WEBVTT 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:07.099 Glory be to Jesus Christ. Glory be to Christ. 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:22.899 I want to begin with a hymn which we heard last 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:31.079 evening. Once you were defiled with every impurity. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:38.119 But through repentance, you have become a bride 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:45.899 of Christ. You have cast down the demons with 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:52.320 the weapons of the cross. Therefore, O glorious 00:00:52.320 --> 00:01:00.759 Mother Mary, you have been made a bride of the 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:10.569 kingdom. It is with such incredible words of 00:01:10.569 --> 00:01:19.349 praise that the church honors and extols a woman 00:01:19.349 --> 00:01:28.010 known as Mary of Egypt. The icon of Fresca of 00:01:28.010 --> 00:01:32.989 her and Zosima is at my right in front of the 00:01:33.390 --> 00:01:47.650 And what a wonderful place it is to go. Each 00:01:47.650 --> 00:01:54.689 year, the fifth Sunday of Lent is dedicated to 00:01:54.689 --> 00:02:02.019 the life and memory of her. She lived in the 00:02:02.019 --> 00:02:10.520 5th century. The interesting and intriguing question 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:19.620 that arises is why the church on this 5th Sunday 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:30.580 of Lent presents to us a life of a woman. Who 00:02:30.580 --> 00:02:35.939 was so completely at odds with the basic teachings 00:02:35.939 --> 00:02:48.719 of our Lord. Think about that for a second. Why 00:02:48.719 --> 00:03:01.460 would the church call us to remember her? To 00:03:01.460 --> 00:03:04.300 remember a woman who was committed in pursuing 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:15.500 a life dedicated to debauchery. Why? Well, I'm 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:23.219 glad you asked. Because there are very good reasons 00:03:23.219 --> 00:03:31.039 why. First, her life reveals An incredible story. 00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:37.560 It reads like a riveting novel. Thursday when 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:43.419 the chanter was reading her life, I took a chair 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:49.080 and placed it and sat on it and focused my eyes 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:53.460 on that fresco. And it was as if there were moving 00:03:53.460 --> 00:04:03.830 scenes. Because her life was so involved. She 00:04:03.830 --> 00:04:09.330 was a woman endowed with beauty, who cultivated 00:04:09.330 --> 00:04:16.569 fashionable friends, in quotes. She was a woman 00:04:16.569 --> 00:04:21.029 who lived in luxury, totally committed to the 00:04:21.029 --> 00:04:29.360 world. In a word, my dear people, she was a harlot. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:41.079 A pleasure -seeking and misguided lover. Her 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:54.519 way clearly reveals how one could stray. And 00:04:54.519 --> 00:05:00.680 drift from God. And you know, my dear people, 00:05:00.779 --> 00:05:04.519 it's always a matter of drifting and straying. 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:11.759 But the God of mercy, the God of love, the God 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:20.259 of wonder would not let her be strangled by the 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:26.470 demonic powers. He knocked at the door of her 00:05:26.470 --> 00:05:36.870 life. And as Christ sought Zacchaeus, as he sought 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:45.089 the Samaritan woman and the prodigal son, so 00:05:45.089 --> 00:05:56.180 he reached out to her, a lost soul. But let me 00:05:56.180 --> 00:06:05.360 continue. On one occasion, Mary decided to go 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:12.100 to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage with a group of 00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:16.899 people to celebrate the great feast day of the 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:29.089 Elevation of the Cross. for her an occasion to 00:06:29.089 --> 00:06:38.089 pray and to grow spiritually. She made the trip 00:06:38.089 --> 00:06:49.430 as an opportunity to collaborate with those who 00:06:49.430 --> 00:06:58.879 promoted her special trade. And something unusual 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.920 happened. Because when she came to the narthex, 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:08.959 to the door of the church, she wanted to enter 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:13.620 in like the other pilgrims were going. But some 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:18.600 unseen power prevented her from entering. And 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:21.259 it was on three occasions she desperately sought 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:28.980 to go in. And as she stood there dumbfoundedly, 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:39.579 her eyes suddenly focused on the icon of the 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:47.819 Blessed Virgin. And in that moment, in that revealing, 00:07:47.860 --> 00:08:01.240 shaken moment, She was awestruck. She realized 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:08.980 at that moment her spiritual fearfulness, her 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:13.720 emptiness, her futility of life prevented her 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:20.000 of entering. But looking at the icon of the Blessed 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:25.769 Mother, the beauty and holiness, Of the Theotokos. 00:08:25.889 --> 00:08:33.629 Pierced her heart. It was after that moment. 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:39.269 That she saw the cross. In that moment she realized. 00:08:40.269 --> 00:08:47.389 How far she had strayed from. From God. And so 00:08:47.389 --> 00:08:53.549 she resolved. To abandon. Her disgusting life. 00:08:56.909 --> 00:09:05.009 and undertake an ascetic life. She resolved to 00:09:05.009 --> 00:09:16.610 go into the wilderness, into that barren environment 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:29.340 where she remained for some 40 plus years. That 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:34.559 took persistence. It took determination. It took 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:51.679 strong, unfailing faith. For 40 years, she sought 00:09:51.679 --> 00:10:01.230 spiritual healing and purification. And in my 00:10:01.230 --> 00:10:03.830 younger days, I thought it took just a couple 00:10:03.830 --> 00:10:17.370 days. And isn't it true with all of us? We tend 00:10:17.370 --> 00:10:22.750 to justify and rationalize our actions. And we 00:10:22.750 --> 00:10:25.549 say, well, the Lord will understand. Surely he 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:34.250 does. But my dear people, her struggle did not 00:10:34.250 --> 00:10:41.889 end without a profound confrontation with her 00:10:41.889 --> 00:10:51.750 inner being. And in relating her life to the 00:10:51.750 --> 00:11:01.300 monk Zosimas, this is what she said. Father, 00:11:01.300 --> 00:11:09.059 for the first 17 years in the wilderness, I struggled 00:11:09.059 --> 00:11:19.299 with my deranged passions as though with wild 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:25.080 beasts. What a picture of the demonic powers. 00:11:29.289 --> 00:11:33.090 You know, throughout her struggles, and she did 00:11:33.090 --> 00:11:42.110 it heroically. She did it in faith. And by the 00:11:42.110 --> 00:11:46.730 grace of God, with determination and perseverance, 00:11:46.929 --> 00:11:54.570 she freed herself from her spiritual illusion 00:11:54.570 --> 00:12:00.870 and delusion. She conquered the demonic powers. 00:12:02.210 --> 00:12:06.289 And here's where I want to inject and emphasize 00:12:06.289 --> 00:12:12.029 for all of us. The important thing to note is 00:12:12.029 --> 00:12:19.389 that no matter what sins we might have gotten 00:12:19.389 --> 00:12:25.809 involved into, no matter how much control the 00:12:25.809 --> 00:12:29.879 world seeks, or how much we have permitted the 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:35.159 world to injure into our soul. No matter what 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:39.960 temptations, no matter how helpless we might 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:50.399 think we are, with God's mercy and grace, we 00:12:50.399 --> 00:13:00.179 can overcome. The Bible teaches, with God all 00:13:00.179 --> 00:13:09.200 things are possible like st. Paul on his way 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:20.539 to Damascus when he had a revelation of the burning 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:31.399 light of Christ so too This woman of sin admitted 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:38.200 her guilt, sought penance, and ascended on the 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:45.440 ladder of spirituality. Why do we remember her 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:50.419 and extol her? Because she is an image, an example 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:56.210 of what St. Paul said, to fight the good fight. 00:13:58.250 --> 00:14:06.669 And you can't do it by sitting down. It takes 00:14:06.669 --> 00:14:13.610 effort. It takes struggle. Because our arch enemy, 00:14:13.929 --> 00:14:20.690 Satan, is constantly creating for us all sorts 00:14:20.690 --> 00:14:30.279 of difficulties, problems. And detours. By virtue 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:34.840 of her faith. And again I say that. By virtue 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:41.700 of her faith. Her prayers. Her repentance. She 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:51.379 succeeded. And there's one other thing that I 00:14:51.379 --> 00:14:56.649 heard. Which is contrary. to Orthodox doctrine 00:14:56.649 --> 00:15:01.450 and teaching. I've heard it said on a number 00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:09.470 of occasions that she succeeded in achieving 00:15:09.470 --> 00:15:16.289 spiritual victory because she was destined to 00:15:16.289 --> 00:15:22.309 be a saint. But we're not Calvinists, my dear 00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:27.559 people. No one is destined. We have free will. 00:15:29.379 --> 00:15:33.279 We have the opportunity to do what Christ calls 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:41.519 us to do. We are called on not to be helpless 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:46.799 creatures, but rather to be, we have the potentiality 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:51.840 of becoming saints. Each one of us. Each one 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:56.559 of us is called to live in Christ, to be partakers 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.080 of divine nature, to be the temples of the Holy 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:04.100 Spirit, to be sons and daughters of the living 00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:11.840 God, so that others, seeing your good works, 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:21.529 will be led to glorify God. This is our calling, 00:16:21.570 --> 00:16:27.190 my dear people. This is our destiny. This is 00:16:27.190 --> 00:16:34.830 our vocation. But there's another part of this 00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:41.590 equation. Jesus said, be perfect as your Father 00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:45.690 is in heaven. Well, we know that perfection is 00:16:45.690 --> 00:16:51.950 practically unattainable, but... We can do it. 00:16:54.009 --> 00:17:00.330 Not on our own. That's what she realized after 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:05.329 profound ascetic struggles for years and years. 00:17:06.450 --> 00:17:13.109 Jesus said, without me, ye can do nothing. Without 00:17:13.109 --> 00:17:17.069 me, ye can do nothing. He who abides in me and 00:17:17.069 --> 00:17:24.720 I in him bears much fruit. Why do we recognize 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:30.579 her as a saint? Because she is an image of repentance. 00:17:32.579 --> 00:17:39.299 She is a great source of encouragement. Let us 00:17:39.299 --> 00:17:53.700 not delay. Holy Week is coming. And let us not 00:17:53.700 --> 00:18:02.720 delay in responding to every good and God -pleasing 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:11.180 desire that enters our hearts. Jesus said, if 00:18:11.180 --> 00:18:16.640 you open the door, I will come in and sup with 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:25.240 you. But you've got to open the door. Let us 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:32.559 take this encouragement, renew our efforts, and 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:42.160 with God's grace and mercy and love, we will 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:50.900 achieve what she exemplified and fulfilled. She 00:18:50.900 --> 00:19:00.430 took Christ's message. Literally. Repent, for 00:19:00.430 --> 00:19:05.710 the kingdom of God is at hand. And she repented, 00:19:05.789 --> 00:19:11.490 and the Lord rewarded her with the crown of glory 00:19:11.490 --> 00:19:16.690 and honor. And these are the very same goals 00:19:16.690 --> 00:19:22.970 that you and I strive to attain, not only during 00:19:22.970 --> 00:19:30.369 Lent. but for life. To him be glory and honor. 00:19:31.269 --> 00:19:35.190 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 00:19:35.190 --> 00:19:35.549 Spirit.