Glory to Jesus Christ. How beautiful that story,
that account of the woman coming to Jesus and
expressing her love in that way. The story is
told to us today in the Gospel of Luke in honor
of St. Mary of Egypt. whose memory we celebrate
this day. And we were preparing for this day
and her commemoration on Thursday by listening
to her life story, the long life story. Too long
to read today to you. It takes about a half hour,
a little bit more. But you can see her in the
fresco over by the confession stand, standing
on the Jordan River, having just received communion.
from Elder Zosimas. This woman is for us the
image of repentance and desire and love for God
and transformation. That's why we have her at
the fifth Sunday so that we can be encouraged
that whatever sins we have, this woman preceded
the sexual revolution by a couple thousand years
and it holds nothing compared to what she did.
But she didn't identify herself with that. She
tried to get into the church of the Holy Resurrection,
the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on the feast
day of the Holy Cross. And isn't that significant
for us too? It was the feast day of the Holy
Cross, which we hear about very clearly today
from the lips of the Lord about what's going
to happen. And she was prevented because of her
sins until she turned to the Virgin Mary. Again,
A notable thing since on Friday we celebrated
the Akathist to the Theotokos, the purity, the
glory of God in a human person, her beauty, her
kindness, her obedience, all things that we want
to emulate. And when Mary turned to the Virgin,
she saw her life, it's flashing in front of her
sins, and she... fell almost into despair, and
she cried out to God, and she was allowed into
the church, after which she went into the wilderness
for 40 years, before she met another living person.
And we have her story that Zosimas told, probably
patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem, and we meditate
on that on the fifth week and on the fifth Sunday.
Because these two women, they're the paramount.
They're the ideal. They're the model for us for
repentance and for beauty. We don't identify
ourselves with our sins, but we rise above them
with God's grace. That's all I want to say about
St. Mary, because I could spend the whole afternoon
talking about her gladly. I want to place before
you now The vision of where we're going. Next
week is Palm Sunday. And then it's Great and
Holy Week. And then it's Pascha. Holy Friday,
Holy Saturday, and Pascha. And here's the vision.
This is what Father John Kristjankin, an elder,
a recently reposed elder, he says this. During
his earthly life, The Savior many times pronounced
these words so priceless to the believing soul.
He said, because I live, ye shall live also.
My peace I give unto you. These things have I
spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you
and your joy might be full. A new life has opened
for man, he said. He has been given the opportunity
to die to sin by the cross and in baptism in
order to rise with Christ and to live with him
and to put on Christ, to be identified so closely
with Christ that when you look at a person, if
they're wearing the right clothes, that's Christ.
He looks just like, he's wearing the same thing.
He reflects God. He has been given the opportunity
to die to sin in order to rise with Christ and
live with him. Father John says, the Apostle
Paul says in his epistle to the Romans, for if
we have been planted together in the likeness
of the death of Christ, we shall also be in the
likeness of his resurrection. Now if we be dead
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with him. And we sing at Pascha, a Pascha which
has opened for us the gates of paradise. Our
Paschal joy is the joy that comes from the change,
the transfiguration, the repentance of our whole
life into incorruptible life. The joy of our
yearning for undying goodness and the incorruptible
beauty. That's the vision for me. That's what
I want. For myself and for you, brothers and
sisters, and for every single person. The joy
that is set before us is also our joy. And the
way there to acquire what all that means lies
before us very clearly now. Here on this fifth
Sunday of the Great Fast, St. Mark lays it out
for us very clearly in a matter of few words.
Now they were on the road, the twelve apostles
and Jesus. And Jesus was going before them. Unusual
in itself. The master doesn't lead the way that
way. His retinue goes first. And they were amazed.
And as they followed, they were also afraid.
Then he took the twelve aside. and began to tell
them the things that would happen to him. Behold,
we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of
Man will be betrayed, and you know the rest.
Going up to Jerusalem, brothers and sisters,
with Christ and the disciples, is what Holy Week
is about. Not a reminder in the bulletin that
you should come to church services. That's what
the bulletin's there for. No, but to do what?
To go up to Jerusalem with the Holy Fathers means
to be elevated, to rise above ordinary and daily
plans and to put those here and put the road
up to Jerusalem and Christ and the crucifixion
and the tomb right in front. Jerusalem in the
spiritual sense is the kingdom of heaven. The
ascent to it is our working out of our salvation.
That's what we're doing here. And Holy Week is
our deep and unique and once -a -year participation
in that in a new and very intense way. St. Mark
relates this. Now they were on the road going
up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them,
and they were afraid. Why were they afraid? They
were afraid for a very good reason. By now it
was very clear that there was a plot to arrest
Jesus in Jerusalem and to put him to death quietly.
Nobody wanted a scene, but Jesus was making trouble.
Believe me, what is it, Tom, that Father Michael
used to say? Jesus is a troublemaker? He used
to say he gets in the way of everything. Jesus
gets in the way of everything. That's going to
be Holy Week. I believe that. The Roman soldiers
were also in Jerusalem where Jesus was going.
They were afraid. When someone's afraid, I try
to console them, to help them, to enter in and
pass that. But Jesus doesn't give a pep talk
to his disciples. He doesn't console them in
that way. No, he tells them what to do. is going
to happen to him. And he tells them the third
time. And the disciples, James and John, listening
to this, actually not listening to this, and
they have not distinguished themselves in any
way. They have fallen asleep on the Mount of
Transfiguration, James and John. They very unkindly
asked if Jesus wanted to bring down fire and
brimstone and destroy the Samaritans. James and
John hadn't done anything yet, and what do they
say to Jesus? Master, we want you to do whatever
we ask. And Jesus says, what is that? Knowing
full well. We want you to make us your right
and left hand ministers in chief. In your kingdom,
when you come in your power. Crushing the Romans,
of course, and everyone else that opposed Jesus.
What an inappropriate question. And Jesus asked
John and James, and the apostles were very upset
about this, because they also wanted those places.
It wasn't because they thought James and John
were inappropriate. They also wanted to be in
charge. And Jesus asks a question. Can you, James
and John, and he asks us, can you, brothers and
sisters, fellow Orthodox, dear catechumens, Christian
inquirers, seekers, curious onlookers, can you
drink of the cup that I drink of, says Jesus?
Can you be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with? For catechumens hearing this,
this is a chance to say no and you leave. And
for the rest of us, we can oppose the cross as
said Peter and James and John too. They just
weren't listening. They ignored it. But it would
be to our peril because we will never attain
the vision of life eternal and the kingdom of
God within us. They said unto Jesus, James and
John, we can be baptized with the baptism you're
going to be baptized with and drink the cup that
you are drinking of. Jesus said, you shall indeed.
And they did in their lives. James was martyred.
John had a very difficult life. St. Mark was
writing to Christians at the time when he wrote
this gospel, when there was a... True, real possibility
of martyrdom in simply accepting Christ. When
this gospel was written, Emperor Nero was dealing
very harshly with Christians. Now that's not
our situation. Today we're just reminded of the
cost of what it means to be followers of the
one who carried the cross for our sake, who entered
beyond the veil of death, who enters with us,
who offers us here at this liturgy to the Father
to sanctify us, and that we have to answer this
question about drinking the Lord's cup and being
baptized with his baptism. Are the catechumens
and the rest of us and the many who are not here
anymore with us, prepared to stay faithful throughout
every temptation and adversary and adversity
and sorrow and sickness? Do we have the courage
to be Christians? I ran across a little saying
from St. Paisius the Athenite. who died in the
90s, talks about courage. This is what he said.
It struck me very powerfully. Our situation is
different. We're not being ruled and oppressed
by Turks for 500 years. But we're oppressed by
our own sins, by our own fears, by our shame
sometimes to proclaim the Christian message in
the way we live our life. This is what St. Paisios
says. Brave people are rare in our times. People
today are lukewarm. That's why if, God forbid,
a war breaks out, some will die out of fear.
Others will fall on the street with some minor
hardship because they are so used to comforts.
In the past, people were so brave. In the monastery
of the Flavians in Asia Minor, the Turks had
captured a man and slaughtered him. They told
his wife, either deny Christ or we will kill
your children too. And she replied, My husband
is now with Christ, and my children I entrust
to Christ, and I will not renounce Christ. What
bravery. If Christ is not in us, how can there
be such bravery? Today, people without Christ
are building their spiritual homes on rubble.
Let's be brave. Lent is that time. It's not an
exercise in historical memory about coming to
church and remembering this and that, the other
thing that happened. It's about actually being
there with Christ and carrying our cross, going
up to Jerusalem, up, elevating our life, meeting
Christ on Golgotha so that we may meet him on
Pascha. The cup we drink is the absolute honesty
about our life. The baptism we have. You know
all about it. You die and you rise. You live
a new life. Let's ask God for the deep desire,
the desire of Mary of Egypt, the love she had
for Christ, led by the Theotokos. That desire,
let it compel. and impel and inspire us to love
God in the way we can in our life. Amen.