WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.620 of some sort, and then the doctor does some tests, 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:12.099 and you discover through his work that you're 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:21.640 very ill, in fact. This gospel helps us, like 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.899 an x -ray, like a physician, because it's Christ, 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:29.390 examine our faith. how we've come to it, and 00:00:29.390 --> 00:00:31.469 the state of it. And what's also interesting 00:00:31.469 --> 00:00:36.649 is, you know, when you go to a concert, you have 00:00:36.649 --> 00:00:41.049 your intermission, and then before the intermission 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:44.509 is over, the lights start to flash. It tells 00:00:44.509 --> 00:00:48.130 you, get back in there. This is our intermission 00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:53.210 warning. Not a warning. An intermission invitation 00:00:53.210 --> 00:00:57.880 that Lent is coming. We hear this gospel about 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:02.119 this woman, this Canaanite woman, and last week's 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:05.140 about the man, the blind man at the gates of 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:08.760 Jericho, to prepare us for the coming of Lent 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:14.599 in just over a month. Next week, we begin Zacchaeus, 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:17.519 and after that. So we're starting to prepare 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.000 ourselves. The church wants us to examine our 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:27.459 humility. Oh, I'm so humble. We don't want to 00:01:27.459 --> 00:01:30.780 examine it that way. Let the devil remind you 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:33.980 how humble you truly are. The church wants to 00:01:33.980 --> 00:01:38.879 examine our prayer. How fervent is it? Is it 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:43.359 at all fervent? Is it regular? Is it heartfelt? 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:53.060 Do we love God? Do we have faith? Now, this gospel, 00:01:53.379 --> 00:01:57.689 you heard it last year. Father James gave a marvelous 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:02.849 and very illuminating homily on the historical 00:02:02.849 --> 00:02:07.090 setting, who this woman was, and it was really 00:02:07.090 --> 00:02:09.250 marvelous. You can hear it on our parish website. 00:02:09.430 --> 00:02:12.289 I highly recommend you do that. I'm not going 00:02:12.289 --> 00:02:15.449 to talk about those aspects of it today. His 00:02:15.449 --> 00:02:19.530 magnificent sermon you can access and hear. So 00:02:19.530 --> 00:02:24.310 I'm going to focus on faith, on this woman's 00:02:24.310 --> 00:02:28.620 faith. And something about how we come to faith. 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:36.379 I didn't come to faith as this woman did. I came 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:39.520 to faith because I inherited it. It was a gift. 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:45.020 I received it. I can speak about the marvelous 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:48.400 things God has done for me. But I'm not going 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:51.479 to do that today. But some of you have come to 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:57.169 faith through other means. Epic tragedy. Difficulty. 00:02:57.169 --> 00:03:04.830 Hurdles. Let's talk about that. This clever, 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:09.930 and she was, this clever Canaanite woman answers 00:03:09.930 --> 00:03:15.409 Christ, who seems to reject her. He answers her 00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:21.479 in a wonderful way. You know what she said. We've 00:03:21.479 --> 00:03:24.259 all had the experience of being ignored, left 00:03:24.259 --> 00:03:27.860 out, made to feel that we weren't included or 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:30.280 recognized by others. But that's not what's going 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:37.939 on here. Over and over, there's going to be times 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:41.199 in our life, and maybe it's one of those that 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.199 brought you to faith in Jesus Christ. When God 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:49.800 speaks to us, the same way he's speaking on that 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:56.189 cross, Silent. Not a word. Everything he's done 00:03:56.189 --> 00:04:01.849 for us already. What more can he say? We don't 00:04:01.849 --> 00:04:06.509 always listen. And if we do listen, we don't 00:04:06.509 --> 00:04:11.930 do what he says. Given through our gospel, sermons, 00:04:11.930 --> 00:04:18.310 our spiritual father. Or if we do, we get tired. 00:04:18.990 --> 00:04:23.129 and we easily give up. There's no success in 00:04:23.129 --> 00:04:26.949 any realm in our life if that's the approach 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:29.550 we're going to take. I don't care what it is, 00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:35.149 and that's true for faith. This woman, this Canaanite 00:04:35.149 --> 00:04:38.910 woman, you remember what Father said last year. 00:04:39.050 --> 00:04:42.589 She was a Canaanite. Her ancestors were those 00:04:42.589 --> 00:04:46.089 that were to be displaced and removed for the 00:04:46.089 --> 00:04:50.670 people of God. The Israelites. Because they not 00:04:50.670 --> 00:04:53.930 only worshipped lots of gods, they practiced 00:04:53.930 --> 00:04:57.170 child sacrifice. And sacrifice involves a meal. 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:06.430 Cannibalism. Sexual immorality. That's her background. 00:05:07.649 --> 00:05:13.449 By this time in history, it was somewhat different. 00:05:13.990 --> 00:05:19.519 But this woman, she listens. She models for us 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:24.879 that persistence that's needed, prayer and humility, 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:30.540 essential companions in times of difficulty, 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:38.040 real difficulty. We may assume, many of us, that 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:42.180 God's going to come into our life by means of 00:05:42.180 --> 00:05:45.600 some pleasant experience that will require no 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:51.220 change. from us. No. If you want to come after 00:05:51.220 --> 00:05:56.480 me, pick up your cross, deny yourself, and follow 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:00.959 me. That's an invitation. That requires change. 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:06.819 So that pleasant experience is not the way the 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:11.779 Christian life operates. Neither is it miserable. 00:06:13.290 --> 00:06:17.550 God is going to more likely enter our life like 00:06:17.550 --> 00:06:21.490 he did that woman. He came to where she was. 00:06:24.029 --> 00:06:28.310 And she was having a crisis. Her daughter was 00:06:28.310 --> 00:06:32.670 seriously ill with possession by a demon, she 00:06:32.670 --> 00:06:41.629 said. And he was there. Coming in the eye of 00:06:41.629 --> 00:06:44.370 the storm for this woman, in the midst of difficulty, 00:06:44.670 --> 00:06:48.370 in the midst of confusion, in pain, and in suffering. 00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:52.209 You can count on it. When that happens to you, 00:06:52.310 --> 00:06:56.970 God will be there. Let me give you an example 00:06:56.970 --> 00:06:59.750 of someone who did come to faith that way, not 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:02.649 just this woman. St. Gregory the Theologian, 00:07:02.649 --> 00:07:05.250 whose memory we celebrate today, along with St. 00:07:05.410 --> 00:07:09.730 Basil and St. John Chrysostom. St. Gregory wrote 00:07:09.730 --> 00:07:13.050 an account of a time when he was young, about 00:07:13.050 --> 00:07:19.009 21 years old. He was not yet baptized. He considered 00:07:19.009 --> 00:07:22.370 himself a Christian, but he wasn't baptized. 00:07:22.449 --> 00:07:25.790 He came from a wealthy family. He was well educated. 00:07:26.110 --> 00:07:32.509 He was well connected. He was prideful. He decided 00:07:32.509 --> 00:07:37.680 to go to Greece. from Alexandria. It happened 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:42.279 to be wintertime. Boarded a ship. Not a good 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:46.680 idea. For 20 days, he writes that that ship was 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:51.000 caught in a hurricane with colossal waves. This 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.100 is what he wrote. Everything became great blackness. 00:07:54.139 --> 00:07:56.160 He's there on the ship with these other people. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:59.399 It's tossing and turning. Deafening thunderclaps 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:02.480 resounded amidst flashes of lightning. The sails 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:06.189 of the ship were in shreds. The main mass was 00:08:06.189 --> 00:08:09.389 bent. The rudder was useless, being torn forcibly 00:08:09.389 --> 00:08:14.750 from the helmsman's hands. Mountainous seas swamped 00:08:14.750 --> 00:08:17.870 the vessel. A confused clamor arose, cries of 00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:21.329 sailors, officers, and passengers. Mountainous 00:08:21.329 --> 00:08:24.110 seas were coming at us. We were without water. 00:08:25.230 --> 00:08:27.870 Since the moment the ship began to roll, the 00:08:27.870 --> 00:08:29.949 barrels containing the precious treasure were 00:08:29.949 --> 00:08:32.830 smashed and scattered to the depths. The sea 00:08:32.830 --> 00:08:35.610 continued to rage. We were harassed for many 00:08:35.610 --> 00:08:40.289 days. The question was whether the sea or the 00:08:40.289 --> 00:08:44.169 lack of water would make an end of us. Driven 00:08:44.169 --> 00:08:47.009 this way and that way, we had no notion of where 00:08:47.009 --> 00:08:49.570 we were sailing. We could see no hope of being 00:08:49.570 --> 00:08:53.710 rescued by God. All of us feared a common death. 00:08:54.350 --> 00:08:59.009 But more terrifying for me was the hidden death. 00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:03.590 For those murderous waters were keeping me away. 00:09:04.929 --> 00:09:08.629 He finally realized from the purifying waters 00:09:08.629 --> 00:09:16.889 of baptism that he says, divinize us. St. Gregory's 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:19.190 life was changed not by some mystical experience, 00:09:19.690 --> 00:09:25.000 not by going off to the desert to pray, He would 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.139 do that, not by any sublime meditation on the 00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:31.840 nature of reality, but because he faced the prospect 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:36.759 of his own annihilation and had to see himself 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:41.159 as dead already, and what was left behind in 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:46.600 his life he saw as absolutely nothing. He had 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:54.480 accomplished zero. Out of that experience, He 00:09:54.480 --> 00:10:00.220 said this, God is the source of affliction. Isn't 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:04.659 that striking? But he also calls God the gentle 00:10:04.659 --> 00:10:09.460 healer. To put it plainly, brothers and sisters, 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:17.519 when trouble comes, our faith gets real. Faith, 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:22.679 like this woman in the gospel, did not consist 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:27.259 for her. in knowledge of the Father, the Son, 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:32.700 and the Holy Spirit, the nature of the person 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:37.240 of Christ, the two natures of God and man, the 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:40.580 theotokos, the saints. No, these are all important 00:10:40.580 --> 00:10:43.379 for us. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty. 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:47.139 We say that, and we should mean it. Faith for 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:52.710 her was about faithfulness, just doing it. Going 00:10:52.710 --> 00:10:58.830 and praying. Praying to God. Till he answers. 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:04.470 Following after. And when he's silent, he's still 00:11:04.470 --> 00:11:09.250 there. But he's waiting for us to mature. To 00:11:09.250 --> 00:11:11.690 be able to receive the gift he has to give us. 00:11:12.850 --> 00:11:15.990 Faithfulness, you can say, is faith. But it's 00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:20.750 action. Coming to church. Confessing your sins. 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:24.519 forgiving your enemy, loving your enemy, not 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.100 just your neighbor, making the sign of the cross, 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:30.899 glorifying God and giving thanks to him. All 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:34.840 these are acts of faithfulness which lead to 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:41.519 greater faith, which leads to miracles. And I 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:45.740 can attest that that is true. In my affliction, 00:11:45.740 --> 00:11:49.279 I cried unto the Lord, and he hearkened unto 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:53.429 me. says the great psalmist. It's a kind of a 00:11:53.429 --> 00:11:57.149 birth pang. My soul longing to be united with 00:11:57.149 --> 00:12:02.950 God. Let this woman's model call us to a deeper 00:12:02.950 --> 00:12:08.210 faith and faithfulness. I have ignored the Lord. 00:12:08.570 --> 00:12:12.929 Oh yes, I can casually greet Jesus. I can make 00:12:12.929 --> 00:12:16.529 my regular confession. I can go to my communion 00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:21.789 every week. I can pray. But that's not longing 00:12:21.789 --> 00:12:25.970 for God. That's not a heart that feels so intensely 00:12:25.970 --> 00:12:30.649 that it needs Christ because otherwise it's annihilation. 00:12:32.730 --> 00:12:36.690 God is there for me, I discover. And not only 00:12:36.690 --> 00:12:42.799 that, he's looking for me all the time. May the 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.860 fruit of our lips be praise and glory to our 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:48.340 Savior now and ever to ages of ages.