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the Son of the Holy Spirit. It doesn't say this

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in the account of the life and the martyrdom

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of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica, this great

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saint of that special place, that city in northern

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Greece, this beautiful temple that's built there

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over his grave. 5th and 6th century church doesn't

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say in St. Demetrius' life anything about his

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inner psychology. The lives of saints don't deal

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on that level. But I think it's safe to surmise

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the following. St. Demetrius came from a prominent

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family. His father was governor of that area.

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A notable man, loved by the people. respected

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by the emperor, respected by the Roman authorities

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in the Senate. When he retired, reposed, then

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his son was appointed in his place, Demetrius.

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This was a Christian family. And I'm surmising

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that at some point, the young Demetrius, noble

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person, highly intelligent, educated, respected,

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and also loved by the people and respected by

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the emperor as well. I imagine that he heard

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this gospel probably many times. They were secret

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Christians. This was a time of brutal repression.

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Not all times. with the Romans was their brutal

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repression. Many times, they were free, the Christians

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were free to practice the faith as they wanted

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to, within some bounds. But I imagine the young

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Dimitri heard this. He said, he heard these words

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from the Lord, who said, when the Comforter has

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come, who I will send you from the Father, even

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the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the

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Father, he shall testify of me. Testified. Witness.

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And you also shall bear witness and testify.

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The word witness is martyr. A martyr is not necessarily

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one who suffers, although he does. It's the one

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who bears testimony of the resurrection, of the

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trust in God, that in our human weakness, God's

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strength is made manifest. In our death, we enter

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into life, and no tyrant can kill us, really,

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because we shall rise again. He hears these words.

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You shall also bear witness because you have

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been with me from the beginning. These things

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have I spoken to you that you should not be offended.

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They shall put you out of the synagogues. Yet

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the time comes that whosoever kills you will

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think that he's doing God a service. And I surmise

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that St. Demetrius thought, it's time now to

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live my Christian life a little bit more. profoundly

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and openly, without fear. And that's what he

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did. He was appointed the governor of Thessalonica.

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His charge from the emperor was, when you go

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back there, you are to put to death those Christians

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who worshiped that one who was crucified. Demetrius

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didn't say anything. He said, oh, I'm going back.

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And he went back and he began to preach the gospel,

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really like an evangelist, to each and every

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person. And the Christian faith began to grow

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in numbers. And this is also important to remember,

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because he saw the storm coming. He didn't think,

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oh, everything's going to be great now. I'm doing

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God's work. God's going to reward me in this

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life. I'm going to have everything I need. There'll

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be no obstacles to the gospel here. He happened

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to read St. Paul, that epistle we heard, knowing

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that a good soldier is going to endure to the

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end. But be strong. How? Not strong in yourself,

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but strong in the faith of Jesus Christ, which

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is in you. This is God's strength that St. Paul

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says to be strong with. St. Demetrius knew this,

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and he knew the storm was coming, and indeed

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it did come. When the emperor came, he saw what

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was happening. Demetrius was imprisoned. He was

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beaten, I assume, and all that happens regularly.

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And you know the story with Laeas in the stadium

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and this young man, Nestor, who is seeing the

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Christians, Be thrown into the ring. With this

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Goliath of a man. And this man. Is on a pedestal.

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And surrounding the pedestal. Are upraised spears.

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All around. Farthest of them. And he just takes

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the next Christian. Comes out and he tosses them

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into the spear. Painful death. The next one tosses

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them in. Nestor seeing this terrible thing. You

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know. You can see movies on TV in which your

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hero is going to come and then blast everyone

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to death, you know, and he's the good guy. That's

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not what Nestor did. Nestor went to... Yeah,

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that thing's been chirping since last night.

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Nestor went to St. Demetrius and asked for a

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blessing to stand and defend the people, his

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Christian people. And St. Demetrius blessed him.

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And he went into the ring and said, oh, God of

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St. Demetrius, help me. And the emperor hearing

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this was not happy, and St. Demetrius was killed.

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But Nestor proved a champion against this Goliath

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of a man, and he was knocked down with one blow.

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And then, of course, Nestor himself was martyred.

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Why am I telling you all this? You can read this

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for yourself. I'm telling you this to remind

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you that there will be obstacles to your Christian

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faith. There will be times in society like what

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they experience, which will be very difficult

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to be a Christian fully. That's okay. That's

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fine. What do you expect? If they have done this

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to me, says the Lord Jesus, they will do it to

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you. You expect it will be all easy for us? In

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this country, it's pretty easy, despite, you

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know, the stuff we hear. I walk downtown in my

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cassock, not once, not once since I've been a

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priest has anyone said anything disrespectful.

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Not one time. Now, it could happen. I don't gauge

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that as anything special, but we can practice

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our faith. But when the storm comes, brothers

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and sisters, what do we do? Yes. We rely on the

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strength of the faith of Christ that is in us.

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And the more we do that, St. Paul says in that

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epistle to Timothy, the more we have understanding

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of God's plan for us, number one. Secondly, and

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this is the most important thing, this is the

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only thing I really should have said today. These

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things I command you, says the Lord, that you

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love one another. A wise person in our parish

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said to me, when times are difficult, we have

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to treat and be with each other warmly. Especially

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those that you maybe don't really know. To reach

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out to love them and treat them with love. Love

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doesn't require that you know people. Because

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we are enjoined to love our enemies. Love requires

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what we have from Christ. That the Father is

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glorified in us. That the Father loves Christ

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and loves us. He says, continue in my love. If

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you keep my commandments, you shall abide in

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that love. If we keep the commandments of Christ,

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we will have the love to love one another. So

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that others seeing our love for one another will

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glorify God. If we keep the commandments. If

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we don't keep the commandments, we won't have

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that kind of love. Jesus says, if you keep my

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commandments, you shall abide in my love. Just

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as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide

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in his love. Jesus is asking us to follow him,

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to trust him. The disciples were afraid. Jesus

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says, don't be afraid. Oh, you of little faith.

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And he calmed the storm. The storm may be out

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there, but it's the storm in here that we need

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mostly calmed. Ask the Lord to send that kind

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of love so we can love one another and so that

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we will have this calm, profound calm, as it

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says in the gospel, and peace of heart to do

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his will, to be the witness in this world of

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God's love and God's salvation for all. Amen.