WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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Before we do the dismissal, let me express my

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gratitude to the singers and to the servers,

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and especially to God who has led us to this

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day and fed us, nourished us, our souls and bodies

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with his most immaculate life -giving. glorified

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body and blood. What could stand between us and

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God after that? In the hymns, we are then asked

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to fulfill the commandments. You heard some hymns.

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These are hard to do. We're only starting Lent,

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so maybe we trip up a little bit right now before

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we can... do with that first hymn in tone 8 that

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the choir sang, to follow through with something

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like that. It says, let us fast, not just with

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the body, but spiritually. Most of what we do

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is driven by some kind of internal process, an

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internal, sometimes an obsession, an impulse.

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That statement, let us fast not only with the

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body but spiritually, is so that we tame that.

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And then it says, because we can fast, because

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we fast, then we have something to give to the

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poor. It was very insistent about that. It says,

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let us feed the hungry. We try to do that. We

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try as a parish to do that. But this is asking

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us as individuals, servants of God, who carry

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the body and blood of Christ within them to do

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that. Feed the hungry. And even the thing which

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we'll find totally impossible to do, give shelter

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to those who have no place. This is not an easy

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task. Most of us would find every excuse, me

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included, to not do that. We have to find a way

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to actually carry out that commandment in some

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way. I don't know how that's going to be done.

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Each of you, before God, can figure that out.

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And then it says in that hymn to tear up every

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contract. In other words, this is where it gets

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really hard. All the loans, anything that anybody

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owes you, gone. Any blame, any money, any property,

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any situation, you give it all away. What this

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is asking you to do is what in the Old Testament

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law, the Jubilee celebration asks the faithful

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to do. Let the land, this land set aside. If

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anybody owes you anything, all debts totally

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forgiven. And all of those things that I just

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mentioned, that happens every what? Is it 49

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years? 49 years. We're asked to do that every

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year. It's just a part of being Christian. This

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is like the power and the adventure, the excitement,

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the fire of being a Christian is find how to

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do those things because the Lord himself has

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done that for us. Here we are. We're sheltered

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in this beautiful church. We're nourished, we're

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fed, although we are poor and destitute and unworthy,

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the Lord feeds us and enlightens us. And each

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one of you that received communion tonight, I

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remember Father Meletius Weber, the Archimandrite

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Meletius, saying this at a diocesan assembly,

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when you receive holy communion, this is an act

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of theosis. Your heart, your soul, is becoming

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like Christ. Do we have room in there for that

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to happen? Only if we fulfill those commandments.

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It's not about doing it. It's about doing it

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with the Spirit of God. Enlightening us so that

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we can do it in a joyful way. So it becomes a

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natural thing. A natural thing. Like Adam and

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Eve were told to have dominion, lordship over

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the fish of the sea. We go out with a hook to

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try and catch something that doesn't want to

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come to us. But those that are saintly, everything

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around them is in harmony. So let our struggle

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this Lent be to just keep the basic commandments,

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and maybe God will give us more. Let's start

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simple. That's why that hymn was so great. It

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just said, do these things. This is how Christians

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are if you want to be the child of the Heavenly

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Father. The blessing of the Lord and his mercy

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be upon you, through his divine grace and love

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for mankind, always, now and ever and unto ages

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and ages. Amen. Glory to thee, O Christ, our

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hope. Glory be to thee. Glory to the Father,

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and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.