WEBVTT 00:00:02.410 --> 00:00:04.710 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:04.710 --> 00:00:08.169 of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ. 00:00:08.589 --> 00:00:12.089 Glory be to Him. The remarks that I want to share 00:00:12.089 --> 00:00:16.750 with you this morning center around today's Gospel, 00:00:16.929 --> 00:00:24.210 and then I will go into reflections on today's 00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:29.899 Sunday, the Sanctity of Life Sunday. And I think 00:00:29.899 --> 00:00:33.679 that there's a genuine connection between the 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:39.100 gospel and the sanctity of life Sunday. The gospel, 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:42.240 of course, is the healing of the blind man on 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:47.840 the road to Jericho. The gospel event is related 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:52.840 substantially the same in Matthew, Mark, and 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:58.750 Luke. provides the name of this blind man, Bartimaeus. 00:00:59.689 --> 00:01:04.370 But in all these three Gospels, this event is 00:01:04.370 --> 00:01:07.290 within the context, it's placed near the end 00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:12.450 of Jesus' ministry. He's on the road to Jericho. 00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:17.150 He's going up to Jerusalem for that great confrontation 00:01:17.150 --> 00:01:22.730 between him and the Pharisees leading up to his 00:01:22.730 --> 00:01:28.810 own death. imprisonment, and execution. So what 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:34.769 happens here is that a blind man hears a lot 00:01:34.769 --> 00:01:38.349 of commotion, and he asks, what's this all about? 00:01:39.030 --> 00:01:42.810 And they tell him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing 00:01:42.810 --> 00:01:46.689 by. And notice what the blind man says in all 00:01:46.689 --> 00:01:52.090 three Gospels. Jesus, son of David, have mercy 00:01:52.090 --> 00:01:58.140 on me. The blind man, in other words, acknowledges, 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:01.480 and this is why this point is made in Matthew, 00:02:01.579 --> 00:02:06.379 Mark, and Luke. The blind man acknowledges what 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:10.099 the religious establishment, by and large, the 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:13.599 scribes and the Pharisees, and many of the people 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:18.900 at that time, did not see or refused to acknowledge. 00:02:19.870 --> 00:02:24.430 that Jesus is the long -awaited Messiah, the 00:02:24.430 --> 00:02:28.930 Son of David, who is to come into the world to 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:32.949 save them and to save all human beings from their 00:02:32.949 --> 00:02:39.889 sins and offer eternal life. The point here is 00:02:39.889 --> 00:02:46.150 that some people realized who Jesus was. Others 00:02:46.150 --> 00:02:49.710 did not acknowledge him. And it's hard to look 00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:53.669 into their souls why they didn't. Either they 00:02:53.669 --> 00:02:57.490 were hard -hearted or they genuinely didn't see. 00:02:57.909 --> 00:03:03.009 But some saw and some didn't the truth of who 00:03:03.009 --> 00:03:07.490 Jesus is. And this, I think, is my connection, 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:13.849 my bridge to the Sanctity of Life Sunday. It 00:03:13.849 --> 00:03:19.219 is certainly well known to all of us. that in 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:23.360 our society one of the most divisive issues is 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:28.719 the question of unborn babies, the legitimacy 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:35.419 or illegitimacy of abortion, terminating the 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:40.340 life of unborn babies. Some people see this. 00:03:40.780 --> 00:03:44.819 Other people, for some reason or another, just 00:03:44.819 --> 00:03:50.210 do not see it. This is an extension of the commandment 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:56.750 of God, thou shalt not kill. This commandment, 00:03:56.750 --> 00:04:00.210 unlike the other commandments, are codified in 00:04:00.210 --> 00:04:04.810 the law of Moses, but also more deeply than that 00:04:04.810 --> 00:04:12.469 is what many people call the natural law. Human 00:04:12.469 --> 00:04:17.040 beings, in their hearts, generally speaking, 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:23.060 do know or should know what is right and what 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:28.560 is wrong. So even without the aid of revelation, 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:40.240 murder is wrong. An example of this is the oath 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:46.189 of Hippolytus, This is 400 years before Christ. 00:04:46.829 --> 00:04:54.110 The affirmation by physicians of their ethics. 00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:59.750 And within this oath of Apollotus, it says, neither 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:05.889 will I administer a poison to anyone who asks 00:05:05.889 --> 00:05:10.430 to do so. In other words, no assisted suicide. 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:17.139 nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly, 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:22.560 neither will I give to a woman a device to cause 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:29.300 abortion, but I will keep holy both my life and 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:34.259 my heart. A pre -Christian pagan realizes this. 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:42.040 This, I think, is reflected In the final conclusion, 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:46.720 and I meant to say this before the oath for Hippolytus, 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:52.100 the encyclical letter of the Metropolitan on 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:56.399 Sanctity of Life, and he concludes with this 00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:02.459 message. I believe we should affirm to the world, 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:06.279 to anyone considering an abortion, to anyone 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:10.279 counseling someone to have an abortion, to anyone 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:13.920 who supports this practice, the lessons we have 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:18.680 been taught by our Master, the ways of mercy, 00:06:18.819 --> 00:06:23.279 compassion, and love in doing so. I pray that 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:26.300 we will enkindle in their hearts and minds a 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:30.779 change. In other words, to realize what even 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:35.040 a pre -Christian like Hippolytus, or Hippocrates, 00:06:35.100 --> 00:06:41.939 I mean. Hippocrates. Thank you. When you get 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:46.480 old, you get goofed up on things. If I say anything, 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:50.100 if I quote Aristotle instead of Jesus, correct 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:56.439 me. But it is Hippocrates' note, not Hippolytus' 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:59.839 oath, not Hippolytus, the early Christian martyr. 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:04.779 So that they too will learn to walk in these 00:07:04.779 --> 00:07:08.399 same ways and will be moved to protect and defend 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:14.240 the most vulnerable, That's so true. The most 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:18.339 vulnerable place in America to live is in the 00:07:18.339 --> 00:07:27.259 womb nowadays. The sanctity of life is affirmed 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:32.259 in the Old Testament, particularly Psalm 139. 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:47.980 knit me together from my mother's womb. The prayer 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:51.540 of the Aptina elders reflects the same thing. 00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:56.500 O Lord, illumine my mind and my heart with the 00:07:56.500 --> 00:08:00.860 understanding of thine eternal and unchanging 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:05.839 statutes, not just reflected in the Ten Commandments, 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:10.379 but the eternal statutes. that God implanted 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.740 in the hearts and minds of all human beings. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:20.620 Illumine my mind and my heart with the understanding 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:29.180 of thine eternal and unchanging statutes. This 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:37.299 also, Christians have always maintained, the 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:41.799 sanctity of life. They've understood the commandment, 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:45.879 thou shalt not kill, as applying to all life, 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:50.620 including life in the womb. There's an early 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:54.399 Christian document, which in some instances, 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:57.940 collections, is included with the New Testament, 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:01.679 written about the year 100. It's called the Letter 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:06.629 of Barnabas. presuming to be the companion of 00:09:06.629 --> 00:09:12.570 St. Paul. And in this, the letter of Barnabas 00:09:12.570 --> 00:09:18.370 states, Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring 00:09:18.370 --> 00:09:24.029 abortion, nor again shall you destroy it after 00:09:24.029 --> 00:09:28.669 it is born. In other words, no infanticide either. 00:09:31.330 --> 00:09:39.039 Life is holy. And years ago, I remember when 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:44.220 people would come to me and say, Father, my wife 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:48.039 and I, or my husband and I, want to have a child, 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:52.220 but can you pray that God will give us a child? 00:09:53.179 --> 00:09:57.159 Or also, expectant mothers would say, please 00:09:57.159 --> 00:10:05.169 pray for the health of my unborn baby. to say 00:10:05.169 --> 00:10:08.269 this prayer. It's sort of made up on my own, 00:10:08.470 --> 00:10:12.730 but I think it reflects the teachings of the 00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:17.529 scriptures and our Christian message. I prayed 00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:22.389 for those unborn infants and for the conception 00:10:22.389 --> 00:10:25.710 of those who wish to conceive. This is what I 00:10:25.710 --> 00:10:32.500 say. Virgin Mary Theotokos, intercede. for those 00:10:32.500 --> 00:10:37.779 who wish to conceive and have conceived, that 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:42.019 they will have safe delivery, healthy children 00:10:42.019 --> 00:10:46.799 without birth defects, and that all human beings 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:51.480 will acknowledge the sanctity of life and the 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:58.639 holiness of marriage. This is the message of 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:03.970 the scriptures. our church as well on this Sunday. 00:11:04.149 --> 00:11:10.389 We have to pray that this same message illumines 00:11:10.389 --> 00:11:15.190 the minds of all human beings. Sure, abortion 00:11:15.190 --> 00:11:22.070 is a complex legal and social issue, but the 00:11:22.070 --> 00:11:25.769 fundamental idea about the importance of human 00:11:25.769 --> 00:11:31.580 life cannot be compromised. So we pray today, 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:36.620 as the Metropolitan said in his message, that 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:40.960 all human beings will see this and acknowledge 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:47.000 it. And as a final manifestation of the holiness 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.320 of human life, we have in the center of the Church 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:56.980 the icon of the Visitation, an event which, of 00:11:56.980 --> 00:12:01.730 course, you are familiar with. I'll just read 00:12:01.730 --> 00:12:06.049 a few verses here from the conclusion of St. 00:12:06.110 --> 00:12:11.570 Luke's Gospel, Chapter 1. This is after the Annunciation. 00:12:12.529 --> 00:12:16.210 In those days, Mary arose and went with haste 00:12:16.210 --> 00:12:20.309 to the hill country, to a city of Judah. And 00:12:20.309 --> 00:12:23.129 she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted 00:12:23.129 --> 00:12:27.610 Elizabeth, her kinswoman. And when Elizabeth 00:12:27.610 --> 00:12:32.500 heard the greeting of Mary, The babe leapt in 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:37.460 her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy 00:12:37.460 --> 00:12:43.279 Spirit, and she exclaimed in a loud voice, Blessed 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:47.659 are you among women, and blessed is the fruit 00:12:47.659 --> 00:12:51.159 of your womb, what you are containing within 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:57.580 yourself. And why is this granted to me, that 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:02.480 the mother of my Lord, should come to me. For 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:06.820 behold, when the voice of your greeting came 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:12.279 to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:17.419 And blessed is she who believed that there would 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:21.840 be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:28.659 the Lord. And Mary says that beautiful hymn which 00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:32.559 we sing at matins every day in our church services. 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:38.779 My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices 00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:45.840 in God my Savior. So today let us pray for all 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:50.559 of our fellow Americans and for all human beings 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:55.639 around the world that they will realize the natural 00:13:57.419 --> 00:14:01.659 law of God, which is implanted in their hearts. 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:07.299 And it is confirmed by revelation of the Old 00:14:07.299 --> 00:14:10.879 Testament and the New Testament and the teaching 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:15.279 of the church. And let us pray for the individuals 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:19.340 involved. And I'll conclude again with my own 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:24.820 prayer. Virgin Mary Theotokos. Intercede for 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:28.840 those who wish to conceive and have conceived 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:33.240 that they may have a safe carriage and delivery, 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:38.720 healthy children, no birth defects, and that 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:43.679 all men will acknowledge the holiness of life 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:49.080 and the holiness of Christian marriage. Amen.