WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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In every Orthodox Church, throughout the entire

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world, on this particular day, this Sunday, which

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we call the Sunday of the Last Judgment, based

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on the Gospel reading you just heard, from chapter

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25 of St. Matthew. It's good for us to remember

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that this teaching comes just before Christ's

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arrest. The Lord deems it essential that he teaches

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his disciples before his suffering about the

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five foolish virgins and the five wise virgins,

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about the judgment that is to come, about the

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lost coin. and finding it about the prodigal

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son and the older brother, about the publican

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and the Pharisee. These are stories for us to

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remember because those characters, publican and

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Pharisee, prodigal son, older brother, on the

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negative side of the ledger, those characters

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lack something essential, and that's what this

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gospel is about today. This is one of the last

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things our Lord taught his disciples. So let

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that gain for us a little bit of immediacy for

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us. We heard that the Son of Man, the great shepherd

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of our salvation, Jesus Christ, is coming in

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glory and power revealed to all creation. This

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is what's called in Greek the parousia. We say

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the second coming as if... Christ is somehow

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gone, but the life of the church, he's present

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or else what are we doing here? Where two or

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three are gathered together in his name, there

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I am in the midst. But he will come in that way,

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it says, in power and glory. And after being

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resurrected, all mankind will be judged. By Christ

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himself, the good shepherd. And he will carry

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out this judgment, as we proclaim in the Creed,

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when he shall come again with glory to judge

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both the living and the dead. So this Sunday,

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again, is called the Sunday of the Last Judgment.

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We have one week before Lent starts. It's strange,

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but we affirm, and we believe it, That this judgment

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is going to be carried out by the Jewish carpenter

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from Nazareth. And he will be the judge of everyone.

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In every time, in every place, in every situation

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they may have lived, and whatever circumstances

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that they lived in. The church tells us that

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those who will have been judged, listen to this,

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this is from St. Basil, will not even think of

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appealing the sentence. For in the divine light,

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the whole truth, and that's what we seek so much,

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the truth of Christ in our life, the whole truth

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of their condition, the state of their hearts,

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will be apparent. And judgment passed on them

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will seem entirely just. St. Basil says, those

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who will be condemned will be in complete agreement

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that the judgment passed on them was altogether

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just. We hear hymns about the judgment and the

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hymns very well, I think, reflect our fear, our

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dread, our hesitation, our doubt. Like, maybe

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say, some of us say, this is too much, really.

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Some may ask, why do we, why do we have to be

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judged? Life is hard. There's tragedies, difficulties,

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illnesses. Some of you have lived through terrible

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circumstances in your life. Not of your own making.

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Maybe there were abusive parents and poverty.

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Maybe you're thinking, it's not fair for God

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to judge us. Why does Christ judge us? Because

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he is the son of man. Great is our Lord and great

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is his strength and of his understanding there

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is no measure. We heard that three times just

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a moment ago. His understanding, there is no

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measure. Let that sink in. As we ponder on this

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awesome day, let us remember the first coming

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of Jesus Christ. His coming in weakness as a

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child. A complete human child, born in a cave,

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needing help from his father and mother to survive

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every single moment of every day. Having no place

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as he grew older to lay his head, as he himself

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said. And he was hungry. And he was thirsty.

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He said, I thirst. He was betrayed. He was mocked.

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He was imprisoned. He was oppressed. He was crucified

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by the powers and authorities of this world.

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God honors and God recognizes human weakness.

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And he himself took part in that. He shares our

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flesh and blood that way. He was also the least

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of these, my brethren. So, so, how we act towards

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others, Jesus takes that very personally. He

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takes it very personally. There are over 100

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references in the Old Testament alone about the

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orphan and the widow and the poor, the homeless,

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over just Old Testament. This is why we are judged.

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This is why we are judged. And why? Those who

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are downtrodden, they look for the resurrection

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and the hope of judgment because that judgment

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will be the setting right of all that is wrong

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and broken in their life. And this judgment,

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again, will be by the Lord who cares for the

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orphan and the widow and the poor. Think about

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it. Think about it. We are judged by such easy

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things. You heard it in the gospel. It costs

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nothing. A colleague of mine relates a story

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about a man in his parish. Let's call him, I

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don't know, Dimitri. Dimitri was out walking

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downtown and there was a man living on the streets

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who asked him for help. Do you have anything

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you can share? And Dimitri thought about it and

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he... He had some money in his pocket, but he

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decided, for whatever reason, not to give anything

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to this man. And he just said something like,

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well, God bless you. You know, it's nice to have

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nice feelings about people that are poor and

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oppressed, but our feelings don't help them,

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not in the least. It's what we do that counts,

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right? This man on the street said thank you.

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And Dimitri said, I'm sorry I couldn't help you.

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The homeless man turned around and walked away.

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You know what was on his t -shirt, on the back

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of his t -shirt? A picture of Jesus. And Dimitri

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slapped his head and thought, what an idiot am

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I? I heard the gospel from Matthew 25. It's not

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that difficult. However, The criterion, the judgment,

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is not about being nice to others. That's kindergarten.

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Kindergarten spirituality. We start there. We

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must start there. Fine. But that's not what this

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gospel and all the others in Matthew 25 are about.

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It's not about doing nice things for others,

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religious things, by the way, when it's convenient

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for us. We're warned about that even. You could

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be giving. all kinds of things to poor people.

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But what does Jesus say? He says, not everyone

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that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into

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the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will

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of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say

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to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied

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in thy name? And in thy name have we not cast

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out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful

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works? And then I will say to them, I never knew

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you. Depart from me. You that work iniquity.

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Does this confuse us? Well, those things that

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they did, prophesy, casting out devils, wonderful

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works in the name of Jesus, they seem like really

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good things to do, but what's the problem? Do

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you know what the problem is? St. Paul will tell

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you. This is why we read scripture, to get perspective

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and understanding. You all know the great hymn

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of love. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If I have

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all faith so as to remove mountains but not have

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love, I'm nothing. If I give away all I have

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and if I deliver up my body to be burned, in

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other words, martyrdom, but have not love, I

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gain nothing. It's about loving. And seeing Christ

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in the other person. The homeless man with the

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t -shirt. To see Christ in that man. That's what

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Father Alexander calls the impossible possibility.

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This change that can happen. We serve and we

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glorify the Lord. When we serve. the broken,

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the hungry, the thirsty, the suffering, the imprisoned.

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For Christ was all of those things. And when

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we serve those people, we honor the Lord. Just

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as when I kiss this icon, I honor my Lord and

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Savior, Jesus Christ. You serve a person that

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is in trouble. You honor your Lord. And this

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is what the Lord is telling us. He takes it personally.

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And the Lord even elevates this teaching one

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more time up. Before he is arrested, he says,

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a new commandment I give to you, that you love

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one another as I have loved you. And how does

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God love us? All of Lent, we're going to ponder

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on that question and that answer. We've been

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warned. As my father, Father Mark, used to say,

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we've been warned what the final exam is going

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to be. And we get the answers to. But we still

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don't do it. Not all of us. Indeed, we can't

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do it the way Christ says to do it, to see Christ

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in the other person and to love that other person.

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Because it's not as my... One of my mentors,

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Father Philip McCaffrey, says, it's not in our

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nature to do so. Let's not fool ourselves into

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thinking, he says, that we are other than we

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are. Sure, we're capable of occasional sacrifice

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for others. So are non -Christians. So are most

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criminals. As the saying goes, people are defined

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not by what they do occasionally, but what they

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do consistently. Even the goats, maybe that's

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us, are capable of the occasional good deed.

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The gospel is given to us now to prepare for

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Lent, to remember that Lent is not merely about

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personal prayer, about worship, about fasting,

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but it's about the cleansing and transformation

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of our hearts so that we can see Christ in others

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and love them, not the warm. Fuzzy be my friend

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feeling. But love like Jesus Christ has for us.

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What we need and what Lent will supply to us

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if we take it is a new transformed, renewed nature.

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The new spirit. And that's exactly what Christ

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gives us. His own spirit of real love for real

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people. We call him in our prayers what? The

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lover. of mankind. And so he is. But it's only

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by his spirit in us that he can transform us

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into sheep, enabling us, equipping us, inspiring

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us to love our neighbor as he himself loves us.

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This is the work of the Holy Spirit. And then,

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on that day, that awesome day, when the Lord

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appears in glory, Then those on the right, the

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sheep and the parable, will meet Christ. And

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they will see him in the light of his glory face

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to face. Just as at Pascha we say the hymn, grant

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that we may perfectly partake of thee in the

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never -ending day of thy kingdom. And they will

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shine with divine uncreated light and be united

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with Jesus Christ. And as it says in the scriptures,

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then the righteous will shine forth as the sun

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in the kingdom of their father. This is why we

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are judged. because we will finally become what

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we are created to be. What God is by nature,

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we will become by his grace. To our Lord, who

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offers us this challenge, to be mindful of every

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day, every encounter, to him be glory and honor,

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now and ever, to ages of ages. Amen.