WEBVTT 00:00:08.340 --> 00:00:11.439 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.759 of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:22.460 Glory to Christ. Last time I was with you, since 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:24.940 I've been away for a week, it was Pentecost. 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:29.989 We were celebrating. the gift of the Holy Spirit, 00:00:30.170 --> 00:00:33.990 the comforter, the Spirit that speaks to our 00:00:33.990 --> 00:00:37.469 hearts, the Spirit of truth who guides us to 00:00:37.469 --> 00:00:43.189 all truth, the cleansing Spirit, the exuberant 00:00:43.189 --> 00:00:47.729 Spirit, the Spirit that unites us to Christ, 00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:50.929 the Spirit that makes us children of the Father, 00:00:50.990 --> 00:00:55.649 the Spirit that holds us together, the Spirit. 00:00:57.130 --> 00:01:00.909 That makes saints. So last week we celebrated. 00:01:01.049 --> 00:01:05.150 The Orthodox Church worldwide. Sunday of all 00:01:05.150 --> 00:01:10.530 saints. This week. The church says. But look 00:01:10.530 --> 00:01:14.590 at the saints of your land. The saints that are 00:01:14.590 --> 00:01:19.489 dear to you. And so. The church gives us this 00:01:19.489 --> 00:01:26.120 interesting gospel. Gospels. Well. Gospel, there's 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:31.459 one gospel. But readings, the second one about 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:37.680 the sermon on the plain, describing what it is 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:44.319 a Christian is like, merciful, peaceful, joyful, 00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:50.019 trusting in God. And the first gospel, the calling, 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:57.109 the calling of the disciples. So I see today 00:01:57.109 --> 00:02:00.769 as the day of getting back, with all that I've 00:02:00.769 --> 00:02:03.930 said, just said, the day of getting back to basics 00:02:03.930 --> 00:02:10.349 of what it is to be a disciple of Jesus. Let 00:02:10.349 --> 00:02:14.689 me try to explain. St. Matthew records that Jesus 00:02:14.689 --> 00:02:21.270 saw two brothers, there they are, Simon Peter 00:02:21.270 --> 00:02:28.879 and St. Andrew, their nets into the sea. They 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:31.620 were fishers. We say fishermen, but it sounds 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:35.080 awfully nice. They were fishers. And Jesus says 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:38.280 to them, follow me, I will make you fishers of 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.819 men. Now, no doubt they had seen Jesus. No doubt 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:46.360 they had heard of Jesus already. When Jesus says 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:49.719 to them, and then to James and John, who are 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:51.360 with their father and they leave their father, 00:02:51.419 --> 00:02:55.139 Jesus says, Follow me. He doesn't say, he doesn't 00:02:55.139 --> 00:02:57.620 mean, hey, come check this out. I want you to 00:02:57.620 --> 00:03:04.819 see something. They left everything. The father's 00:03:04.819 --> 00:03:07.159 standing in the boat probably with the nets going, 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:12.400 what's going on? They left their boat and their 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:18.099 fishing business. They left it. It's not recorded 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:20.699 if they ask for more time to put things in order. 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:29.370 They left things. Here's the key. Response. What 00:03:29.370 --> 00:03:34.310 do we respond to? They responded to Christ. One 00:03:34.310 --> 00:03:38.669 follows in response to something that's serious 00:03:38.669 --> 00:03:41.770 and real, to something that touches you, that 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:45.689 brings you in. You respond. In this case, it 00:03:45.689 --> 00:03:50.930 was Jesus, the Lord and Savior, who... whom they 00:03:50.930 --> 00:03:59.110 knew very little about. But it's kind of like 00:03:59.110 --> 00:04:04.169 this. A young man falls in love with a woman 00:04:04.169 --> 00:04:12.110 and says to her, will you marry me? I believe 00:04:12.110 --> 00:04:15.930 in you, and I want to know you, and I want to 00:04:15.930 --> 00:04:21.490 spend my life getting to know you. That's not 00:04:21.490 --> 00:04:26.790 what I said. I probably really confused my wife 00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:31.110 when I asked her to marry me, but I wasn't anywhere 00:04:31.110 --> 00:04:36.709 as eloquent as that. But when we see Jesus, when 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:39.449 we hear that call, we're responding not to some 00:04:39.449 --> 00:04:45.769 idea and religious thinking. Response is a response, 00:04:45.930 --> 00:04:54.680 not thoughts. Faithfulness. Deeds. We direct 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:57.680 our thoughts and our words and our mind according 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:00.300 to the gospel teaching and dogma. But first, 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:06.420 we try to just know Jesus and follow him. It's 00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:11.579 an amen with our life. It's like saying, I want 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:16.779 to live with you forever. It's not like saying, 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:21.620 it is saying. Follow me, Jesus is whispering 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:29.980 to us every moment. For many of us, there are 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:34.800 so many things that come before speaking with 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:39.519 Christ, trying to know him better. I'm speaking 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:44.899 about prayer, obviously. So many things. We just 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:49.360 don't hear. We don't sense. We don't feel that 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:54.259 call. When we respond to Christ, and I mean daily, 00:05:54.379 --> 00:06:02.180 this is acts of faithfulness. Faith is not thinking 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:07.379 about some kind of holy religious things. It's 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:13.740 faithfulness. Deeds of trust and love and acts. 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:20.410 And we're guided. On the way. Christian life 00:06:20.410 --> 00:06:23.850 is called the way in the book of Acts. That's 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:26.509 the right word. Because we're going in a direction 00:06:26.509 --> 00:06:32.930 that is different from the direction that you 00:06:32.930 --> 00:06:37.129 see in the world. We all know that. I was going 00:06:37.129 --> 00:06:40.149 to say it's that enmity is opposed to the world. 00:06:40.310 --> 00:06:42.490 But that's not the proper description. Because 00:06:42.490 --> 00:06:46.149 the kingdom of God is not about opposition. It's 00:06:46.149 --> 00:06:51.569 about the invitation. Follow me. This is real. 00:06:52.629 --> 00:06:55.610 The kingdom of God, of course, can't be harmonized 00:06:55.610 --> 00:07:00.310 with the fallen world, which we might sadly mistake 00:07:00.310 --> 00:07:06.730 as normal. We do have the Sunday of forgiveness, 00:07:06.829 --> 00:07:09.550 the casting out of Adam and Eve from paradise, 00:07:09.569 --> 00:07:12.110 so we know this world's not normal. Death is 00:07:12.110 --> 00:07:17.500 not normal. Sin is not normal. Our passions are 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:23.839 not normal. So we follow Christ. We're on the 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:33.100 way to holiness. Thankfully, Jesus is very persistent 00:07:33.100 --> 00:07:37.459 and keeps saying to us, follow me. I will make 00:07:37.459 --> 00:07:42.800 something of you. Not something great in the 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:47.310 eyes of this world. Heaven forbid, but great 00:07:47.310 --> 00:07:51.209 in the eyes of the Father who is in heaven. We 00:07:51.209 --> 00:07:55.709 don't need worldly self -esteem. We need God's 00:07:55.709 --> 00:08:02.810 esteem. He made the fishermen theologians. What 00:08:02.810 --> 00:08:07.930 can he make of us? St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, 00:08:08.089 --> 00:08:11.949 you know, brothers and sisters, about your calling. 00:08:13.870 --> 00:08:19.610 Not many are wise according to the world. Not 00:08:19.610 --> 00:08:23.310 many of you are powerful according to the world. 00:08:24.769 --> 00:08:31.250 But God has called us and shows the world's wisdom 00:08:31.250 --> 00:08:34.409 to be foolish. He has called us to show that 00:08:34.409 --> 00:08:37.169 our weakness is more powerful than the power 00:08:37.169 --> 00:08:39.509 of the world because it's the power of the cross. 00:08:39.809 --> 00:08:44.220 And the cross always leads. to resurrection. 00:08:46.659 --> 00:08:50.100 It's all saints of America. We're surrounded. 00:08:50.299 --> 00:08:52.159 The epistles had a great cloud of witnesses. 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:59.320 Let me read you the names. No particular order. 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:05.220 Priest Alexander Hotovitsky went back to Russia, 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:08.740 was murdered by the Soviets. Archpriest Alexis 00:09:08.740 --> 00:09:12.659 XII of Wilkes -Barre. Leader of former Eastern 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:18.200 Rite Catholics. Responsible for bringing tens 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:20.940 of thousands of people to the Orthodox Church. 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:25.019 Apparently, he's in my family tree somewhere. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:28.519 I've never been able to find it. Priest Basil, 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:33.320 higher marker in Poland. Served in Alaska, went 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:37.279 back to Poland. And was killed. He was shot. 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:42.559 Venerable Brendan the Navigator, leader of a 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.659 short -lived sixth -century Irish monastic community 00:09:45.659 --> 00:09:49.360 in Canada, they say. Venerable Father Herman 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:54.360 of Alaska, first missionary to Alaska, 1794. 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:59.559 Metropolitan Innocent of Alaska, tireless missionary 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:04.000 and Metropolitan of Moscow, was a married priest. 00:10:08.009 --> 00:10:11.070 Widowed missionary evangelist to Alaska. Priest 00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:13.929 John Kucherov. Missionary priest who eventually 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:17.730 was martyred by the Soviets in Russia. Archbishop 00:10:17.730 --> 00:10:21.769 John of Shanghai and San Francisco. The wonder 00:10:21.769 --> 00:10:26.629 worker. Priest Juvenali of Alaska. The proto 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:31.809 -martyr of North America. Peter the Aleut. Bishop 00:10:31.809 --> 00:10:35.409 Nikolai Velimirovich. Bishop of Zizia. Rector 00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:38.409 of St. Tikhon Seminary. called the New Chrysostom. 00:10:40.970 --> 00:10:44.850 Bishop Raphael from Palestine, first bishop consecrated 00:10:44.850 --> 00:10:49.269 in the United States. Archbishop Seraphim Samoyevich 00:10:49.269 --> 00:10:52.929 of Uglitch, a missionary in Alaska, higher martyr 00:10:52.929 --> 00:10:55.850 under the Soviets. Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, 00:10:56.070 --> 00:11:01.049 bishop and missionary of North America. Died 00:11:01.049 --> 00:11:05.149 in Russia. Bishop Varnaba Nastic, the new confessor, 00:11:05.149 --> 00:11:10.350 born in Gary, Indiana. Died in Serbia. Archbishop 00:11:10.350 --> 00:11:13.629 Anatoly Kaminsky, new higher martyr and Archbishop 00:11:13.629 --> 00:11:16.970 of Ljubljana, missionary in Alaska. Archimandrite 00:11:16.970 --> 00:11:20.549 Sebastian Dabovic, called the Serbian Apostle 00:11:20.549 --> 00:11:28.049 to America, born in San Francisco in 1865. First 00:11:28.049 --> 00:11:35.929 natural American citizen made a priest. Bishop 00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:40.919 Mardari, Voskukovic, first Serbian bishop of 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.759 America and Canada, and let me, those are 19 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:47.559 names, by the way. Let me mention some other 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:51.340 holy people. Metropolitan Filaret Vosnicenski 00:11:51.340 --> 00:11:56.519 of New York, Rocor Metropolitan. Archbishop Arseni 00:11:56.519 --> 00:12:00.840 of Winnipeg. Bishop Grasmos of Abydos, a Greek 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:05.059 Orthodox in America. Brother Jose, keeper of 00:12:05.059 --> 00:12:08.220 the mer -flowing icon of the Theotokos, who was 00:12:08.220 --> 00:12:12.960 murdered. The icon was stolen. Hieromonk Seraphim 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:18.440 Rose of Latina. Matryoshka Olga Michael of Alaska. 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:23.519 Ivan Smirennikov, the elder of the Aleutian people. 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:27.820 Archbishop Yoasov, Enlightener of Canada. Schema 00:12:27.820 --> 00:12:31.419 Monk Sergei Shenovsky, disciple of Saint Hermon. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:37.340 Bishop Yoasov Bolotov of Alaska. Bishop Constantine 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:41.019 Esensky of Richmond, Great Britain. His relics 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:45.700 are incorrupt. Elder Ephraim of Arizona. Yes, 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:48.720 he's only been dead a year and a half, but still. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:51.940 Archbishop Dimitri of the South, reposed five 00:12:51.940 --> 00:12:55.139 years ago or so. His relics are incorrupt. Our 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:59.100 Commander at Roman Braga. Father George Calciu. 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:05.000 The Lebanese priest, great man. Father Nicola 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.110 Yanni. who served in rural Nebraska. Archimandrite 00:13:10.110 --> 00:13:14.149 Dimitri of Santa Rosa, the founder of the Skeet. 00:13:15.990 --> 00:13:22.350 Archimandrite Andronik Elpidinsky, missionary 00:13:22.350 --> 00:13:26.629 to India, eventually became rector of the parish 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:30.929 of the protection of the Holy Virgin. This place 00:13:30.929 --> 00:13:35.509 became abbot of St. Tecumseh. He was here in 00:13:35.509 --> 00:13:42.830 1958, 59, 60. This list of saints. All kinds 00:13:42.830 --> 00:13:48.809 of people from all kinds of places. They're calling 00:13:48.809 --> 00:13:54.570 us. They're inviting us through the invitation 00:13:54.570 --> 00:13:57.850 of Christ. Come follow me. Leave behind whatever's 00:13:57.850 --> 00:14:02.269 holding you back. Live the faith. Don't be ashamed. 00:14:02.409 --> 00:14:06.690 Don't be afraid. Let me give you five short suggestions 00:14:06.690 --> 00:14:12.009 to wind this up so that we may walk the paths 00:14:12.009 --> 00:14:16.769 of the righteous. Number one, how many of us 00:14:16.769 --> 00:14:19.789 know anything about these people that I just 00:14:19.789 --> 00:14:23.149 mentioned? Learn the lives of the saints of America. 00:14:23.509 --> 00:14:27.269 Do we know their life stories? Or are you like 00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:31.399 me? able more readily to give an account of TV 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:34.879 episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and Hogan's Heroes 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:41.039 and I Don't Know What. Number two, look to the 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.460 saints of the church as the perfect role models 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:48.460 and heroes, not to emulate everything they do, 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:53.659 but to be inspired by what they do. The saints 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:58.240 of the church are not going to let us down. or 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:03.559 disappoint us. We're not going to find some evil 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:07.220 deeds that were hidden. They didn't leave secret 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:11.299 or double or hidden lives that caused scandal. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:19.220 Ask for their help. Pray to them. Number three, 00:15:19.299 --> 00:15:24.200 like them, resolve to love God over everything 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.600 else. Follow Christ. No excuses for not praying, 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:31.460 not reading the scriptures, not learning about 00:15:31.460 --> 00:15:34.299 the faith. Don't be satisfied with the Sunday 00:15:34.299 --> 00:15:37.120 school understanding of your Orthodox faith. 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:45.539 Four, every saint recognizes three things that 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:48.659 are opposed to us. The world, don't mean the 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:51.519 beautiful things God has made, but that which 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.389 is in opposition. The world, the flesh. I don't 00:15:54.389 --> 00:15:56.970 mean our bodies, but the impulses within us, 00:15:57.029 --> 00:16:01.409 the world, the flesh, and the devil. Don't justify 00:16:01.409 --> 00:16:08.129 sin in yourself. Evil is to be vanquished, not 00:16:08.129 --> 00:16:11.529 explained. The devil is to be destroyed, not 00:16:11.529 --> 00:16:17.049 approached, in dialogue. Don't be ashamed of 00:16:17.049 --> 00:16:23.570 your faith. Repent. Five, the final thing. Every 00:16:23.570 --> 00:16:28.750 saint fasted, prayed, lived fully in the life 00:16:28.750 --> 00:16:33.269 of the church. But they started out pretty ordinary. 00:16:34.250 --> 00:16:39.490 What was Peter and Andrew and James and John, 00:16:39.690 --> 00:16:43.850 what were they doing when Jesus came? Just fishing. 00:16:44.330 --> 00:16:48.230 They were mending nets. Christ is coming to us 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:52.860 just in our everyday life. The Lord himself is 00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:56.860 looking at us and he sees not the wretchedness 00:16:56.860 --> 00:17:00.440 and the sins of our life, but he sees what we 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:05.519 can be. Think of how, when he said at the beginning, 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:10.039 let there be light, and there was light. Can 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:15.240 we conceive of what that meant? Cannot the same 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:20.789 Savior, the lover of mankind, Fill us little 00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:25.589 beans with his light too. And banish the darkness 00:17:25.589 --> 00:17:29.410 there. After all, St. John teaches us at the 00:17:29.410 --> 00:17:34.730 beginning of his gospel, he is that light that 00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:38.890 came into the world to enlighten every person. 00:17:39.769 --> 00:17:43.369 So brothers and sisters, this is Back to Basics 00:17:43.369 --> 00:17:47.940 Day. Let's give our amen to the Lord and mean 00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:52.180 it with every ounce of our being. To him be glory, 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.519 now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.