WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The moat around the

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altar, it's not really a moat. You could come

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up closer if you like. There's no danger. There's

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no danger there. I congratulate all of you. I

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wish many years on the occasion of this, our

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parish feast. I congratulate the choir members,

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choir master, with my gratitude, profound thanks.

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It's also the feast of the choir. You have the

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Fresco of St. Romanos, the melodist. His memory

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is celebrated today. He's there watching the

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whole thing, make sure that it's done right and

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they do it right. We have some Paschal joy today

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because of this feast. May God send each of you

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and all your families great blessing and joy

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and peace and the protection of the Theotokos.

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You know, we have two churches on this church

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property. This is the church dedicated to the

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memory under the patronage of St. Seraphim of

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Sarov since 1996. But we have a small church.

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Founded 87 years ago in this place by a group

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of Orthodox people who found this property on

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this still dusty road near the main drag at that

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time into Santa Rosa. The parish is still named

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after the protection of the Holy Virgin. And

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this is the feast day today that we celebrate.

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That church was built and blessed in 1936. I

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believe only the altar table was consecrated,

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not the whole church, as far as I could determine.

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But the parish was named for the Feast of the

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Protection of the Holy Virgin, placed under her

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care. And again, this is the feast that we celebrate

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today with gratitude to God, to the Theotokos,

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and to our founders. It's my contention. that

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the health of a parish can be determined by many

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things. Of course, you've got the external things.

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You've got the budget. You've got the beautiful

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programs and the beautiful buildings and the

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wonderful people. But the health, and those are

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all good, the health of the parish can be, especially

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one dedicated to the Theotokos, can be found

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in how the members of the church Keep the celebrations

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of the feast days of the All -Holy Lady Theotokos,

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year in and year out. And so let this feast be

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the beginning of that for the rest of the year.

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Our feast is about an event that happened in

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the year 9 -11. That's an easy number to remember.

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Some say... It could have been different, but

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9 -11 AD. It's been a long time since then. We've

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all had a chance to read up on what the feast

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is since that time. So I'm not going to tell

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you, except in the briefest terms, about it.

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That the city of Constantinople was being attacked

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by Scythian warriors from the north, barbarians.

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There was an all -night vigil service in the

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church called the Church of the Black Cairni,

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the church dedicated to the Virgin. And during

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that service, a man, he was a fool for Christ.

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That's a certain category of saints. They seem

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to do strange things, but they always work out.

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This man, named Andrew, beheld. In the air, a

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vision of the Theotokos, shimmering vision, holding

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a veil. In those days, the veil was not this

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light thing that goes over the head, like we

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see some of us wearing. It was, it sounds a little

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too, you know, crude, but it was like a poncho.

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It was heavy. Protection against the elements.

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And St. Andrew beheld, look at the icon in the

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middle, you see the whole scene, beheld the Most

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Holy Virgin in the air, tearfully praying for

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Christians and the city for a long time. Then

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coming near the bishop's throne, that is in the

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altar, she continued her prayer. And St. Andrew,

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who saw this vision, saintly bishops with her.

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angels, apostles. Well, look at the icon. You

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see it there. He asked his friend, Epiphanius,

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do you see this? And he said, yes, Father, I

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see it, and I'm amazed. And during the vision,

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the attack of the Scythians simply fell apart.

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It just completely, utterly fragmented. So...

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The memory of that event in 9 -11, it was remembered.

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Of course it was remembered. Something so incredible,

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something that hasn't happened since, it could

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not be forgotten. And now it's in the life of

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the church as a feast day and our feast day here

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in this church, dedicated to St. Seraphim, in

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this parish, dedicated to the protection of the

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Virgin Mary. 1 ,100 years later. Almost every

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Sunday we sing these words. Today the Virgin

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stands forth in the church and invisibly with

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the choirs of saints prays to God for us. Now

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for a moment. Think. To many people, will Christians

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seem... Absolutely unreasonable these days to

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many people. But this story sounds fantastical

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to many people. The hymns are nice, but the experience

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is very foreign. We say these words, and I believe

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them. The Virgin stands forth in the church today

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praying for us. We say them, but we don't experience,

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we don't see it. We're far from the spiritual

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world most of the time. Why is that? I can only

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speak for myself. Perhaps it's the same for some

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of you. We don't enter very deeply into prayer.

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We pursue things that are not good for us. And

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about prayer, you know, we will never acquire

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quality without some investment of quantity.

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We can't shortchange ourself. We find it very

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hard to stop, like Martha in that fresco, and

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contemplate the words of the Lord. To contemplate

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nature and God's hand in it. To contemplate our

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own death. Oh yes, we'll have an event like last

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week with the funeral of Tom Pelzer, and we all

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think about that, and then we're done for a while.

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When we should contemplate... The end of our

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life and the beginning and the life of the age

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to come and the resurrection and the glorious

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appearing of our Lord daily because we say in

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the creed, I look for the resurrection of the

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dead. I await it. I anticipate it and the life

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of the age to come. I suppose many of us are

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just too spiritually exhausted and our attention,

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our spiritual attention is so fragmented often

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by our own poor choices. It's not just that we

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work too much. We have organized distractions.

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And so we end up being cynical sometimes, anxious,

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questioning of God, but without actually seeking

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to find in God the answer, to pray, to struggle,

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to enter into God's answer to his presence. We

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are not giving him the chance to speak to us.

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We're not like Mary, who chose the better part.

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God's language is silence, and we're afraid of

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silence. We don't seek silence. We can't abide

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it for long. But that's where we're going to

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receive from God the answers that we need. Spiritual

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world is sort of blurred out for us. It's obscured.

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It's out of focus. Today the Virgin stands fourth

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in the church. Sounds nice, but it's not our

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experience because we're not there with her where

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we should be. Nevertheless, I say again, I accept

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with complete veracity the reality of that event

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in the year 9 -11. It happened once, it hasn't

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happened again. But that event is a validation.

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It's an acceptance, a joyful, incredibly joyful

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pulling back of the veil which focuses our hearts

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and our attentions on the reality of heaven and

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that which is to come. that there is an unbreakable

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bond, an unending bond between the heavenly and

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the earthly. That's why we come to divine liturgy.

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One body of the church, the pillar and the ground

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of the truth, the place of the meeting with God

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and man, where we receive the medicine of immortality

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in the Eucharist. Where we're united to the Father

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through the Son by the Holy Spirit in our baptism.

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Where we carry the cross and we proclaim the

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cross and we live by the cross. This whole feast

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is as if it's a continuation, confirmation. That

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until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in

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glory, and we say, Christ is in our midst because

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he is. When he appears in glory and the world

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is healed and we are resurrected and we are deified,

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then we will enter into the one ceaseless, untiring

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prayer of the Theotokos and the saints before

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the throne of God. What else could we mean when

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we sing at the funeral? and the panikida, that

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their souls shall dwell with the blessed. Again,

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what's a healthy parish? All these things I'm

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talking about, but one that loves the Theotokos,

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and after God, all its members, not just as a

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body, but each of us individually at home in

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our life, place ourselves under her protection.

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Not just in the sign out front, which is good.

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Not just in singing various hymns, which is even

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better. But by a warm and lively interaction

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with the Theotokos through prayer. Following

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the Lord. Remember his words. Blessed are they

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that hear the word of God and do it. On this

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feast, we commit ourselves, we commend ourselves

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and one another, one another, to this great vision

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of prayer and celebration and joy, giving thanks

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to God for those who founded this holy place.

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Could we do the same now? We should ask ourselves

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that. In any case, I wish you all many years

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and the most joyful of feast days. I'm so glad

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that we can have it this year on a Sunday when

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we can all gather together. Thank you all.