WEBVTT 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:09.140 And so we begin. We begin this journey of ours 00:00:09.140 --> 00:00:13.460 towards the resurrection. And from the very beginning, 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.820 from the onset of everything, Christ puts before 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:24.100 us what is at stake. And it is very important 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:28.710 to pay attention to that. We begin. this time 00:00:28.710 --> 00:00:32.070 of preparation and we are being told from the 00:00:32.070 --> 00:00:36.189 very beginning what we are preparing for. And 00:00:36.189 --> 00:00:39.350 that is we are preparing for the last judgment. 00:00:39.689 --> 00:00:44.310 We are preparing our state, our being, our eternal 00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:48.009 fate as it shall be decided at the last judgment. 00:00:48.250 --> 00:00:54.030 Nothing less than that. Lent is not about being 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:58.280 kinder in a general way to people. Lent is not 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:02.280 about a diet of sorts. Lent is about nothing 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:07.700 but the eternal outcome of our life here on earth. 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:10.739 And it's important, I think, especially for us 00:01:10.739 --> 00:01:14.840 today to remember this, because in a strange, 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:18.319 perverse way, I think we've become a bit too 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:22.780 civilized to talk about the final judgment. or 00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:25.739 to talk about the devil, or to talk about condemnation. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.400 We've become so nuanced or so complex, so full 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:33.159 of ourselves ultimately, that these have become 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.359 antiquated notions, something that has to do 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:40.420 with times long past that do not affect us anymore. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:45.079 I remember once when I was traveling to the south 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:48.930 of England. and there was a tiny beautiful church 00:01:48.930 --> 00:01:52.430 where they had just discovered underneath the 00:01:52.430 --> 00:01:55.909 many layers of whitewash they had discovered 00:01:55.909 --> 00:02:00.709 the iconography that was hiding behind the oldest 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:04.489 layer that was hidden by the local people at 00:02:04.489 --> 00:02:07.609 the reformation they refused to take it down 00:02:07.609 --> 00:02:10.669 as it had been commanded to them and instead 00:02:10.669 --> 00:02:13.629 they just covered it with whitewash and they'd 00:02:13.629 --> 00:02:17.710 forgotten it was there And I've asked the local 00:02:17.710 --> 00:02:21.270 minister about that. And I said, without any 00:02:21.270 --> 00:02:24.150 intention of any sorts to look for an argument. 00:02:24.349 --> 00:02:26.770 You know, it's beyond arguments at this point. 00:02:26.810 --> 00:02:32.030 But how does it sit within yourself to preach 00:02:32.030 --> 00:02:36.069 against iconography in a church where you're 00:02:36.069 --> 00:02:39.229 surrounded by iconography? So it is so obvious 00:02:39.229 --> 00:02:43.169 that your ancestors clearly used icons in their 00:02:43.169 --> 00:02:49.909 prayer life. And the answer was, we now know 00:02:49.909 --> 00:02:58.030 better. And with that, a chasm, a cut between 00:02:58.030 --> 00:03:02.789 true faith, true Christianity, and what they 00:03:02.789 --> 00:03:06.490 are experiencing today was created. And in a 00:03:06.490 --> 00:03:09.949 subtle way, although we don't actually allow 00:03:09.949 --> 00:03:13.530 ourselves to say it. The same thing I've seen 00:03:13.530 --> 00:03:16.650 in confession amongst the Orthodox Church. Slowly, 00:03:16.689 --> 00:03:20.090 slowly, the devil is managing to trick us into 00:03:20.090 --> 00:03:23.729 thinking that he's nothing but the creation of 00:03:23.729 --> 00:03:26.270 our minds, a figment of our own imagination. 00:03:26.750 --> 00:03:30.009 And so we become almost ashamed when we give 00:03:30.009 --> 00:03:33.319 witness to our faith. to include things such 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:37.099 as the devil or the idea of a judgment, an actual 00:03:37.099 --> 00:03:40.020 moment of judgment when people are going to be 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:43.020 split between those who are righteous and those 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:45.800 who are sinful, between those who go into heavens 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:48.879 in eternity and those who go into hell for eternity. 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:53.939 We've become too complex somehow. Much better. 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:58.300 We know much better today so we can leave aside 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:02.550 these antiquated notions. And yet here we are 00:04:02.550 --> 00:04:06.009 in the Orthodox Church this year like every single 00:04:06.009 --> 00:04:09.810 year of the 2 ,000 that have passed since Christ's 00:04:09.810 --> 00:04:13.569 crucifixion, with the Church teaching us that 00:04:13.569 --> 00:04:18.589 the entry into Lent is bringing back before our 00:04:18.589 --> 00:04:22.990 minds this central truth that the time will come 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:27.389 for every single one of us to face God's judgment. 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:31.420 and that there are two possible outcomes as clear 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:37.259 as black and white. This is what the Church places 00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:41.500 before our eyes today. And as it does that, it 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:44.819 also places before our eyes what I was trying 00:04:44.819 --> 00:04:49.420 to tell you yesterday, the height of our calling 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:53.839 at the end of that judgment and the depth of 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:57.949 what it means to fail that calling. When Christ 00:04:57.949 --> 00:05:01.250 says to those on the right side that they've 00:05:01.250 --> 00:05:05.069 done the right thing, he says, go now into the 00:05:05.069 --> 00:05:07.689 kingdom which has been prepared for you since 00:05:07.689 --> 00:05:11.449 the creation of the world. And it's in those 00:05:11.449 --> 00:05:15.709 words that you see the aim, the purpose for which 00:05:15.709 --> 00:05:19.569 God has created us. When he created the first 00:05:19.569 --> 00:05:23.050 human being, and in that first human being, all 00:05:23.050 --> 00:05:27.709 of us, The purpose, the aim, was to join this 00:05:27.709 --> 00:05:32.709 kingdom of heaven which was created for us from 00:05:32.709 --> 00:05:37.110 the creation of the world. And the depth of the 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:40.649 failure to fulfill that calling in ourselves 00:05:40.649 --> 00:05:45.550 is also in this gospel today. We shall join the 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:49.050 demons who go in the darkness prepared for them. 00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:53.420 Mind you, Christ doesn't say it was a darkness 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:56.639 that was prepared for us, but for the devil. 00:05:56.899 --> 00:05:59.779 And he doesn't even say that it's a darkness 00:05:59.779 --> 00:06:02.420 that was prepared for the devil since the creation 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:05.879 of the world. Because when God created the devil, 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:09.899 the devil was supposed in God's hope and love 00:06:09.899 --> 00:06:13.220 to join him with everything he created in that 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:17.029 kingdom. It's because of the free will which 00:06:17.029 --> 00:06:20.610 was badly exercised by the devil that darkness 00:06:20.610 --> 00:06:24.430 had to be created, not with the creation of the 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:28.389 world, but later on after the fall of the evil 00:06:28.389 --> 00:06:34.110 one. We learn today with no uncertain terms that 00:06:34.110 --> 00:06:37.670 there is a judgment awaiting us. We learn today 00:06:37.670 --> 00:06:42.120 that God's hope for us, the purpose of his creation 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:45.720 is there from the very beginning to join him, 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:50.120 to be one with him in that kingdom prepared for 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:54.899 us from the moment of creation. And we learn 00:06:54.899 --> 00:06:58.759 that to fail that is to join the devil in the 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:03.839 darkness created for him, not for us. And we 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:08.300 also learn what is the criterion. What is that 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:12.019 one thing that will work as the criterion that 00:07:12.019 --> 00:07:15.120 will spin some of us to Christ's right side and 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:19.759 others to the left side? And that is love. It 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:25.839 is so clear. It is love in no high philosophical 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:31.060 terms. Love manifested in any way that is available 00:07:31.060 --> 00:07:36.189 to us. From a good word to a good meal. to visiting 00:07:36.189 --> 00:07:39.649 someone who's in prison, to giving some comfort 00:07:39.649 --> 00:07:42.870 to those who are in pain, who are grieving, who 00:07:42.870 --> 00:07:49.889 are in bereavement. Love. Not self -fulfillment. 00:07:50.329 --> 00:07:55.629 Not a love that builds you up, but a love, if 00:07:55.629 --> 00:07:58.230 you pay attention, that means doing something 00:07:58.230 --> 00:08:04.300 for the other. As Saint Silouan... puts it much, 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:07.879 much clearer for our minds today. Our brother 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:12.660 or our sister is our salvation or our perdition. 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:17.720 If we go through life trying to simply affirm 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.600 ourselves and to use the others to affirm ourselves, 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:27.300 there's no sacrificial love in there. There's 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:31.459 nothing done for the other. Pay attention to 00:08:31.459 --> 00:08:34.059 the examples that are placed before us today. 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:38.419 It's all about love manifested for the sake of 00:08:38.419 --> 00:08:41.639 another. It's always doing something for another. 00:08:41.940 --> 00:08:44.919 It's always taking something of yourself, your 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:48.559 time, your mood, because you're not always in 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:52.200 the mood to help someone. You're not always strong 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:55.600 enough yourself to be able to strengthen someone 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:00.509 else. But you have to take from yourself, even 00:09:00.509 --> 00:09:03.450 when it doesn't come easy, and even when you 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:06.309 don't have it, because God will give it to you. 00:09:06.450 --> 00:09:10.929 You have to take from yourself your mood, your 00:09:10.929 --> 00:09:15.870 food, your time, and give it, sacrifice it for 00:09:15.870 --> 00:09:20.330 the other. And I know that from my monastery. 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:25.740 I know that without always creating space, by 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:30.059 denying myself space, so that the others of my 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:34.039 community can find who they are, so that they 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.220 can become the holy people God created them to 00:09:37.220 --> 00:09:43.460 be, without me doing that, I fail in my obedience 00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:47.440 towards God. And you, because I imagine most 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:50.379 of you are married, know that from your own marriages. 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:55.259 If your marriage becomes about you, affirming 00:09:55.259 --> 00:09:58.399 yourself through the other, that is no longer 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:02.120 a marriage anyway. A marriage, if you remember, 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:06.980 you have all walked around that holy table with 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:10.899 the gospel, singing to the holy martyrs. Not 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:14.740 any other saints, but the martyrs. Because through 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:19.639 marriage, each spouse is martyred for the salvation. 00:10:20.909 --> 00:10:24.850 The affirmation of the other one, the brother 00:10:24.850 --> 00:10:29.970 and the sister that has become a spouse. There 00:10:29.970 --> 00:10:34.129 are, and I'll finish with this, there are two 00:10:34.129 --> 00:10:37.990 dynamics in this world. They've always been here 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:40.450 and they will be here until the end of time. 00:10:41.210 --> 00:10:44.649 There's a dynamic of salvation and there's a 00:10:44.649 --> 00:10:50.950 dynamic of perdition, of destruction. Christ, 00:10:51.429 --> 00:10:55.730 when you look at the world as seen through Christ's 00:10:55.730 --> 00:11:01.070 eyes and you pick and choose of the truth, you 00:11:01.070 --> 00:11:04.350 select that which fits you and you let aside 00:11:04.350 --> 00:11:08.090 that that doesn't fit you, that troubles you 00:11:08.090 --> 00:11:11.429 or pains you or challenges you, then you are 00:11:11.429 --> 00:11:17.309 not joining the dynamics of salvation. The dynamics 00:11:17.309 --> 00:11:19.889 of salvation is to pick and choose of yourself 00:11:19.889 --> 00:11:25.690 that which fits the description of a holy man 00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:29.009 or a holy woman, and to fight against those parts 00:11:29.009 --> 00:11:32.549 of yourself that do not fit that description, 00:11:32.830 --> 00:11:38.190 that vision. One dynamics is us striving our 00:11:38.190 --> 00:11:43.669 whole life to become God -like. to join that 00:11:43.669 --> 00:11:47.889 image, to make us grow into the image of God. 00:11:48.389 --> 00:11:52.830 And the other dynamic is to try to make God and 00:11:52.830 --> 00:11:57.549 those around us and the world fit our own fallen 00:11:57.549 --> 00:12:02.370 image. And if we become like God, we shall join 00:12:02.370 --> 00:12:05.970 God in the kingdom. If we become like the world, 00:12:06.289 --> 00:12:10.149 we shall join the world into its fallenness. 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:17.759 We start today the journey towards the cross, 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:22.799 my dear ones, towards the cross and nothing else. 00:12:23.539 --> 00:12:28.879 Without allowing that cross to crucify who you 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.940 are in this world, you'll never learn who you 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:35.679 are in the resurrection. Because there is no 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:40.159 other gate, there is no other path towards the 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:44.419 light. of the resurrection except the darkness 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:51.759 and the suffering of the cross. I pray that when 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:58.740 the time comes your Christ is risen here and 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:03.720 our Christ is risen far far away in the Scottish 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:08.740 Isles will sound strong and powerful and will 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:11.639 be heard all the way up to heavens, and even 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:15.179 more importantly, all the way down to hell, bringing 00:13:15.179 --> 00:13:18.759 the good news of the resurrection and a hope 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:23.340 of salvation, even to those who are trapped down 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:28.080 there in that pain. Amen, my dear ones. Amen.