WEBVTT 00:00:00.460 --> 00:00:02.339 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:13.419 glory to Jesus Christ. Today has been designated 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:17.660 by the Holy Synod of the Bishops of the Orthodox 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:20.839 Church in America as the Sanctity of Life Sunday. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.160 And I'm going to read to you a portion of the 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:30.280 letter from Metropolitan Ticon. A few words about 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:34.600 the gospel. You heard this parable of the wedding 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:40.899 back in, I guess it was September or so. But 00:00:40.899 --> 00:00:44.979 the church gives it to us again. One for a very 00:00:44.979 --> 00:00:48.539 practical reason. Lent is very late this year. 00:00:48.859 --> 00:00:51.359 And so this gospel is one of those that would 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:55.159 be chosen to fill in till we get to those other 00:00:55.159 --> 00:00:59.979 readings. Zacchaeus, prodigal son. publican and 00:00:59.979 --> 00:01:04.980 pharisee those are coming those are coming the 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:07.739 other reason is I think has to do with just simply 00:01:07.739 --> 00:01:12.680 God's providence after Christmas and theophany 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:16.420 we need a reminder about what the wedding feast 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:21.980 of the sun is all about I was at a wedding last 00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:25.340 Sunday in Lovely parish, Rochester Hills, St. 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:28.879 Mark of Ephesus. They celebrated their feast 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:34.340 day on Friday. Too bad this gospel wasn't read 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:40.939 last week. It's interesting. The kingdom of God 00:01:40.939 --> 00:01:45.980 is compared to a king who gave a marriage feast 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:49.480 for his son. That's how it starts out. And who's 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:52.540 Jesus speaking to? He's speaking to the Pharisees 00:01:52.540 --> 00:01:56.219 and it says just before this verse, the Pharisees 00:01:56.219 --> 00:01:59.140 perceived he was speaking about them and they 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:04.120 were very upset about the way Jesus was referring 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:08.099 to them. The kingdom of heaven is compared to 00:02:08.099 --> 00:02:11.180 a king who gave a marriage feast for his son. 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:14.659 And after that verse, that noble and wonderful, 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:18.199 a joyful description of what the kingdom of heaven 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:22.870 is like. Everything goes wrong with the characters 00:02:22.870 --> 00:02:26.969 in the story. Did you notice? Did you notice 00:02:26.969 --> 00:02:32.370 that the men that are sent, of course, these 00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:35.530 men represent the prophets and the apostles. 00:02:35.770 --> 00:02:38.990 They're sent to remind the guests that have been 00:02:38.990 --> 00:02:42.750 invited from the beginning. They're treated terribly. 00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:46.129 They're beaten and some are killed. Everything's 00:02:46.129 --> 00:02:49.139 going wrong. And the father of the son sends 00:02:49.139 --> 00:02:51.840 his own armies and wipes out the villagers completely. 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:57.620 He's angry. The father seems capricious, petty, 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:04.219 vindictive. And then a man is brought into the 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:06.699 wedding that wasn't part of the original guest 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:09.199 list. Because you heard, bring in everybody, 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:14.219 bring in everyone. And he is supplied a wedding 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:19.569 garment, which he does not put on. And he's tossed 00:03:19.569 --> 00:03:26.810 out, bound hand and foot. But these are words 00:03:26.810 --> 00:03:30.550 of the Savior. This parable is the word of the 00:03:30.550 --> 00:03:34.750 Savior, Jesus Christ. So obviously we need to 00:03:34.750 --> 00:03:38.569 understand what he means. Because we know the 00:03:38.569 --> 00:03:42.129 Father is not petty and vindictive and violent. 00:03:42.990 --> 00:03:46.610 This parable is about salvation history, isn't 00:03:46.610 --> 00:03:51.539 it? He's talking to the Pharisees who feel they 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:58.259 don't need anything else. It reveals this parable, 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:01.659 the rejection to God's invitation through the 00:04:01.659 --> 00:04:04.300 prophets and the apostles. Think back, the vineyard 00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:07.539 parable was just before this. Just before this. 00:04:07.659 --> 00:04:10.699 And again, what happens in that vineyard parable? 00:04:10.759 --> 00:04:14.879 Jesus tells the parable and the representatives 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:19.459 of the parable owner. are killed. Then he sends 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:23.819 his son and he's killed. And so Jesus asks the 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:27.240 Pharisees, he asks his listeners, what do you 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:30.540 think should happen to those people that did 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:33.319 this terrible thing? Do you remember what they 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:38.000 said? They should be punished severely and killed. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:45.860 So the story is given to you and to me right 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:51.870 now. here today by the church so that we might 00:04:51.870 --> 00:04:58.470 examine our own response to God's continual invitation 00:04:58.470 --> 00:05:04.089 to us. How? We could be here all day to speak 00:05:04.089 --> 00:05:06.410 about the wonderful things God has done for us, 00:05:06.589 --> 00:05:11.730 his dominion, his presence in our heart, how 00:05:11.730 --> 00:05:17.379 we neglect it, how we... Not just neglect it, 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.420 but turn our back on it. So many distractions 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:25.899 we have. Who can say otherwise? Can any of us 00:05:25.899 --> 00:05:29.740 say that we have answered God definitively in 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:34.839 our life? This is a parable, finally, I guess, 00:05:35.019 --> 00:05:38.459 since it's about the kingdom of heaven, about 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:42.339 the judgment. It's about the judgment. What's 00:05:42.339 --> 00:05:45.220 the meaning of this feast that the Lord, God, 00:05:45.629 --> 00:05:48.649 holds his marriage feast. St. Gregory the Great 00:05:48.649 --> 00:05:52.230 says that the Father Almighty, the true and living 00:05:52.230 --> 00:05:56.310 God, made a marriage feast for his son, Jesus 00:05:56.310 --> 00:06:01.689 Christ, which means that he united him to the 00:06:01.689 --> 00:06:06.990 church. He united him to us. The marriage of 00:06:06.990 --> 00:06:10.209 a woman and a man, complementary beings, are 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:15.819 just a dim reflection. It says, St. Paul in Ephesians, 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:18.519 a holy mystery, hoping to give us a little bit 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:22.500 of understanding of the magnificence of the intimacy 00:06:22.500 --> 00:06:27.220 of the deep love, the chamber in the heart where 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.759 we meet Christ. And everyone's invited to this 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:37.620 feast. No one is left out. No one. We all need 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:42.089 to know. Can we go through our life? Think. if 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:45.990 we go through our life not knowing who our creator 00:06:45.990 --> 00:06:50.110 is and what he has given us and what is our destiny, 00:06:50.329 --> 00:06:54.230 this is tragic, to not know his divine love, 00:06:54.490 --> 00:06:58.110 to not receive the wedding garment, which is 00:06:58.110 --> 00:07:03.589 what? The man was thrown out. He was in the feast, 00:07:03.769 --> 00:07:08.379 just like we're here. We're all here. What's 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:10.680 the wedding garment? Is it just the baptismal 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:13.000 garment? No, it's not that, because we're all 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:18.519 here. It's love. St. Gregory the Great of Rome 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:25.139 says it's love. The wedding garment is love without 00:07:25.139 --> 00:07:28.959 hypocrisy. We don't come to church and appear 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:33.759 like something. We are truly, we must be revelations 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.170 of God's love to the world. That's the garment 00:07:38.170 --> 00:07:42.310 that St. Gregory of Rome says. It's agape love. 00:07:42.870 --> 00:07:46.129 It's sacrificial love, he says. It's patient 00:07:46.129 --> 00:07:50.910 and forgiving love. Love for all. This is what 00:07:50.910 --> 00:07:54.389 the creator, our God himself, for God has. For 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:56.889 God so loved the world that he gave his only 00:07:56.889 --> 00:08:00.329 begotten son for us. And to refuse that invitation, 00:08:00.889 --> 00:08:06.189 to refuse the wedding garment, Means to bind 00:08:06.189 --> 00:08:12.069 ourselves up in our sins and suffer loss of God 00:08:12.069 --> 00:08:15.629 because we don't know him. The violence in the 00:08:15.629 --> 00:08:19.490 story, and there's plenty of it, that's for sure, 00:08:19.550 --> 00:08:24.889 in this parable is there to forcefully symbolize, 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:32.730 to relate to us the tragic, painful, epic loss. 00:08:33.470 --> 00:08:37.309 That we would suffer if we don't know God. To 00:08:37.309 --> 00:08:40.450 not know his majesty. To not know his providence. 00:08:41.330 --> 00:08:45.649 To not know his peace and truth and life and 00:08:45.649 --> 00:08:50.269 love. To not know the way. That's worse than 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:55.529 all the violence that could be done. It's a revelation 00:08:55.529 --> 00:08:59.990 of ourself, really. The father doesn't have to 00:08:59.990 --> 00:09:03.320 bind. anybody up and throw them out. Listen to 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:07.659 what our Lord says. If anyone hears my words 00:09:07.659 --> 00:09:14.019 and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:16.259 I did not come to judge the world, but to save 00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:20.879 the world. The one who rejects me and does not 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:25.779 receive my words has a judge. The judge is the 00:09:25.779 --> 00:09:29.529 word that I have spoken will judge him. on the 00:09:29.529 --> 00:09:32.289 last day. St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote that we 00:09:32.289 --> 00:09:37.370 will be judged out of our own conscience. And 00:09:37.370 --> 00:09:44.490 we will not object. It's not going to be for 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:48.389 the accuracy of my Orthodox theology. That's 00:09:48.389 --> 00:09:50.690 important. But it's not going to be about that. 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:55.429 It will be for every idle word I say. For every 00:09:55.429 --> 00:10:00.789 deed that lacks love. I have plenty of love for 00:10:00.789 --> 00:10:03.870 myself, and you know, brothers and sisters, we 00:10:03.870 --> 00:10:06.870 can love all kinds of things that are terribly 00:10:06.870 --> 00:10:11.250 bad for us. But to the love of God is the first 00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:16.590 thing. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem says that on 00:10:16.590 --> 00:10:19.129 the Day of Judgment, in relation to this wedding 00:10:19.129 --> 00:10:23.549 garment, we will be clothed with our sins or 00:10:23.549 --> 00:10:28.870 our righteous deeds. There it is. So let's focus 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:33.850 now on turning away from whatever rejection to 00:10:33.850 --> 00:10:38.289 God that we have made, whatever ignorance towards 00:10:38.289 --> 00:10:44.610 him we have. When Christ and we are united, this 00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:46.830 is what I want to tell you. This is from St. 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:50.470 Nikolai of Zizia. He says, Heaven had earlier 00:10:50.470 --> 00:10:54.370 seemed as though closed with iron bars to mankind, 00:10:54.690 --> 00:10:59.860 and men's souls, whereas miserable brides shut 00:10:59.860 --> 00:11:04.700 in a dank prison. Now heaven is open wide. God 00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:07.779 himself has appeared on earth. Angels have come 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:11.799 down to earth. Christmas? The dead have been 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:14.440 seen alive, and man's dignity has been raised 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:18.360 up to God. Oh, how sweet the food! How abundant 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.840 the table! Come! Instead of accepting the wedding 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:25.279 invitation, the blinded souls in their gloomy 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:28.700 prison committed a most terrible crime, killing 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:34.639 the Savior in their own souls, their bridegroom. 00:11:35.620 --> 00:11:39.000 But not even this exhausted God's patience. God 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:41.580 turned the crime into the deepest source of sweetness 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:44.919 and joy, the body and blood of the crucified 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:48.700 Lord, incomparably sweeter than fatlings and 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:53.480 oats. Goats and sheep and oxen are brought to 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:57.559 the king's table. Come and communicate of the 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:01.539 sweetness that is the envy of the angels. The 00:12:01.539 --> 00:12:04.360 grace -filled streams of the Holy Spirit, the 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.019 almighty and life -giving spirit are wide open. 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:12.120 All things are ready. All things. All that is 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:16.710 necessary for the defiled bride. That's us. To 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:19.710 be purified. For the hungry to be fed, the wounded 00:12:19.710 --> 00:12:22.889 to be healed, the naked to be clothed, the bewitched 00:12:22.889 --> 00:12:25.470 brought to their senses, the drunken sobered, 00:12:25.470 --> 00:12:28.730 the dead raised. Here is the baptism with water. 00:12:28.870 --> 00:12:31.429 Here is the baptism with fire and the spirit. 00:12:31.690 --> 00:12:35.769 Here is the ease with fasting. Here are the wings 00:12:35.769 --> 00:12:38.870 of prayer. Here is oil. Here are bread and wine. 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:41.409 Here is the royal priesthood to be the guide. 00:12:41.649 --> 00:12:44.710 Here is the church of holiness and love. All 00:12:44.710 --> 00:12:47.929 these gifts are brought by the bridegroom to 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:52.129 his bride. That's us. And he places them all 00:12:52.129 --> 00:12:56.149 on the king's table. Come then. Come to the wedding. 00:12:57.629 --> 00:13:05.039 Our metropolitan, his letter, completely comes 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:08.679 to this also. He says as we mark the Sanctity 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:11.960 of Life Sunday this year, there's much discussion 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:14.480 about the right to life. Of course we Orthodox 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:17.080 Christians believe that certain rights, the right 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:20.559 to life among them, should be respected, enshrined 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.519 in law, protected by civil authority. But human 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:27.220 life is something even more precious than a mere 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:31.840 right. It is a divine gift. Lo, children are 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:34.759 a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb 00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:37.659 are rewards, says the psalmist. We are called 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:40.679 to recognize every human life, from conception 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:44.419 to natural death, as a gift of the Lord. This 00:13:44.419 --> 00:13:46.659 means protecting the unborn, but in a broader 00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:50.639 sense, this means helping our broken society 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:54.279 and broken world to view our fellow human beings 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:57.220 not as mere mouths to feed or potential threats 00:13:57.220 --> 00:14:00.620 or problems to be solved or subjects to be controlled, 00:14:00.860 --> 00:14:04.919 but as blessings from above. The unborn are a 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:07.580 blessing. Children are a blessing. The elderly 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:11.139 are a blessing. The difficult people in our lives 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:14.600 are a blessing. Even our enemies, perhaps especially 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:19.480 our enemies, are a blessing. Moreover, we speak 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:22.340 of the sanctity of life for two reasons. Because 00:14:22.340 --> 00:14:25.139 life comes from the Lord and because it should 00:14:25.139 --> 00:14:28.080 be offered back to the Lord through service to 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:32.059 him and to others, resulting in sanctity, holiness. 00:14:32.990 --> 00:14:35.070 if we understand that we are merely servants 00:14:35.070 --> 00:14:38.549 doing as we have been bidden, and if we recognize 00:14:38.549 --> 00:14:41.289 that the greatest and holiest is the one who 00:14:41.289 --> 00:14:43.730 became a servant of all through his incarnation, 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:47.649 Christmas, his ministry, his passion, and rising, 00:14:47.730 --> 00:14:50.710 then we are in the best position of all to treat 00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:53.409 each human being as a blessing. We will have 00:14:53.409 --> 00:14:56.870 the garment of love, not in an abstract sense, 00:14:57.090 --> 00:14:59.529 but in the sense of someone whom we are privileged 00:14:59.529 --> 00:15:03.519 to serve. Yours in Christ. Ticon, Archbishop 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.580 of Washington, Metropolitan of all America and 00:15:06.580 --> 00:15:08.899 Canada. May the Lord God grant him many years.