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Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. On Tuesday, this

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last week, clergy of the deanery met in San Mateo

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at the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin

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with His Eminence Archbishop Benjamin and a muliebin,

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a service of supplication, was served, asking

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God, begging God. all the people that came for

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peace, for the end of the hostilities in Ukraine.

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His eminence began with a quote from St. Silouan

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the Athonite who died in 1938. I think I have

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that right. St. Silouan's here on our iconostasis

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next to St. Barbara. This is what St. Silouan

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wrote as a poem called Adam's Lament. Adam knew

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great grief when he was banished from paradise.

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But when he saw his son Abel, slain by Cain,

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his brother, Adam's grief was even heavier. His

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soul was heavy, and he lamented and thought,

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peoples and nations will descend from me and

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multiply, and suffering will be their lot, and

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they will live in enmity. and seek to slay one

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another. And Adam's sorrow stretched wide as

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the sea, and only the soul that has come to know

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the Lord and the magnitude of his love for us

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can understand. I too have lost grace and call

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with Adam. Be merciful to me, O Lord. Bestow

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on me the spirit of love and humility. Obviously,

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brothers and sisters, we do not dwell in paradise.

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And we suffer loss. We suffer all kinds of difficulties.

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But the church is telling us today, find the

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pathway back. And you heard the parable in honor

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of the holy martyrs. Even if you find it at the

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11th hour, the Lord is gracious. You find the

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path back since it's the journey to Pascha. We

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don't say, tomorrow might be a better day. Things

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will get better. Our hope isn't found on such

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trivialities, on things that might happen that

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we have no power over. Our hope is in Jesus Christ

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and what he did, his cross, to kill death. by

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his death, to do away with sin so that we may

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be united to him, to rise from the dead, and

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that we may rise also. That's not a philosophy.

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It's not a myth. It's not just some pie -in -the

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-sky story. It's the truth of God and us. That's

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our hope. This is where we find our strength,

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even though we do not live in paradise. The first

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steps that Lent gives us to return on the way

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to Pascha, the mystery of our salvation, the

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resurrection, are to fast. And to do it joyfully.

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To give alms. And to do it generously. To pray.

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And to do it with contrition. But first, before

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we do anything else, is to forgive from our hearts.

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We can expect as much from God, says the Lord,

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as we give to others in terms of forgiveness.

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And by the way, the word forgiveness in Greek

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is synchoresis. Synchoresis means something like

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to be together in the same place. Peter says,

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the Apostle Peter, Lord, how often do I have

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to forgive these people? Peter's looking for

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accountability, such as, they should know that

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they did the wrong thing, and I should tell them,

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and they should be accountable to me or to whomever,

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and fix it. You heard St. Paul. Cast off the

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works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

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We want everybody else to do that. And it would

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be wonderful. But we have to start with ourself

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to cast off the works of darkness and put on

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the armor of light. And be strengthened first

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so that we can then forgive. Like the Lord says,

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to be in the same place. Christ is our model.

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Forgive them for they know not what they do was

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not an easy, painless, let bygones be bygones

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kind of forgiveness. It was the Lamb of God who

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takes away the sin of the world on the cross.

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It hurts to forgive. But forgiveness is an act

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following Christ. And it's best done before.

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I feel ready to do it. Then you will find that

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Christ gives you the grace. If you wait until

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you're ready to do it, you might get caught unawares,

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and you won't have the Lord's forgiveness. You

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don't want to be controlled by the past, by the

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sins of others. You want to be free in Christ,

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and it helps. It helps an awful lot to remember

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that we don't live in paradise. And forgiveness

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might soften that terrible reality for others.

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Do not lay up for yourselves. The Lord said,

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you heard this, this is the way we begin Lent.

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Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.

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where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break

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in and steal. Lent is a specific, intentional,

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structured time of the year in which we together

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as a community Yes, secretly we fast, secretly

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we give alms, and secretly we pray, and God will

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reward us openly, but we do it together as a

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community. It's the tithe of the year, the 40

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days, the time when we truly do our best to be

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his disciples. It's the time when we lay up for

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ourselves treasures in heaven, where neither

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moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not

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break in and steal. No one can take that away.

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No bombs, no guns, no terror. It's the time,

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Lent, and how precious it is when we find that

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the truth, the truth in the Lord's words, for

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where your treasure is, there's your heart. I

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promise, this happens every year to me. To you,

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once Lent starts, the evil one and the demons

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rush out of hell to distract mainly, to demoralize,

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to divide, to tempt us. Expect it. This is spiritual

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warfare. We're putting on the armor of light.

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You need armor, not when you sit around. You

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need armor when you're attacked. So we are going

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to remain watchful. We're going to remain prayerful,

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generous, giving, loving towards one another,

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patient towards one another, bearing one another's

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burdens, always praying for one another, interceding

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before God. casting off our own works of darkness.

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Remember, the time is short. It's at hand. Our

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salvation is nearer now than when we began and

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when we first believed. Yes, we're going to remain

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watchful. Is Lent a sad time? Well, only in the

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sense that we want contrition. We want joy producing

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sorrow. And that comes from the Holy Spirit.

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Is Lent a morbid time? Not at all. Yes, there

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are plenty of things to be saddened about, terrorized

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about, concerned about, troubled. We thought

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COVID was a problem. But fasting and prayer is

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not gloomy. From ancient times, our fathers and

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mothers in the church have taught us, when we

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are troubled, when we are faced with difficulties,

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we fast and we pray. And then that opens us up

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to God's grace and his mercy so we do not despair.

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St. Basil says about prayer and fasting not being

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gloomy, he says this, don't make healing, being

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healed, gloomy. It's outrageous that you don't

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rejoice over your soul being healed. But you

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mourn over changing food. You seem to be giving

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more concern to your stomach than to your spirit.

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Thank you, St. Basil. Let's ask the 40 martyrs

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for resolve in our faith, in our fasting, for

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unity to be together. Let that be our model.

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You see those men in that fresco. For courage,

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and especially... Because we are not in their

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position, but what we can do especially is ask

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that we can also be, because we trust in God,

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because we can be courageous, we will witness

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to the resurrection of Christ within us. This

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is the good news. Let me quote a brother priest.

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Yes, we grieve over our sins, but only so we

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can arrive at the flip side of repentance, the

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act. The acquisition of beautiful virtues. This

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positive dimension is the true meaning of Lent

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as we swap out pride for humility, lust for purity,

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anger for mercy, gluttony for moderation, laziness

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for diligence, envy for gratitude, irritability

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for patience, apathy for zeal, despair for hope,

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and misery for joy. Let us begin the fast with

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joy, says the hymn. Its destination is the great

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and incredible mystery of our salvation, the

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Lord's resurrection, Pascha. Amen.