WEBVTT

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Well, a week ago, a week ago today, last Sunday,

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we celebrated the great feast of Pentecost, the

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day on which the Holy Spirit filled the apostles

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and disciples, and they spoke with tongues that

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gave the good news to everyone in their own language,

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bringing the good message, the message of salvation

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that you and I are a part of. It was and is the

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birthday of the church, Pentecost, when the Holy

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Spirit comes upon us all. And so last week we

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celebrated a birthday and it was fitting to have

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a week fast -free like a birthday party. And

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then today we have All Saints Day. Now, Father

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Michael Margitich of blessed memory, I remember

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in the altar one time he came to me and said,

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Happy Names Day. And I said, I don't think it's

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my Names Day. He said, it's everyone's Names

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Day because it's All Saints Day. And although

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perhaps we have the small s. and not the capital

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S of saint as we work towards our sanctification.

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It is. It is our names day. And we are happy

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belated birthday to the church last week. Happy

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names day. And to all the fathers and godfathers,

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happy father's day. And what a great day to be

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in church today. And we're not alone. It's in

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the epistle reading. It talked of the cloud of

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witnesses, all those that have come before us,

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back to the apostles, all the way forward, almost

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2 ,000 years, and yet we're all together, and

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who knows how many more years, and people that

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we've never met who will be in the church because

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they'll be born after we are gone. Many saints

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have come before us. Many who were hierarchs,

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others who were monastics, others who were holy

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martyrs, and each one of them unique as you and

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I are unique. And yet God loved every single

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one. He sought them out. He called them and they

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responded. And the same thing happens for us

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this very day. The fact that you are here. It

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means you are responding to God's call to you.

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Most of us, as we have heard the call and responded,

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though, have some struggle which hits us. You

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would think we have the Holy Spirit. It's all

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over. But somehow there's still a struggle. Perhaps...

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We lose our temper and an unkind word comes out

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of our mouth. Or perhaps some lust hits us or

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gluttony or something. It seems that we have

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to struggle still. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk has

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said, The man who has received Christian faith

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and baptism has both an old or fleshly birth

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or spiritual birth, and therefore he has two

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births. And because of these two births, the

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war of spirit and flesh arises in him. I know

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this battle, and I expect you do too, the battle

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between spirit and flesh. And it is reflected

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in our choices that we make in our life as we

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live. The flesh calls us to eat, drink, and be

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merry, to excess, to have self -focus, self -excess,

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and the spirit calls us to self -denial, self

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-control, to the love of others, as well as to

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the love of God. What can we do? Imagine, if

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you will, that there is a sled. a dog sled that

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runs on the snow and the ice and there are two

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rows of dogs on one side is a row of dogs which

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would pull the sled in the way of the spirit

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and then the other side is a row of dogs that

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would pull the sled in the way of the flesh and

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they both are struggling to dominate the direction

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of that sled. Well, which dogs will be dominant?

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The ones that you feed. Doesn't it make sense

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that those that you feed would be stronger and

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those that you don't feed would be weaker? You

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may want the spirit to pull. If you're feeding

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those fleshly dogs all the time and ignoring

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those spiritual dogs that are pulling the sled

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of your life, why should it be a wonder that

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we have the fleshly dogs take over the sled?

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And so the answer becomes, deny the fleshly row

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of dogs. Don't feed them. Instead, feed the spiritual

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dogs. Come to church as you are now. Pray more

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in your life. Seek out God even every night before

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you go to bed. May your last thought be of God

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and not of some other distraction. Feed the right

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dogs and starve the wrong dogs. But remember,

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first and foremost, that what you need in this

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battle between flesh and spirit is the presence

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of the Holy Spirit. To fight this battle on your

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own, maybe you would have some success, but ultimately,

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without the Holy Spirit, we are doomed to fail.

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It's like a boat on a river. If there's no rowing,

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the boat will go in the way of the current. That's

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the flesh. It has had control over us. But if

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you take the oars and you begin rowing, and that's

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the Spirit in you, the Holy Spirit, coming to

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help you and rowing the boat for you, you will

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move away. Saint Tikhon of Zidane says this,

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Our nature can sin easily, being corrupted, and

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it does sin. but it is entirely unable to stand

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against sin or to defeat it. For this, we need

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to seek help and strength from the conqueror

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of death and hell, Jesus the Lord. And as we

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have just celebrated ascension, where Jesus ascended

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to heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father,

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and Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit is sent

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down upon us, let us... Reach out for that help

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when these struggles come to us. That is the

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purpose for us to be in the church, to be sanctified,

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to be made holy, to be brought closer to God.

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And all those that will turn to God and ask God

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to come close to them, God will come close to

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them. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. One last

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analogy for you. A sailing vessel floating on

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the ocean. An entire sea of water can't sink

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a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly,

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the negativity of the world can't put you down

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unless you allow it to get inside you. Don't

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be filled with the things of the world, which

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are like that water that would sink the ship.

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Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be enabled

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to sail on the journey that Christ has called

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you to, one of salvation, one that, as was in

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the gospel today, leads, it tells us, it leads

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to eternal life. Make the right choices in your

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life. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, and when

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the temptations of the flesh hit you, it will

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be water splashing off the hull of the ship.

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Tomorrow begins the Apostles' Fast, which will

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end on the Feast of St. Peter and Paul. May we

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all strive to walk in the Spirit during this

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fast when temptations come. Reach out and call

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to the helper, the Holy Spirit, to give you strength.

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Glory to Jesus Christ.