WEBVTT 00:00:03.529 --> 00:00:07.250 Glory to Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, 00:00:07.269 --> 00:00:10.349 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 00:00:11.130 --> 00:00:16.089 I hope and trust that all of you had a good Thanksgiving 00:00:16.089 --> 00:00:19.609 holiday, one in which there was thanksgiving 00:00:19.609 --> 00:00:24.649 to God. I was happy to see so many of you here 00:00:24.649 --> 00:00:27.929 on Thursday at the liturgy, and so happy on Monday 00:00:27.929 --> 00:00:31.309 as well when we had a big crowd in the altar. 00:00:31.949 --> 00:00:36.590 And we were all rejoicing. I know many of you 00:00:36.590 --> 00:00:39.630 have been traveling. I'm grateful that you've 00:00:39.630 --> 00:00:44.350 returned safely. Now we all return more intensely 00:00:44.350 --> 00:00:49.210 and intently, hopefully, to Advent. For the fast, 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:52.829 directing ourselves towards Christmas and all 00:00:52.829 --> 00:00:57.509 that means. What a marvelous gospel. I think 00:00:57.509 --> 00:01:02.170 it will help us to orient ourselves. towards 00:01:02.170 --> 00:01:06.849 Christmas. Let's think of the story, the account 00:01:06.849 --> 00:01:10.870 that you heard for a moment. Jesus was teaching 00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:13.989 in a synagogue as he was invited to do frequently. 00:01:14.769 --> 00:01:19.290 What was he teaching? Well, just before the account 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:23.629 that you heard, St. Luke tells us that he was 00:01:23.629 --> 00:01:27.840 teaching a parable. Now, It doesn't say this 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.760 specifically in the scriptures, but I have to 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.780 imagine that this is exactly what Jesus was doing 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:36.319 at that synagogue. Synagogue is a place of gathering 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.519 for the Jewish people. It's not the temple. The 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:41.219 temple is where the sacrifices take place. The 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:44.140 synagogue is a place of prayer, to hear the Psalms, 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:48.359 to hear a sermon, to have some hymns. It's a 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:53.980 gathering place for the community. And Jesus 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:57.280 is teaching this parable. He says, Certain man 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:02.900 had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. And he 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:08.360 came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:10.180 he said to the keeper of the vineyard, look, 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:14.319 for three years. Now, does that remind you of 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:19.039 anything? Jesus' ministry was for three years. 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:23.860 He's being very specific. Look, for three years 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:26.270 I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree. and 00:02:26.270 --> 00:02:31.789 find none. Cut it down. Why does it use up the 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.810 ground? But he answered him and said to him, 00:02:34.969 --> 00:02:39.110 Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig 00:02:39.110 --> 00:02:41.729 around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit, 00:02:41.990 --> 00:02:45.830 well, but if not after that, you can cut it down. 00:02:48.229 --> 00:02:53.349 And then Jesus saw this woman in the synagogue. 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:59.560 And he heals her. He touches her. He says, woman, 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:03.599 though it loose from your infirmity. And everyone 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:06.360 is praising God. They see this incredible thing 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.360 because this woman who is bent over, cannot see 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:13.259 the sky, cannot lift up her face to pray. All 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:16.539 she can do is bend over like some kind of animal. 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:19.439 You know, mostly it's only humans that can walk 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:22.120 upright and see like this. Mostly, not totally, 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:27.539 but mostly. Everyone's praising God for this 00:03:27.539 --> 00:03:31.680 miracle. And they know that they are in the presence 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:38.479 of the Messiah. Everyone except one man. This 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:41.080 grump. Well, more than a grump, and I'll tell 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:44.639 you why. There are six days in which you can 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:49.460 work. But on the Sabbath, you don't. So come 00:03:49.460 --> 00:03:53.819 and get healed another time. 18 years this woman 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:57.900 has been suffering. And there's this, what a 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:01.479 tragic contrast we have. Here's this woman bound 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:06.560 by Satan, unbound by Jesus Christ. Here's this 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:12.240 grump in charge of worship. Envious. Envious. 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:16.879 Local synagogue leader. He's bent by envy. He 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:21.300 cannot rejoice. And he has a pretext. It's not 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:24.360 just that he's a stickler for the Sabbath day 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:28.160 rules. Oh, it's not just that. In fact, he was 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.420 envious when Jesus healed the woman, but I have 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:35.220 no doubt that he was scheming on how to convict 00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:39.000 Jesus because the Pharisees were already plotting, 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:42.439 says St. Matthew, against Jesus, how they might 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:46.899 arrest and destroy him. The Old Testament law, 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:53.240 as Numbers 15 tells us, Any kind of work is prohibited 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:56.360 on the Sabbath. Now, this man had an idea of 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:00.920 what that meant. It wasn't just one thing. But 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.019 Numbers 15 says one could receive the death penalty 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:07.220 for breaking the Sabbath law. So this man thinks 00:05:07.220 --> 00:05:10.079 he's finally caught Jesus. He can turn him in 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:15.019 to the Pharisees. His work is over. Shows the 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:22.579 ugliness of envy. It's the Advent season. If 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:26.620 you pay any attention to ads, envy may strike 00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:32.279 you. Be very careful. Let's look at this woman. 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:36.519 She was certainly following the Lord's commandment, 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:40.839 in specific, the fourth commandment, to remember 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:45.600 the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. But because 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.579 the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, And sanctified 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:54.199 it. Incidentally. Let me remind you. That Sunday 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:57.860 is not the Sabbath day. We keep the Sabbath day. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:00.720 In the Orthodox Church. Every Saturday pretty 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.560 much. Is dedicated to the commemoration of those. 00:06:03.779 --> 00:06:05.939 Who are resting in the Lord. Who have gone before 00:06:05.939 --> 00:06:09.399 us. Who have died already. Commemoration of the 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:13.199 departed. Of course all that goes back to Holy 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:16.800 Saturday. When we proclaim. the Lord's victory 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:20.100 over death, that he is resting from all his work. 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:27.920 The Sabbath is the seventh day. Sunday is the 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:30.259 eighth day. Now, what does that mean? Oh, that 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:32.060 sounds very interesting. It's a number thing, 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.519 right? No, the eighth day is the day of the kingdom, 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:37.079 the day of the resurrection, the day without 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:40.319 evening. There's that beautiful line in the Akathist, 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.740 glory to God for all things, that we did a portion 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:49.420 of on Thursday. I see thy dwelling place, fiery 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:54.220 and purple, gold and blue. They speak prophet 00:06:54.220 --> 00:06:56.639 -like of the ineffable beauty of thy presence. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.300 Calling to us in their majesty, we turn to the 00:07:00.300 --> 00:07:05.040 Father. When I was in Italy, I saw all these 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.740 old churches, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th century churches 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:10.600 with mosaics in the apse. Christ surrounded by 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:15.769 saints or with the Theotokos. And in those Ab's 00:07:15.769 --> 00:07:19.189 mosaics. And I never knew this before. There's 00:07:19.189 --> 00:07:25.889 these beautiful purple, red lines, varied colors 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:32.029 behind him, looking like waves. But it's exactly 00:07:32.029 --> 00:07:35.850 this. It's the last day and the new day of the 00:07:35.850 --> 00:07:39.470 kingdom. That's Sunday. That's why we come here, 00:07:39.610 --> 00:07:43.149 to glorify the Lord risen from the dead. Our 00:07:43.149 --> 00:07:46.329 faithful observance of Sunday must be far beyond 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:49.810 what the Jews do with Sabbath day. Because it's 00:07:49.810 --> 00:07:52.050 about our resurrection. It's about the coming 00:07:52.050 --> 00:07:57.949 of Christ. Will we be ready for his coming? Joyfully 00:07:57.949 --> 00:08:01.730 ready to meet him as he comes, as St. Paul says 00:08:01.730 --> 00:08:08.490 in Thessalonians. That's just incidentally. This 00:08:08.490 --> 00:08:12.040 faithful woman came on the Sabbath. Probably 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:16.240 every Sabbath. In spite of what must have been 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.939 excruciating pain from her infirmity. How could 00:08:19.939 --> 00:08:25.420 a person like that sit, stand, sleep? In spite 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:28.120 of her embarrassment, probably from being stared 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:33.980 at, whispered about, made fun of. Oh, they probably 00:08:33.980 --> 00:08:37.879 said, she must be a sinner. Great sinner. Otherwise, 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:41.679 why would God afflict her with this? It's so 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:45.639 cruel. And here she was, faithful, although in 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:52.600 pain for 18 years, and she puts God first. She 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:55.980 puts God first, which is what we do now over 00:08:55.980 --> 00:09:00.720 everything else as we make our way through the 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.860 current of this world towards Christmas. We put 00:09:03.860 --> 00:09:10.120 God first. She didn't ask to be healed. She didn't 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:13.080 cry out like the blind man in Jericho. She didn't 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.539 make a spectacle of herself by disrupting the 00:09:16.539 --> 00:09:19.580 teaching. And Jesus is saying this parable and 00:09:19.580 --> 00:09:25.700 then interrupts it and walks over to her. She 00:09:25.700 --> 00:09:28.259 was just there to listen, to hear, and to be 00:09:28.259 --> 00:09:33.539 saved. Her faith and her struggle led her to 00:09:33.539 --> 00:09:36.940 this moment. And Jesus recognized her humble 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:43.230 and attentive heart. And he walks over to her 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:49.250 and touches her and she is healed. Jesus sees 00:09:49.250 --> 00:09:56.509 each one of us. He knows all our struggles. He 00:09:56.509 --> 00:10:00.429 knows all our doubts. He knows how we are bound 00:10:00.429 --> 00:10:04.669 by some sin. And believe me, I know most of us 00:10:04.669 --> 00:10:08.509 have a repetitive sin that we feel bound by. 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:14.169 Jesus can loose us if we but remain faithful 00:10:14.169 --> 00:10:18.250 to him. And yes, we have to struggle a little 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:22.649 bit. We have to return to him over and over again. 00:10:22.809 --> 00:10:28.129 Sometimes that repetitive sin is there to keep 00:10:28.129 --> 00:10:33.049 us humble, to keep us faithful. Otherwise, we 00:10:33.049 --> 00:10:36.409 would lose connection with him. Jesus loosed 00:10:36.409 --> 00:10:40.159 her. He unbound her as he does with us and our 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.500 sins. You are set free. You are loosed, he says. 00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:48.139 And that's what happens in confession too. How 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:54.559 might we be also bent and bound, brothers and 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:59.779 sisters? Remember, Jesus was teaching the parable 00:10:59.779 --> 00:11:05.120 of the unfruitful, the barren fig tree. This 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:08.820 should give us pause. He was teaching that man, 00:11:09.019 --> 00:11:14.480 the synagogue worship leader, about something 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:19.019 specific. That man's gone. That synagogue no 00:11:19.019 --> 00:11:23.139 longer exists. The message is for us. This is 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:25.480 a time when we should produce fruit. What kind 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:30.080 of fruit? Peace of heart? Love? Charity for the 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:37.379 poor? Prayer? Worship? Forgiveness? love of our 00:11:37.379 --> 00:11:40.700 enemies, and all those things that the Lord commands, 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:44.480 and he lays out in the Beatitudes, which we hear 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:49.980 every week. Grasp that. Grasp the fact that we 00:11:49.980 --> 00:11:53.679 should be fruitful servants of the Lord. Grasp 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:55.940 the fact that he can loose us from our sins. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:01.440 We each have them. This man in the gospel didn't 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:04.340 know it, but he is much worse off than this 18 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:08.610 -year -bound woman. Because he won't open himself. 00:12:08.789 --> 00:12:10.649 There's plenty of us that don't do that, that 00:12:10.649 --> 00:12:14.210 do that as well. Let's give glory to God. Ask 00:12:14.210 --> 00:12:17.750 him to reveal to us our own weakness, our own 00:12:17.750 --> 00:12:22.129 bound sins, and give him glory for loosing us 00:12:22.129 --> 00:12:24.350 and saving us. Amen.