WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.720 and sisters you've heard the beatitudes countless 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:08.980 times haven't you but in the context of the celebration 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:13.160 of all saints of america they sound a little 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:17.980 different it tells us and the reason we have 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:23.219 this reading not only jesus inviting his two 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:26.160 brothers two sets of brothers to come and follow 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.300 him and they left the father holding the net 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.440 and the boat, and we have this reading from the 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:37.359 Beatitudes, it gives a very different key. It 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:45.280 tells us this is our path too. Now, Pentecost 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:49.460 came, and then the Feast of All Saints, because 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:53.500 sanctity is the fruit of the Spirit, and Pentecost 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:57.729 is the gift of the Spirit, of which we... have 00:00:57.729 --> 00:01:03.009 participated and do participate. Saints known, 00:01:03.170 --> 00:01:08.230 many thousands, however many, and more than the 00:01:08.230 --> 00:01:12.069 known ones, those that are unknown. And today 00:01:12.069 --> 00:01:15.030 we have this feast of all saints of America and 00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:18.310 Russia or all saints of Greece or all saints 00:01:18.310 --> 00:01:22.069 of Romania, depending where you are. It's not 00:01:22.069 --> 00:01:25.909 for us to sit back and admire them only. To say, 00:01:25.909 --> 00:01:29.269 oh, how inspirational. We are on the same path. 00:01:29.409 --> 00:01:32.209 Jesus says, follow me. And this is what we're 00:01:32.209 --> 00:01:36.629 going to do. We love him. Because he loves us. 00:01:36.969 --> 00:01:43.030 Before we even knew him. He loves us. There are 00:01:43.030 --> 00:01:47.510 some 20 or saints recognized. American saints. 00:01:48.750 --> 00:01:51.250 You know some of their names. St. Herman, St. 00:01:51.709 --> 00:01:54.799 Innocent. Saint Jacob, Saint John of San Francisco, 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:57.659 Saint Sebastian of Jackson, truly an American 00:01:57.659 --> 00:02:02.040 saint, born in 1865, baptized in San Francisco. 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:07.079 When we hear from Saint Matthew today that Jesus 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:10.159 saw those two brethren, Simon, Peter, and his 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:15.020 brother Andrew, it's a fresco of Saint Peter, 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:18.139 and just around the corner, almost touching each 00:02:18.139 --> 00:02:24.240 other, is Saint Andrew. He says, Follow me. He 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:27.099 said to them, I will make you fishers of men. 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:31.740 Not just fish. Cast in the net. Not a hook. A 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:35.539 hook brings in basically dead fish. Right? A 00:02:35.539 --> 00:02:40.120 net brings in those that are alive. He includes 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:43.240 us in that invitation. Maybe not to be fishers 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:45.919 of men. Not to be apostles because there's only 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:52.139 the 12. But some will be evangelists. Some will 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:57.639 be priests. Some will be martyrs. So on. All 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:00.580 walks of life. The church is for everyone. The 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:04.099 Orthodox Church is for absolutely everyone. But 00:03:04.099 --> 00:03:07.460 all of us, hopefully, will be humble disciples. 00:03:08.939 --> 00:03:12.180 You can say the saints are magnificent. We paint 00:03:12.180 --> 00:03:15.939 them on our walls. They're distant from us. We 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:18.539 don't feel a connection to them. Our life is 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:23.840 so different. That's true. But Christ came to 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:27.259 the apostles when they were doing ordinary things. 00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:29.539 They were fishing. They were just doing their 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:36.539 job. Let me hold up for you an example of a saint, 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:41.180 not yet glorified, but certainly a saint, lived 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:48.419 in an obscure place, very poor. She died unknown 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:55.189 to most. Anybody, except her village. Life was 00:03:55.189 --> 00:03:58.550 a daily struggle in that place. I'm speaking 00:03:58.550 --> 00:04:02.210 of Mother Olga, Matushka Olga Michael, her last 00:04:02.210 --> 00:04:06.169 name was Michael, of Alaska. She died, in fact, 00:04:06.189 --> 00:04:08.550 on November 8th, the Feast of the Archangel Michael. 00:04:11.110 --> 00:04:15.969 This woman was full of zeal and love for God, 00:04:16.149 --> 00:04:21.240 full of faith and love for her neighbor. And 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:25.839 now we have many, many countless accounts of 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:29.860 her miracles for those who approach her for help 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.139 and sometimes who haven't even approached her 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:35.000 for help but receive her help not even knowing 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.980 who she is. She is known as a helper for those 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:43.500 with child. She was a midwife. She is known as 00:04:43.500 --> 00:04:46.220 a guide and a consolation for those especially 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:49.319 women who have been abused, who have been assaulted. 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:55.139 who live in fear, and so forth. But in reading 00:04:55.139 --> 00:04:57.939 her life, there's so much more. When we talk 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:01.100 about life in the church, we talk about leadership, 00:05:01.339 --> 00:05:05.480 we talk about authority and participation. This 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:10.500 is our example, a humble, giving, saintly woman 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:16.319 whose life now started in a little bitty place 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:21.290 and has opened up. like this, and now encompasses 00:05:21.290 --> 00:05:25.029 the whole world and anyone who calls upon her. 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:29.009 That's leadership in the church. That's the way 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:33.610 it works. Matryoshka Olga is a spiritual authority 00:05:33.610 --> 00:05:40.970 for us and a wonderful saint, humble. On this 00:05:40.970 --> 00:05:44.889 Sunday of All Saints, I'm going to offer basically 00:05:44.889 --> 00:05:48.660 one piece of advice. An instruction, if you will. 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:57.500 It's this. Ask the Lord. Truly, ask the Lord 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:04.420 to grant you a fervor, a warmth, a zeal for love 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:10.379 of him. A zeal for love of your neighbor. And 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:15.279 a zeal for love of the entire creation. Ask repeatedly. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.420 until he gives you this gift. Those of you that 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:22.699 were coming to dinner during Pre -Sanctified, 00:06:22.740 --> 00:06:25.639 remember we read a selection from Elder Emilio 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:27.699 Nos, who said the spiritual life is so simple. 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:32.199 It's so simple. You just ask God, come dwell 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:36.839 in my heart. You ask him 100 times a day, he 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:39.980 said. Well, if you can't ask him 100 times a 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.639 day because you're busy, that's okay. Ask 50 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:46.959 times a day. Perhaps you're too busy. Your children, 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:50.040 your husband, your wife, your job, whatever. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.759 Okay, 20 times a day, that's fine. God will hear 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:58.560 you. That's too much. Three times is fine. You 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.819 ask your father for a piece of bread, will he 00:07:00.819 --> 00:07:03.980 give you a stone? No. You ask God to dwell in 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:08.300 your heart. If you give him room, he will come. 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:12.600 This is the spiritual life. This is what we need 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:15.480 to ask for, brothers and sisters. Ask repeatedly 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:21.300 until he gives this gift. When you ask, says 00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:25.560 St. James, yes, there's a right way to ask. You 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:30.819 must believe and not doubt. Because the one who 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:33.600 doubts, says St. James the Apostle, is like a 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.620 wave of the sea. blown and tossed by the wind, 00:07:36.779 --> 00:07:39.360 that person should not expect to receive anything 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.839 from the Lord. But having received from the Lord, 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:49.319 then follow him. Resolve to love him above all 00:07:49.319 --> 00:07:53.279 things as he loves us, even to death on the cross, 00:07:53.540 --> 00:07:59.000 to raise us up in the last day. No excuses, no 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:04.910 equivocation, no but, or this or that, no. God 00:08:04.910 --> 00:08:09.410 pours out his love. All his commandments, it's 00:08:09.410 --> 00:08:13.990 good to remember, let's say all, just for the 00:08:13.990 --> 00:08:17.649 sake. All his commandments are contrary to our 00:08:17.649 --> 00:08:21.509 fallen human nature. There's resistance within 00:08:21.509 --> 00:08:26.949 us. The only way we can follow Christ is if we 00:08:26.949 --> 00:08:31.389 invite his spirit into our life every day and 00:08:31.389 --> 00:08:36.220 mean it. Initially, You may not find such a change 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:39.159 taking place, not much difference, but persistence 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:44.259 will pay off. And when that warmth and that love 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:47.720 and that zeal for God comes, that love for your 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:52.960 neighbor and for all creation, respond. We can 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:55.679 talk about saintliness. I can give you lives 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:59.860 of saints from now until next month, every day, 00:08:59.940 --> 00:09:03.590 all day long. But let's recall what St. James 00:09:03.590 --> 00:09:06.870 also said in this epistle, that true religion, 00:09:06.990 --> 00:09:11.250 true faithfulness, is that which God our Father 00:09:11.250 --> 00:09:15.070 accepts as pure and faultless, to look after 00:09:15.070 --> 00:09:22.110 orphans and widows in their distress. That sounds 00:09:22.110 --> 00:09:28.269 pretty simple, but pretty hard to do. Are we 00:09:28.269 --> 00:09:34.409 doing it? Meaning, St. James' meaning, we look 00:09:34.409 --> 00:09:39.549 after those in need, like Mother Olga did. We 00:09:39.549 --> 00:09:43.149 look after and connect with those in fear and 00:09:43.149 --> 00:09:47.610 anxiety and poverty. St. James adds the necessity 00:09:47.610 --> 00:09:53.169 to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 00:09:53.509 --> 00:09:56.529 You know the list. Each of us has a list of those 00:09:56.529 --> 00:10:00.519 sins that pollute us. Don't need to go into that. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.740 And St. James sums up his teaching by this. Faithfulness 00:10:04.740 --> 00:10:07.419 and other religious belief and church going by 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:13.419 itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is 00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:22.259 dead. I want to challenge us, this parish, today. 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:29.980 Thanks be to God that he has given us these saints 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:35.539 as an example. Thanks be to God that we can act 00:10:35.539 --> 00:10:39.299 out of gratitude to God because he has given 00:10:39.299 --> 00:10:43.279 us the church, the Holy Spirit, Holy Communion, 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:46.600 the knowledge of his presence, his guidance, 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:49.019 and the life of the resurrection of the kingdom 00:10:49.019 --> 00:10:53.460 to come, which is here but not fully. Thanks 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:57.600 be to God that we can humbly reach out. I'd like 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:01.129 to... suggest, more than suggest, I'd like this 00:11:01.129 --> 00:11:05.289 parish to take up the challenge of beginning 00:11:05.289 --> 00:11:10.769 a new ministry. A new ministry to support our 00:11:10.769 --> 00:11:16.149 mothers. I don't mean my mother. Mothers who 00:11:16.149 --> 00:11:19.950 are expecting, mothers who are in poverty, whether 00:11:19.950 --> 00:11:24.289 married or not, mothers that are single. Why 00:11:24.289 --> 00:11:27.980 do I say this today? Well, on the feast, of the 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:31.820 holy forerunner, John the Baptist, which was 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:37.220 Friday, you know what the Supreme Court ruled. 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:41.720 The abortion debate is very old and it's contentious. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.600 It was not settled even before Friday, no matter 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:50.120 what anybody says. And the Supreme Court decision 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:54.100 doesn't end the contention. If anything, it reignites 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:57.700 it. It has never been a debate in the Orthodox 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:01.659 Church, however, even if some members resist 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:05.440 its teaching. It has never been a debate, not 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:07.679 from the beginning. For the whole history of 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:11.919 the church, abortion has been resisted. Human 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:18.519 life begins when? That's just biology. But brothers 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:22.360 and sisters, we know also that God has endowed 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:26.600 us. endowed us with his image and his likeness. 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:29.740 And because of the resurrection, each and every 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:33.240 person, each and every human being is precious 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:38.059 and beautiful, even if they're covered with sin. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.519 Remember, the apostles, when they were called 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.720 by Christ, and they were taught for three years, 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:50.200 and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:53.519 on Pentecost, they went into the Roman world, 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:58.500 which had less than zero respect for the life 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:02.100 of women and children. Zero respect for infants. 00:13:03.299 --> 00:13:07.899 Perhaps we moderns are not so righteous in that 00:13:07.899 --> 00:13:12.340 regard either. My challenge to you is to begin 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:14.500 this ministry, because as Orthodox Christians, 00:13:14.740 --> 00:13:19.090 our task in all this is not about debate. It's 00:13:19.090 --> 00:13:22.990 about helping to do what we can't do because 00:13:22.990 --> 00:13:25.250 we have the gift of the Holy Spirit. And with 00:13:25.250 --> 00:13:30.110 God, all things are possible. We can make conditions 00:13:30.110 --> 00:13:33.990 for life for those who are suffering favorable 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:39.629 for growth and holiness and just life. And in 00:13:39.629 --> 00:13:44.830 that act of faithfulness, we too shall be sanctified. 00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:53.769 Let's end with the words of St. Paul in Hebrews, 00:13:54.009 --> 00:13:56.710 which you heard a few moments ago from the 12th 00:13:56.710 --> 00:13:59.649 chapter. Therefore, since we are surrounded by 00:13:59.649 --> 00:14:05.809 so great, so great a cloud of witnesses, let 00:14:05.809 --> 00:14:10.409 us lay aside every weight and every sin which 00:14:10.409 --> 00:14:14.909 so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance. 00:14:14.970 --> 00:14:18.710 It takes effort to run, doesn't it? Let us run 00:14:18.710 --> 00:14:21.169 with endurance the race that is set before us, 00:14:21.330 --> 00:14:27.590 looking to Jesus, the author and finisher, the 00:14:27.590 --> 00:14:31.590 perfecter of our faith. To our Lord be glory 00:14:31.590 --> 00:14:34.730 through the saints and through us, always, now 00:14:34.730 --> 00:14:37.029 and ever, to ages of ages. Amen.