In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. You
and I have a problem. All humanity has this same
problem, and it is death. And there is a saying
that you've probably heard, that nothing in life
is as sure as Death and taxes. And perhaps you
might be able to avoid paying taxes, but you
cannot avoid death. Even such a great saint that
we celebrate over, you can see the icon in the
corner, Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, who blessed
us in America by his many efforts, could not
avoid death. So how can we humans deal with this
problem? All of us have experienced the loss
of a loved one, of a relative, of a friend, experiencing
the grief and the sadness that comes with such
a loss. I have been helped through some writers
who have talked about death and dying and the
stages of death and accepting it. We also must
face our own deaths. But ultimately, the problem
of death can only be dealt with and solved by
God. It comes down to this. God is life. God
is life. Our very life, everything that we have,
is from God. And humanity chose to separate from
God. We left the garden, we separated and departed
from the source of life, and thus discovered
death. We became as branches that have been cut
off a tree. Now those branches, they still have
sap, they still have some life in them, but it
is limited and it runs out. the spiritual sap
that we need to have life from God needs to flow
again. And so the solution is to return to God,
to be regrafted into that proverbial tree of
life. And God has made this possible for us,
for you, for me, for all humanity and his Son,
our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Friday
night's vespers contained these words. By thine
own blood, O Savior, thou hast ransomed mortal
men, and by thy death thou hast delivered us
from bitter death, granting us eternal life by
thy resurrection. Thanks be to God for solving...
this problem of death and calling us together
as the family of God, the Old Testament family
and the New Testament family. And here we are
gathered in the church. John 5, 24. Jesus says,
he who hears my word and believes in him who
sent me has everlasting life and shall not come
into judgment. but has passed from death into
life. And in verse 28 and 29, all who are in
the graves will hear his voice and come forth,
those who have done good to the resurrection
of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection
of condemnation. The Holy Church. has dedicated
this Sunday as the Sunday of the last judgment.
And today's gospel tells us of the Lord's imminent
return, his second coming with all glory and
all the holy angels with him. He will sit upon
the throne of his glory. He will separate the
sheep from the goats. The sheep on the right
hand will hear the words, Come, you blessed of
the Father, and hear it. inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
And the goats on the left hand will hear the
words, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And
this last judgment will be based upon how we
treated one another, how we treated our fellow
human beings. How did we help or decline to help
the hungry and the stranger, the naked and the
sick? Did we love others? Our eternal destiny
will be determined at that time, though the outcome
will be based on moments of our lives and decisions
we have made. Perhaps you are realizing right
now just how important learning to love others
really is and how difficult it truly is for us
on our own without God's help, which leads us
back to the branches that are cut off from the
tree with the spiritual sap stopped flowing.
But those branches which represent you and me
can be regrafted into the tree, and the Holy
Spirit can fill us again, and we can be filled
with God's love shining through us, and then
we can love our neighbor as ourself and live
as if people are more important than things.
St. Silouan the Athonite says, No man of himself
can know what God's love is unless he be taught
of the Holy Spirit. But God's love is known in
our church through the Holy Spirit, and so we
speak of this love. Now is the time, this Lent,
this year. this moment to let the Holy Spirit
teach you how to love others. Come to as many
services as you can. Pray more. Cut out worldly
pursuits that pull you away from God. Decide
that you will draw near to God and he will draw
near to you. Glory to Jesus Christ.