WEBVTT 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:12.320 Christ is risen. He is risen. Well, we have heard 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:18.539 the last of the Paschal Seeds and Gospels. And 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:20.980 like that of last Sunday, it was quite long. 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:26.780 John chapter 9, verse 1 through 38. It was only 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:33.219 missing three verses at the end. I'll read them 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:37.420 for you because I think they're important. After 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:41.100 all this happened, Jesus said, for judgment, 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:44.380 remember, judgment is God setting things right. 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:47.100 That's good for those who've been oppressed, 00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:53.179 who are poor, who are in fear and anxiety. It's 00:00:53.179 --> 00:00:56.119 bad for those who do the oppression, who are 00:00:56.119 --> 00:01:03.210 rich without generosity, who lord it over. Judgment 00:01:03.210 --> 00:01:07.049 is good if you need it. For judgment I am coming 00:01:07.049 --> 00:01:10.750 to this world that they which see not might see. 00:01:11.689 --> 00:01:14.489 Jesus is the one who enlightens us. We don't 00:01:14.489 --> 00:01:18.209 see. The hymn says, again, we are to identify 00:01:18.209 --> 00:01:21.370 ourselves with this blind man. That's hard for 00:01:21.370 --> 00:01:28.170 us to do because we think we see. They that which 00:01:28.170 --> 00:01:32.640 see not might see. And they which see, might 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:36.439 be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.280 were with him heard these words and said to him, 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.299 Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:45.439 were blind, in other words, if you didn't know 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:49.819 any better, you wouldn't have sin. You'd catch 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:54.739 a break. But now you say we see. Therefore your 00:01:54.739 --> 00:02:02.099 sin remains. This long gospel... No means tedious 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:06.239 or boring. No, these are words of life, words 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.080 of illumination, directed particularly to those 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:11.840 newly baptized, but to the rest of us who are 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.479 interested in renewing that baptismal grace. 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:18.000 Words which lead us to understand Jesus Christ 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:22.860 and ourself a little bit more. It's important 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:28.020 to say also today that while the Paschal season 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:33.870 is ending, Actually, it's not ending. It's coming 00:02:33.870 --> 00:02:38.750 to a culmination. A fulfillment. Leave -taking 00:02:38.750 --> 00:02:44.789 on Tuesday night. The vigil for Ascension on 00:02:44.789 --> 00:02:48.310 Wednesday night. The liturgy for Ascension on 00:02:48.310 --> 00:02:52.250 Thursday morning. And then ultimately, Pentecost. 00:02:52.270 --> 00:02:55.710 The 50th day after Pentecost. The gift of the 00:02:55.710 --> 00:02:58.050 Holy Spirit. That's why I say it's a culmination. 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.500 Everything comes together on those feast days. 00:03:04.460 --> 00:03:07.620 Ascension is Thursday. People work on Thursday. 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:10.780 People go to school on Thursday. Ascension is 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:14.099 the semi -forgotten, one of the most great and 00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:17.639 awesome feasts of the church, and yet somewhat 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:22.599 neglected. So think about that. I want to speak 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:27.830 about... To narrow things down today because 00:03:27.830 --> 00:03:32.330 there's so much going on in this gospel. So much 00:03:32.330 --> 00:03:35.310 going on. The interrogation, the cross -examination, 00:03:35.449 --> 00:03:38.509 the deposition of the parents. Oh, we don't know 00:03:38.509 --> 00:03:41.009 and we can't tell you anything. Yeah, he's our 00:03:41.009 --> 00:03:43.710 son. You ask him yourself. Things like that. 00:03:46.389 --> 00:03:48.849 What I want to talk about is very simple. Two 00:03:48.849 --> 00:03:52.710 things. The first is this. The Savior's healing 00:03:52.710 --> 00:03:56.539 of this blind man. He had the condition of having 00:03:56.539 --> 00:04:00.759 no eyeballs. The Savior's healing was not in 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:06.259 response to this man's faith, was it? It was 00:04:06.259 --> 00:04:10.759 in response to this man's need. And it was freely 00:04:10.759 --> 00:04:16.259 and lovingly given. The man did nothing at all. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.319 And God came to him, our Lord Jesus Christ, our 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:24.600 Savior and our God, taking mud. With his spit. 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:29.519 Dust. And putting it. And fashion. Reminds us 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.899 of Genesis. Where God takes dust from the earth. 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:38.300 And fashions us. Everything. Without question. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:46.300 Did you know that? God loves everyone. Infinitely. 00:04:47.379 --> 00:04:51.699 No matter what. Without question. No strings 00:04:51.699 --> 00:04:55.949 attached. God loves everyone. And the resurrection, 00:04:56.389 --> 00:05:00.610 which is the healing of our body and the soul, 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:05.310 the rising from the dead, and illumination in 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:09.930 this life, is a gift granted to every single 00:05:09.930 --> 00:05:15.449 person. Each and every person. And until the 00:05:15.449 --> 00:05:19.189 day of resurrection, we do suffer. We travail. 00:05:20.689 --> 00:05:25.259 We're in pain. We're in uncertainty. I assure 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:29.180 you, like St. Paul, we know that the whole creation 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:32.800 groans and labors with birth pangs together until 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.220 now. Not only that, but we also who have the 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.699 first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves 00:05:38.699 --> 00:05:41.879 groan within ourselves eagerly awaiting the adoption, 00:05:42.180 --> 00:05:45.339 the redemption of the body, the resurrection. 00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:51.399 The man didn't earn a healing, but he did respond. 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:55.560 And that's the key. He did respond. That's what 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:59.879 faith is. It's a response in action. Certainly, 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:06.199 not mainly, but certainly, this response is not 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:11.399 an intellectual response, not a rational acceptance 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:15.259 of what God has done and who he is and what the 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:20.329 church is all about. When you say, I believe 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:26.889 in one God. Can you explain that? Because God 00:06:26.889 --> 00:06:31.569 is ineffable, eternal, beyond our conception. 00:06:33.769 --> 00:06:39.069 It's a statement which requires then our faithfulness, 00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:44.269 our action. For this man, understanding comes 00:06:44.269 --> 00:06:47.250 later. Just like the reading from Acts, this 00:06:47.250 --> 00:06:50.910 man in the jail, the jailer. He's frightened 00:06:50.910 --> 00:06:53.389 because his life is on the line, because the 00:06:53.389 --> 00:06:55.949 prisoners are escaping. And what does he say? 00:06:56.110 --> 00:06:59.089 Sirs, says to St. Paul and Silas, what must I 00:06:59.089 --> 00:07:03.350 do to be saved? And by the way, what do you think 00:07:03.350 --> 00:07:08.870 he means by saved? He means saved from destruction. 00:07:10.889 --> 00:07:14.519 That's what he means in this world. but also 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:17.220 in the life of the age to come. So they say, 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:20.860 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will 00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:24.199 be saved. You and your house of belief, he says, 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:28.600 as in follow, be faithful, trust, do the commandments, 00:07:28.939 --> 00:07:33.300 respond to God, love God above all, worship God, 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.800 pray to God, forgive your enemy, all these things. 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:41.139 These are acts of faithfulness, not some kind 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:44.620 of intellectual mind game. About what the faith 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:50.819 is. And this is how the man that was born blind. 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:54.740 When he begins to see. And this is a pathway. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.720 This is an image for us of the path of the Christian 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:04.160 life. We become illumined. We become understanding. 00:08:04.819 --> 00:08:09.680 Or we refuse. Notice it's the religious leaders 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:15.339 that say. White is black. The sky is not blue. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:18.939 It's raining. John doesn't have a blue shirt 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:23.139 on. It's green. They refuse to accept the truth. 00:08:24.180 --> 00:08:28.379 Who is standing in front of them? Jesus, the 00:08:28.379 --> 00:08:32.919 way, and the truth. What do we want to be like? 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:39.340 We want to be like this man. Not like his parents. 00:08:39.620 --> 00:08:44.019 No. God says through the prophet Isaiah, Be ye 00:08:44.019 --> 00:08:48.000 my witnesses, says the Lord God, and my servant 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.019 whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe 00:08:52.019 --> 00:08:55.220 and understand that I am he. Before me there 00:08:55.220 --> 00:08:57.600 was no other God, and after me there shall be 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.879 none. What does this mean? It means to not be 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:03.580 like these parents of this man, looking to protect 00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:09.659 yourself, because the truth will cost you. It 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:12.330 means... What Isaiah is saying to be illumined 00:09:12.330 --> 00:09:17.590 by God in your soul. To have gentleness and care. 00:09:18.090 --> 00:09:24.210 So that you become a modern day blind man. Or 00:09:24.210 --> 00:09:29.850 a woman at the well. Or the paralyzed man by 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:35.509 the pool. Each with a story to tell. Each a miracle 00:09:35.509 --> 00:09:40.149 you've witnessed. Each a gift of grace. That 00:09:40.149 --> 00:09:46.129 we've experienced. Tell these things. At the 00:09:46.129 --> 00:09:49.269 right time. At the right place. With the right 00:09:49.269 --> 00:09:53.129 words. To the right person. The good things that 00:09:53.129 --> 00:09:58.350 God has done for me. For you. Here in the church. 00:09:59.169 --> 00:10:03.169 Well. We're fine with our displays. Of religious 00:10:03.169 --> 00:10:09.110 devotion. And love. Let me ask you a question. 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:14.220 What about when you're in public, in a restaurant? 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.620 Do you thank God for your food, or is it one 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:26.100 of these? So nobody sees. I'll tell you a story. 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:34.340 It seems trivial. Watching basketball playoffs 00:10:34.340 --> 00:10:39.710 a few years back, major star from Serbia. sat 00:10:39.710 --> 00:10:44.049 down on the bench to rest. Someone handed him 00:10:44.049 --> 00:10:48.710 a water bottle. He looked at it, he made the 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:53.629 sign of the cross, like that, and drank the water 00:10:53.629 --> 00:10:57.169 with thanksgiving to God, with millions of people 00:10:57.169 --> 00:11:02.409 watching him. It seems trivial, I know, but let's 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:05.350 do better than that then, brothers and sisters. 00:11:06.110 --> 00:11:10.639 What about at work? What about your choices in 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:15.360 life? What about, as my friend Father Tom Sirocco 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:20.220 says, the P word, politics. Does our faith inform 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:23.700 our politics, or does our politics inform our 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:31.500 faith? Beloved, you exist to bring glory to God, 00:11:31.559 --> 00:11:35.320 that the works of God may be made manifest in 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:38.809 you. You bring glory to God best, not when everything 00:11:38.809 --> 00:11:43.049 is going well, and you are healthy, and your 00:11:43.049 --> 00:11:45.090 life is full of pleasure. That's what we want, 00:11:45.250 --> 00:11:49.450 and when it comes, it's a blessing. We bring 00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:51.970 glory to God not when we question and accuse 00:11:51.970 --> 00:11:54.769 God of lacking care for creation. You bring glory 00:11:54.769 --> 00:11:57.730 to God best when those times are difficult, when 00:11:57.730 --> 00:12:01.309 you have to defend the truth and stand up for 00:12:01.309 --> 00:12:06.549 what is correct in the church. When suffering 00:12:06.549 --> 00:12:10.990 intrudes, when sorrows come, that's when you 00:12:10.990 --> 00:12:15.169 glorify God. I'll end with these words from Metropolitan 00:12:15.169 --> 00:12:21.750 Archbishop Seraphim of Zimbabwe, something Fred 00:12:21.750 --> 00:12:26.210 sent to me yesterday. This reading and all those 00:12:26.210 --> 00:12:28.830 that we have heard and hopefully absorbed during 00:12:28.830 --> 00:12:32.090 the Paschal season, you know they're all about 00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:35.320 baptism. They're all about the change of life, 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:39.919 all about commitment to follow in Christ on purpose, 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:45.519 about living his life. Thy kingdom come on earth 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:50.320 within me as it is in heaven. Here's what the 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.080 Bishop Seraphim says. Let us hope that the miracle 00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:55.720 which opened the eyes of a blind man by birth 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:58.740 will also open our eyes, that we might be driven 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.899 to repentance through our course. Towards the 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:05.659 holy sacrament of confession. Which will be realistically 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:11.639 expressed. In our particular orientation in our 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:16.360 daily life. Hence our blindness stops. When we 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:19.019 live within the boundaries of the sacramental 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:24.019 life of the church. That I believe. Put your 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:28.080 trust in the process of holiness that the church 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:32.220 has given us. Be illumined. Christ is risen.