WEBVTT 00:00:02.029 --> 00:00:08.890 Glory to Jesus Christ. Christ is risen. Imagine, 00:00:09.289 --> 00:00:15.250 if you will, you are a woman living in the land 00:00:15.250 --> 00:00:20.489 of Samaria in the time when Jesus lived. You 00:00:20.489 --> 00:00:24.510 have five sisters. You have two sons. You're 00:00:24.510 --> 00:00:29.710 living your life in the world. You've had five 00:00:29.710 --> 00:00:32.969 husbands. And the man you're living with now 00:00:32.969 --> 00:00:39.390 is not your husband. You go to the well, the 00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:44.549 well, the well of Jacob, the well of your forefathers. 00:00:45.429 --> 00:00:48.869 And a Jewish man talks to you and asks for a 00:00:48.869 --> 00:00:52.469 drink, which surprises you since the Jews had 00:00:52.469 --> 00:00:56.350 no dealings with the Samaritans. And he says 00:00:56.350 --> 00:01:02.060 something to you about living water. that if 00:01:02.060 --> 00:01:05.180 you drink it would be a fountain springing up 00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:10.599 to eternal life, and that he could give you such 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:15.680 water. And then he tells you about all you have 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.299 done in your life, that you had five husbands, 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:25.040 and he knows everything that you have done. And 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:28.739 you tell him, Sir, I perceive that you are a 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:33.180 prophet. And as you continue to converse together, 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:39.680 you say, I know that the Messiah is coming. And 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:44.079 when he comes, he will tell us all things. And 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:50.760 he says, I who speak to you am he. And you wonder, 00:01:50.819 --> 00:01:54.640 could this be true? Could the Messiah be here 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:59.879 with me now? And you leave your water pot. His 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:04.640 friends arrive as you run into the city and say 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.400 to everyone, Come see this man, this prophet, 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:12.199 who told me everything I had done. And could 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:16.120 this be the Christ? Could this be the Messiah? 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:22.780 You believe and hope that he is. And many Samaritans 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:26.960 come to see him. And he stays there two days. 00:02:28.009 --> 00:02:32.409 And some who were unsure at first if he was truly 00:02:32.409 --> 00:02:36.289 the Messiah as he claimed, after they came and 00:02:36.289 --> 00:02:41.849 heard him and they saw him, they said to you, 00:02:42.250 --> 00:02:47.349 Now we believe, not because of what you said, 00:02:47.569 --> 00:02:52.349 for we have heard for ourselves and know that 00:02:52.349 --> 00:02:56.090 this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the 00:02:56.090 --> 00:03:03.409 world. And now you know it's true too. You know, 00:03:03.530 --> 00:03:08.389 the woman living in Samaria, that your life has 00:03:08.389 --> 00:03:14.050 changed. And it did. Perhaps you are unaware 00:03:14.050 --> 00:03:18.550 of what happened to Fotini, also some called 00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:22.229 Svetlana, and happy names day to all those named 00:03:22.229 --> 00:03:26.719 Fotini and Svetlana here. named after this wonderful 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:31.280 saint whose life was transformed and changed 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.719 after this moment. You may wonder what happened. 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:38.599 Well, the apostles returned, and she was baptized, 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:43.520 and her family was baptized. And after the deaths 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:48.180 of St. Peter and St. Paul, they relocated to 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:53.039 Carthage, which is in northern Africa. And they 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:56.759 lived there and their lives were light to the 00:03:56.759 --> 00:04:01.780 Gentiles. And they were evangelists. And Saint 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:06.819 Fotini was a teacher. And they lived there until 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:11.439 a time came when all their efforts were noticed 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:16.540 by the Roman Emperor Nero. And without going 00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:22.000 into detail, After that time, we know how Nero 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.000 persecuted Christians. All of them were persecuted. 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:31.639 And I think it is the martyrdom of Fotini is 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:35.439 interesting because she was martyred by being 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:41.360 thrown down a well. And we know that even though 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:45.509 a well brought her death physically, We know 00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:49.569 that she had accepted the living water which 00:04:49.569 --> 00:04:55.129 sprung up in her to eternal life. And now you 00:04:55.129 --> 00:05:01.449 and I, like her, have a choice of what water 00:05:01.449 --> 00:05:05.129 we will drink. Oh, there's nothing wrong with 00:05:05.129 --> 00:05:08.970 drinking from earthly water, but we thirst again. 00:05:09.589 --> 00:05:14.860 But will we drink of the living water? Saint 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:19.040 Fotini, allow ourselves to be transformed and 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:26.139 changed and sanctified and made holy. Well, let's 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:29.019 face it. We've been baptized, many of us here, 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:34.459 perhaps all of us. We have not been totally transformed 00:05:34.459 --> 00:05:42.189 the way we should have been. Why? Because We 00:05:42.189 --> 00:05:47.569 struggle against lusts and desires, anger, temptations. 00:05:47.990 --> 00:05:51.829 They're hitting us. But let us not give up hope, 00:05:51.949 --> 00:05:56.790 for these things are gradually transformed. If 00:05:56.790 --> 00:06:00.589 we enter into the struggle and say, yes, God, 00:06:00.670 --> 00:06:04.170 change me, and we do drink of the living water, 00:06:04.350 --> 00:06:09.410 we will make it there. The question is, have 00:06:09.410 --> 00:06:13.540 we started? Are we saying yes to God? Do we really 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:17.839 desire that change and sanctification, the living 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:22.139 water? Perhaps you think there's something in 00:06:22.139 --> 00:06:26.040 your life that is unchangeable. The words of 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:31.560 St. Justin Popovich. In the lives of the saints 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:35.899 are shown numerous but always certain ways of 00:06:35.899 --> 00:06:41.930 salvation, enlightenment, sanctification, Transfiguration, 00:06:41.930 --> 00:06:46.389 Christification, Deification, all the ways are 00:06:46.389 --> 00:06:50.470 shown by which man conquers sin, conquers passion, 00:06:50.850 --> 00:06:55.310 every passion, conquers death, conquers the devil, 00:06:55.430 --> 00:06:59.949 every devil. There is a remedy there for every 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:05.850 sin, for every passion, healing, for every death, 00:07:06.089 --> 00:07:12.750 resurrection, from every devil. From all evils, 00:07:12.750 --> 00:07:17.709 salvation. There is no passion, no sin, for which 00:07:17.709 --> 00:07:21.889 the lives of the saints do not show how the passion 00:07:21.889 --> 00:07:26.389 or sin in question is conquered, mortified, and 00:07:26.389 --> 00:07:32.689 uprooted. Perhaps some of you are familiar with 00:07:32.689 --> 00:07:38.290 the movie The Matrix, where the main character, 00:07:38.509 --> 00:07:44.250 Neo, is presented with a choice. He's given the 00:07:44.250 --> 00:07:50.509 blue pill or the red pill. And he has to choose 00:07:50.509 --> 00:07:54.629 if he will take one pill that keeps him in the 00:07:54.629 --> 00:07:58.329 illusions and delusions that are around him, 00:07:58.410 --> 00:08:03.790 or another pill which will bring him into a realization 00:08:03.790 --> 00:08:07.649 of the truth of the world that is truly around 00:08:07.649 --> 00:08:12.620 him. And you and I are presented with that as 00:08:12.620 --> 00:08:15.879 well. We're presented with the earthly water 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:21.319 or the spiritual water. And we can live in the 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:26.519 illusion. We can just be happy with the earthly 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:31.699 pleasures that, just like the water, may quench 00:08:31.699 --> 00:08:37.120 your thirst temporarily. Or we can drink from 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:40.980 the living water. the spiritual water that is 00:08:40.980 --> 00:08:47.059 a fountain that goes into eternity. God changed 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:51.379 the lives of Fotini, her five sisters, her two 00:08:51.379 --> 00:08:56.299 sons, and countless other saints. His love calls 00:08:56.299 --> 00:08:59.940 you to follow that same path of sanctification. 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.480 Drink the water that is a fountain springing 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.539 up to eternal life. Christ is risen.