WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:08.919 Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to God. I greet 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:12.060 you all on this second Sunday of the Great Fast, 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.739 Great Lent. We celebrate the memory of St. Gregory 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:21.339 Palamas, the great archbishop, the teacher of 00:00:21.339 --> 00:00:26.800 prayer, 14th century, and his icons here in the 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:31.719 middle of the church. That's why you heard, in 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:34.100 honor of his memory, you heard two Gospels, the 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:36.659 second one from the Gospel of John about the 00:00:36.659 --> 00:00:40.299 Good Shepherd, which St. Gregory epitomized in 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:44.460 his life. But I think we'll speak about the first 00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:50.079 Gospel, that story from Mark, which I think is 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:53.719 very familiar to all of us. The four men carrying 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:55.979 their friend, they can't get into this house 00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:59.640 where Jesus is preaching. They manage to go onto 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:02.159 the roof. They remove the roofing material and 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:05.480 they lower their friend down before Jesus. And 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:08.439 he immediately says, son, what a wonderful way 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:12.939 to be addressed by God. Son, your sins are forgiven 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:15.879 you. And of course, the Pharisees are shocked 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:18.659 because only God and the temple can forgive sins. 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:22.319 Jesus sees into their heart and says, oh, you 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.959 think because there's no sin meter that nobody 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:29.409 can check. That I said, your sins are forgiven 00:01:29.409 --> 00:01:31.769 you. Like, it's not that big of a deal for me 00:01:31.769 --> 00:01:36.150 to say. Who can say? And then he raises the paralyzed 00:01:36.150 --> 00:01:43.269 man. Well, we hear this gospel on the second 00:01:43.269 --> 00:01:45.329 week of the fast, and we have to ask ourselves, 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:52.709 how's it going? A number of you have told me 00:01:52.709 --> 00:01:59.159 it's not going well. I understand that. And I 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:03.760 also know that during such times, when it's not 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:09.419 going well, we gain experience, which teaches 00:02:09.419 --> 00:02:14.360 us. Besides, I know that it's not going well 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:16.740 for our dear brothers and sisters in Eastern 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:21.680 Europe and Ukraine. Our Lent can't possibly... 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:26.330 be as difficult in any way as what they're experiencing. 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:30.250 We continue to pray for them here, and I hope 00:02:30.250 --> 00:02:34.710 you continue to do so at home. When we fail, 00:02:34.909 --> 00:02:37.689 let's say Lent is not going well, we're not fasting 00:02:37.689 --> 00:02:42.150 that well, have we done any of the list of things 00:02:42.150 --> 00:02:45.729 that we heard in Matthew 25, visiting the sick, 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:49.830 not to mention the imprisoned, giving drink? 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:53.939 to the thirsty, food, have we done any of that? 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:59.120 We learn a lot about ourselves, about God's mercy, 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:04.900 and about love when we fail, don't we? Failure 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:10.159 can teach us humility. Failure can teach us how 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:14.919 to rely on God, not on ourself. Failure can teach 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:20.650 us our weaknesses, which we need to know. or 00:03:20.650 --> 00:03:23.909 else we can never progress. Failure can teach 00:03:23.909 --> 00:03:29.389 us empathy for others. As it concerns Great Lent, 00:03:29.430 --> 00:03:33.830 let's remember that fasting and praying and almsgiving, 00:03:33.909 --> 00:03:38.289 these three pillars, it's not an end. Those things 00:03:38.289 --> 00:03:42.370 are not ends in themselves. Knowing Christ and 00:03:42.370 --> 00:03:46.210 him crucified and risen is the goal, and to be 00:03:46.210 --> 00:03:49.909 his servants during Lent, to be his image. That's 00:03:49.909 --> 00:03:56.449 the path there. I've discovered once again, doesn't 00:03:56.449 --> 00:03:58.930 take long, the second week we'll give you this 00:03:58.930 --> 00:04:02.409 information. I've discovered my own failures 00:04:02.409 --> 00:04:06.789 as I usually do and see that I have a great deal 00:04:06.789 --> 00:04:10.090 in common with the paralyzed man in the gospel 00:04:10.090 --> 00:04:15.889 today. It's hard to turn away from self -centered 00:04:15.889 --> 00:04:23.560 habits. To become oriented towards Jesus. To 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:28.199 give. To give precisely in whatever way I can 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:34.480 give myself to Christ. I want to give myself 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:41.139 to myself. But I should give more attention to 00:04:41.139 --> 00:04:44.480 prayer and fasting and generosity. But this is 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:48.209 extremely difficult because I'm used to And I 00:04:48.209 --> 00:04:51.170 perceive things and I know things through my 00:04:51.170 --> 00:04:55.269 physical senses. And my spiritual senses remain 00:04:55.269 --> 00:05:01.269 somewhat on the low side. They need to awaken. 00:05:04.089 --> 00:05:06.889 We sang a hymn on Friday at Matins and it jumped 00:05:06.889 --> 00:05:10.110 out at me. And it told me about my spiritual 00:05:10.110 --> 00:05:12.709 paralysis, exactly what I needed to hear that 00:05:12.709 --> 00:05:17.529 day. We sang these words. Tone 8. in case you're 00:05:17.529 --> 00:05:23.009 interested. Putting to death the passions, which 00:05:23.009 --> 00:05:26.129 are those sinful impulses and negative habits. 00:05:26.310 --> 00:05:29.370 Putting to death the passions, this time of fasting 00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:32.769 brings promise of healing to those wounded by 00:05:32.769 --> 00:05:37.329 sin. And lo and behold, we hear in the gospel 00:05:37.329 --> 00:05:40.990 today this account about Christ forgiving and 00:05:40.990 --> 00:05:45.449 healing sin. Then the hymn, the hymn goes on. 00:05:45.449 --> 00:05:48.589 It advises us like this. Let us not choose deliberate 00:05:48.589 --> 00:05:52.589 self -indulgence, but let us rejoice with the 00:05:52.589 --> 00:05:56.769 church. Let us not be hypocrites like the Pharisees, 00:05:56.769 --> 00:05:59.889 but in the spirit of the Gospels, let us put 00:05:59.889 --> 00:06:04.810 on the beauty of holiness, glorying in the cross 00:06:04.810 --> 00:06:08.670 of Christ, who is the deliverer of our souls. 00:06:09.509 --> 00:06:14.689 How beautiful. The beauty of holiness. If you 00:06:14.689 --> 00:06:18.069 ever meet a saint, you will see that beauty. 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:23.410 Some folks don't hear that statement about the 00:06:23.410 --> 00:06:26.350 beauty of holiness, about Christ the Deliverer, 00:06:26.389 --> 00:06:30.769 about glorying in the cross of Christ. What they 00:06:30.769 --> 00:06:38.149 hear is sin, sin, and more sin. All we talk about 00:06:38.149 --> 00:06:42.310 is sin. Some people claim that the church is 00:06:42.310 --> 00:06:45.399 too focused on sins. And that's just depressing 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:49.019 and overwhelmingly negative aspect of the church. 00:06:49.139 --> 00:06:53.660 I can't be part of that, I've heard. I know some 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:58.600 that think that. But it's not that the church 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:03.220 is fixated on the negative aspects of human existence. 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:07.879 Christ tells us, and you hear it every Sunday, 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:14.220 blessed are the pure in heart, for they... shall 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:20.680 see God. If we don't deal with removing the paralysis 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:24.779 of sin the paralysis of the soul we are not going 00:07:24.779 --> 00:07:28.959 to get very far on the road of purity of heart 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:34.420 and the vision of God. The paralytic in the gospel 00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:38.060 needed some friends, as we do too, to remove 00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:41.319 what stood in the way of getting to Jesus, going 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:44.300 up to the roof, removing all that stuff, and 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:48.300 then humbly going before Jesus. The same for 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:56.360 us. This gospel has a very powerful memory for 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:59.740 me, very powerful meaning for me personally. 00:08:02.509 --> 00:08:08.129 I remember when our dear brother in Christ, Gabriel, 00:08:08.370 --> 00:08:12.529 was dying. He went into a coma on the Feast of 00:08:12.529 --> 00:08:18.290 Transfiguration and never fully awoke. His vital 00:08:18.290 --> 00:08:21.790 organs began to shut down. And I went with a 00:08:21.790 --> 00:08:27.730 number, maybe it was four of us, to UCSF to serve 00:08:27.730 --> 00:08:32.149 an unction for his healing. And this is it. very 00:08:32.149 --> 00:08:36.990 profound, profoundly moving service. It takes 00:08:36.990 --> 00:08:40.169 all of our focus and energy, and when we're done, 00:08:40.250 --> 00:08:47.429 we feel completely crucified. And we prayed, 00:08:47.429 --> 00:08:50.529 and we anointed him seven times, the Gospels, 00:08:50.549 --> 00:08:54.110 the epistles, the prayers, and I could see, I 00:08:54.110 --> 00:08:56.269 could understand when I got close to him that 00:08:56.269 --> 00:09:00.330 he knew what was happening. But then we went 00:09:00.330 --> 00:09:05.879 home. And feeling somewhat downcast, of course, 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:11.279 but downcast because Gabriel was not being physically 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:16.740 healed. I complained. I expressed this to a brother 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:23.519 priest who said, don't be stupid. What you did 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:28.500 with those people was like the four friends. 00:09:29.870 --> 00:09:33.909 Going to the house with their paralyzed friend 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:37.309 and bringing that man to Christ. That's what 00:09:37.309 --> 00:09:40.190 you did, and you better believe that he was healed 00:09:40.190 --> 00:09:44.330 of his sins. And at the second coming, his soul 00:09:44.330 --> 00:09:47.110 will be glorified, and his body will be raised 00:09:47.110 --> 00:09:52.009 and be united, and he will be with Christ, and 00:09:52.009 --> 00:09:56.669 he will meet Christ as he comes. So, when I hear 00:09:56.669 --> 00:10:00.710 this gospel, I understand that if the forgiveness 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.049 of sin doesn't come first, then brothers and 00:10:03.049 --> 00:10:07.710 sisters, don't be caught without repentance at 00:10:07.710 --> 00:10:13.009 your death, without having made a confession, 00:10:13.190 --> 00:10:16.470 and without a recent communion. You don't know 00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:19.090 the day or the hour when the Lord comes. You 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:21.610 also don't know the day and the hour when you 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:25.679 will meet him. Gabriel was not prepared, but 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.240 we went and we took him and we brought him to 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:35.240 Christ. This cost a lot. Don't be in that position. 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:41.960 Find Christ every day. We might be weighed down. 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.200 with all kinds of addictions and dysfunction 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.679 and ignorance about Christ and the Father and 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.639 the Spirit, we might have self -destructive behavior, 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:56.059 ignorance about ourself, ignorance about God, 00:10:56.179 --> 00:11:00.259 about being human, about human nature, male and 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:02.120 female, and this is, of course, under serious 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:06.200 attack. All kinds of sin and error and passions 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:13.309 need healing in me first. Only then, can I experience 00:11:13.309 --> 00:11:16.990 the glory of the kingdom of God and the resurrection, 00:11:17.289 --> 00:11:20.590 where there will be no sickness or sorrow or 00:11:20.590 --> 00:11:24.269 sighing, but life everlasting in a body that 00:11:24.269 --> 00:11:29.230 is completely spiritual and immortal. We need 00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:33.649 each other for Lent, for sure. Maybe more than 00:11:33.649 --> 00:11:36.990 four friends in our case, in my case. But there 00:11:36.990 --> 00:11:41.070 are four friends in Lent that I see. that each 00:11:41.070 --> 00:11:45.409 one of us could make an acquaintance with a little 00:11:45.409 --> 00:11:51.330 more closely. Prayer, let that be your first 00:11:51.330 --> 00:11:55.309 friend. Fasting, which gives wings to prayer 00:11:55.309 --> 00:12:00.529 and self -discipline. Works of mercy for others. 00:12:01.610 --> 00:12:04.789 People don't see God because they don't see God 00:12:04.789 --> 00:12:08.690 in us as his reflection. And finally, the last 00:12:08.690 --> 00:12:13.600 friend. Prayer, fasting, alms, confession. Dealing 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.960 with those sins so that our spiritual senses 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:24.059 awaken. Our paralysis is seen. We know that Jesus 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:29.240 says to us, son, daughter, your sins are forgiven. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.580 Then we might be inspired hearing Christ say 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:38.940 true but almost unbelievable words. Which we 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:44.139 are afraid to act on. This promise. If anyone 00:12:44.139 --> 00:12:48.860 loves me. He will keep my word. And my father 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:52.740 will love him. And we will come to him. And make 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:57.360 our abode with him. And I will manifest myself 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:05.820 to him. This one. This Jesus so humble. Experiencing 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:10.059 the. cynicism and the opposition of the Pharisees. 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:17.720 We trust him because he is the one who as we 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:20.960 heard in the epistle today the father says to 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:25.879 the word Jesus he made the worlds. He is the 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.559 brightness of the father's glory. The divine 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.759 imprint of his person. His throne is forever. 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:35.179 Who in the beginning laid the foundation of the 00:13:35.179 --> 00:13:37.509 earth and the work. The heavens are the work 00:13:37.509 --> 00:13:41.049 of your hands, O Lord. They, the creation that 00:13:41.049 --> 00:13:44.289 is, will perish, but you remain. And they will 00:13:44.289 --> 00:13:48.169 all grow old like a garment. Like a cloak, you 00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:51.009 will fold them up, and they will be changed. 00:13:52.269 --> 00:13:52.809 Amen.