WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:02.980 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:06.000 of the Holy Spirit, I greet you, dear brothers 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:11.500 and sisters, on this 11th Sunday after Pentecost. 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:21.079 Here we are at the end of August. For many weeks, 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:27.140 as you know and as I've been emphasizing, we've 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:30.989 had lessons from the Gospel. Miracles of Christ. 00:00:31.050 --> 00:00:34.090 That's what we've been hearing really all summer 00:00:34.090 --> 00:00:40.710 long. About faithfulness. About trustworthiness 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:45.270 of Jesus. About our own trust in him. About his 00:00:45.270 --> 00:00:51.329 divine power to feed, to heal. To give us sight. 00:00:54.509 --> 00:00:58.649 To know him. To know Jesus as the son of God. 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:04.159 So we call him Lord. All these lessons have been 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.400 given to us. I'm not going to review all that 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:09.959 today, but today we have this parable. The first 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:13.819 parable we've had since, I think, since Lent. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:20.219 In fact, somehow or other, the weekly news cycle 00:01:20.219 --> 00:01:23.819 was all about forgiveness. Loan forgiveness, 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.640 that is. But we're talking about a different 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:31.349 kind of forgiveness today. Anyway, a cancellation 00:01:31.349 --> 00:01:36.670 of a debt. I want to talk to you about the condition 00:01:36.670 --> 00:01:42.129 of the heart in regard to this parable. The condition 00:01:42.129 --> 00:01:46.250 of the heart, which is the center of a human 00:01:46.250 --> 00:01:49.849 being, where we find ourselves, where we meet 00:01:49.849 --> 00:01:53.349 God, where when a person is baptized and chrismated, 00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:55.909 the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the heart. 00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:59.469 It's not a place of feelings. although it's affected 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:03.209 by feelings. It's a place of spiritual understanding. 00:02:03.629 --> 00:02:07.790 It's the eye of the soul. I want to talk a little 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:11.729 bit about the heart, very briefly. Many church 00:02:11.729 --> 00:02:19.729 teachings, particularly about morality, run against 00:02:19.729 --> 00:02:24.830 the grain of modern culture. We know that. This 00:02:24.830 --> 00:02:28.590 teaching... that the Lord gives us in this parable 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:35.509 is tacitly kind of admired, but not kept very 00:02:35.509 --> 00:02:40.150 well, not even by Christians. And so how can 00:02:40.150 --> 00:02:43.449 we stand before the Lord? So the Lord is telling 00:02:43.449 --> 00:02:45.930 us what will happen if we can't forgive, not 00:02:45.930 --> 00:02:48.210 that he's going to throw us into the hell pit. 00:02:48.930 --> 00:02:54.449 No, but we open ourselves up to the anger, the 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:59.729 dysfunction. The sin and the memory that just 00:02:59.729 --> 00:03:06.389 doesn't go away. Church members, this is a parable 00:03:06.389 --> 00:03:10.669 for us. All of chapter 18 is about life in the 00:03:10.669 --> 00:03:14.990 church. How to treat one another. The Lord speaks 00:03:14.990 --> 00:03:22.590 of fellow servants and a master. People think 00:03:22.590 --> 00:03:26.419 this parable and its teaching The teaching is 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:32.800 not attainable. But it is. When we forgive our 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.360 fellow servants, again, Jesus is speaking about 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.979 the church, it's forgiveness, as he says, from 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:43.759 the heart. When our Lord says forgive from the 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:47.699 heart, it is because the heart is the place where 00:03:47.699 --> 00:03:55.009 divine grace is placed by God. And it flows in 00:03:55.009 --> 00:04:01.270 from God and it flows out to others. Love from 00:04:01.270 --> 00:04:08.210 God, love for God equals love for others. Just 00:04:08.210 --> 00:04:11.370 as we can't say we love God if we don't love 00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:14.789 our brother. The heart is to be the throne of 00:04:14.789 --> 00:04:19.529 God within us. Know ye not that your body is 00:04:19.529 --> 00:04:22.810 the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you. 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:25.759 which ye have of God, and ye are not your own. 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:32.420 This temple of the body holds that which is beyond 00:04:32.420 --> 00:04:37.540 understanding, beyond comprehension, the presence 00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:41.240 and the love of God. But before that can happen, 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:46.889 however... we experience the heart as a battleground 00:04:46.889 --> 00:04:49.329 of spiritual struggle. Those of you that were 00:04:49.329 --> 00:04:51.629 here last night heard a little bit about St. 00:04:51.670 --> 00:04:54.550 Moses the Black and the battle that he waged 00:04:54.550 --> 00:04:57.810 spiritually within him. It's a battleground. 00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:01.629 Close examination of the heart reveals what the 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:07.329 prophet Jeremiah observed. Chapter 17. The heart 00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:16.000 is not the place that we consult. When we have 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:21.600 to make a decision. The heart is not the place 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.839 where if it feels right, I'll do it. This is 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:29.199 what Jeremiah says. The heart is deceitful above 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:35.100 all things and desperately corrupt. Who can understand 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:41.379 it? And Jesus himself says, from within, out 00:05:41.379 --> 00:05:44.459 of the heart of a person. Come evil thoughts, 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:49.100 sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:54.399 wickedness, deceit. Lord, stop. Sensuality, envy, 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:59.319 slander, pride, foolishness. Lord, really. All 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:02.600 these evil things come from within and they defile 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:06.759 a person. So our task is to have the heart cleansed. 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:12.000 That is why we're here. Today. To open ourselves 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:15.000 up to the cleansing of the heart so we can do 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:18.920 what seems totally impossible. We can restore 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:22.459 paradise as I spoke last week. You heard about 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:26.980 the fall. Restore paradise and to be truly the 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:30.019 image of God. And we can only know that by following 00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:32.399 Christ because otherwise how can we know what 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:37.040 God's image is? The struggle is more than worth 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:41.569 it because within the heart Out of the heart 00:06:41.569 --> 00:06:45.910 will go coveting, wickedness, deceit. Out of 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:52.410 the heart will go desperate corruption, as Jeremiah 00:06:52.410 --> 00:06:56.649 says. And into the heart will be planted peace, 00:06:56.930 --> 00:07:05.209 love, joy, mercy, long -suffering, gentleness, 00:07:05.509 --> 00:07:11.360 faithfulness, self -control. The struggle is 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:16.560 more than worth it. St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.639 this, Every blessing that comes from God is then 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:23.699 available to you. You can possess it with a free 00:07:23.699 --> 00:07:28.319 spirit. Be your own judge. Cast the saving vote 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:31.740 for yourself. Do you ask God to forgive your 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:36.180 debts? Forgive the debts of others, and God will 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:40.649 cast his favorable ballot. And St. Maximus says, 00:07:40.810 --> 00:07:44.149 forgiveness does not mean, well, no, I say, sorry, 00:07:44.290 --> 00:07:47.089 St. Maximus says something else. Forgiveness 00:07:47.089 --> 00:07:50.850 does not mean trusting those who hurt you. It 00:07:50.850 --> 00:07:53.149 does not mean allowing ourselves to ever again 00:07:53.149 --> 00:07:55.889 become the victims of someone's abuse or betrayal. 00:07:56.029 --> 00:07:59.649 But what it does say, what does do, what Maximus, 00:07:59.649 --> 00:08:02.370 the confessor, does say, if you are remembering 00:08:02.370 --> 00:08:07.209 that evil against someone, then pray for that 00:08:07.209 --> 00:08:12.740 person. And through your prayer, what will happen? 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.560 A miracle. You will remove the pain of the remembrance 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:21.139 of the evil that person has done. You will stop 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:30.420 the advance of the passions. You yourself are 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:32.720 the Lord of the judgment concerning your neighbor. 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:37.080 Maybe many of you have heard of that monk in 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:42.570 the monastery. He told his abbot, Father, I can't 00:08:42.570 --> 00:08:47.330 say the Lord's Prayer. I can't say, I can't forgive 00:08:47.330 --> 00:08:51.750 this person. And the abbot said, okay, here's 00:08:51.750 --> 00:08:52.769 what you're going to do. You're going to say 00:08:52.769 --> 00:08:56.309 the Lord's Prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, 00:08:56.389 --> 00:08:58.090 hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will 00:08:58.090 --> 00:09:00.149 be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us 00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:03.309 this day our daily bread. And end right there. 00:09:04.190 --> 00:09:08.120 Can you really say that? No. Because... then 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:13.960 you open yourself up to condemnation. How marvelous. 00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:18.879 How marvelous is this parable. So when the Lord 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:22.659 says, love your enemies, we know it's possible 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:25.740 because it's God's grace that is doing it. When 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:28.559 he says, do good to those who hate you, we know 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.679 it's possible for it's God doing it. good through 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:34.679 us when he says pray for those who persecute 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:37.379 you we know from the lives of the saints that 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:42.080 it is possible he commanded these things so we 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:46.879 might be set free from hatred from sadness from 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.360 anger and grudges and God will grant us the greatest 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:57.179 possession of all perfect love says St. Maximus, 00:09:57.259 --> 00:10:00.480 which is impossible to have except by the one 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:05.500 who loves all equally in imitation of God. How 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:08.779 marvelous. Forgiveness is not just about better 00:10:08.779 --> 00:10:12.379 health and life and satisfaction. It's not just 00:10:12.379 --> 00:10:15.740 an aid for reducing stress. It is that and fighting 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:19.220 depression. It is about becoming by grace what 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:22.899 God is by nature and restoring true paradise 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:28.379 on the earth. One person at a time. One congregation 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:35.919 at a time. And that's leaven. That's salt. That's 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.379 fulfillment of the Lord's precious commandments. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.639 Let's try to keep this parable. Let's think about 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:48.019 it all week and examine in ourselves the grudges 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:51.100 and the lack of forgiveness we have against somebody. 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:55.419 You may not think there is one. But I find as 00:10:55.419 --> 00:11:00.820 we look more deeply into our souls and into our 00:11:00.820 --> 00:11:05.019 memory, there's always someone that we hold something 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:10.919 against. Forgive them through prayer and you'll 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:11.399 be set free.