I'd like to do two things today. First, I'd like
to speak to our younger parishioners, the kids.
So kids, if you don't mind, would you come up
here and sit close to me? Yeah, all you guys.
All y 'all. And secondly, I have a short word.
to offer to the rest of us. Let me ask you something.
If I put this seed, let's say, on the pathway
going to the parish hall, would it grow? No.
Why? There's nothing to hold it. If I put this
seed on the grass next to the pathway, would
it grow? No, it wouldn't, because the guy with
the mower comes, and he's got a leaf blower,
and he's got a weed whacker, and then we stomp
all over it. It wouldn't grow. If I, like, threw
it into the parking lot, it wouldn't grow. But
if I took that seed and I put it over there where
the tomatoes are when they used to be red, summertime,
took care of it, and I took out all the rocks,
and I took out the weeds, well, I shouldn't be
talking. My wife knows that I don't do any gardening
at all. If she took out all the weeds and then
she watered it, She put fertilizer on it. That's
food for plants. It would start to grow. Now,
when I put a seed in the ground in the right
place and it grows, let's say I put an apple
seed. Does an apple grow out of the ground? What
grows out of the ground? A tree. If I take a
grape seed and I put it in there, is a grape
going to grow? No. What grows? A vine. Whatever
that we put in there that we take care of, not
just one thing comes out, but a tree with a lot
of fruit. And that's very important to remember
because today you heard a story. It's called
a parable that Jesus told. It says in the Gospel
of St. Luke. If your parents ask you, what chapter
of St. Luke did it come from? Remember, it's
chapter 8. 8. Like the figure 8? That's easier
to remember. It says here that Jesus was walking
from village and town to town. And many, many,
many people, huge crowds were following him.
They wanted to hear him speak. Because he told
incredible stories. But he healed people too.
People that were blind. People that were paralyzed.
People that couldn't speak. People that were
sick. People that had all kinds of diseases.
He healed them. And so all these people kept
following him. And so he says this story. It's
a parable. A parable is a story, but it's really
about something else. He says in this story,
this parable, there's a farmer. I'm going to
tell you in my own words. There's a farmer and
he is going to throw seeds out to grow things.
And he's not careful about where it goes because
he wants the seeds to go everywhere. Everywhere.
So he's walking on the path. The seeds are going
on the path. He's walking on the rocky, like
the parking lot. He doesn't care. He's throwing
the seeds out. He's going to where there's thorns
and bushes and weeds, throws that out there.
And he even goes to the ground that's the good
ground that has been taken care of, where all
this stuff has been taken out, like the old cans
and bottles and rocks and all the toys that get
left behind on Sunday. The coffee cups that get
left out. I know you guys don't. It must be the
adults that do that. Probably, yeah. Anyway,
so this farmer, he's taking care of all that.
It's all cleared out. See what I did parents
there? And he's throwing seed. And he says, he
who has ears to hear, let him hear. In other
words, Jesus says, do you know what I'm saying
there? And the apostles come up to him. They
say, we don't understand what the story's about.
We don't get it. And he says to them, the story.
He says this. The parable means this. The seed
is the word of God. What is the word of God?
Word of God is what you hear when we're singing
the Psalms. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise
the Lord, O my soul. Holy God, holy mighty, holy
immortal. The word of God is what you hear when
the deacon comes to the middle of the church
and he reads to you from the gospel. The word
of God is when you go home and you say your prayers.
And the word of God is in your heart. So the
seed, in this case, is not... Like an apple seed
or a grape seed. But it's something you hear.
And something that we become the ground. What
kind of ground are you? That's the question Jesus
is saying. So, the seed is the word of God. Those
who are on the pathway, he says, they hear. They
hear. But then the devil, like a bird, picks
up the seed. Because it's just out there in the
open. And it's gone. And those people, although
they heard, they simply don't get it. Then he
says, there's the ones on the rocks, rocky ground
like the parking lot. And Jesus says, when they
hear. So they're hearing it. And when they hear
it, they're like, oh, this is great. This is
great. They have joy. They're really happy they
found the church. They're happy they found Jesus
Christ in their life and that God is truly God
and above all things. But he became man. He even
became a child. And they're happy. But it's on
the rock. The seed, their heart is like the rock
and it doesn't stay there because if I put the
seed in the parking lot, will it grow? No. And
then Jesus says, now the ones, the seeds that
fell among thorns, imagine thorns. You know the
blackberry bushes out there in the vineyard?
Lots of blackberries. Those are thorn. You can't
walk, if you touch them, you get scraped up.
The ones among the thorns are those who, when
they have heard. So the first hear, the second,
when they hear, and this Jesus says, when they
have heard. Go out, and their life is too busy.
Too busy for God. They can't remember. They forget.
They think of God as, well, there's the man upstairs,
like I told the catechumen yesterday, or the
big guy. And God is somewhere, but he's not with
them. And when you sing at Christmastime, God
is with us. Understand, all ye nations. We remember
that God became man. He is with us. Jesus says,
where two or three are gathered in my name. That
is, who live like Jesus has commanded and asked
us. And we gather together. There he is in the
middle. And that's what's happening today. When
you heard the gospel, when you heard deacon,
proto -deacon, you know what proto means? It
means first. So he has a special award. Proto
-deacon Jeremiah read the gospel. You heard Jesus
talking to you. That's why we had the censor
to welcome him first with all that sweet smoke.
When they have heard, they're choked. They're
too busy. They have too many cares. Maybe it's
their job. Or maybe they're just having too much
fun. And they'll think, I'll pay attention to
God later when I'm older. I will take care. Once,
there was a man a long time ago. I asked him
why he never ever came to confession or communion.
He had Orthodox since he was a child. And he
says, oh, I can't do that now. I have too many
things. I'll do it later. I'm thinking, what
if you don't live till later? Besides all your
bad habits, they will only get worse unless you
do something. So those people that... have a
heart that are like thorns they're too busy but
then Jesus says the seed that fell on the good
ground are those who having heard the word with
a good and noble heart why because the heart
is where our soul is we listen with our ears
But we let the Word of God in church, the prayers,
go to our heart. We have to work on that. This
is the challenge for this week for you. When
you say your prayers at home, and I want everybody
here, you kids, to memorize a prayer this week.
The prayer is, O Heavenly King, the Comforter,
the Spirit of... It's in your prayer book. It's
easy. We do it all the time. And when you say
that prayer, I want you to hear the words you're
saying. And I want the word to go into your ears
and then into your heart so that you say the
prayer with your heart. Now, how does that work?
You try it. You will see. Anyone here can be
the hard ground, the hard path. Anyone here can
be the thorny path. Anyone here could be the
rocky path. Brothers and sisters, the Lord gives
us every single tool to cultivate the heart so
it becomes the good ground so we receive it with
a good and noble heart. And fruit, like a tree,
when you put the seed in the ground, you don't
get one apple, you get many apples. And what
is the fruit? The fruit is the love of God. It's
a special kind of love. Now I'm going to say
something to your parents. This was a short letter
that was written by a priest of our diocese,
two other priests, and Archbishop Benjamin loved
it so much, he asked that we consider it. And
this is what he said. This is dear fathers, but
I'll say dear brothers and sisters and children.
The increase in armed conflict and human suffering
grieves my soul and my heart. Ongoing wars were
more than enough. Then Ukraine, now the state
of Israel. Tomorrow? At the Holy Altar this past
Sunday, during the consecration of the bread
and the wine, praying for the whole world, I
felt such a heavy and great weight upon me as
a priest, lifting up his people to him in prayer.
It was very palpable. In that time, at that moment,
I thought, How unimaginable the weight of the
sins of the whole world must have felt on the
shoulders of the crucified Lord. Brothers and
sisters, we know that God absolutely loves each
and every person, not more than any other. He
hates no one, not one. He does not desire the
death or the suffering of anyone. not one. He
desires to draw all people to himself that they
might be saved. We, the priests, the people,
with a priestly vocation to pray and offer and
sacrifice of the most high God, must absolutely
be instruments of his peace. That's one of the
fruits of the word of God in a good and noble
heart. Individually, we cannot hate any person
or any group of people. We cannot speak badly
or even poorly about a single person. We absolutely
must see the image of God in every single human
being, each one. Every war begins with me, with
me, myself. Each war starts with an unkind thought,
an unkind glance, an ugly word. We know this,
brothers and sisters. We absolutely know this.
I beseech all of us, let us eradicate any uncaring
thought or word or action from ourselves. Let
us teach and beseech each other to do likewise.
The alternative is only more hatred, more death,
more murder, more warfare. Let us not grieve
the Lord God any further, That he brings upon
the earth. He says. I came to light a fire. And
would it be kindled. What is that fire? It's
the fire of love. From one person to another.
The light of Christ. Which illumines all. Amen.