Glory to Jesus Christ. Christ is risen. Imagine,
if you will, you are a woman living in the land
of Samaria in the time when Jesus lived. You
have five sisters. You have two sons. You're
living your life in the world. You've had five
husbands. And the man you're living with now
is not your husband. You go to the well, the
well, the well of Jacob, the well of your forefathers.
And a Jewish man talks to you and asks for a
drink, which surprises you since the Jews had
no dealings with the Samaritans. And he says
something to you about living water. that if
you drink it would be a fountain springing up
to eternal life, and that he could give you such
water. And then he tells you about all you have
done in your life, that you had five husbands,
and he knows everything that you have done. And
you tell him, Sir, I perceive that you are a
prophet. And as you continue to converse together,
you say, I know that the Messiah is coming. And
when he comes, he will tell us all things. And
he says, I who speak to you am he. And you wonder,
could this be true? Could the Messiah be here
with me now? And you leave your water pot. His
friends arrive as you run into the city and say
to everyone, Come see this man, this prophet,
who told me everything I had done. And could
this be the Christ? Could this be the Messiah?
You believe and hope that he is. And many Samaritans
come to see him. And he stays there two days.
And some who were unsure at first if he was truly
the Messiah as he claimed, after they came and
heard him and they saw him, they said to you,
Now we believe, not because of what you said,
for we have heard for ourselves and know that
this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the
world. And now you know it's true too. You know,
the woman living in Samaria, that your life has
changed. And it did. Perhaps you are unaware
of what happened to Fotini, also some called
Svetlana, and happy names day to all those named
Fotini and Svetlana here. named after this wonderful
saint whose life was transformed and changed
after this moment. You may wonder what happened.
Well, the apostles returned, and she was baptized,
and her family was baptized. And after the deaths
of St. Peter and St. Paul, they relocated to
Carthage, which is in northern Africa. And they
lived there and their lives were light to the
Gentiles. And they were evangelists. And Saint
Fotini was a teacher. And they lived there until
a time came when all their efforts were noticed
by the Roman Emperor Nero. And without going
into detail, After that time, we know how Nero
persecuted Christians. All of them were persecuted.
And I think it is the martyrdom of Fotini is
interesting because she was martyred by being
thrown down a well. And we know that even though
a well brought her death physically, We know
that she had accepted the living water which
sprung up in her to eternal life. And now you
and I, like her, have a choice of what water
we will drink. Oh, there's nothing wrong with
drinking from earthly water, but we thirst again.
But will we drink of the living water? Saint
Fotini, allow ourselves to be transformed and
changed and sanctified and made holy. Well, let's
face it. We've been baptized, many of us here,
perhaps all of us. We have not been totally transformed
the way we should have been. Why? Because We
struggle against lusts and desires, anger, temptations.
They're hitting us. But let us not give up hope,
for these things are gradually transformed. If
we enter into the struggle and say, yes, God,
change me, and we do drink of the living water,
we will make it there. The question is, have
we started? Are we saying yes to God? Do we really
desire that change and sanctification, the living
water? Perhaps you think there's something in
your life that is unchangeable. The words of
St. Justin Popovich. In the lives of the saints
are shown numerous but always certain ways of
salvation, enlightenment, sanctification, Transfiguration,
Christification, Deification, all the ways are
shown by which man conquers sin, conquers passion,
every passion, conquers death, conquers the devil,
every devil. There is a remedy there for every
sin, for every passion, healing, for every death,
resurrection, from every devil. From all evils,
salvation. There is no passion, no sin, for which
the lives of the saints do not show how the passion
or sin in question is conquered, mortified, and
uprooted. Perhaps some of you are familiar with
the movie The Matrix, where the main character,
Neo, is presented with a choice. He's given the
blue pill or the red pill. And he has to choose
if he will take one pill that keeps him in the
illusions and delusions that are around him,
or another pill which will bring him into a realization
of the truth of the world that is truly around
him. And you and I are presented with that as
well. We're presented with the earthly water
or the spiritual water. And we can live in the
illusion. We can just be happy with the earthly
pleasures that, just like the water, may quench
your thirst temporarily. Or we can drink from
the living water. the spiritual water that is
a fountain that goes into eternity. God changed
the lives of Fotini, her five sisters, her two
sons, and countless other saints. His love calls
you to follow that same path of sanctification.
Drink the water that is a fountain springing
up to eternal life. Christ is risen.