WEBVTT

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

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of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. Last

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night, we were blessed with a visit from Abbot

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Sergius from St. Ticon's Monastery. And I mention

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that right now because of the great gift he brought

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to us. When you come up and kiss the cross later,

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you should come. over here and see this holy

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relic that's been given to the church. To our

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church of St. Seraphim's has been given a piece

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of the Montia that was worn by St. Seraphim himself.

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And what a blessing it is for us to have that.

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So when you come later, make sure that you come

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and have that blessing upon you of being with

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it. Well, today's gospel reading from St. Luke

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tells us of a blind man. And this blind man lived

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near Jericho. And he sat by that road that went

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into the city of Jericho as a beggar. He could

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not earn his own living. He could not see. He

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depended on others to help him. And this blind

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man heard a commotion. on the road, a large group

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passing by. And so he asked those near, what

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is it? What's going on? And he was told that

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Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Jesus, the

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one through whom miracles had occurred. Jesus

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had healed 10 leopards. Perhaps he could heal

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blindness too. And so this blind beggar on the

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road near Jericho called out these words. Jesus,

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son of David, have mercy on me. And he shouted

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so much that those around him told him to be

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quiet. Come on, stop that. And yet he knew this

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was his chance. And he did not listen. to those

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around him. Instead, he cried out all the more,

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son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus heard.

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And when they came together, Jesus asked him,

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what do you want me to do for you? And he said,

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Lord, that I may receive my sight. And then Jesus

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said to him, receive your sight. Your faith has

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made you well. Imagine. being that man who had

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been a long time in darkness. He had never really

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seen with the senses of sight anyway. With his

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sight, he had never seen light. He had never

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had his eyes realize colors. And yet, at that

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moment when Jesus healed him, he was illuminated.

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He could see all these things. And how did he

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respond? Well, he gave glory to God and he followed

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Jesus. And all the people, when they saw it,

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they gave praise to God too. I have never been

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physically blind, but there was a time years

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ago when I was spiritually blind. My vision for

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spiritual things was obscured. Yes, he is the

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creator of the invisible as well as the visible.

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And I just looked at the visible. And I knew

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there was invisible, but I ignored it and didn't

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want to see it. It was like a window that had

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mud smeared on it. And yet, that mud can be washed

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away. Vision can come. The blind man... He had

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his chance to draw close to Jesus and he took

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action and he got healed. He did not care what

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other people thought. That did not keep him away

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from coming to Jesus. He knew that Jesus could

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heal him. He cried out. He drew close to the

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Lord and he was healed and his life was changed

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forever. And this happened to me. It's happened

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to countless people with not physical blindness,

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but spiritual blindness. It can happen for anyone.

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God wills it for every single person that is

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living today, that they would be cured of spiritual

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blindness. Saint Tikhon of Zidane says of this,

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You see a blind man who cannot see his way, does

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not know where he is going, cannot see anything

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in front of him, and cannot see the ditch into

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which he is about to fall. Turn your meditation

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from this occasion to spiritual blindness. The

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sinner struck by such blindness similarly cannot

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see good and evil, does not know where he is

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going, and does not see his own destruction into

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which he is about to fall. Woeful is bodily blindness,

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but spiritual blindness is the most woeful. But

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just in the same way that physical blindness

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can be healed and was healed by Christ, so we

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are healed of our spiritual blindness. When we

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come to the Lord, that man near Jericho cried,

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have mercy on me, and that is the same thing

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that we need to cry. We need to come to the Lord

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with a humble heart, realizing our fall, our

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mistakes, confessing them to him, and beginning

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the process of sanctification. It's about coming

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to the Lord Jesus Christ with humility, knowing

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that we have sinned, knowing that the Lord can

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make it right, and then living it. You know,

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some people will not do that because they're

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worried about what other people around them will

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say. What if I said I am a Christian and I go

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to church on Sunday? How would these other people,

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what would they think? What would they do? Well,

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it's been said that in America, we sometimes

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spend money we don't have to buy things we don't

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need to impress people we don't like. May that

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not be true of you and of me. The blind man had

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faith in Jesus and got to him. So, too, we must

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ignore the crowds and the naysayers and those

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that might judge us. and ignore it, and get to

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Jesus. The cure for spiritual blindness is to

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come to our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

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with faith, to be baptized and chrismated. But

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we know sometimes the window of our soul can

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become covered with a mud from sin that has come

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into our lives. We know we need confession. We

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need to come and even after baptism, there's

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much that has to be done in us by God to sanctify

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us. So we need to come and confess and have that

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window of our soul washed clean and so that our

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eyes can be opened in a way that would prevent

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us to get beyond sin, to break the chains of

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anything that would be an addiction, to move

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on. closer to God, and to be like that blind

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man who gives praise to God and follows, he follows

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Jesus because he knows where the source of life

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and light is. Last Sunday at Theophany, we heard

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the answer to everything in the gospel for that

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day when Jesus called all to repent. That's all

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we need to do. God will do everything else as

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long as our attitude towards him is one of repentance

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and want to follow him. And let us strive to

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do that. Let us follow our Lord and God and Savior,

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Jesus Christ. Glory to Jesus Christ.