WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ. Well, you won't move closer

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to me, so I'll move closer to you. In the name

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of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

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Spirit. Amen. I find it very interesting and

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comforting, too, this thought that if you're

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at a store, doctor's office, waiting room, at

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this time of year, December. On the speaker is,

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well, my doctors at my dentist's office, thank

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God it was Ella Fitzgerald, who's a legit and

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wonderful musician, but it's songs like Let It

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Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, and Up on the

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Rooftop, and all of these songs. Getting us ready

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for Christmas. And then you have, if you turn

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on the news, the horrible, the terrible chaos

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going on in the Middle East and Syria, especially

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right now, and the war in Ukraine and other places.

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But in the church, we come here, and you're not

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going to hear... Pointless songs, even if it's

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Ella Fitzgerald, her magnificent voice about

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snow, you're going to have your attention, if

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we listen, directed towards something we need

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to hear for the healing of our soul so we can

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actually approach Christmas, the birth of Christ,

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in a worthy manner, in a joyful manner, even

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sorrowing. for all this chaos and the profoundly

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suffering world, we can still rejoice at the

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same time as we sorrow. The church teaches us

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how to do that because the church is a spiritual

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hospital. Some people don't know their patience.

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That's one problem. But for those who ask God

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to reveal... There's sins to them. The church

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will take us who are fallen, sick, confused human

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beings who suffer from all kinds of destructive

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passions and sins and give us a tangible therapy

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with worship, with confession, with communion,

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with holy unction, with... fellowship with one

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another, and the lives of the saints and the

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stories from the gospel, which aren't teaching

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us a good moral, but are teaching us the foundations

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of the spiritual life. Healing comes provided

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we desire it, provided we don't normalize our

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dysfunction and our sin. And that we accept the

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situation that we are indeed, we need to be patients

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in this hospital. The Orthodox Church offers

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something that no other church can do. Many other

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places you might get into the waiting room for

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the doctor. But here you will meet the physician

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and he will lay his hands upon you. We're admitted

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to the hospital for healing and the church has

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the remedies and all the holy mysteries. It's

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sometimes, mostly, not sometimes, mostly all

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times, a great effort to overcome those things

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within us that prevent our healing. When I say

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healing, I mean that the soul is reflecting the

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light and the holiness and the love of God. And

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that we are joyful and at peace. That's what

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I mean by healing. But we have shame. We don't

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want to admit things. That's true for every one

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of us. We have pride. We justify ourselves. We

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blame others for our situation. And we have fear

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and anxiety and anger about that. But we have

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a chance, brothers and sisters, if like the lepers

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today in the gospel you just heard, we call out

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for mercy so repeatedly. So heartfelt that we

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appear before our Savior. They were far off,

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it says in the story. This is Luke chapter 17.

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Isn't it interesting that we prepare for Christmas

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by hearing a story about ten lepers and one Samaritan

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of the ten who comes back. It's very interesting.

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Well, they're far off. They have leprosy. They

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can't be near. And they call to the Savior, have

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mercy. They don't ask for anything but mercy.

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And the Savior doesn't say to them, you are healed,

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go your way, your faith has saved you. Does he?

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He doesn't say that to them. Did you notice?

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He says, go to the priests and show them. The

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Old Testament, I think it's Deuteronomy, maybe

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it's Leviticus, everybody's favorite book. Someone

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with leprosy or skin disease had to go to the

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priest to show them that they were sick and they

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would then have to be isolated or they got well

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and they would be admitted back. So Jesus says,

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no, go to the priest. Which means... They're

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invited to walk all the way to Jerusalem, probably

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a two -day journey, because where Jesus is coming,

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to have priests examine them. And one of the

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nine, only one, not even a Jewish man, but the

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Samaritan, that double outcast, not only with

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leprosy, but he was a Samaritan. He wasn't Jewish.

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He was the stranger and foreigner that St. Paul

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mentions in the Ephesians. He turned back at

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some point. Walked all the way back after being

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healed. Imagine. And received more healing because

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he worshipped his creator and his God. He persevered.

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He heard what Christ asked him to do. He just

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asked for mercy and Christ says, go. Do this

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thing. It's going to take you two days to get

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there and then two days to get back to me if

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you want to give thanks. And he did it in faithfulness.

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And as he started his journey to Jerusalem, to

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the priest, he didn't know if he would be healed.

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He didn't know. He just followed Christ. He was

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at his wit's end. He was at the place where there

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is no answer. There is no solution. And the same

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traits, the same obedience, the same trust, the

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same willingness to go the distance and then

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some, because it's Christ, that's why. Because

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it's Christ. Can be seen in the heroes of our

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faith that we commemorate today, Saints Joachim

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and Anna. Tomorrow is the actual feast day. We

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moved it to today so we could all enjoy this.

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And there are relics of the saints there on the

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icon. Notice both accounts, that of the ten lepers

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and that of Joachim and Anna, are being concerned

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people that are outside of society. They feel

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abandoned. They're outcasts. If not by God, then

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certainly by others in their society. They need

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help. They need healing. They have no answer.

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This icon here, as I told you last year, because

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we celebrated this feast day on a Sunday last

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year. is the wedding icon that Matryoshka Ann

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and I received from then Tom, now he's Father

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Patrick, the Archimandrite. It's a beautiful

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icon. It speaks to me about faithfulness. It

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speaks to me about prayer in disappointment.

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About long years of suffering. And sorrow. Born

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together as husband and wife. And the profoundly

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heartfelt and deep prayer that comes out of that.

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And the obedience to Christ and his church. Christ

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the head. The church the body. The whole Christ.

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There's no Christ generic. There's Christ and

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the church. They are one thing. That's what we're

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being called to be obedient to. Last night, one

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of the hymns describes the whole situation in

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their life. It says, Anna cried out in her prayer,

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beseeching the creator and God of all, O master,

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thou dost perceive the shame of barrenness. They

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were probably over 50 years old. Heal the pain

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of my heart, open my womb to make it fruitful,

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that we may offer thee a child as a gift. I see

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in this icon the promise to offer God a gift

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that they would only have for themselves for

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a short time. They received the gift from God

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and they gave it back right away. That's what

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we're being asked to do with our life. I see

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the warmth and joy of this gift in this icon.

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I see the trust. that whatever God would give

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or not give was okay. I see the beauty and sanctity

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of marriage, the beauty and sanctity of conception

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of a child. Who else celebrates a conception?

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The Catholics have that, thank God, they keep

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that feast as well. Today they actually keep

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that. They have a different view of what happens.

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I'm not going into the theology. I see the sacredness

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of that conception and the beauty of that chastity,

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that holiness, the trust in one another, in which

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the Holy Spirit gives life at conception, a new

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life. I see that marriage when I look at this

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icon. in that embrace that the two of them have,

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is not just a worldly institution that the government

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can dictate and legislate about. It's a holy

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vocation, a commitment of love and faith to participate

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in God's creative and redemptive work. And if

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you're not married, that's okay. What was...

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The result of this conception. But the all holy

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virgin. Let her be your example. If you are not

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married. And don't plan to be married. This is

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not a story. With a simple moral. The lepers.

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Be grateful for what you have. Come back to Christ.

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It's not that simple. They receive finally. After

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struggling 50 years. the prayer of their heart,

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and they received a child, and their offering.

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This is not just about that. Those are elements

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of this story. Like them, though, this story,

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the lepers and Joachim and Anna, we're being

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asked to consider, if we haven't already, to

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make the sacrifice of our heart, our lives, to

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our Savior. Despite whatever years, decades of

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disappointment, and that we trust Christ, the

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source of our life, when there seems to be no

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solution, then in that struggle, we are becoming

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saints. Because the grace of God can find an

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opening within us in that sacrifice and transfigure

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that struggle from just... Resentment and vain

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struggle to something holy. For us, again, that

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means we trust in Christ who is the head of the

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church. The church is his body. The church is

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not just, well, some old institution. And we,

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unlike some other denominations, and we're not

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a denomination, happen to have incense and icons

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and saints and communion, confession and unction

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and vigils and Pascha and the liturgy and the

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Virgin Mary and vestments and all of this. That

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is the content of the church and the tradition.

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If we are faithful to that, brothers and sisters,

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then the soul... Started to become like that

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Samaritan leper that returned. Full of gratitude

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and he worshipped the Lord. And we will become

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like Saints Joachim and Anna. And all the things

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that I said that Icon represents to me. We will

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have those as a gift from God. In trust and in

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love. And that witness. That witness. Of perseverance

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and endurance. And Jesus says the one who endures

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to the end will be saved. That witness will be

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a joy to those around you. And to you as well.

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To our Lord who gives us all this. Be glory and

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honor now and ever to ages of ages. Amen.