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

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As many of you are aware, I am employed as a

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teacher for a public charter school, and as an

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educator, part of my job is assessing student

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work and giving grades. And students complete

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work, and they earn a grade. and when they are

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successful, they earn an A. But in order to do

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well, they need to understand the assignment.

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Sometimes a student will misunderstand the directions,

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or perhaps they don't even read the directions,

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and they just do the assignment. I remember there

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was an assignment about... Well, World War II,

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D -Day invasion of Omaha Beach, and the reply

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the assignment turned in was about Omaha, Nebraska.

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There can be mistakes that we make by not fully

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understanding the assignment and the directions.

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It is wise to know what the assignment is before

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you complete it. It is wise... to follow the

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directions properly. And today's gospel reading

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from Luke has an example for us of a man who

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didn't read the directions. He has worked hard

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and he completed a lot of tasks that he set for

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himself. And in his own eyes, he is a great success.

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However, in God's eyes, he is a fool. The class

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that he is taking is the class of life. The teacher

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of this class is God. The assignment is to lead

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a successful life. Jesus tells us the parable

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of this man. The ground of a certain rich man

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yielded plentifully. In other words, he was blessed

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with much material success. He tore down his

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small barns and built bigger storage capacity.

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And he said to his soul, Soul, you have many

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goods laid up for many years. Take your ease.

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Eat, drink, and be merry. And to this man, he

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had completed the assignment. He had succeeded

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at life. But what did God say? But God said to

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him, Fool, this night your soul will be required

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of you, and then whose will those things be which

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you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure

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for himself and is not rich towards God. The

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man of this particular parable did not fully

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understand the directions of how to succeed in

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life. He got rich, he worked hard, but he failed

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in the true assignment to get rich towards God.

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And this is our assignment too, in our life,

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to get rich towards God. We are enrolled in that

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same class, the class of life. And all of us

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one day will come to the end of our life and

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stand before God. however many years that will

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be. And when we do, we shall turn in our assignment.

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Here is my life, Lord. And the question will

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be, how did we do in becoming rich towards God?

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Archbishop Andre of Novo de Vivo speaks of what

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makes for success in becoming rich towards God.

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He says this. What determines it? The entire

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attitude of our life. And this attitude is expressed

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in our every step, in every action, in every

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breath. And how strange. Attitude seems to be

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something unimportant to people and somehow incidental.

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But it is not in God's eyes. This attitude is

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just what defines that great mystery which you

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and I will meet then at the moment of departure

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and that which will determine our lot forever.

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What was the attitude of the rich man in today's

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gospel? Listen to what he says. My fruits. And

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my goods, not even mentioning God. And yet the

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harvest came from God. And where was the love

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for neighbor? There was none, not even a thought

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for his neighbor. All care was for himself alone.

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Rest, food, drink, merriment, only for himself.

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Selfishness. was the attitude of his life. For

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us as Orthodox Christians, may the attitude of

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our hearts be different. May it be like what

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reads in the Psalms. May we give praise to God

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for his blessings to us. And as we now approach

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this holiday of Thanksgiving, may that be the

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attitude of our heart. Thanksgiving to God for

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all that he has given us. The psalmist David

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says, let the heavens rejoice, let the earth

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be glad, let the sea roar and all its fullness,

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let the field be joyful and all that is in it,

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let then all the trees of the woods will rejoice

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before the Lord, for he is coming, for he is

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coming to judge the earth, he shall judge the

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world with righteousness and the peoples with

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his truth. So let us remember as we go through

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our lives to have the right attitude of thanksgiving

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in our hearts and to remember that the assignment

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is not to get rich, but to become rich towards

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God. And may the attitude of each of our hearts

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be that of love for God and for his commandments.

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Glory to Jesus Christ.