WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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Glory to God. I greet you, brothers and sisters,

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on this third Sunday after Pentecost, where the

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Church appoints for us Gospel, Epistle, Once

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again, like last week, to remind us of the basics

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of being a Christian. Part two today. If you

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were here last week and you know that I spoke

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about responding to Christ as the apostles responded.

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He said, come and follow me. That their response

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was not one based on his teaching. but based

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on him, his authority personally. I also spoke

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about having the saints of this land as our guides

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and inspiration as we try to do that. So part

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two today, trusting in Jesus very briefly. We

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come to the church, and as we become a catechumen,

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we're given the creed. And we get to the part

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of the creed after we've said, I believe in one

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God, the Father Almighty. And we learn in the

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scriptures that God is a loving God, almighty

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in his love and fatherhood. And then we speak

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about Jesus, the Son of God, the only begotten

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begotten of the Father, crucified for us. And

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rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

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Then we get to the part of the creed which we

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probably don't think about that much. And I believe

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in one holy Catholic. It doesn't mean Roman Catholic.

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It means whole and complete. One holy Catholic

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and apostolic church. When I say I believe, it

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doesn't mean I believe it exists. That's self

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-evident. Here we are. I believe in it. That

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St. Paul said is the pillar and the ground of

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truth. The body of Christ. Pure and undefiled.

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Filled with us. We're sick. We sin. And we've

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come to be healed. So the basis of our trust

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is not in some idea about Jesus. It's about the

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living person of Jesus. And our integration into

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his life by becoming Christians, baptism and

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chrismation and holy communion and worship and

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prayer. We share in his life that way. So this

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week, with that little introduction, the gospel

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we're given is not a parable. And it's not a

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miracle story. It's not even a teaching. It's

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the words of life. And as we read it, maybe these

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words jump out at us a little bit. Anxiety, worry,

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stressed out about the basics of life. The audience

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of Jesus at the time didn't have a closet full

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of clothes. They didn't have a supermarket to

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go to to get their food. It was subsistence.

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It was simple. Why are you anxious, Christ says.

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The word care in the King James Gospel means

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that heavy anxiety that fills one's heart, tangled

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up with our thoughts. emotionally charged, which

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causes us to be even more anxious at the prospect

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of losing what we want, not attaining what we

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desire, becoming frustrated and perhaps angry.

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Does this sound familiar? Beholding the sea of

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life, searching high with the storm of temptations,

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difficulties. And into this, Jesus says, why

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are you anxious about these things? Your clothes,

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your food. Also jumping out at us is not just

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the word anxious or cares, but jumps out at us

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is God's care for us. His love focused on each

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one of us, brothers and sisters. Each hair of

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our head. Now, Jesus is not telling us, please

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understand, sit back. I've got you covered. I'll

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take care of everything. No problem. Don't worry.

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Be happy. He's not telling us that. We are going

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to work and labor through our life. And St. Paul

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is going to... direct us so that we understand

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when we are going through tribulation and difficulty

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when we are faced with that anxiety about the

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cares of our life he's going to tell us as you

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heard today we glory in our tribulations now

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this means that we have to have a different perspective

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than the world if we're going to glory in our

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tribulation because tribulation produces patience

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And patience produces spiritual character. And

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character, spiritual character, produces hope

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in the Holy Spirit who will not disappoint us.

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The Savior is telling us today that a healthy

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eye, if your eye is single, in other words, he

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says, if your eye is single, your whole body

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is full of light. What does this mean? If your

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vision is not fragmented by the worry, of just

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living. But we remember that God loves us and

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cares to us. That healthy eye, this isn't ophthalmology.

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This is the eye that sees clearly during difficulties,

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during the trying times, and we remain full of

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light. Those who put their trust in Christ that

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is, seek first the kingdom of God, have a singular

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perspective on what life is all about. Those

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who put their trust in Christ have a singular

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perspective on what their life is all about.

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And we know that it's not about just getting

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by and making our way through this life. St.

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Paul says, having been justified by faith. Justified

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means we've been set right with God. We have

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a relationship with him. He's not foreign to

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us. He's not out there somewhere. We encounter

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him here together where two or three are gathered.

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We encounter him when we receive Holy Communion.

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Having been justified by faith, we have peace

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with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace

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is not an idea. It's the presence of Christ in

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the heart. And we have access by this faith that

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we have to the grace of God. And that we stand

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in it. And that makes our vision and our singular

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perspective clear. And we rejoice in the hope

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of the glory of God. This is what Christians...

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Put their life, everything in the basket. One

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basket, no plan B. We put our hope and rejoice

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in the glory of God. Right here, right now, this

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day. St. Macarius, one of the Optine elders,

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his fresco is painted back there. He says this.

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To hold the Orthodox faith does not mean only

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to believe in God to be our creator. It also

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means that we recognize his unceasing and detailed

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care for us. And with that, we're empowered to

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care for one another. Brothers and sisters, it's

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a radical message of repentance in this gospel

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today. Repentance is orientation towards God,

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not anything else. This is a radical message

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of trust in that orientation, which we will struggle

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with and we will often fail. We won't reach it.

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We'll find ourselves without a singular vision

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and perspective. We will find ourselves confused,

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dazed. but God loves us and will pull us back

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if we but trust him a little bit like the mustard

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seed. To our Lord be glory now and ever to ages

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of ages.