the beginning, 00:07:51.490 --> 00:07:57.350 what's your relationship to this phrase? Whosoever 00:07:57.350 --> 00:08:00.569 drinks of the water that I shall give him shall 00:08:00.569 --> 00:08:04.689 never thirst. The water that I shall give him 00:08:04.689 --> 00:08:07.870 shall be in him a well of water springing up 00:08:07.870 --> 00:08:10.500 into everlasting. life. She didn't understand 00:08:10.500 --> 00:08:14.060 that, but we do because we've been given the 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:18.439 Spirit. Don't let fear, don't let the tumult 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:23.339 of this world enter your heart to push out what 00:08:23.339 --> 00:08:29.300 Christ can give you, life and life eternal. We 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:33.659 can be at the well of life in the church and 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:40.570 remain dead. We can be drawn close to the source 00:08:40.570 --> 00:08:46.850 of living water, that is, the holy altar, that 00:08:46.850 --> 00:08:51.470 is, prayer, that is, prostrations, that is, love 00:08:51.470 --> 00:08:54.470 of God and neighbor, and still remain thirsty, 00:08:54.690 --> 00:08:59.190 we can be near grace, that is, those who bear 00:08:59.190 --> 00:09:01.909 the Spirit within them, who live according to 00:09:01.909 --> 00:09:04.590 the Spirit, who walk according to the Spirit, 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:10.559 and we remain graceless. Dear brothers and sisters 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:15.580 in Christ, there is no special time or special 00:09:15.580 --> 00:09:21.100 circumstance for worshiping God or for a life 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:24.419 in God, but always and in all things an authentic 00:09:24.419 --> 00:09:29.019 life in God consists in our having concern for 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:32.240 salvation, illuminated by the light of truth, 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:38.450 so that what we bring to Christ in prayer is 00:09:38.450 --> 00:09:43.809 the desire to have him uncover our thirst for 00:09:43.809 --> 00:09:46.389 him, if we don't know it. Just as he did for 00:09:46.389 --> 00:09:50.929 this woman. Saturate yourselves, dear friends. 00:09:51.830 --> 00:09:55.090 Saturate, immerse yourself in the water of life 00:09:55.090 --> 00:09:59.570 through prayer. Approach Christ. He is the source. 00:10:00.529 --> 00:10:04.029 All week, all week we're going to sing hymns 00:10:04.029 --> 00:10:07.389 in her honor, Fotini's honor. This woman. at 00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:11.490 the well, who became maybe his first evangelist 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:15.129 and went to this village, this town, Sychar, 00:10:15.230 --> 00:10:19.730 and told them, saying, he told me all things 00:10:19.730 --> 00:10:22.210 because the Lord said more words that are in 00:10:22.210 --> 00:10:25.649 this gospel, revealed to her her heart and revealed 00:10:25.649 --> 00:10:28.389 to her eternal life, that he had come for her, 00:10:28.549 --> 00:10:31.309 that he had come a long way, that he was weary, 00:10:31.610 --> 00:10:34.889 but he loved her and he illumined her. And the 00:10:34.889 --> 00:10:37.879 town said, We know for sure now because Jesus 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:42.159 stayed with them because we believe in him. We're 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.659 going to be singing hymns in her honor, this 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:47.639 great and eccentric woman, beautiful woman. We 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:51.320 know that she will become in time a martyr with 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:56.460 her sons. She will give her life's blood in testimony 00:10:56.460 --> 00:11:00.419 of the resurrection for the Messiah who gave 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:08.019 his blood. Christ is risen. Christ is risen. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:11.620 Christ is risen. Christ is risen. Christ is risen.