WEBVTT 00:00:03.370 --> 00:00:07.769 Glory to Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, 00:00:07.910 --> 00:00:11.250 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 00:00:17.449 --> 00:00:23.789 Our commemorations this weekend are in memory 00:00:23.789 --> 00:00:28.269 and celebration of what we call the Unmercenary 00:00:28.269 --> 00:00:33.560 Saints. The first Sunday... in November is dedicated 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:36.859 to their memory, the Unmercenary Saints. The 00:00:36.859 --> 00:00:39.679 word unmercenary basically means they don't charge. 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:43.880 They give their gift for free, their work for 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:46.759 free. They are physicians and healers. Some were 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:50.920 actual physicians and some had the gift of healing. 00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:54.500 You see some icons here and over here. These 00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:57.140 are the Unmercenary Saints. Panteleimon, for 00:00:57.140 --> 00:01:00.679 example. Cosmos and Damien. Three sets of Cosmos 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:04.840 and Damien. Asia Minor, Rome, and someplace else. 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:10.760 And St. Luke of Simferopol in the Crimea, the 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:13.859 most recent one that we know of, the physician, 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:19.620 the surgeon. So this is important that we remember 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:22.519 that because we have these saints and we call 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:26.840 upon them. We ask for their prayers, their intercessions. 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:31.790 They are alive in Christ. And so we have this 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:36.150 interesting gospel about the healing of a woman 00:01:36.150 --> 00:01:40.189 and the raising of a young girl on this day when 00:01:40.189 --> 00:01:44.230 we commemorate these marvelous gifts to the church 00:01:44.230 --> 00:01:49.390 who gave their gift out of love. That's why we 00:01:49.390 --> 00:01:52.810 have the epistle about St. Paul's epistle about 00:01:52.810 --> 00:01:58.719 love. It wasn't just because I liked it. prescribed 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:02.099 for today. And it defines these saints so perfectly. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.340 Full of God's love. This is what we're called 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:09.060 to, too. We may not have the capacity, the ability, 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:11.599 the grace, the cleansing of our heart and soul 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:15.039 to heal somebody. But we can have God's love. 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:21.180 Let's look, however, leave that as it is for 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:25.139 now. Let's look at the Holy Gospel according 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:35.150 to St. Luke. about this incident. There's illness. 00:02:36.889 --> 00:02:40.449 I think of this verse from St. Paul often when 00:02:40.449 --> 00:02:42.509 I think of illness and those who are bearing 00:02:42.509 --> 00:02:46.590 a heavy burden of illness. St. Paul puts it this 00:02:46.590 --> 00:02:51.430 way, we do not lose heart. We don't lose heart. 00:02:51.629 --> 00:02:55.530 In other words, we have hope. Though our outer 00:02:55.530 --> 00:02:59.689 man is wasting away, yet our inner man is being 00:02:59.689 --> 00:03:04.069 renewed day by day. We may be failing on the 00:03:04.069 --> 00:03:09.849 outside, bodies falling apart, sickness, travail, 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:14.669 sorrows. But St. Paul says that may be true, 00:03:14.710 --> 00:03:18.590 but the inner person is being sustained and growing 00:03:18.590 --> 00:03:24.780 and faith is maturing through that trouble. through 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:32.340 what seems so unwanted by us. For this light 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:36.780 momentary affliction of sickness is preparing 00:03:36.780 --> 00:03:41.280 for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:50.500 comparison. I'm always surprised when Christians 00:03:51.789 --> 00:03:55.750 who are mature Christians, long -time Christians, 00:03:56.129 --> 00:04:01.250 they come to a struggle that has to do with their 00:04:01.250 --> 00:04:05.490 health. And they think, if only the doctor, and 00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:07.990 we should go to the doctor. We do seek healing 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:10.169 from our doctors. This is in the scriptures. 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:12.370 This is proper. I'm not saying not to do it. 00:04:12.669 --> 00:04:15.030 I go to the doctor all the time now that I'm 00:04:15.030 --> 00:04:18.449 65, even though God's blessed me with good physical 00:04:18.449 --> 00:04:21.350 health my entire life. Which means he's going 00:04:21.350 --> 00:04:24.910 to really require of me some serious spiritual 00:04:24.910 --> 00:04:28.490 health before the end. Because I've had no obstacles 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:32.870 there. But I'm surprised when someone in my situation 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:38.689 laments, oh God, why did you do this to me? I'm 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:41.250 telling you this, brothers and sisters, so you 00:04:41.250 --> 00:04:45.889 can prepare for the inevitable in your life. 00:04:46.170 --> 00:04:50.180 And for those in your life to refer to. all to 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:53.839 Christ, to call upon the mercenary healers to 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:56.959 help you when you're suffering and to come to 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:01.579 the church and to be blessed and to let the inner 00:05:01.579 --> 00:05:05.620 man be renewed. For this light momentary affliction 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:11.019 seems heavy, seems terrible, but St. Paul says 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:16.819 it's light compared, compared to the eternal 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:21.779 weight of glory. For we look not to the things 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:25.620 that are seen, but the things that are unseen. 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:31.420 Case in point, this gospel story. It's an extremely 00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:39.399 dramatic story. Suffering. Sickness. Hope. Beyond 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:43.959 hope. Disappointment. Death. Faith. Lack of faith. 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:49.540 Exaltation. Joy. I count five miracles in this 00:05:49.540 --> 00:05:53.379 story. Maybe there'll be a sixth, which will 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:57.439 be us by the end of this liturgy. Bear with me, 00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:01.540 five miracles. The gospel account picks up where 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:04.800 we left off last Sunday. Literally right there 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:08.220 in the gospel of Luke. Jesus has just left this 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:11.360 gathering community after healing this man with 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.079 a legion of demons. And the local population 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:20.939 said... Leave. We don't want you here. Jesus 00:06:20.939 --> 00:06:25.300 then, with a crowd of people, his disciples in 00:06:25.300 --> 00:06:30.139 tow, is approached, moves on. He's approached 00:06:30.139 --> 00:06:37.899 by a desperate man named Jairus, synagogue leader. 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:44.279 Think back to chapter 6 of Luke. Synagogue leaders 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:49.620 are conspiring already against Jesus. I have 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:52.079 no reason to think that this man Jairus wasn't 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:57.180 part of that group. But nevertheless, he's approached 00:06:57.180 --> 00:07:01.500 by Jairus. Jairus' 12 -year -old daughter is 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:06.000 dying, 12 years old, and we learn that she does 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.600 die as the Savior is delayed, intentionally delayed. 00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:14.879 This is miracle number one. that Jairus overcomes 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:24.079 his fear, his resentment, his uncertainty about 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:30.199 Jesus, and lays it all out there. During the 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:35.100 delay, a great miracle takes place, another one. 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.500 Well, I'd say two. I'd say two at this point. 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:42.490 First, this woman. We know her from tradition 00:07:42.490 --> 00:07:46.509 as Veronica. It turns out that Veronica, later 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:51.370 in life, commissions a statue of Jesus, which 00:07:51.370 --> 00:07:54.730 is attested to by a church historian in the 4th 00:07:54.730 --> 00:07:57.569 century. So we know it existed. It was destroyed. 00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:02.970 This woman, Veronica, Saint Luke describes her 00:08:02.970 --> 00:08:08.870 condition. Chronic, horrible, horrible flow of 00:08:08.870 --> 00:08:13.920 menstrual blood. Desperation, fear, and certainly 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.540 disappointment. She's been living, you could 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:22.540 say, barely living. This also for 12 years. You 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:25.379 remember the young girl, 12 years old. For 12 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:27.500 years, this woman, since that girl was born, 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:30.860 this woman has been suffering the isolation because 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:34.259 she's ritually impure. She cannot pray with others. 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.720 She cannot eat with others. She cannot... Embrace 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.259 her husband or her children according to the 00:08:40.259 --> 00:08:46.379 law of Moses. She comes to Jesus with incredible 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:51.419 faith. No words are necessary. No words are possible. 00:08:52.179 --> 00:09:00.639 A touch is sufficient. Silently, patiently, with 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:08.250 hope, prayerfully, she touches the Lord. I've 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:12.549 seen it many times when a person is in such pain 00:09:12.549 --> 00:09:19.389 that all strength has left him or her. No way 00:09:19.389 --> 00:09:22.289 to pray with words. I can sit by the bedside 00:09:22.289 --> 00:09:27.909 and pray with that person. I suspect most of 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:30.230 us are going to be in that condition or something 00:09:30.230 --> 00:09:33.730 like it at some point in our life, in our journey 00:09:33.730 --> 00:09:38.289 to the resurrection. In that case, we can only 00:09:38.289 --> 00:09:41.450 keep silence before God. There's a story from 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:44.889 the Desert Fathers, a certain Saint Dos Atheos, 00:09:44.970 --> 00:09:49.029 ancient saint of the desert, was so weak he could 00:09:49.029 --> 00:09:54.009 not walk. And his friend, Saint Dorotheos, says 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:58.629 to him, how is your prayer, Father Dos Atheos? 00:10:00.029 --> 00:10:02.350 Common answer with the Desert Fathers, how's 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:05.919 your prayer? He replied, forgive me, I no longer 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.820 have strength to pray. Dorotheus replied, don't 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:14.059 worry about prayer. Just guard the memory of 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:19.240 God and know that he is with you. Guard the memory 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:23.279 of God in your heart and know that he is standing 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.299 with you. Father, into thy hands I commit my 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:32.639 spirit. We should say with Jesus at those moments. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:37.120 and for those who are suffering. This is the 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.100 meaning, by the way, for me, of the touch which 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:43.659 the woman lays upon Jesus' robe. This incredible 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:47.720 woman unites herself to Jesus Christ and was 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:49.980 then able to receive the grace of that healing 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:53.139 pouring into her. Jesus says, who touched me? 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:57.500 Of course he knew, for I perceive power. The 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:01.779 enemies has gone forth. He wanted to demonstrate 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:05.659 to those around him what was happening. And he 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:11.440 says to her this beautiful word. Your faith has 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:15.279 made you well. He affirms it to her. He confirms 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:17.940 the faith and the healing to her, not to himself. 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:24.120 This is the kind of faith we want. The third 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:30.179 miracle was about the faith also of Jairus. for 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:34.460 he had to acquire it. First he came, and that 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:39.179 was a miracle, but now it was going to be put 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:44.240 to an extremely hard test. While Jesus was speaking 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:47.320 about the woman, a servant from the house came 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:52.120 to Jairus and says, it seems kind of cold, don't 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:55.200 trouble the master, your daughter's dead. Could 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:58.950 you imagine? The position this man is in, and 00:11:58.950 --> 00:12:00.769 someone comes up and is like, don't bother him, 00:12:00.909 --> 00:12:04.789 your daughter's dead. So cold and heartless. 00:12:04.950 --> 00:12:07.929 Now maybe St. Luke is just condensing here for 00:12:07.929 --> 00:12:12.389 the sake of, to not be too loquacious. He does 00:12:12.389 --> 00:12:17.870 that. The beloved daughter died while Jesus was 00:12:17.870 --> 00:12:20.629 praising Veronica's faith. The mourning had already 00:12:20.629 --> 00:12:23.429 begun. It was time to get ready for the funeral. 00:12:23.590 --> 00:12:29.360 And here was Christ. responding to Jairus, do 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:34.639 not weep. She is not dead. She is just sleeping. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:41.600 And they, including Peter, James, and John in 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:48.259 the house, scornfully laughed at Jesus. Lord, 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:54.710 how do you have such patience with us? Ancient 00:12:54.710 --> 00:12:58.450 peoples, by the way, you know, she didn't just 00:12:58.450 --> 00:13:05.210 kind of faint like some modern biblical interpreters 00:13:05.210 --> 00:13:07.330 would say. Well, she just fainted. Obviously, 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:10.809 Jesus just revived her. You know, ancient peoples 00:13:10.809 --> 00:13:15.549 didn't need a heart and a brainwave monitor or 00:13:15.549 --> 00:13:18.450 a stethoscope to know when somebody was truly 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:22.440 dead. really understood these things better than 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:27.240 we think they did. Jairus' faith is put to a 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:30.500 terrible test. Can you imagine how hard it must 00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:34.679 be for Jairus and his wife to hear this news 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:38.000 and to believe in the Lord's words, don't be 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.860 afraid, only believe that you will be made well. 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:46.980 Why should they believe? But this is our response 00:13:46.980 --> 00:13:50.509 to death. Don't be afraid, only believe. and 00:13:50.509 --> 00:13:53.990 he or she and they will be made well. We believe 00:13:53.990 --> 00:13:57.029 God loves us, and God works for our good. The 00:13:57.029 --> 00:14:03.750 trust in Jesus is the third miracle. There are 00:14:03.750 --> 00:14:07.250 many examples. I'll be very brief. One of the 00:14:07.250 --> 00:14:09.570 great saints that we commemorate today, St. Luke 00:14:09.570 --> 00:14:12.590 of the Crimea, the surgeon, the doctor, born 00:14:12.590 --> 00:14:21.399 in 1877, of a very poor family. Got a good education, 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:29.279 miraculously. Began law school, but then he decided 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.659 that medicine would be the right thing because 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:38.379 he wanted to help people. His mother was a Roman 00:14:38.379 --> 00:14:40.539 Catholic. His father was not really a believer. 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:45.940 I might have that backwards, but whatever. He 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:51.779 gets his degree in medicine. He becomes an expert 00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:56.600 in ophthalmology. He goes out to the Russia -Japanese 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:00.960 War in the early 1900s. And he's treating soldiers 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:04.440 for wounds. And he's discovering incredible and 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:07.700 many, many different kinds of treatments that 00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:10.759 are revolutionary at the time. Not just for the 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:14.740 eyes, but for war wounds. His wife contracts 00:15:14.740 --> 00:15:19.460 tuberculosis. She dies. The communists, the Bolsheviks 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:23.480 come to power. He spends the next number of decades 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:27.500 being shuttled to and from Tashkent and Kiev 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:32.860 to the gulags in Siberia. All he wanted to do 00:15:32.860 --> 00:15:35.799 was help, but God had a different plan for him. 00:15:38.580 --> 00:15:42.340 He's ordained, he's made a monk, he's made a 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:45.929 priest, he's made a bishop. And he ministers 00:15:45.929 --> 00:15:48.850 to the people while being accused and disappearing 00:15:48.850 --> 00:15:53.769 for years at a time and then coming back. Hope 00:15:53.769 --> 00:16:00.769 beyond hope. Don't lose heart. He knew this. 00:16:01.909 --> 00:16:05.789 Though our outer man is wasting away, circumstances 00:16:05.789 --> 00:16:10.110 are not. profitable for us our inner man is being 00:16:10.110 --> 00:16:13.330 renewed day by day for this light momentary affliction 00:16:13.330 --> 00:16:15.909 is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory 00:16:15.909 --> 00:16:19.669 beyond all comparison as we look not to the things 00:16:19.669 --> 00:16:23.509 that are seen but to the things that are unseen 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:31.279 trust in christ patience and trials Fervency 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.500 in prayer to the Lord, to the Theotokos, and 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:35.899 to the unmercenary saints. This is one thing 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:39.700 we can do, brothers and sisters. Here in this 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:48.159 gospel about sin and death, remember, you're 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:52.259 going to come up and not just touch the Lord, 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.539 but you're going to receive his body and blood 00:16:55.539 --> 00:16:59.659 within you. Let there be a change. a repentance, 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:04.720 a glorious thanksgiving and joy to the Lord for 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:10.160 that gift. Then hope will rise up to here and 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:15.839 with hope and faith and love. To our Lord be 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:20.599 glory now and ever, to ages of ages. Glory to 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:21.240 Jesus Christ.