WEBVTT

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

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of the Holy Spirit. Christ is risen. And he is

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risen. We gather as what I can only call a church

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family on this day for a very important duty

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to sing away Matryoshka Eleanor. And in fact,

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the way we have been singing this morning and

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what we sing about is at its very core the gospel

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of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what a beautiful

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plan of providence it is to celebrate this funeral

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during the Paschal season. If there's any moment

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when we should be clear on what we're singing

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about, on what the good news is, and how it relates

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to Matushka Eleanor and to you and to me, That

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moment is now. When Christians say Christ is

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risen, we are openly declaring our allegiance

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to one who is greater than the most powerful.

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The most powerful rulers, no matter who that

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ruler is, whether it's Caesar Augustus or Herod

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or Stalin or Biden or Trump or whoever. Our allegiance

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is to a king and victor who can and did defeat

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death. This is amazing. This is the fulfillment

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of God's promises to Israel, the defeat of sin

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and death, and the launching of a new creation

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through Jesus Christ. God's kingdom is being

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inaugurated on earth. And yet, here we are at

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a funeral. At a funeral of one of this risen

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king's loyal handmaids. And it's so natural for

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this to be hard. 1600 years ago, St. Gregory

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of Nyssa lost his brother, St. Basil the Great,

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and was reminded of the words of today's epistle

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reading, the one we just heard, by their sister,

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St. Macrina. But I do not want you to be ignorant,

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brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep,

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lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. Macrina

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quoted this apostolic saying, but Gregory writes,

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And I, with my heart still seething with pain,

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asked, How is it possible for me to achieve this

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attitude, since there is a natural aversion to

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death in every person, and no one can endure

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the sight of another dying? There is a natural

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aversion to death in every person, In fact, St.

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Gregory goes on to say a hard but frequently

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proven fact, that those who are dying themselves

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flee from it as much as they can. We have a natural

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aversion to death in every person. And of course,

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that aversion is so heartfelt. When the person

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who has fallen asleep is a mother and sister,

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and grandmother, and mother in the faith, and

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of the parish. We as humans have a number of

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ways to deal with moments like these. I notice

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how easily we talk about having a, quote, celebration

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of life for someone who has died. When I was

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thinking about this homily, I even started to

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second -guess myself for wanting to use the perfectly

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fine word funeral a few times. Probably because

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we as a culture have been shying away from that

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word. I think we usually mean celebration of

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life as something retrospective, something about

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the contributions and joys of a dear one's life.

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But as I was thinking about Matryoshka's passing,

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it occurred to me that yes, in fact, we are holding

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a celebration of life. For as we have been singing

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over and over again in recent days, death has

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been trampled. Christ is risen and life reigns.

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This doesn't mean that death no longer happens,

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but it has been stripped of its power. It has

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been defeated. Its sting is gone. And the fate

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of Matryoshka Eleanor and of every single person

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here today is in the Lord's hands. As the Lord

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Jesus himself said to Martha, I am the resurrection

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and the life. Whoever believes in me, though

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he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives

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and believes in me shall never die. The God -man

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Jesus acknowledges physical death in his phrase,

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though he die. But more than that, he proclaims

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eternal life beyond that. Somehow, in ways we

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don't and can't and probably shouldn't try to

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understand, in the now of God, Matryoshka Eleanor

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lives in the resurrection and just judgment of

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God. More alive, I dare say, than any of us praying

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here today. So we celebrate life, more abundant

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life. This is our claim. This is our hope. This

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is our thing. This is the key to the Apostle

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Paul's words today about sorrow. Death is still,

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in fact, the enemy. It is a tragedy. It is not

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the way things are supposed to be. It is wrong.

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Even if we can't put it into words, we feel the

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wrongness of death. We have that aversion that

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St. Gregory speaks about because it isn't part

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of the plan. It doesn't fit nicely and is full

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of impossible paradoxes. A loved one's passing

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is sad. but can also feel like a relief. We terribly

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miss someone we love, and yet, against our will,

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we start to forget. It feels incredibly messed

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up to feel relief for the departing or for ourselves,

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but that's because, yes, death indeed is messed

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up. And so, yes, in defiance of that, we do celebrate

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life and life more abundantly. We celebrate it

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in rebellion against the power of death, in opposition

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to its influence, and in allegiance to the risen

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Christ. And in the providence of God, Matushka

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Eleanor lived a long life, full of service and

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in hope of this resurrection. Others could speak

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much more completely about Matushka's life and

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work and witness, but since 1928, Matryoshka

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has been in the midst of the life of the Church,

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in different ways and in diverse seasons. My

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own perspective of Matryoshka is an incomplete

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one. As the wife of her late husband, Father

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Michael, my earliest memories of her include

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being in Healdsburg when my own father and Father

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Michael were shooting the breeze for way too

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long in the middle of the street about whatever.

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on a Sunday afternoon in front of their homes,

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and Matushka beckoning Father Michael, I think

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it was two or three times, ultimately, to return

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to the important, full -of -life activity at

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hand, the assembly of an extended family, children,

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grandkids, I don't know the details, there was

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a lot of Margitages in the home that afternoon,

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that had gathered that day. Our longtime former

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Archbishop John, once pointed out that the priest's

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wife bears with her husband the labor and suffering

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of service, remaining hidden in Christ, offering

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her prayers and life for the sake of the flock

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entrusted to her husband. St. John Chrysostom

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goes even further, calling for the priest's home

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to be a haven of virtue, a fortress against the

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assaults of the world, and an image of the heavenly

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kingdom. In all of her ministries, wife, mother,

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grandmother, sister, or mother in the faith,

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or even in her most recent ministry of being

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the one cared for, it seems to me that Monteshka

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Eleanor quietly proclaimed that heavenly kingdom.

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And that strengthens our hope. I spoke earlier

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about the saving words from the Apostle Paul.

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that we do not sorrow and grieve as others who

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have no hope. St. Augustine preaches to us that

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Paul didn't just say that you may not be saddened,

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but that you may not be saddened as those who

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have no hope. He continues, it is unavoidable

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after all that you should be saddened, but when

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you feel sad, let hope console you. St. Augustine

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goes even further to encourage us by reminding

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you and me that we shall come to that same life

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as Matushka Eleanor and all our departed loved

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ones, gone to rest before us, where, more than

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ever, this is St. Augustine, their dearness to

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us will be proportional to the closeness we shared

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on earth, and where we shall love them without

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fear of parting. It's a blessed thing to mourn,

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as we also hear in our Lord's own Beatitudes.

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But we mourn at this temporary parting with hope.

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And that hope is the hope that Matryoshka Eleanor

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and each one of us have in the source of life,

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the risen and reigning Christ. And that hope

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is, as we proclaim, that hope has blunted the

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sting of death. Christ is risen and death is

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overthrown. Christ is risen and the demons are

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fallen. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice.

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Christ is risen and life reigns. May the same

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Christ, who has become the first fruits of those

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who have fallen asleep, forgive his handmaid

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Eleanor for any failings and grant his eternal

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life to his faithful servant who has fallen asleep.

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and to each one of us. To him be glory and dominion

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unto ages of ages. Amen. Christ is risen. Indeed

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he is risen. Let us praise the Lord. Lord, have

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mercy. May our Lord Jesus Christ, through his

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divine grace, gift, and power,