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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. I

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love stories. I love movies, and even children's

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books, to novels like The Lord of the Rings,

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to plays. Perhaps you do too. Why do we like

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stories so much? Well, sometimes it's about the

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characters that we relate with, that we can identify

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with, or perhaps we can try to emulate. Sometimes

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it's because of the adventure and the excitement.

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And when we look at a story and we look at, is

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it true? Is it nonfiction? Or is it fiction?

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It kind of helps us. to know how best to look

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at it. And like the Chronicles of Narnia, I would

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not go around in life expecting that Aslan would

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be jumping up to see me. However, when I read

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the Gospels, I know that our Lord and Savior

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Jesus Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to us to

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guide us, and I live as if that is non -fiction.

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I love all kinds of stories, and today we honor

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the royal passion bearers, Tsar Nicholas, Tsaritsa,

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Alexandra, Tsarevich, Alexei, Grand Duchess Olga,

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Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and we also honor

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the holy fathers of the first six ecumenical

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councils. And imagine all the stories just in

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the lives of these people that we could look

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at and how the Lord God worked in each one of

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their lives in various ways, helping to bring

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them close to him. In today's gospel, in Matthew,

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we are told that Jesus met two men in the country

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of the Gergesenes. And that these two men were

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demon -possessed. And they came out from the

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tombs. And they would block the roads and keep

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people from following where they needed to go

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on the path. And Jesus walks up and they recognize

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him. And they say, Jesus, what have you to do

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with us? you Jesus, you Son of God? Have you

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come to torment us before the time? What do they

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mean there, before the time? Well, that means

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before the last judgment, when Christ will return

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in all power and all those demons that do exist,

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well, they'll face their ultimate end. The light

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of Christ It shines out even before his resurrection

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in a way that they are repelled by him. These

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demons, the villains of this story, recognize

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that they are powerless against Jesus, the ultimate

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hero, and they just seek to get away from him.

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requesting that they could go into that herd

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of spines, you know, the pigs that eventually

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rushed in and drowned themselves. Did you notice

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the fear? They just wanted to get away from Jesus.

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So what can we conclude from this story? Well,

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one, we can conclude that Demons do exist. And

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we can conclude, secondly, that demons are powerless

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before Christ. And this is true in the world

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today, that demons do exist around us in the

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world. They are malicious and deceitful and work

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against God's purpose and against God's people,

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trying to manipulate those who would listen to

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them. But we can also take from this story that

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they are powerless before the Lord. Even before

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his resurrection, Jesus commands them out of

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those two men, and he rescues those two men,

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just as he seeks to rescue you and me. So we

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get from this story that demons do exist. And

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do they exist the same way? You know, we live

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in the scientific age. Can we say that there

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are demons and really mean it? Yes. Yes, we can.

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And we see in the world doctrines of demons which

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are meant to take people away from God. And they're

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in the world around us this day. You could look

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around and see people leaving the church and

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you could ask them, why? Why did you decide to

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turn away from God? And they would probably tell

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you something that had been entered into the

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world by demons seeking to do just that, to pull

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people away from the church, away from their

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salvation, and away from God. But we walk with

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God. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. and

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the light of Christ will not allow any shadow

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to be near us. There's no reason to fear these

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demons. In Luke 10, 17 to 19, we are told of

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the 70 who were sent out as apostles by Christ,

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and it reads this. Then the 70 returned with

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joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject

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to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw

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Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold,

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I give you authority to trample on serpents and

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scorpions and over all the power of the enemy,

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and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless,

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do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are

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subject to you, but rather rejoice because your

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names are written in heaven. And so you and I

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can rejoice the same way, for God has given us

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the church that he is guiding us to heaven by

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being a part of the church. And his light drives

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away the deceit of demons. St. Silouan the Athonite

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says concerning spiritual warfare, Blessed are

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we Orthodox Christians because we live under

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the protection of God's mercy. It is not difficult

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for us to wage this war. The Lord had pity on

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us and gave us the Holy Spirit who abides in

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our church. Our only sorrow is that not everyone

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knows God and how greatly he loves us. The man

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who prays is conscious of this love and the Spirit

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of God bears witness in his soul to salvation.

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So as you and I live the stories, which are our

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lives, and we move forth, let us emulate the

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examples of those who have come before us. The

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fathers of the six and ecumenical councils who

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stood for truth and rejected error. The royal

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passion bearers who gave their lives still faithful

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to the Lord. And let us commit ourselves to faithful

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prayer and let us shine God's light. to the world,

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for we know the ultimate ending of the story.

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We know the ultimate victory of Christ, that

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we will stand with him when he returns in power.

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May the light of Christ illuminate all. Glory

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to Jesus Christ.