WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:12.380 Christ. Those who may be starting out on the 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:20.679 study of some science, biology, or music, or 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:25.859 some other endeavor, have a guide to begin their 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:31.879 work. You can make such monumental mistakes and 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:35.320 waste so much time if you don't have that person, 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:40.759 that guide, that tradition and the body of knowledge 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:44.619 and understanding that lets you progress in your 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:49.200 study. So if you're learning guitar as I did 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:53.899 at my music school, I had a personal guitar teacher. 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:58.490 He was my mentor and he guided me. made lots 00:00:58.490 --> 00:01:00.609 of mistakes, and he was somebody that could set 00:01:00.609 --> 00:01:03.530 me straight so that I could have a relationship 00:01:03.530 --> 00:01:07.450 with music that wasn't just technical, but that 00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:11.290 was something that was dynamic and that actually 00:01:11.290 --> 00:01:18.870 was musical. So today, we celebrate, we commemorate, 00:01:18.870 --> 00:01:22.170 we remember, whichever word you like to choose, 00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:28.959 those that do that for us in the faith. We can 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.079 go down all kinds of wrong pathways with our 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:37.840 faith. Because faith in Jesus Christ is not faith 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:42.379 in an idea. It's faithfulness to a person. And 00:01:42.379 --> 00:01:46.560 a person has personality. A person has qualities. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:52.799 Aaron's hair is not blue or red. It's black. 00:01:53.219 --> 00:01:58.680 He's this tall. He's this wide. He speaks like, 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:03.480 so it's about the truth of something. The truth 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:06.299 of the science of the theology of the church, 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.139 let's say. So we commemorate the Holy Fathers, 00:02:09.180 --> 00:02:14.680 those holy bishops that gathered in ecumenical 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.759 councils for hundreds of years. The first, second, 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:23.400 third, fourth, fifth, and sixth councils. Those 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.620 are the people we are remembering today. You 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:31.099 heard this reading from St. Paul. Remember those 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:36.520 who guide you. Spiritual guides, those we trust, 00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:40.620 those we love, those we honor, those who are 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:45.919 sanctified, our saints. Those who have spoken 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:50.520 the word of God to you, whose faith follow. You 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:52.460 don't make it up on your own because it's about 00:02:52.460 --> 00:02:55.979 someone in particular, not something in general. 00:02:56.969 --> 00:02:59.689 who has spoken the word of God to you, whose 00:02:59.689 --> 00:03:02.069 faith follow, considering the outcome of their 00:03:02.069 --> 00:03:05.069 conduct, what are their lives like? Are they 00:03:05.069 --> 00:03:08.849 trustworthy in the way they conduct and live 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:13.069 themselves? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 00:03:13.389 --> 00:03:19.849 today, and forever. So do not be carried, says 00:03:19.849 --> 00:03:22.909 St. Paul, do not be carried about with various 00:03:22.909 --> 00:03:29.919 and strange doctrines. These words from St. Paul 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:36.060 lead us then to consider the Holy Fathers of 00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:40.180 the first six ecumenical councils with honor, 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.280 with love, with seriousness. This is an important 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:47.659 day, as all Sundays are in the church calendar. 00:03:50.060 --> 00:03:52.759 If we wanted to give this Sunday a subtitle, 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:57.800 we might call it Truth Sunday. Why? Because the 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.080 fathers of the first six ecumenical councils 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:04.360 were all about the truth. They gathered in council. 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:08.319 They weren't a bunch of old white men. Don't 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:17.879 think of it that way. They were wounded in persecutions. 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:22.139 They had suffered for their faith. And they came 00:04:22.139 --> 00:04:27.500 from all over. From Africa. North Africa, Italy, 00:04:27.939 --> 00:04:37.560 Europe, Asia, Asia Minor. They were men of strength 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:42.579 and humility and honor who sought the truth. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:46.279 And they sought the truth, as St. Paul says, 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.860 to speak the truth in love. I'll say something 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:54.980 about love in a moment. They did not meet. to 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:58.279 create a theology. They came to respond to an 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:01.980 attack on the faith. They didn't invent the truth. 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:06.639 They came to preserve, to respond to the falsehood, 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:10.939 to give the authentic truth, the truth as it 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:13.480 has been revealed. You heard the words of Jesus 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:18.639 Christ. The words I have given, they have received. 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:21.579 And they have known that all things that I have 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:25.759 given them are from thee. O Holy Father. Those 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.800 are the words of Jesus to his Father about the 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:31.839 apostles and by extension to the Holy Fathers. 00:05:36.459 --> 00:05:39.699 Reveal truth from the beginning, not made up. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:49.779 They spoke that truth in love. This is what St. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:53.920 Justin of Serbia says. Let me quote something 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.439 from him. Because it's easy to say, oh, this 00:05:56.439 --> 00:05:59.839 is the truth. It's easy to say, this is the way 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:02.819 it is. But can you back it up by the conduct 00:06:02.819 --> 00:06:06.139 of your life, by who you are? This is what St. 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:11.079 Justin says. True and real knowledge of God and 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:15.420 of yourself is acquired by us only through the 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:20.550 path of practical love. By loving God and other 00:06:20.550 --> 00:06:23.370 people, we come to know by experience that our 00:06:23.370 --> 00:06:28.350 soul is Christ -like. Our soul is immortal by 00:06:28.350 --> 00:06:32.029 God's grace. The experience of practical love 00:06:32.029 --> 00:06:36.029 is part of the good news which Christ as the 00:06:36.029 --> 00:06:38.910 God -man has given to the human race. In Christ, 00:06:38.910 --> 00:06:44.970 who is both God and man, there is something incomparably 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:48.689 greater than truth, than goodness. than beauty. 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:52.290 He is himself all of these things in their absolute 00:06:52.290 --> 00:06:55.750 sense. You want to know beauty? Look at Christ. 00:06:55.930 --> 00:06:59.670 The truth? Look at Christ. Goodness? Look at 00:06:59.670 --> 00:07:04.709 Christ. Love? Look at Christ. Whatever good there 00:07:04.709 --> 00:07:07.569 is in the human soul, Christ draws it to himself 00:07:07.569 --> 00:07:14.089 by some invincible force of love. It is he who 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:17.379 gives the human soul something that absolute 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:20.899 truth, absolute goodness, and even absolute beauty 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:25.519 couldn't give by themselves. It's not something 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:27.740 we can acquire just because we would like to. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:34.060 When we acquire love, which is God himself? Love 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:36.860 is not love in general. We can love terrible 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:39.759 things, harmful things. I love all kinds of things 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:43.100 that aren't good for me that I eat. I probably 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:46.360 love them. More than I love my neighbor. That's 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:53.160 a sick love. Love of God. That's different. We 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:56.439 are united with him through that love. And in 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:59.839 this way, we arrive at the real knowledge of 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:05.139 the eternal truth. Love fills us with God. Our 00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:09.899 knowledge of God depends on the extent to which 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:14.160 we're filled with him. The Holy Fathers had that 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.740 love. St. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, 00:08:16.860 --> 00:08:19.100 the first one we heard, says today something 00:08:19.100 --> 00:08:24.220 like, love in a genuine way, without hypocrisy. 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.060 It's easy to say we love our neighbor, especially 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:34.460 if they haven't done anything against us. Maybe 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:37.220 it's even easy to say we've forgiven our enemy 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:42.929 if they haven't done anything. against us but 00:08:42.929 --> 00:08:48.110 to love our enemy but mostly well indifference 00:08:48.110 --> 00:08:52.470 to our neighbor is not love do you know your 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:56.909 neighbor you look around the church starting 00:08:56.909 --> 00:09:00.250 there do you know people here are you indifferent 00:09:00.250 --> 00:09:04.210 to the who they are or are you like like father 00:09:04.210 --> 00:09:08.679 michael who all of you know had an enormous love 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:12.500 for everybody. Why? Because he was curious about 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:17.679 each and every person. He wanted to know them. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.059 He wanted the best for them. It's that kind of 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:24.379 love that is without hypocrisy and that is genuine. 00:09:24.460 --> 00:09:26.899 Not indifference to our neighbor. That's not 00:09:26.899 --> 00:09:39.070 love. St. Paul. has given us an amazing lesson 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:45.610 today. But Pontius Pilate, who was very far from 00:09:45.610 --> 00:09:48.610 being St. Paul, also gives us a lesson. What 00:09:48.610 --> 00:09:52.769 did he say to Jesus at the trial? What is truth? 00:09:53.409 --> 00:09:59.289 Of course, he was being cynical as a Roman. What 00:09:59.289 --> 00:10:02.750 is truth was the wrong question. Who is the truth? 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:06.620 It would have been pointless, wasted words for 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:10.039 Jesus to answer Pilate in what he said earlier, 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:13.340 I'm the way and the truth and the life. That 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:15.399 would have been pointless. Pilate could not have 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:21.080 heard that. That's why, and this is important 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.539 for us to remember, dear brothers, dear sisters, 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:29.399 no matter what our culture says, and it changes 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:33.779 quickly. no matter what experts might tell you, 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:39.720 ultimately what we should always defer to is 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:45.080 what the church teaches. Our mentors, our guides 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.620 in the truth, in the way of love and peace and 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:55.559 goodness and true faith. Yes, the church teaches. 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:58.960 Now you're saying to me, now wait, Father Lawrence. 00:10:59.659 --> 00:11:02.799 Didn't you just say that Jesus is the truth? 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.960 And now you're telling us that the church is 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:09.539 our source for the truth? Yes, I did say that. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:12.919 Because Jesus is himself the head of the body. 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:15.679 We are the brothers and sisters gathered here, 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:19.580 members of one another. Like my finger is a member 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:24.340 of my body. And all of you, from the smallest 00:11:24.340 --> 00:11:30.840 young thing to the oldest. have been given a 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.379 gift of grace. You are connected to one another. 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:36.740 You are united to one another by Christ. It doesn't 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:39.500 matter if you're a pinky or something more. Now, 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:41.740 of course, you know, I could live with a piece 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:44.059 of my pinky being removed, but I can't live without 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:50.559 my head. But let's realize it's the church that 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:54.440 is Christ's presence on the earth. It's not an 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:59.399 organization of like -minded people. Our Lord 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:01.500 forgave the sins of the paralytic. And what did 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:05.120 he also say to the apostles later? You have also 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:09.259 this grace and gift to remove the sins of those 00:12:09.259 --> 00:12:14.840 who come to you to heal them. To relieve the 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:18.039 pain of separation from God and each other. So 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:21.879 for us to find Jesus, for us to find the fullness 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:25.480 of the truth, we must of necessity come to the 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:28.220 church. St. Paul was knocked off his... horse 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:31.240 and made blind and then he heard from the Lord 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:33.500 Jesus Christ and said, go into the city and talk 00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:36.740 to this man and he'll tell you everything. He 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:40.059 had to go to the church to be baptized, to be 00:12:40.059 --> 00:12:45.320 enlightened. Dear ones, it's a temptation to 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:47.740 think of these councils and these fathers as 00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:51.700 dusty, ancient history. That's what the devil 00:12:51.700 --> 00:12:55.000 wants us to think. Church doesn't know, it's 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.389 out of touch. The work and the message of the 00:12:59.389 --> 00:13:06.730 council is clear. The gospel is to save us, to 00:13:06.730 --> 00:13:11.429 save us, to proclaim the incarnation of the Son 00:13:11.429 --> 00:13:15.990 of God, his crucifixion, his resurrection in 00:13:15.990 --> 00:13:19.549 all its glory. So let us rejoice in these holy 00:13:19.549 --> 00:13:22.529 fathers and give glory to God. Amen.