WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.740 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:05.259 of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. Glory 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:10.179 to God. Today's the second Sunday after Pascha. 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:15.199 We call it Thomas Sunday. If you look up at the 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:19.140 top of the North Peak, you see the scene that 00:00:19.140 --> 00:00:23.359 was described in the Gospel today. Beautiful, 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:27.320 beautiful fresco. And this day has an important 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:33.609 message for us. Wonderful message for us. Again, 00:00:33.609 --> 00:00:37.609 once again, the good news, the gospel, that the 00:00:37.609 --> 00:00:43.689 resurrected Lord, the Lord is true. He is resurrected. 00:00:44.509 --> 00:00:47.149 All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth, 00:00:47.189 --> 00:00:51.950 he says. We believe that. All power over everything. 00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:59.219 And he is on the throne. next to the Father, 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:02.939 ruling all things, putting all the enemies, the 00:01:02.939 --> 00:01:05.659 spiritual enemies, under his feet until such 00:01:05.659 --> 00:01:09.959 time that he deems it proper to appear in glory, 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:14.459 and we will be raised. We will be judged. We 00:01:14.459 --> 00:01:17.480 will be raised. The resurrected Lord is real, 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:22.379 always, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:27.459 Eight days after his rising, which is what? we 00:01:27.459 --> 00:01:30.640 had on Pascha, what's today, eight days after 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.840 Pascha, St. John tells us that St. Thomas was 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:37.200 with the disciples when Jesus appeared and said, 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:41.319 peace be unto you. Those words, peace be unto 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:46.420 you, they're not merely words conveying hope 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:51.079 for a good state of mind. His peace, Christ's 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:54.439 peace, the peace of God, it's the peace that 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:58.890 dispels All fear in our hearts, even though we're 00:01:58.890 --> 00:02:02.510 worried and troubled about many things. It's 00:02:02.510 --> 00:02:06.409 the peace that dispels all doubts and all anxieties. 00:02:06.430 --> 00:02:09.610 Why? It's the peace that strengthens us. Why? 00:02:09.870 --> 00:02:13.509 Because his peace is his presence in our midst. 00:02:14.469 --> 00:02:19.289 His peace is his presence. And we, says St. John, 00:02:19.509 --> 00:02:24.960 have life in his name. Today's gospel is completing 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:27.280 the reading today that completes the reading 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:30.560 we had on Pascha, the encounter with the living 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.159 Lord that we began Pascha afternoon. You recall, 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:37.500 perhaps, that that reading ended with the statement, 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.080 and perhaps it seems strange to us on Pascha, 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:45.860 it ended with the statement by St. Thomas, unless 00:02:45.860 --> 00:02:50.060 I see, I will not believe. That's Pascha Day. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.699 That's what we're left with in the middle of 00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:57.060 the afternoon. And that's good. Because like 00:02:57.060 --> 00:03:00.439 Thomas, we need to go deeper into our heart. 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:02.460 Because Christ is not going to appear the way 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:07.500 he appeared to Thomas to us. The way we see is 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:10.780 a different faculty than our eyeballs and our 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:13.900 hands. And Jesus says, blessed are those that 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:19.050 see that way. We end in that strange way. Unless 00:03:19.050 --> 00:03:20.969 I see you, I will not believe. That's Pascha, 00:03:21.030 --> 00:03:24.389 and we come to terms with it. The death has been 00:03:24.389 --> 00:03:30.849 abolished. The death is over. Can we believe 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:35.150 it? That statement. Can we live according to 00:03:35.150 --> 00:03:39.030 that statement? Here's how St. John Chrysostom, 00:03:39.169 --> 00:03:42.990 the writer of this liturgy, says. He says, it's 00:03:42.990 --> 00:03:49.120 true. We still die as before. But we do not remain 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:55.139 in death. Because Christ is there. And this is 00:03:55.139 --> 00:03:58.620 not to die. And the very power and very harshness 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:01.819 of death is that a dead person has no possibility 00:04:01.819 --> 00:04:05.479 of returning to life. But if after death he is 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:08.340 to be bodily quickened and moreover to be given 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:12.580 a better bodily life without death, then this 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.800 is no longer death. This is a falling asleep. 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:23.939 Comfortable belief. Just saying, Christ is risen 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:25.800 from the dead, trampling death by death, and 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:29.980 we're very happy. Just saying that, it's fairly 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:36.480 easy. It requires very little of us. Seeing the 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:42.860 Lord as we did on Thursday night, Friday. Treated 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:47.220 so brutally in his crucifixion by the authorities. 00:04:47.620 --> 00:04:55.540 Handed over by his own people. The apostles probably 00:04:55.540 --> 00:04:58.839 thought they were next. They're hiding in this 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.300 upper room when Christ comes to them on that 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:05.019 first day of the week. I can't imagine their 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:09.279 fear, their uncertainty. We thought it was him 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:13.110 that would redeem Israel, they said. And they 00:05:13.110 --> 00:05:15.990 were disappointed. No matter what they heard 00:05:15.990 --> 00:05:21.209 through the teaching of Jesus Christ, no one 00:05:21.209 --> 00:05:25.050 rises from the dead. This is not something they 00:05:25.050 --> 00:05:33.730 would expect at all. But since that day and since 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:39.110 Thomas Sunday, all the saints, whether ancient 00:05:39.110 --> 00:05:44.100 martyrs, or the new martyrs, or the Turkish martyrs, 00:05:44.100 --> 00:05:48.399 or people in Uganda or Nigeria that are being 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:51.259 killed systematically, Christians that are being 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:56.579 killed, they don't believe that they are afraid. 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:59.939 They have gone through the furnace of doubt already. 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.660 They have gone and carried that cross which has 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:08.459 transformed them to make them like gold. That's 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:13.569 our goal. Not to be comfortable Christians. No, 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:18.290 our goal is to carry that cross, to encounter 00:06:18.290 --> 00:06:21.490 that furnace of doubt in our heart, and to let 00:06:21.490 --> 00:06:25.310 the Lord inside our deep heart, where we say 00:06:25.310 --> 00:06:30.009 to him, Thou art my Lord and my God. How could 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:33.509 I not see that? We hear the words of St. Thomas 00:06:33.509 --> 00:06:36.149 proclaiming with... that phrase with complete 00:06:36.149 --> 00:06:40.649 faith, that Jesus is my Lord and my God, not 00:06:40.649 --> 00:06:46.649 just the Lord and the God. The scriptures tell 00:06:46.649 --> 00:06:50.550 us that the Lord appeared to his mother, to Mary 00:06:50.550 --> 00:06:55.009 Magdalene, to the mother of James and John, to 00:06:55.009 --> 00:07:01.110 all of the apostles, to 500 people at once. We 00:07:01.110 --> 00:07:05.939 trust those witnesses. because of the way they 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:09.819 conducted their life. We trust their words because 00:07:09.819 --> 00:07:12.920 we see how they lived, were transformed, were 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:15.759 no longer hiding behind closed doors. St. Luke 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.639 records in the book of Acts, which you heard 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:20.639 today, that through the hands of the apostles, 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.079 who had been changed after Pentecost, absolutely, 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:27.060 fundamentally, essentially changed. They were 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:29.720 now bearers of the Spirit of God, as we are. 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:36.199 That through them, many signs and wonders were 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:39.939 done among the people, and believers were increasingly 00:07:39.939 --> 00:07:44.839 added to the Lord. Yes, believe the witness, 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.879 the ancient witness. Believe the new witnesses, 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:53.180 our saints. Believe them, but also seek for yourself, 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:57.879 not as an ideology, but the person of Christ. 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:03.910 Touch him, not physically. But in your deep heart, 00:08:04.050 --> 00:08:08.470 the church, Lent, the services, the holy mysteries, 00:08:08.769 --> 00:08:12.730 worship, all the hymns, the fasting, the prayer, 00:08:12.990 --> 00:08:16.889 the prostrations, this is spiritual heart surgery 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:24.110 acting upon our heart. It can be painful when 00:08:24.110 --> 00:08:28.620 we see what's in there. And by the grace of the 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.879 Holy Spirit, as we allow him, as we carry our 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:34.700 own cross and our sorrows and our difficulties, 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:41.899 that deep heart is being made a throne. But we 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:45.360 have to offer ourself. It's comfortable not to. 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:49.960 Because doubts come and resistance comes. When 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:53.120 resistance comes, you have to ask, why now? What's 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:56.330 that about? Because that's... That's from the 00:08:56.330 --> 00:09:00.570 evil one. God will not bring something to fruition 00:09:00.570 --> 00:09:06.370 in us, in our heart, without our having had a 00:09:06.370 --> 00:09:10.750 hand in cultivating the grace that is going to 00:09:10.750 --> 00:09:15.509 be there. We will get from him joy, contrition, 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:19.950 wisdom, understanding, more joy, more contrition. 00:09:20.350 --> 00:09:23.169 A conviction, whatever our heart has prepared 00:09:23.169 --> 00:09:26.929 itself to receive and what we are capable of 00:09:26.929 --> 00:09:29.789 receiving with faith, that is what we will receive. 00:09:31.769 --> 00:09:35.529 We are filled, says one elder, to the degree 00:09:35.529 --> 00:09:40.049 that we are empty. That we have made room within 00:09:40.049 --> 00:09:44.110 ourselves for that faithfulness, that life of 00:09:44.110 --> 00:09:48.529 faith and the love for God. The love for God. 00:09:49.070 --> 00:09:53.730 That's primary. This is something that is for 00:09:53.730 --> 00:09:57.029 me, acquiring Christ as my own, here in the midst 00:09:57.029 --> 00:10:01.610 of the congregation, to no longer be in a prison 00:10:01.610 --> 00:10:06.970 of my self -will and my sins and fear of death. 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:11.269 Let me give you a few practical suggestions as 00:10:11.269 --> 00:10:15.549 I conclude. If you are struggling with being 00:10:15.549 --> 00:10:20.279 faithful, I won't say in belief, I would say 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:25.179 faithfulness. Coming to church. Praying. Loving 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:28.679 God. Forgiving. All of those things. If you are 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:31.460 struggling with being faithful, the first thing, 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:34.500 this is very important. Do not stop praying. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:39.139 Any way you can. God is so humble, he will receive 00:10:39.139 --> 00:10:42.340 that prayer. But do it. And remember, remember 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:45.879 this. Like in any endeavor in our life, and I've 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:49.250 told you this many times. There is no quality 00:10:49.250 --> 00:10:54.250 without quantity. You cannot become a good musician 00:10:54.250 --> 00:10:57.309 without a lot of practice. You can't become a 00:10:57.309 --> 00:11:00.889 good athlete without a lot of practice. You can't 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:07.570 become adept at prayer without delving into it 00:11:07.570 --> 00:11:10.710 and waiting around and sometimes drowning in 00:11:10.710 --> 00:11:14.330 your own thoughts. But the quality will be there 00:11:14.330 --> 00:11:17.730 because it will be a gift of God. Pray. Secondly, 00:11:17.889 --> 00:11:22.669 learn about the faith. If you have a Sunday school 00:11:22.669 --> 00:11:26.809 education only, your faith will not survive. 00:11:29.149 --> 00:11:34.429 But here, the riches we have, the books, the 00:11:34.429 --> 00:11:38.629 teaching, the people, let your faith be strengthened. 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:42.899 Talk to other people who love their faith. Try 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:46.179 to emulate them. Learn from them. Understand 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:50.759 why they believe. Follow them as apostles. And 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:55.240 third, most important, experience. Participate. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.399 This helps our faith to grow, to mature within 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:04.179 us. Participate. Come to church. If Thomas had 00:12:04.179 --> 00:12:08.730 not come back on the eighth day, But on that 00:12:08.730 --> 00:12:12.889 first day, when Jesus had come to the apostles 00:12:12.889 --> 00:12:16.649 and said, peace be unto all, and he had to say 00:12:16.649 --> 00:12:20.230 it twice, they were so shocked. If Thomas had 00:12:20.230 --> 00:12:24.370 not come back the next week, he would have been 00:12:24.370 --> 00:12:26.590 left with, unless they see, I will not believe, 00:12:26.669 --> 00:12:31.269 and that would be the end. We should not miss 00:12:31.269 --> 00:12:35.960 any liturgy on a Sunday. No, we should not. Because 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:41.120 every liturgy is an immense gift from God to 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:45.559 each one of us. Particular, exact what we need. 00:12:45.700 --> 00:12:49.500 You and me, the exact gift that God has to give 00:12:49.500 --> 00:12:55.039 us, which will give you the peace to say, My 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:59.080 Lord and my God, I thank thee, O Lord, for all 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.450 that you have done for me. Let's show up. This 00:13:02.450 --> 00:13:04.970 is how we strengthen one another. Let's be open 00:13:04.970 --> 00:13:08.250 to these things. Let's not be faithless, but 00:13:08.250 --> 00:13:10.250 believing. Christ is risen.