In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
Glory forever. Are you a gardener? This time
of year, many people have planted, or maybe are
now planting, a garden. They're planting seeds,
and they expect to have a harvest. Perhaps it's
squash. tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, or something
more exotic, but they're expecting to have something
come up and be the fruits of their labor, fruits,
vegetables, whatever was planted. The gardener
determines what to grow, choosing what seeds
to plant, then watering and weeding as needed
until the harvest. And this takes time. It takes
planning. and effort. Last Sunday, we celebrated
the great feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit
descended from heaven to earth and filled the
holy apostles with tongues of fire. And all of
us who have been baptized and charismated have
been given the same spirit. Galatians 5 .22 says,
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
long -suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self -control. These are the
seeds that are planted in the garden of our hearts.
These are the seeds that we need to help grow.
We need to prioritize the care of the garden
of our heart. This Sunday, we celebrate All Saints
Day, and we look, and to remember, we look at
the saints that have come before us, those that
are known and those that are unknown to us, and
we look to them as an example to us, as they
did take care of the garden of their soul, and
they committed themselves to God, even for many
to death as the martyrs. And they are an example
of a life of faith lived out in action. One might
say their lives are an instruction manual for
how to grow a garden of the heart, how to reach
that harvest of the fruit, of the fruit of the
Spirit, of love, joy, peace, long -suffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self -control. Let us look now at our own
lives and think of which of these fruits have
already manifested themselves and which we need
to still tend and grow. Today's gospel reading
tells us of the importance of prioritizing God
as first in our lives. Are we truly committed?
To serving God and following his commandments?
If we truly are, then it will be evident in our
words and in our actions. Christ says in today's
gospel, He who loves father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that does not take up his cross and follow
after me is not worthy of me. And the Lord also
says, Therefore, whoever confesses me before
men, him will I also confess before my Father
who is in heaven. Caring for the garden of our
hearts requires us to place God first, to confess
him, to prioritize the care of our garden and
our faith. For those of you who are former Protestant
Christians like myself, you probably are familiar
with this question. When were you saved? And
for a Protestant Christian, it is the moment
of confession that they are talking about. The
moment when you commit your life to Christ. The
moment when... There's a day and a time and a
place that you know in your heart. For many people
that were not baptized at birth, there's a moment
of that decision where you become a Christian.
You say, I am going to follow Christ. It may
have been an altar call. When a public confession
of faith is made, this is what is being referred
to when they ask that question. When were you
saved? But for an Orthodox Christian, salvation
goes along with sanctification, and they are
united together. There is not just one moment
of being saved, but there is a process of being
saved. And so an Orthodox Christian may answer
this question differently. Are you saved would
be, I am in the process of being saved. For sanctification,
the process of being made holy, it's a very involved
process. And it is important to have a moment
of decision, a confession, a time when we say,
yes, Lord, I will follow you and I will keep
your commandments. That is all very important.
But once the seed is planted, it still needs
to be cared for. And our garden in our heart
needs to have weeds pulled around those seeds.
And we need to water it. Tomorrow we begin the
Apostles' Fast, which will last until the Feast
of St. Peter and Paul on June 29th. There is
no better time. than right now during this fast
to commit to caring for the garden of your heart.
Let us all do that. Let us all pick something
that we can do. Sometimes we think of a fast
as just, well, I'm not going to eat these foods,
something I'm not going to do. But let's think
of it as something that I can do more. What could
I do in my life more? Not take away, just take
away. but add. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk gives
us guidance on how to do this. First, he says,
by the diligent hearing or reading, meditation,
contemplation, and attentiveness to Holy Scripture.
If we want to be directed to righteousness and
true piety, it guides us there. Two, We are guided
to growth in Christian matters by various crosses
and temptations. These are a spiritual school
in which Christians are studying. As silver and
gold are tried in the furnace and become more
pure, so Christians are cleansed of evil ways
in the furnace of temptations, misfortunes, adversities,
and the cross. and become more pure. St. Ticon
is telling us that all those things that challenge
us are there to help us grow. Let us go in with
faith, trusting that God will help us grow. The
third example he gives is of Christ's holy, blameless
life. It is the perfect example and true rule,
and by looking upon it more frequently, Christians
can collect themselves and increase in virtuous
living. And the last thing is constant and fervent
prayer. The one who wants to grow and increase
in piety must pray fervently and ask for God's
help in this. It is God's help. that we need,
and we need to pray and ask for it. So let us
enter this time of the Apostles' Fast with these
things in mind, to care for the garden of our
souls, that the fruits of the Holy Spirit could
grow and become evident in our lives to his glory.
Glory to Jesus Christ.