WEBVTT

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I'd like to begin by wishing everyone a blessed

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New Year. It certainly may be a happy New Year,

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but I think more to the point of why we are here

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as Christians, may it be a blessed New Year.

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I'll say a little bit about that in just a moment.

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I also point out that this is the Sunday before

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the Feast of Theophany, the baptism of Christ,

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blessing the water, the sanctification of all

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of creation in that blessing, the revelation

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of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. I mean,

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these are things the church... And then you have

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this reading which takes you back to when Jesus

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was a child being circumcised, and then all of

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a sudden he's 12 years old. and he stays behind

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and his parents don't know where he is. Don't

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be confused about all of that. In the church,

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we're seeking to know what that means. It doesn't

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matter that it doesn't follow chronological order.

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It's about Jesus, the Son of God, God in the

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flesh. And Jesus says to his parents, don't you

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know I need to be about my father's business?

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He's 12. Growing in stature and in wisdom. It's

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also the new year. It's good to have a fresh

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beginning to the new year. We just celebrated

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Christmas last Sunday. The feast of our salvation.

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We heard St. Paul tell us that because we have

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been born again by water, and the Holy Spirit,

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we become children of God, the Father, through

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that baptism. And he has sent the Holy Spirit

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into our hearts and cries, Abba, dear Father,

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to God, the Father, who is near us, and we say,

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God is with us. So we have a fresh start as we

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hit the new year. Because we've been reminded

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of this incredible gift of eternal life. The

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grace to restore us to the image that we have

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within us of God. That's what Christmas is. Yes,

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the presents are wonderful. The celebration,

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everything, all of that is wonderful. It is all

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part of how we celebrate this incredible day.

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The grace... to restore us to the image of God

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in which we were created. But we lost through

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sin. Christ comes, and now we see. To make a

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fresh start real, to make it real, I've entitled

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my sermon, which I never do because I don't think

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of things that way. Like other priests, they

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always start out, I've titled my sermon today,

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etc., etc. Doesn't seem like that makes any sense

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to me. But I've entitled my sermon today. P .S.

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I'm talking to you, O priest. This is the feast

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of St. Basil the Great. Of course, every Sunday,

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it's a little Pascha. It's eight days after Christmas.

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So it's a commemoration of the circumcision.

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I'm not going to explain what that is. I think

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you probably know of Jesus Christ and his naming.

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According, all of that arranged by his mother

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in accordance with the tradition of the Jewish

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law. Is it odd for us to celebrate the feast

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of the circumcision? What does that mean to you?

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Are you going to go home and meditate on that?

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Think about that. What does it mean? Well, St.

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Paul tells us what it means, thankfully. In him,

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you are also circumcised with the circumcision

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made without hands by the putting off of the

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body of sin. That sinful inclination that drives

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us, that gets us on a path going straight away

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from God. By putting off the body of the sins

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of the flesh, doesn't mean skin and bones, he

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means the sinful impulses. By the circumcision

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of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which

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you were also raised with him. Brothers and sisters,

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this is our calling. We are raised with him through

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faith, that is through faithfulness, following

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Christ. In the working of God, who raised him

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from the dead, we have a circumcision as Christians.

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Not of the male body part, but of the inner heart.

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That's the cutting away of sin. The cutting off

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of the will, which is running errands for the

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ego all day long. I need to remind myself. This

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is why I entitled this sermon, P .S. I'm Talking

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to You. to continually cut off my pride, arrogance,

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entitlement, pettiness, resentment in my sins,

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and hypocrisy. You know, for a Christian, the

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pride that leads to hypocrisy, and that hypocrisy

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is a terrible temptation, especially if you're

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a priest wearing, you know, embroidered vestments.

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So today, looking for a fresh start to the new

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year, I ask your forgiveness. I ask forgiveness

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of all of you. For my brother clergy, the altar

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servers, the choir master, the singers, the readers,

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the parish council, the women who work so hard,

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all of you, forgive me, brothers and sisters.

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I'm sorry for the misdeeds and failures before

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you. Cutting away is simply not that pleasant.

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St. Basil the Great, whose feast day we commemorate

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today, said this, in truth, to know oneself seems

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to be the hardest of all things. Not only are

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I which observes external objects, does not use

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the sense of sight upon itself, you can't see

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yourself, but even our mind, which contemplates

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intently other people's sins, is slow in the

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recognition of its own defects. I don't mean

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to be a downer on New Year's Day. Because repentance

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is always Always an act of hope. And trust in

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God's promises to transform us, to heal us, to

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forgive us. It starts with remembering that God

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loves us. That's Christmas. That's the Feast

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of the Cross. That's Pascha. That's Dormition.

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That's every feast day of every saint. God loves

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us. Repentance is the change of direction, right?

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It's not just feeling guilty and bad about yourself.

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No, that's not going to help. It's the change

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of direction, a change from living and walking

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in sin to walking towards God. On Friday night,

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I went to the leave -taking of Nativity at Nativity

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Greek Orthodox Church to join them in their feast

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day. And the preacher was Father Tom Zafaris

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from Ascension Cathedral in Oakland. He spoke

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about this dangerous path. continuing to walk

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in sin and then to walk in repentance. He said

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about walking in sin he said if I continue on

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the road I'm on I'm going to get where I'm going.

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That's true of repentance too. So we turn away

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towards the Lord. If we continue on that road

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we're going to get where we're going which is

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the kingdom which is The image of God shining

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within us. This is the new year. The entire world

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marks the turning of the calendar. It's a fresh

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start. But don't think you have all year. We

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buried a number of our beloved parishioners this

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year. St. Ephraim the Syrian who died in the

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year 373. Just, what, six years before St. Basil

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died, he said, the days pass. They fly away.

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The hours run without stopping. In the headlong

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rush of time, the world nears its end. We're

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closer to the resurrection. Just as it is impossible

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to stop and hold back running water through one's

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fingers, so the life of one born of woman. cannot

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remain stationary. God has determined the measure

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of each person's life, and the days divide this

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appointed measure into parts. Each day, imperceptibly

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almost, takes part away from your life, and each

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hour unrestrainedly runs along its course with

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its little share. This is why I say not Happy

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New Year, but a blessed new year. Happy is fine.

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Happy is good. Happiness comes. Happiness goes.

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It might happen. It might not happen. Are we

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happy when we get everything we want? I am. Are

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we happy when we manage to avoid calamities or

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tragedies? Yes. But does a life free of hardship,

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free of heartbreak? Render us happy? Put another

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way, are we happy when we experience pleasure

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and avoid pain? Well, yes. No one in their right

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mind would ever wish to be unhappy. But in the

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world you will have tribulation, be of good cheer,

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be blessed. I have overcome the world, says the

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Savior. Christmas, circumcision, the cutting

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away of sin. the entering into the water of baptism,

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the remembrance of that blessed day. We enter

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into the Savior's peace, the blessedness that

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does not come from our resolutions or from occasional

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happiness. No, we start on the road and we're

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going to get to where we're going. Just recall

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this. I'll leave you with this thought. The Beatitudes

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are full of blessings for us. The height, the

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pinnacle of that, is blessed are the pure in

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heart, for they shall see God. Christmas, when

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we remember that we may not be bearing the image

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of God as purely as we should, and we may not

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be seeing God, is the time when we reach out,

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perhaps to those who Are like the least of these,

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my brethren. You want to see Christ? They're

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out there. We can minister to those folks. You'll

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see God. You'll see God in each other. If you

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refuse to look at that person's sin and their

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failures in the Christian life, you'll see God

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right here. You'll see God in the chalice. You'll

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see God when you pray in your heart. So brothers

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and sisters, we rejoice today. We start fresh

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on the new year. We ask for God's blessing. We

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start with forgiveness from one another, repentance,

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and turning on that new road. May God grant us

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the vision that he promises to those who are

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blessed. Amen.