WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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St. Paul says in his epistle to Timothy, and

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he refers to Timothy so fondly as my son Timothy,

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he says that all scripture is profitable for

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our reading and instruction and for our salvation.

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And I think this is true of all scripture, just

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as St. Paul says. So this is why I'm going to

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spend a little bit of time this morning on the

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epistle and the gospel. First of all, the epistle

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to the Colossians asks the question, how can

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I, or answers the question, how can I have peace

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with God? So St. Paul addresses in the epistle,

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peace with God here on this earth, and the gospel

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addresses the parallel question, how can I inherit

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eternal life? So peace with God here on earth

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and in this world. He says, put on mercy, kindness,

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humility, meekness. long -suffering, bearing

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with one another, forgiving one another. How

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hard is that to do? Especially those that are

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closest to us. A spouse, a parent, a fellow worker,

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a brother and sister that maybe years ago said

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or did something that got under our skin. We

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all have faults and imperfections, and even sins,

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which we can tolerate the sinner, but not like

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the sin. But still and all, St. Paul tells us

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we have to bear with one another. Bear one another's

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burdens. Forgive one another. And then he says,

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above all these things, put on love. This is

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a theme in St. Paul. There are three virtues,

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powers that are put into our souls by God at

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our baptism. Faith, hope, and love, or sometimes

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called charity. And these are gifts from God,

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but we have to work on increasing them by prayer

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and practice. Put on love. And if... St. Paul

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tells the Colossians, if you do this and make

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a genuine effort at these virtues and practices,

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kindness, humility, meekness, long -suffering,

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bear with one another, forgive one another, then

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the peace of God will dwell in your hearts. You

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cannot have peace with God, believe me. unless

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you have peace with one another. You hold any

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grudge or anger against another one, you will

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never find peace with God. It's dependent on

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how we treat others. And I say this so often

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in confession. Remember, we all have faults.

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If we like other people to sort of overlook our

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faults and not call to attention all the time

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our little shortcomings and idiosyncrasies, so

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we should put up with those little things that

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our loved ones do that sometimes can get under

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our skin. Have peace with one another and then

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follows peace with God. The gospel addresses

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the similar parallel question, how to inherit

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eternal life. This story is so prominent that

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it's found in three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and

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Luke. The young man who asked Jesus, good master,

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what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus

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answers him, keep the commandments, and he mentions

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a few of them. Do not commit adultery, do not

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murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness

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or lie. And then the young man said, I've always

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found this sort of amusing. He said, all of these

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I have kept from my youth. Well, neither he nor

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any of us can keep all of these commandments

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perfectly. No way. Either in thought, word, or

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deed, we sin against these commandments. But

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I think if I may speak for that young man, who

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is a good person, mind you. He wasn't bad. He

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was saying, I have tried to do these. And then

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Jesus says, still one thing is lacking. Sell

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all that you have, distribute to the poor, and

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you will have treasure in heaven. follow me.

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In a famous event from early church history,

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St. Anthony of Egypt, who is referred to as the

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founder of monasticism, the father of monasticism,

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because of his prominence. He wasn't the first

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monk, but because of his prominence in the example

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in his teaching in life. St. Anthony tells us,

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He heard this gospel. It happened to be from

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Matthew rather than from Luke, which we hear

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this morning. He heard this, and he took it literally.

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He sold everything that he had. He provided for

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the well -being of his relatives, and he went

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off to what the monastic fathers so often called

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the single -handed combat of the desert. to struggle

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with Satan and with his bad habits alone in the

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desert, in the wilderness. And so this moved

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Anthony. But then it also, that's a good example

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for us, but Christians throughout the centuries

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have realized, well, what? I thought, what can

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I do, even though I don't take it as literally

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as St. Anthony? And I think the best answer to

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that question was provided in a sermon by St.

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Clement of Alexandria. And this sermon was preached

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about the year 180 or 190, late in the second

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century. And it's called... What Rich Man Can

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Be Saved, that's the title. It's a famous one.

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You could Google it and read that for yourself

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or a synopsis of it. It says, it's not having

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money that's sinful. It's what you do with your

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money. And this provided, it's not an excuse

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not to have care for the poor and the needy.

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But it tells us that the question is not how

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much we have, but what we do with what we have.

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Even so many examples, parallel examples, the

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widow's coin, that little penny that she put

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in the treasury, and Jesus said she's contributed

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more than all those guys that threw in their

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$20 and $50 and $100 bills because she gave.

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until it hurt, to paraphrase him. What you do

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with what possessions God has given to each and

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every one of us. Then there's, I want to say

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one final thing about this interesting expression

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of our Lord. It's easier for a camel to go through

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the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter

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the kingdom of God. Well, literally what he has

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in mind is threading a needle. You know how hard

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anybody that tries to sew something, especially

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when you get older and you have presbyopia and

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you can't see, threading needles. So that is

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difficult. So if it's hard for a piece of thread

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to go through, it's impossible for a camel. But

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then there's another explanation for this expression,

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which I find very charming. And it's postulated

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that there was one entrance gate into the city

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of Jerusalem, which apparently was shaped, it

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looked like the eye of a sewing needle. Very

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small, and in order for a camel to get through

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there, the camel had to bow down like this in

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order to get through this needle eye gate. Makes

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a very charming story. A good Sunday school story.

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But you know what? There's no evidence that there

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was ever a gate like this. And the first explanation

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about this can only be traced to the 9th century.

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So even though historically it's not true, it

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does provide us with an illustration about the

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importance of humility and the other virtues

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that we need to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

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As with these epistles and gospels, it's always

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good to go home and sometime during that day

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to reread the epistle and gospel. Because we

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hear it, we might be distracted in church when

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the epistle and the gospel are read. But go home

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and in the quietness of your easy chair with

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the TV off, reread. the epistle, and the gospel.

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Let these words and teachings sink into our hearts

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to forbear with one another and to share what

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we have with those who have much less. Amen.