In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It was last year at
this time, this very liturgical day, the day
of the commemoration of St. John of the Ladder,
that the liturgical services were closed. And
we began a couple of months of divine liturgies
with just Justin singing and me serving by myself
and my family blood relatives here in the church.
That was it. It was a time of testing. Let's
say, let's not use the word test perhaps. Test
means that there's going to be a scorecard when
we're done, and you'll see how you were graded.
God doesn't need to test you like that. Let's
use the word, it was a trial. It was a difficult
situation, and perhaps it was a training for
us. The Lord trains us up in the circumstances
we find ourselves. We have pledged to be his
servants. When we became catechumens, we said,
I renounce Satan, all his works, all his angels,
all his service, and all his pride. We say it
three times, I have renounced Satan. And then
we go outside, we breathe on him, and we spit
on the devil. Imagine. Imagine you go, I don't
know, to what used to be Red's recovery room
on 116 or the wagon wheel over there off of Mendocino.
I've never been to either one, just to assure
you of that. And you go in there and you yell
and you wag your finger and you criticize somebody
about the size of John Robert. And then you spit
on him. And then you turn your back. What do
you think is going to happen? you're going to
go down. But you see, we spit on the devil, we
turn our back on him, and we say, I unite myself
to Christ. So everything that comes to us in
this life, once we have done that, because as
I've said to you many times, we give God permission.
We put our life in his hands, willingly, because
we know his love. Is immeasurable. We know his
providence. Is so caring. Down. As Jesus says.
Don't you know your heavenly father. Knows that
you have. Each hair. Doesn't have to think that
much about mine. Because there's not that much
now. But he knows everything about us. So. What
comes to us. We say. Is by God's hand. As miserable
as all that was. And now here we are, liturgically
speaking, exactly one year later. The commemoration
of St. John of the Ladder. And you're here. And
it's not just me and my family and the heavenly
hosts. You didn't receive communion for some
long period of time. I can't remember how many
weeks, maybe it was two months. But you're here.
You didn't reach out to the various blogosphere
sites to condemn the various hierarchs that implemented
the fact that we were shut down. You gave glory
to God because you knew that your life is in
his hands. Once we start to judge other people
that make our lives, let's say, difficult, then
we're sinning. I wasn't going to read anything
from the latter to you today, but it's so compelling,
it's so real, and it's so basic about judging
others. I need to share that with you. The demons.
Murderers as they are push us into sin. Or if
they fail to do this, they get us to pass judgment
on those who are sinning so that they may defile
us with the stain which we ourselves are condemning
in other people. Number 12. This is step 10.
Number 12 of step 10. This is one of the marks
by which we could recognize spiteful and slanderous
people. They are piteously plunged in the spirit
of hatred, and with pleasure and without a qualm,
they slander the teaching or the affairs or achievements
of their neighbor. Number 13, I have seen some
committing the gravest sin in secret and without
exposure. And in their supposed purity, they
have harshly invaded and accused against persons
Who have had a petty fall in public. Number 14.
To judge others is a shameless arrogation of
the divine prerogative. To condemn is the ruin
of one's soul. Number 15. Even without any other
passion. Self -esteem can ruin a man. And in
the same way if we have formed the habit of judging.
We can be utterly ruined by this alone. For indeed
the Pharisee was condemned. For this very thing.
And finally number 16. A good grape picker. Who
eats the ripe grapes. Will not start gathering.
Unripe ones. A charitable and sensible mind.
Takes careful note. Of whatever virtues it sees
in anyone. But a fool looks for faults. And defects.
And as of such it is said. They have searched
after iniquity. And in searching they are grown
weary. Of searching. From the psalm. Do not condemn.
Number 17. Even if you see with your eyes. For
they are often deceived. So our lives carried
on. And here we are. And here you are. And we
need consolation once again. We want to be, as
I was saying to somebody yesterday, and I heard
from a priest in a sermon, we want things to
go back to normal, don't we? But the priest said,
normal is a setting on your wash machine. This
is just life. And it's going to be full of trials
and training. You pray for patience, guess what?
God's going to send you someone that's difficult.
You pray for humility, and you know what will
happen almost immediately. Someone will humble
you. You pray for understanding, and immediately,
or soon thereafter, a naughty problem is going
to be presented to you in which you have to discern
and pray and ask God. So that you can carry through
and figure out what to do. You pray for love.
And God will send you a situation in which love
is required. We can't learn any of the divine
virtues. Much less not judging someone. Without
the opportunities coming to us as a training.
Be careful what you pray for in that case. I'm
saying this today about a trial of faith because
of this gospel. Note how it ends. Jesus felt
that after that scene, that incredibly dramatic
scene with the young man, who was going rigid
and foaming at the mouth and flopping around
and falling in the fire and in the water. Maybe
someone today would say it's a grand mal seizure,
but the text tells us he has a spirit, an evil
spirit. And after that healing, Jesus says to
the apostles, when they're questioning, why could
we not do it? Because the Pharisees and the scribes
were arguing with the apostles. Saying, you can't
do anything. Your master's gone off. Where did
he go? The mountain of transfiguration. He comes
down and he sees this scene of arguing. And the
apostles, as failures, publicly. You know, as
a priest, this hits home rather powerfully. Your
disciples could not do it. And it's true. Because
we fail to do the thing that Jesus suggests.
And that doesn't suggest, and he's not talking
to monastics. He says this thing doesn't come
out except by prayer and fasting. Prayer because
it's to the almighty God and we have no other
hope. Fasting because when we fast, we don't
hope in ourself anymore. We have given that up
because we know God will help us and fill that
space. This father was tested. His face was tried.
Jesus says, all things are possible if you believe.
And the man, in his honesty, which we need at
this time of Lent when we know we have failed
so far. In his pain of heart, which we need if
we're going to approach Holy Week. In his faith,
because faith is a gift from God. It's not something
we conjure up. No, it's a gift in the almighty
God who has proven himself to us already on the
cross, the grave, the tomb, and the resurrection.
The man says those incredible words, immortal
words. Lord, he says, confessing Jesus, I believe.
And then he asks for something. And that tells
us what we ought to do with our prayer. We confess
God, and then we ask, Lord, I believe. Help my
unbelief. And the boy is cured. This is our life,
brothers and sisters. We're going to be tried.
We're going to be tested, not so God can figure
out what we're going to do, but so that we can
be trained in the life of what it is to be a
Christian. People have been reading this book,
The Ladder of Divine Ascent now, for 1 ,500 years.
It has changed men and women so that they become
Christ -like. These aren't rules to follow. As
you heard, they're short little sayings which
guide us and keep us on the right path. In our
modern way of thinking, we need all the society
to work first. The right laws, the right programs,
Money in the right places. This is nice when
it can happen. But the Christian doesn't believe
in that as the first thing. The Christian believes,
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. And the Christian
embraces Christ wherever he or she is at. Because
faith is the 30th step of the 30 steps. It's
not the first step. And so we have to say, help
my unbelief. And then we change. The individual
is changed. The saint goes out into the forest
for a thousand days and nights. Then multitudes
come out and healings are flowing forth. The
good news is being preached. And a hundred and
how many years later, here we are, 200 years
later almost, here we are, the church of the
Cathedral of St. Seraphim. Never think that you
have to be an activist before you are an activist
with the Holy Spirit. Never think that you have
enough faith so you will always say, Lord, I
believe. Help my unbelief. So this is the message
which the church gives us on this fourth Sunday.
of the great fast as we get closer and closer
to holy week we hear the lord's words the son
of man is going to be arrested and crucified
and he will rise on the third day amen