WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to Christ. In the

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

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Holy Spirit. Amen. I thank God with my heart

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that he has gathered us together, my dear brothers

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and sisters and children, to celebrate the divine

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liturgy, to be lifted up to the kingdom, to be

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fed with the food from heaven, to hear the word

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of God. Now, let's look at this gospel a little

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bit. It says here, in the gospel we heard, at

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that time a certain man came to Jesus and kneeled

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before him. Well, what time was that, that this

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man came? Do you remember last week we heard

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about the man possessed by demons and Jesus?

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came to that man, and Jesus says, what's your

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name? And the man says, Legion, because he had

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in him a host, thousands of demonic powers that

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had been afflicting him, his soul. And Jesus

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healed him. He cast them out. But not before

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the demon said, why are you come to torment us

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before the end, O son of God? What have you to

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do with us? The demons recognize the power of

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God that is in Jesus, that he is God's son. And

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they ask to be released into the herd of swine.

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Why swine? Well, swine is the animal used by

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the Roman pagans in their animal sacrifices.

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And of course, the local people raising these

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swine for the Romans are going to be upset, and

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they ask Jesus to go. Leave us. No thanks. You've

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just wrecked our economy. Jesus will do that

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to you. Be prepared for something unexpected

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in your life and respond not like them. And the

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week before, we heard, well, sometime before,

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exactly before in the Gospel of Luke, The disciples

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and Jesus are in a boat, and a storm begins,

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and Jesus falls asleep, and the waves are rising,

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and they're coming over the side of the boat,

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and the boat is taking on water, and the apostles

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are frightened of dying because the sea is the

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place of chaos, especially in the Old Testament.

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It's the place of chaos, uncertainty. It's the

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place of death. They're afraid. Of course they're

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afraid. The storm is raging. And Jesus, wake

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up, wake up, wake up. And he says to them, oh,

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ye of little faith. We should remember this in

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the times of storms in our life, in times of

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difficulties. That Jesus may be silent, but he

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is present. We ask God to come into our chaos

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continually. Continually. We need to enter into

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his peace. That's what's going on there. Besides

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the fact that the scriptures are telling us that

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Jesus has power over nature because he says peace

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and the storm completely ends. You know, when

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a storm ends, what happens? It takes a while

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for the water to stop lapping and the waves to

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go away. With Jesus, when he blesses, it's absolute

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quiet and peace. And that's what happens. And

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they're surprised. And they say, who is this

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that has this power? They're only learning about

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Jesus. And then he comes to the demons and he

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has power over the darkness too. And he heals

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that man. And now he comes to a place that is

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waiting for him. He's coming from a place that

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wanted him to leave, and now he comes to a place

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they are anxiously waiting for him. And the crowds

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are great. And this man named Jairus, the scriptures

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tell us, has a daughter, as you heard, and she's

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dying. She's 12 years old. And in the midst of

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all this turmoil, as Jesus is coming to this

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man's house, and he begs Jesus, come to my house,

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please heal her. And Jesus senses, he says, someone's

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touched me. And, of course, Peter, impetuous

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Peter, says, Master, there's like thousands of

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people here and you're saying someone touched

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me? You know, kind of sarcastic, like, what are

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you thinking? It's not that kind of touch. It's

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the touch of desire to be with Christ. The touch

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of... Faithfulness, the touch of a heart that

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has suffered 12 years with this malady of bleeding,

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menstrual bleeding, doesn't stop, which puts

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her in a category in that culture, alienated,

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alone, ritually, not morally, but ritually unclean.

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No one touches her. She can't eat with her family.

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She has spent all her money. and all her savings,

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and everything she has to look for a cure. The

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tradition tells us that this woman's name is

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Saint Veronica. And tradition also tells us that

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at some point in her life, she had a statue of

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Jesus carved. And this comes from the fourth

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century, a report that says it was destroyed.

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The touch she has is the touch of faithfulness.

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Born out of incredible patience. Born out of

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sorrow, sighing, weeping, hope, hope. And Jesus

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knows that grace has gone forth. And he says

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this, someone touched me, not because he's wondering

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who the heck touched me. We're speaking about

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the Lord of the universe, the one who made heaven

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and earth, and of all things therein. He knows

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all things. He knows the secrets of our heart.

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He knows our destiny. He knows where we have

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come from. He knows us from before we were conceived

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in the mother's womb. He didn't ask that because

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he didn't know. He asked that to show the crowd

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the incredible faith of this woman. Because she

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could be ashamed of all of this. But he lifts

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her up. And in the meantime, what happens? The

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girl dies. The 12 -year -old girl dies. It's

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interesting. This woman has been suffering from

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this bleeding for 12 years. The moment that child

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was born, this woman had been suffering. And

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Jesus goes to the house, lets no one else in.

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says the girl sleeping, and the poor Lord, again

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and again, how he is dismissed. She's sleeping.

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Don't despair. Don't weep. They laugh at him.

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The Lord has just stilled the waves. He has cast

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out a legion of demons from a man. He's healed

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a woman who came to him. And he lifted her up

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and said, your faith has made you whole. He ascribes

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it to her, not himself. And this is public. And

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he goes to this room and they laugh at him. We

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dismiss the Lord. We forget about the Lord's

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power. The gospel here, my dear friends, is not

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just about the healings. The healings are for

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the sake of those people in that story. And yes.

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In this marvelous book, The Theology of Healing

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of Illness, the author points out for us that

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Christ never hesitated to heal those with bodily

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illnesses and infirmities who requested it of

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him. He did not... hesitate not once to present

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himself as the physician of souls and bodies

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because he is the lover of mankind. He says,

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those who are well have no need of a physician,

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but he has come, he has come to heal. In fact,

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in the early church, pagan observers described

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Christianity as a religion, quote, For sick people.

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For the sick. Because paganism would boast that

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thanks to the gods, we are strong, we are well,

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we are powerful. There was no sense of charity

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and love for the poor. That comes from Christianity.

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There was no care for the woman or the slave.

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No, that comes from Christianity. It's Christ

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who raises us all up. But today's gospel is not

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just about Christ the physician in this life.

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Those people, Jairus, this woman, the throng

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of people, the people that came into the room

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and laughed at Jesus when he said, she's only

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sleeping, she will rise. They had a very ill

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-formed, a very weak understanding of what the

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life of the age to come was all about. Is there

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even life after one dies? They did not know.

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They had no developed teaching. Some believed

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in the resurrection. So this story for us isn't

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about Jesus coming to each and every person to

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heal them of every malady they have. My brothers

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and sisters, In the gospel, he didn't heal everybody.

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And we ourselves know whether you're dealing

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with an illness or a dear friend or relative

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is suffering from an illness, a life -threatening

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illness, or you or a friend or relative have

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been alienated and lonely and waiting and just

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reaching out to touch Christ. This is about trust

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in the living God, about whom we just sang, O

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Christ, thou didst descend into Hades and destroyed

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the power of death and the sting of death. And

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we are lifted up. We have to hear those words,

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that he is the savior of the soul, too. We focus

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on our bodies. Of course we do. We want to be

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well. That's a blessing. But when someone's ill,

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when someone's going through that tragic and

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difficult trial, like that woman, Veronica, in

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the gospel, or that father grieving for his child,

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for us, it's not God testing us because he doesn't

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know. It's God allowing us to become firm and

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mature. And blossom in the kingdom of heaven.

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To become true Christians. And we must be always

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searching to trust and touch Jesus. So that we

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can feel his grace and power in our soul and

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heart. Whether we are sick. Whether we are ill.

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Whether we are sad. Whether we are joyful. It

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doesn't matter. The power of the cross of Christ.

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We live after that. We live after the resurrection.

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And the life of the kingdom of God is going through

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our veins. We are not like those two in the gospel.

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We are not like the disciples before the resurrection

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and Pentecost. We are like them after the resurrection

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and after Pentecost. we can look at a man like

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St. Nectarius today, born 1846, died 1920, terribly

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slandered as a young bishop, terribly slandered,

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had to leave his Episcopal see, worked as a janitor

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in a boys' school until he was appointed a headmaster.

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Even after he founded the monastery on the island

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of Aegina and was an old man suffering from illnesses,

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74 years old, I guess. Is that right, my math?

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1920, 1846? In a hospital, having been slandered

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even to the day of his death. But God is not

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mocked. And the faith... of the righteous one

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becomes manifest and known because that's when

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he died the blanket in the hospital room the

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blanket was taken off of him and it was put on

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a man who had been absolutely paralyzed had been

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fallen off a high ladder and that man got up

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and walked and the nurses and the doctors exclaimed,

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glory to God, we don't know how this was. And

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from that day on, miracles after miracles have

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been occurring by the prayers of St. Nectarius

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and his holiness. So brothers and sisters, our

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takeaway today is that faithfulness of St. Nectarius,

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that God is faithful to us. We know, we believe,

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we live. in the light of the resurrection, whether

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we are sick, whether we are ill, and failing

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badly, whether we are joyful or sad, let us be

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faithful to the cross of Christ and to our Lord,

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who has shown us over and over his faithfulness

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to us, and let us reach out to touch him so that

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we are close. It's no good for us to live our

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Christian life casually. We have to feel the

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power of the cross. And sometimes that means,

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as St. Paul says, if anyone is a follower of

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Christ, you can count on it. You will feel the

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suffering of the cross. And in that suffering,

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you are united to the joy of the kingdom. To

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our Lord be glory, now and ever, to ages of ages.

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Amen.