WEBVTT

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I greet you, brothers and sisters, on this eve

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of the Feast of Dormition coming up tomorrow.

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School's starting, as all of our students know.

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So I was thinking about how poorly I did in algebra

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when I was a student. And I'll confess, it was

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Algebra 1 in 12th grade, so I was pretty bad.

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And the problem was, is that I might have got

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the first principle down, the first formula,

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but after that, they kind of went by me. And,

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you know, it's cumulative. If you don't apply

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what you learn this week, or this day, and then

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the next day, and keep it fresh, then you snowball

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into chaos. But if you do apply, then you snowball

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into understanding. And I was with chaos. Went

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to college and took general math. So not so good.

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I did have successes later. It wasn't all failure.

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But this reminds me that when we hear the Gospels

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every Sunday, it's cumulative. The church is

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trying to teach us something week by week. It's

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not just a random story. Oh, Jesus is so great.

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He healed these people. Then he went to the next

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place and did something else. There's a lesson

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that's being given to us to strengthen our faith

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because we need that. Without faith that is strengthened

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by God's grace, We'll snowball into chaos. What

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did we hear a few weeks ago? And Father James

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alluded to this last week in his homily, so I'm

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just reminding myself about it. Two weeks ago

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we heard about Jesus healing a blind man. The

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blind saw Christ with their hearts, not with

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their eyes. While the Pharisees, seeing the amazing

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healing and the healing of the man who couldn't

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speak, could not rejoice with the people. But

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the people rejoiced in that they saw this wonderful

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work of God taking place. And last week, Jesus

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had thousands and thousands of people follow

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him, it says, in a desert place. Because the

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desert, if you've been to the desert, I really

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haven't been to the desert, I've been to Phoenix

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a couple of times, but... If you've been to the

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desert, you know that if you're not prepared,

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you are going to perish. God sent his people

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after his overcoming Pharaoh and the chariots

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and drowning them. He sent them into the desert

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because he was going to feed them and nourish

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them. And so we have this gospel, the fresco

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you can see right there. The feeding of the 5

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,000, the only count of the men in that number.

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So there were probably 15 or 20 ,000. This is

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telling us that God is in our midst. Doing what

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God does, which is to care for us. To heal blindness,

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not only of the eyes, but especially of the heart.

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To give us true speech, as Father spoke last

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week so wonderfully. To feed us. Not with bread

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and circuses, but with himself. And this week,

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to show us as he walks out upon the sea, and

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in the Old Testament, the sea is the place of

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chaos. If you've been in a boat in a storm, it's

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extremely frightening. It's chaos. Where does

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Pharaoh and his chariots end up? At the bottom

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of the sea. everything is going to be poured

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into that chaotic place at the end, says the

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book of Revelation. And there'll be no more sea,

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no more chaos. And Christ comes to the apostles.

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It's maybe 4 a .m. They've been out there all

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night. He told them earlier, get into a boat,

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go to the other side. They didn't want to. And

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he would meet them. I don't know what they thought,

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how he would meet them on the other side. and

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they were in the midst of the storm crying out.

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They think they see a ghost. There's somebody

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on the water. You know, German Bible scholars

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of the 19th century would say, well, Jesus probably

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stepped on a sandbar or something like that,

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or they were really close to the beach, and so

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it just looked like he was. What's the point

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of telling the story if it's not miraculous?

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If it's not telling us that God has power over

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death, power over sickness, power over illness

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of all kinds, the ability to feed us, and power,

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because he is the creator of all things, over

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nature, too. And Peter sees him, and they cry

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out, and Jesus says this incredible, fear not,

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it is I. Now, you can read lots into that, it

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is I, but if you go back, To the gospel of John.

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I think it's the gospel of John. When Jesus is

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arrested. They're looking for Jesus of Nazareth.

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He says it is I. They all fell to the ground.

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Not dead. But in fear. Because he uttered the

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words. Of the name of God. Exactly what's on

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this icon. And the disciples were comforted.

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And Peter yells out. Well if it's really you.

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Let me come out there. We should never tempt

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God. We should never ask God to let us do something

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we are not capable of doing. He will make us

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capable of many things, but not something like

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that. Oh, sure, there's saints like Mary of Egypt

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who walk on the water. There's saints like Lawrence

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of Salamina in Greece that walked on the water,

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and many others. But Peter was just a beginner.

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And he took his eyes off the Lord. He forgot

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what he knew. And he was afraid of the storm.

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And he sank. And he cried out, what? Lord, save

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me. This is what we don't do, brothers and sisters.

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When we're surrounded by trouble. When we're

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afflicted by anxiety and uncertainty. and doubt

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we've stepped out of the boat in the midst of

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a storm and we forget to say lord save me reach

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up and be pulled back into the ship the account

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from saint matthew of saint peter's failed attempt

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to walk on the water is a cumulative story given

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to us with the others and with the one next week

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where we're going to hear the man say, Lord,

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I believe, help my unbelief. These stories are

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given to us to strengthen our faith, to make

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us firm in our faithfulness. When we are faced

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with a storm that doesn't drown the body but

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drowns the soul, remember this. The place of

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peace and calm. as this gospel shows us, as all

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the gospel shows us, is the person of Christ

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in the midst, not just me and Jesus, no, the

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person of Christ in the midst of the disciples,

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in the midst of his people, in the church, where

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he is, there is perfect peace. Maybe not on the

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outside. Listen to this phrase from this beautiful

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Akathist, glory to God. Kentucky in number five.

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The dark storm clouds of life bring no terror

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to those whose hearts by lamp is burning brightly.

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Outside is the darkness and the rain, the terror

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and the howling of the storm. But in the soul,

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in the presence of Christ, there is light and

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peace, silence, and the heart sings, Alleluia.

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Where he is. There is perfect peace. Where he

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is, there is the kingdom of God. Where he is,

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there is eternity. Where he is, storms no longer

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matter to buffet us. We may be sorrowful. We

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may be troubled by them. We may be hurt by them.

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But there is peace in the heart, and we sing

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by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Alleluia. And

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the storms only remember... cause us to remember

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the baptism that we had in the water. The scriptures

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teach us many, many things. They guide us each

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week. Don't miss a Sunday, because you will miss

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an important element, and like me with algebra,

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you're not going to know the next equation, how

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it works. And you'll only find out when you hit

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that wall. And you'll throw up your hands. You

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may step out of the boat. We must not. We must

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not put Christ to the test like Peter did. We

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must not make our active participation in the

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church conditional upon any preconceived notions

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of how orthodoxy should fit into my life. Because

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that's what happens when we step out of the boat.

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It's not conditional of what we want and get

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from God. The point is not that we fit God into

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our lives, but that we offer ourselves to participate

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more fully in his. He comes to us in the storm,

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but brothers and sisters, sometimes we have to

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go to him when we're storm tossed. Father Sarah

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from Burroughs of Blessed Memory said this, Christ's

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kingdom is not of this world. The world cannot

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bear it. That's true. Christ came to give peace

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to the heart, but a sword and division to the

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world. We constantly rebel, try to make life

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easier, try to be half Christian, try to make

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the best of both worlds. We fail when Christ

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is not in the heart. We must ultimately choose.

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Our felicity lies in one world or the other,

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not in both. Again, I'll leave you with this

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amazing verse. The dark storm clouds of life

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bring no terror to those in whose hearts thy

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lamp is burning brightly. Outside is the darkness

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and the rain, the terror and the howling of the

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storm. but in the soul, in the presence of Christ,

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in the midst of his people. There is light and

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peace, there is silence, and the heart sings,

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Alleluia. Amen.