WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father,

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and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. There

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are times in a person's life, whether it be a

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nationally applicable or just personally applicable,

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where you take a new road. You embark upon a

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new adventure where something captivates your

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heart, your soul, your mind, your whole being,

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and you have to follow. Nationally, maybe I can

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think of, in the past, that horrific event of

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December 7th, and people hearing on the radio,

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it's just iconic for us even now, FDR saying,

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December 7th, 1941, a day that will live in infamy.

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And then the result of that speech and the result

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of that horrific attack on Pearl Harbor was that

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countless young men and women then came to the

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recruiting office, signed up. It was horrible

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things they would experience. But they took a

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new road. They were imbued with courage. They

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were imbued with a love of their country and

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many other things perhaps. Personally, you know,

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and I was reflecting on this because yesterday

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was our 38th wedding anniversary, the backwards

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anniversary since we were married in 83 and it's

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38 years now. You see somebody and There's a

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thought, some kind of powerful movement inside

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the mind or something deeper. And then you get

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to know that person if God grants. And then you

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fall in love. And then that cements it. And you

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take a new path in life. Your heart is captivated.

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There's nothing else you want. There's nothing

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more important. You change. Well, let's apply

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this approach to a young man going to church

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about the year 270. He was 18 or 20 years old.

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His parents had died. He only had a sister. It

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was a wealthy family. Lived in Egypt, a place

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called Coma. It's not on the map anymore, probably.

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He went to the church, and he heard the gospel

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reading that you and I heard today. But a rich

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young man who went to Jesus, Master, what must

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I do? And you know the rest of the story. And

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Jesus put his finger on the heart of that young

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man in the gospel and the heart of that Egyptian

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young man in the year 270. Sell? If you want

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to be perfect, sell everything. Give to the poor

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and follow me. And Jesus looked at the young

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man in the story we heard from Luke. And it says

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he loved him. The young man didn't go away condemned.

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He went away sad. And Jesus was sad. But this

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young man in Egypt. this 20 -year -old man whose

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parents had died, heard this story, and his heart

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was ignited. And he said, that's me. That story

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was him, and us too, because there's something

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in between us and Christ for a full, complete,

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intense, loving... There's something we have

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kept back that won't allow us to go on. For the

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young man, it was his riches. He had collected

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things. He had lots of things. Oh, I followed

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all those commandments from my youth up. Well,

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he was a teenager at some point, so probably

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not. And he went away sad. But this young man

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in Egypt, Anthony, Went out of the city. Having

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taken care of his sister. Having sold all his

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things. And he went and lived in a small hut.

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Some ways out. And he began to visit righteous

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people to learn how to pray. To learn how to

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repent. The next time he went to church. He heard

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these words. Why are you anxious about these

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things? Don't you know your Heavenly Father will

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care for you? And he said, that's it. I'm going

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deeper. And out he went into the deep desert,

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into a mountain. And for years and years and

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years, and with people following him all the

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time, because of his wisdom, because of the beauty

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of his spirit, he was out there and he... hid

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himself in a tomb, a cave, and he fought with

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the demons. They attacked him every night. And

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you know what he said? He said, you creatures

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are pitiful. You have to come in a mob, because

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one of you can't do a thing, and the mob just

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has a front of hideousness. You're... powerless

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before Christ. For St. Paul said that Christ

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came to destroy him that held the power of death,

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that is the devil. And you come in these appearances

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like a lion and a bear or some woman. You're

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pitiful. You can't do anything. And at the end

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of these years of his life as a hermit, like

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St. Seraphim, he came out. And this is what the

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life of St. Anthony the Great, written by our

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great father St. Athanasius. Fresco of St. Athanasius

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is here. Fresco of St. Anthony is right there,

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standing next to Paul of Thebes. I thank the

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one who commissioned that. This is what happened.

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He came out. He emerged from his desert retreat

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after 20 years of isolation. St. Athanasius says

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he came forth from a kind of sanctuary, initiated

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and born up by God. And the people were amazed

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that saw him, that he had neither grown flabby

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or thin or emaciated from fast and struggles

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with the demons. And the character of his soul

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was pure of blemish. He was fully natural. He

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became like Adam. In the garden. And through

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him the Lord healed the bodies of many that were

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sick. And many that were demonically afflicted.

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And people were comforted. Those who grieved.

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And other people were reconciled. Those who were

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at enmity and strife with one another. The difference

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between the young man. And the story. The gospel

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story. And St. Anthony. Is that the young man

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heard. If you want to be perfect, go sell everything.

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And that's it. What St. Anthony heard was, if

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you want to be perfect, sell everything and come

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and follow me. Why follow Jesus? His heart was

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captivated by the one who is our creator. Why

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follow Jesus? Brothers and sisters, Think what

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we've been given. Listen to what St. Paul wrote

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to the Colossians, which you just heard. That

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we should give thanks to God the Father who has

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made us, he has equipped us, he has made us worthy

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to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints.

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That is saints like St. Anthony. The great ones

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that we cannot even approach in our thought.

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We share their life. Through God. And then St.

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Paul says, the Father has delivered us from the

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power of darkness. Note, it's in the past tense.

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It's done. We have been delivered from darkness.

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We just have to live in the light. He has translated

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us. It's past tense. He has done this for us

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already. He has translated us to the kingdom

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of his dear son with whom we have redemption

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through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

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This is what should captivate our heart, set

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us on the path which we should not turn aside

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from. St. Paul also goes on to say that he is

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the image of the invisible God. that he made

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all things, and all things came into being through

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him. We trust him, whatever situation we are

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in. We have been called from the kingdom of darkness

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into the light. We have been redeemed. We have

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been given the precious blood. We have the forgiveness

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of sins. Christ is the one who has made all things,

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like St. Anthony heard. Why are you anxious about

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so many things? Being a citizen of the kingdom,

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brothers and sisters, changes everything. Otherwise,

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how would it be that we honor, we venerate this

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man, Anthony, lived to 105 years old, died sometime

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in the 350s? Why would we remember somebody living

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in the desert? It's because the grace of God

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goes out from those who love him, no matter how

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weak that love might be, how often we might sin.

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and get up again the grace of god and mercy and

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healing is in this world through the saints and

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through the life of the church christ says saint

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paul is the head of the church and we are its

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members so rejoice brothers and sisters let the

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light of the kingdom of god shine within your

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heart love god as you love that person that you

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were that your heart was captivated by that you

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couldn't live without that's how we are to love

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god amen