WEBVTT 00:00:01.389 --> 00:00:05.410 It is a terrifying thing to speak on behalf of 00:00:05.410 --> 00:00:10.470 the Lord, to speak in his name, particularly 00:00:10.470 --> 00:00:15.070 on such a Sunday, the Sunday of the last judgment. 00:00:16.089 --> 00:00:19.410 Father Thomas Hopko of blessed memory used to 00:00:19.410 --> 00:00:22.649 say that the most frightening text in scripture, 00:00:23.010 --> 00:00:26.710 especially for those in the priesthood, are the 00:00:26.710 --> 00:00:29.859 Lord's words in the Sermon on the Mount. Also 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:33.119 in Matthew's gospel, not everyone who says to 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:37.020 me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:40.740 heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:44.560 Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:47.899 out demons in your name and do many wonderful 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:51.740 works in your name? And then I will declare to 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:55.740 them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who 00:00:55.740 --> 00:01:01.179 work iniquity. you workers of lawlessness. Next 00:01:01.179 --> 00:01:05.140 to these words, I would set our gospel text that 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:12.340 we just heard before us. In many ways, it's a 00:01:12.340 --> 00:01:16.420 straightforward text. It doesn't need much explanation. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:22.459 The Lord doesn't mince words. The Lord also reminds 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:25.879 us that despite what we often say in the Orthodox 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:29.439 Church, that salvation is primarily about healing, 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:33.819 which remains true, that salvific healing nevertheless 00:01:33.819 --> 00:01:40.040 requires a judgment, that we be judged for what 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:44.459 we do in this life. We all have to stand before 00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:48.060 the Lord as he sits on the throne of his glory 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:52.000 upon the cherubim, surrounded by all the angelic 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.250 hosts and powers. and give an account for our 00:01:55.250 --> 00:01:59.090 life. To use the words of St. Paul to the Romans, 00:01:59.189 --> 00:02:04.609 on that day when, according to my gospel, God 00:02:04.609 --> 00:02:10.250 judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. And 00:02:10.250 --> 00:02:13.370 that gospel this morning forces us to ask ourselves 00:02:13.370 --> 00:02:20.310 afresh, where will we find ourselves? On the 00:02:20.310 --> 00:02:23.939 side of the sheep, or on the side of the goats, 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:27.919 on the side of those who remember the hungry, 00:02:28.139 --> 00:02:32.620 the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:38.479 the prisoner, and help them, or not. In various 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.539 ways, the hymnography we hear pertaining to this 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:48.300 Sunday assures us that all excuses or personal 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:52.340 zeal or how others prevented us from following 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:55.919 the Lord's commandment. Any excuse, any help, 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:00.860 anything, will not help us then, when it's just 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:07.139 us and the Lord on that day. Of course, until 00:03:07.139 --> 00:03:11.719 that day, in this life, there's a tendency in 00:03:11.719 --> 00:03:15.719 us to push back on the Lord's words, to justify 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:19.969 ourselves against what we don't do. That has 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:22.669 been the theme of these previous Sundays. Think 00:03:22.669 --> 00:03:26.050 of the religious people flabbergasted that Jesus 00:03:26.050 --> 00:03:30.430 goes into the house, the home of Zacchaeus, a 00:03:30.430 --> 00:03:34.229 sinner. Think of the Pharisee and the temple 00:03:34.229 --> 00:03:37.150 looking at that same sinner and tax collector. 00:03:37.909 --> 00:03:43.009 Thank God, at least I'm not like him. Think of 00:03:43.009 --> 00:03:46.330 the elder brother, unable to rejoice at the return 00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:49.610 of his sinful brother. I have slaved for you 00:03:49.610 --> 00:03:52.189 here, and you've never given me such a party. 00:03:52.509 --> 00:03:57.030 Why should he get one? We give in to our thoughts, 00:03:57.110 --> 00:04:01.370 what arises from our hearts. We might be afraid 00:04:01.370 --> 00:04:06.150 to say it out loud, but it's latent. Didn't they 00:04:06.150 --> 00:04:11.689 do it to themselves? The poor. the hungry, the 00:04:11.689 --> 00:04:14.310 thirsty, the naked, the so -called marginalized 00:04:14.310 --> 00:04:17.889 on the fringes of society, the sick and now languishing 00:04:17.889 --> 00:04:20.350 and tired, those who have gotten themselves into 00:04:20.350 --> 00:04:25.870 prison. That's the idea here in ancient Near 00:04:25.870 --> 00:04:29.129 Eastern and Greco -Roman society, which has never 00:04:29.129 --> 00:04:33.709 left but remains alive well in our day and age 00:04:33.709 --> 00:04:38.149 and in our own thinking. If they've already squandered 00:04:38.149 --> 00:04:41.579 their lives, will they responsibly use the help 00:04:41.579 --> 00:04:45.360 that we give them, the time that we offer them? 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:51.199 But the Lord corrects us here. Notice what he 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.899 calls these kinds of people. He refers to them 00:04:54.899 --> 00:04:59.879 as his brothers. Brethren is what we hear in 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:03.920 our translation, which slightly obscures how 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:07.779 this Sunday flows out of last Sunday. Brothers 00:05:07.779 --> 00:05:12.470 here. Because it puts us right back into the 00:05:12.470 --> 00:05:15.250 Sunday of the prodigal son, the two brothers. 00:05:15.930 --> 00:05:19.350 Today, Christ puts himself in the position of 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:23.889 the elder brother, asking us if we can put ourselves 00:05:23.889 --> 00:05:29.170 in the position of the prodigal's father. How 00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:33.029 does God receive the prodigal son, the one who 00:05:33.029 --> 00:05:39.050 squanders and ruins his life? When we look at 00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:43.649 our own problems rightly, our own sin, our own 00:05:43.649 --> 00:05:48.029 predicament, how we respond to such things, who 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:53.089 are we to judge anyone besides ourselves? What 00:05:53.089 --> 00:05:56.430 justification can I bring into the presence of 00:05:56.430 --> 00:06:00.430 Christ when he sits among his angels? Even here, 00:06:00.490 --> 00:06:03.350 even now, where the divine liturgy is indeed 00:06:03.350 --> 00:06:07.149 a judgment service, as it were, what can I say? 00:06:07.610 --> 00:06:11.930 and offer, except God, be merciful to me, the 00:06:11.930 --> 00:06:18.410 sinner. In my misery, I am first, as the hymnography 00:06:18.410 --> 00:06:22.209 puts it. I have sinned. I have failed. You know 00:06:22.209 --> 00:06:28.850 all my secrets. Have mercy on me. Who am I that 00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:32.829 anyone would ask me for any help, any food, any 00:06:32.829 --> 00:06:42.089 visitation, any solace? or consolation. And now, 00:06:42.129 --> 00:06:45.569 but now, despite myself, because of the mercy 00:06:45.569 --> 00:06:48.949 you have opened up to me, O Christ, how can I 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:52.550 not take my life, what I have in my life, my 00:06:52.550 --> 00:06:56.889 gifts, my resources, my talent, whatever, and 00:06:56.889 --> 00:07:00.050 give it away like Zacchaeus for my own healing 00:07:00.050 --> 00:07:04.970 freedom from these things and salvation? Today 00:07:04.970 --> 00:07:08.009 salvation has come even to this house, for he 00:07:08.009 --> 00:07:15.689 too is a child of Abraham. Saint Maria Skopceva 00:07:15.689 --> 00:07:20.589 of Paris, who herself lived a prodigal life, 00:07:20.829 --> 00:07:24.350 embracing the atheism of the Bolshevik revolution 00:07:24.350 --> 00:07:28.470 and ran among its intelligentsia before she became 00:07:28.470 --> 00:07:32.509 a nun, who would provide a haven for the destitute. 00:07:32.860 --> 00:07:36.500 the poor, and the refugee. In particular, she 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:39.199 would shelter and hide Jews during the Second 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.839 World War until she was finally caught and taken 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:46.600 herself, and as multiple survivors testified 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:50.459 about her, gave her own life for a Jewish woman 00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:55.699 in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. St. Maria 00:07:55.699 --> 00:07:59.800 interpreted this Sunday's gospel text as a revelation 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:04.399 from Christ. That he is truly and mystically 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:09.120 present in every suffering person. That these 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.759 brothers, he speaks of, are the very place of 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:17.980 divine encounter with Christ himself. Not unlike 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:21.120 how St. John Chrysostom, whose liturgy we are 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.939 currently celebrating, puts it, if you cannot 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:26.579 find Christ in the beggar at the church door, 00:08:26.819 --> 00:08:31.720 you will not find him in the chalice. St. Maria 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:35.799 reflects on this Sunday, at the last judgment, 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.720 I will not be asked whether I was successful 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:44.759 in my ascetic exercises, nor how many bows and 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:48.620 prostrations I made. You can add all sorts of 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:51.980 things here, things that we are particularly 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:56.279 proud of, perhaps. Instead, I will be asked, 00:08:56.419 --> 00:09:01.779 did I feed the hungry? Clothe the naked. Visit 00:09:01.779 --> 00:09:06.279 the sick and the prisoners. That's all I will 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:11.399 be asked. Something to think about as we're about 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:17.399 to enter Lent. The Lord asks us to feed, to give 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:21.000 drink, to clothe, to welcome, to visit. Notice 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.740 that he doesn't actually ask us for that much. 00:09:24.019 --> 00:09:28.519 St. Augustine points this out. Quote, the Lord 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:33.399 doesn't say, I was sick or I was in prison and 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:39.700 you delivered me. No, but you visited me. He 00:09:39.700 --> 00:09:42.960 isn't asking for great things, but for kindness. 00:09:43.179 --> 00:09:48.419 End quote. He asks for decency, for us to notice 00:09:48.419 --> 00:09:51.879 the needs of others, which can only spring forth 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:56.019 from our love for him. Which is just another 00:09:56.019 --> 00:09:59.019 form of the question he will ask us on the day 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:05.659 of judgment. Do you love me? Do you love me? 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:13.860 Do you love me? The Sunday of the last judgment 00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:19.620 is intense. It's Old Testamental in a way that 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:24.039 we might not always be ready for. It makes me 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:27.240 recall the words of Habakkuk, the prophet, who 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:31.039 has a vision of the day of judgment, a vision 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.039 of the Lord in his holy temple, shining bright 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:39.360 with light and power, looking upon all the nations 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:42.860 as he shakes mountains and turns over hills, 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:49.460 as he makes rivers to rise, seas to part, the 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:53.129 depths to open, as he splits the earth. and turns 00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:58.029 the entire world upside down. As the Lord calls 00:10:58.029 --> 00:11:03.610 the nations to account, and all flesh keeps silent, 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:07.269 as the priests will utter at the cherubic hymn 00:11:07.269 --> 00:11:10.769 on Holy Saturday as Christ is trampling death, 00:11:11.590 --> 00:11:16.690 Habakkuk utters these simple words as if he is 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:19.350 the tax collector who walks into the temple. 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:27.500 In wrath, remember mercy. Or, in judgment, Lord, 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:33.259 remember mercy. In judgment, remember mercy. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:38.620 As we prayed yesterday on Memorial Saturday to 00:11:38.620 --> 00:11:42.360 prepare the departed and us too for the last 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:47.059 judgment, the prayers put these things together. 00:11:48.269 --> 00:11:52.590 For thou art a good God and lovest mankind. For 00:11:52.590 --> 00:11:55.669 there is no man who lives and yet does not sin. 00:11:55.809 --> 00:12:00.929 For thou only art without sin. That is, we are 00:12:00.929 --> 00:12:06.389 sinners, but you, Lord, please be merciful in 00:12:06.389 --> 00:12:10.929 overlooking our failures. In judgment of ourselves, 00:12:11.409 --> 00:12:16.990 we should pray, Lord, you are holy. and I am 00:12:16.990 --> 00:12:20.590 not worthy of you. I have no righteousness, no 00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:24.789 excuses, nothing to bring to the table. I myself 00:12:24.789 --> 00:12:30.370 am poor, hungry, and thirsty. I myself am a stranger 00:12:30.370 --> 00:12:34.169 and feel out of place. I myself am sick and in 00:12:34.169 --> 00:12:37.929 prison to sin and death. And myself, I myself 00:12:37.929 --> 00:12:41.210 am naked and exposed and have no secrets to hide 00:12:41.210 --> 00:12:46.059 before you. But you, you are compassionate. and 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:49.860 you love mankind. How can I not have mercy and 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:55.559 help others? Have mercy on me, a sinner. In judgment, 00:12:55.700 --> 00:13:00.720 remember mercy. And Lord, let me remember mercy 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:07.799 too. Truly, we have to feel the weight of this 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:13.820 Sunday. But this Sunday is also a grace. It's 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:17.500 an announcement. a foghorn that cuts through 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:21.620 and pierces through all other noise. That judgment 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:25.419 has already started. The day of salvation is 00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:29.600 at hand. Today, we come to the end of the world. 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:33.980 Today, we all stand before Christ as he judges 00:13:33.980 --> 00:13:39.580 us. Today, we have no excuse not to listen. Today, 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:43.950 we judge ourselves. How can we hear the Lord's 00:13:43.950 --> 00:13:49.309 words today and not change? In what ways can 00:13:49.309 --> 00:13:54.509 we repent? In what ways have we not seen Christ 00:13:54.509 --> 00:13:58.909 standing right in front of us in the very people 00:13:58.909 --> 00:14:05.490 he sets before us? As we prepare for Lent, brothers 00:14:05.490 --> 00:14:11.169 and sisters, think on these things. Pray about 00:14:11.169 --> 00:14:17.029 them. Bring them to confession. And with Christ's 00:14:17.029 --> 00:14:22.049 help, use Lent to discern him more clearly and 00:14:22.049 --> 00:14:25.789 to become more Christ -like, more God -like, 00:14:25.929 --> 00:14:29.909 and even more human. Amen?