WEBVTT

00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:03.439
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:10.439
of the Holy Spirit. Christ is risen. In the wake

00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:15.000
of Pascha, the Church, in the life of the Holy

00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:20.859
Spirit, opens to us the Gospel of John. By Christ's

00:00:20.859 --> 00:00:24.399
resurrection, our eyes have been opened by the

00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:28.719
resurrection, our Pascha, Christ himself. And

00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:32.000
we, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus,

00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:37.380
have had our own eyes opened, unveiled, and transfigured

00:00:37.380 --> 00:00:40.119
to encounter the realities in the scriptures

00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:45.159
about Christ and ourselves. Through our own personal

00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:49.640
Pascha, our own death and resurrection, our own

00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:54.259
baptism and illumination, we find ourselves lying

00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:58.049
with this man. Or perhaps, more properly speaking,

00:00:58.429 --> 00:01:04.870
as this man, by this pool, Bethesda, Beit Chesda,

00:01:05.030 --> 00:01:11.170
at the house of mercy. The gospel before us re

00:01:11.170 --> 00:01:15.549
-situates us into creation. On Pascha, we hear

00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:18.810
John 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the

00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:21.890
Word was with God, and the Word was God. All

00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:25.000
things became through him. And apart from him

00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.140
did not anything become that became. And this

00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:31.819
word became flesh and tabernacled among us. And

00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:35.599
we have beheld his glory. We hear this text on

00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:38.700
Pascha in order to make the realities of creation

00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:42.879
and the resurrection converge for us. The entrance

00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:46.859
of the word, Christ himself, into every aspect

00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:50.040
of the life in the flesh. His becoming human

00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:54.260
in order to show us his glory. and glorify us

00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:57.879
with him, so that we too might be with God, and

00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:01.819
we too might move with Christ toward God, the

00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:04.859
true and living God, his Father and our Father,

00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.080
his God and our God. Into the life of the Spirit

00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:14.879
we might become whole and complete. When we meet

00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:19.060
this paralytic man, or again, more specifically,

00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:23.750
this anthropos, this human, this paralytic and

00:02:23.750 --> 00:02:28.330
crippled human being, unable to get up. We are

00:02:28.330 --> 00:02:32.930
taken back to creation, but in the key of Pascha,

00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:36.349
the resurrection, where we must remember the

00:02:36.349 --> 00:02:40.449
goal of all humanity, the anthropos, created

00:02:40.449 --> 00:02:45.289
by God, to flourish, to be fruitful, to have

00:02:45.289 --> 00:02:50.270
life in God, and to move toward God in freedom,

00:02:50.370 --> 00:02:56.520
to reflect God, as a mirror, as an image, to

00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:01.060
become like God. Let us make anthropos in our

00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:06.379
image and after our likeness. And yet, we meet

00:03:06.379 --> 00:03:11.500
this human, along with many others, blind, lame,

00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:18.460
paralyzed, crippled. This human, paralytic for

00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:24.000
38 years. trying to get into this pool, which

00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.740
of course mystically signifies the waters of

00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:31.300
baptism, that can bring not simply angelic healing,

00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:38.099
but even divine healing. Jesus sees the paralytic

00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:42.039
human, knowing that he lay there for a long time,

00:03:42.139 --> 00:03:46.180
and he walks up to him and asks a question that

00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:52.620
echoes creation. Do you want to be well? Sometimes

00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:57.000
it's rendered, do you want to be healed? Do you

00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:02.199
want to become whole? It echoes creation in that

00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:06.659
upon making all things, God declares them well.

00:04:06.979 --> 00:04:11.960
He declares them good. And the human, even very

00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:19.759
good. Tov. That is to say, complete. Whole, not

00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:24.120
fragmented. Everything is integrated and working

00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:28.339
the way it's supposed to. Not being pulled apart

00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:32.939
in different directions by competing in different

00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:38.839
forces. In the logic of the Paschal season, we

00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.519
hear the question, as those already baptized,

00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:45.939
slightly different from this man, as those having

00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:50.019
already entered, the house of mercy, our own

00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:55.420
ecclesial Bethesda, as those having entered the

00:04:55.420 --> 00:05:00.220
divine waters of baptism and come up. And yet,

00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:06.199
we find ourselves with this man, like him, lying

00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:11.360
and questioning this fact that we might have

00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:18.769
been for 38 years, perhaps, blind, Lame, paralyzed,

00:05:19.490 --> 00:05:27.230
unable to move, crippled by our sin, weighed

00:05:27.230 --> 00:05:31.370
down by the difficulties of our life, our past,

00:05:31.550 --> 00:05:35.990
our own failures, past failures, present failures,

00:05:36.129 --> 00:05:40.750
afraid of future failures. What we and others

00:05:40.750 --> 00:05:44.269
might have done to ourselves, to us, to bring

00:05:44.269 --> 00:05:48.069
us to this predicament. this point in our life

00:05:48.069 --> 00:05:54.610
of fear and immobility, of the lack of freedom

00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:59.949
to move, a life restricted by our own prison.

00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:06.269
Jesus comes to us and asks, do you want to become

00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:13.670
whole? Do you want to be well again? Do you want

00:06:13.670 --> 00:06:17.819
to be healed? Do you want to walk in freedom?

00:06:19.540 --> 00:06:23.360
Do you want to walk in the newness of life? Do

00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.740
you want to walk in the power of my resurrection?

00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:36.420
Do we want that? Or do we want to keep lying

00:06:36.420 --> 00:06:41.699
there? That's really the question. And I realize

00:06:41.699 --> 00:06:43.920
that some of us have been walking with Christ

00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:47.019
for a long time. But this question, brothers

00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:51.040
and sisters, comes not only to those newly baptized

00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:55.019
and illumined, nor is the question held out only

00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:59.720
to catechumens or visitors, newcomers. No, Christ

00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:04.319
asks all of us this question. I've been here

00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.459
long enough now where I've heard the question,

00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.560
how do we integrate catechumens and new people

00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:14.550
into the life of the church? We have so many

00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:18.310
new people, thank God, but how do we make them

00:07:18.310 --> 00:07:22.829
belong? That is, how do we contextualize opportunities

00:07:22.829 --> 00:07:28.750
for them to become well, whole, and healed? That's

00:07:28.750 --> 00:07:32.430
great. We should ask those questions. And we

00:07:32.430 --> 00:07:36.290
should provide that kind of context for such

00:07:36.290 --> 00:07:38.970
healing and wholeness to be carried out. But

00:07:38.970 --> 00:07:42.019
what about ourselves? We have to keep asking

00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:46.560
ourselves that same question. How do we make

00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:54.439
ourselves well? Do we want to be well? Do we

00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:59.040
want to be made whole? Do we want to become integrated

00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.980
human beings free from our own baggage, sin,

00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:08.920
failures, and fear? That's a very... different

00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:12.500
angle on the question because sometimes we can

00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:16.819
hide in the midst of our service or we can hide

00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:19.620
in the midst of extending a helping hand to others

00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:22.560
or making others feel like they belong or asking

00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.319
others a bunch of questions so no one has to

00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:31.360
ask us any questions. As a priest, I know all

00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.960
about this, frankly. We have to turn that question

00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:40.730
and ask ourselves, or rather let Christ ask us,

00:08:40.970 --> 00:08:44.690
do we really want the life that Christ opens

00:08:44.690 --> 00:08:50.250
for us as the resurrection and the life? Do we

00:08:50.250 --> 00:08:55.629
want to become well? Do we want to be made whole?

00:08:57.169 --> 00:09:01.570
Or do we respond like this guy? Sir, I have no

00:09:01.570 --> 00:09:05.629
one, literally no human, to put me into the pool.

00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:09.259
where we don't really answer Christ's own question,

00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:13.440
or we sort of sidestep or evade the question,

00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.940
as he's literally staring at God become human.

00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.759
But that's beside the point. The Lord doesn't

00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:25.779
ask us whether we have the means. He asks us

00:09:25.779 --> 00:09:28.220
something much more straightforward, and thus

00:09:28.220 --> 00:09:31.480
much more difficult, right between the eyes he

00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:35.529
hits us. Do you want to become well? Which is

00:09:35.529 --> 00:09:39.490
a harder question to sit with entirely. Do we

00:09:39.490 --> 00:09:43.809
really want to become well? If we answer yes,

00:09:44.090 --> 00:09:48.129
he can do it. For all things are possible through

00:09:48.129 --> 00:09:50.750
him. We can do all things through Christ who

00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:53.490
strengthens us. And apart from him, we can do

00:09:53.490 --> 00:10:00.289
nothing. Rise. Get up. Take up your bed and walk.

00:10:01.269 --> 00:10:05.879
Notice, the guy never goes into the water. As

00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:09.279
the resurrection himself, Christ's words themselves

00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:14.639
provide the power and life to get this guy up,

00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:19.580
to rise, to change. They provide the power to

00:10:19.580 --> 00:10:23.820
get up, to rise, to change one's life and reorient

00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:28.360
towards God. But for us, again, we have already

00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.659
entered into that water. And time in and time

00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:36.009
out, Christ's Christ meets us lying, somewhat

00:10:36.009 --> 00:10:40.929
crippled by our own discouragement, by the baggage

00:10:40.929 --> 00:10:45.029
of our lives, by our own confusion, by our own

00:10:45.029 --> 00:10:50.330
returning towards delusion, by the brokenness

00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:57.289
of this world. And he tells us, rise, rise, get

00:10:57.289 --> 00:11:03.529
up, wake up, you sleeper, and live. Leap, you

00:11:03.529 --> 00:11:09.690
lame, for joy. Stop chattering. Stop talking.

00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:13.549
Stop making excuses. Maybe for 38 years, stop

00:11:13.549 --> 00:11:16.990
listening to the noise in your own heart and

00:11:16.990 --> 00:11:20.750
in this world because I have come and I have

00:11:20.750 --> 00:11:24.730
overcome the world and I hold the keys of death

00:11:24.730 --> 00:11:28.370
and Hades. I have come into this world for your

00:11:28.370 --> 00:11:33.179
salvation, for your healing. for your wholeness,

00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:37.840
to give you a new life, to shatter old patterns,

00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:42.299
to heal you, to make you well, to make you whole,

00:11:42.500 --> 00:11:46.779
to make you complete, to save you from your sins,

00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:53.480
to save you from yourself. Christ opens to us

00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:58.740
a life of freedom, a life of mercy, a life of

00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:04.000
compassion, free from anxiety and turmoil, a

00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:07.659
life free from fretting, a life unencumbered

00:12:07.659 --> 00:12:10.720
by the cares of this world and our own failures,

00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:14.960
a life healed from our spiritual sicknesses and

00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:18.399
maladies such that we don't have to make excuses

00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:25.940
anymore. We can come to him as we are. We don't

00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:30.059
have to be afraid of salvation. We don't have

00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:33.159
to be afraid of being saved, of really changing.

00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:37.500
We don't have to be afraid of what a changed

00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:40.980
and redeemed life might actually look like for

00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:45.620
us. What he's actually holding out for us, we

00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:50.279
don't have to keep him at arm's length. And what

00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:54.220
does Christ tell this guy in the temple? Look!

00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:59.320
Look at yourself! Behold! See! You are well.

00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.519
I can just imagine him taking him by the shoulders

00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:05.919
and shaking him and smiling in his face. You

00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:10.279
are whole. You have been healed. You are well.

00:13:10.539 --> 00:13:15.200
You are integrated. Your life is no longer out

00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:18.340
of whack. You've been re -centered. You've been

00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:23.200
reoriented. Now sin no more, so that nothing

00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:25.889
worse might befall you. Of course, we should

00:13:25.889 --> 00:13:28.889
feel the full force of what Christ says. Stop

00:13:28.889 --> 00:13:34.149
sinning. And yet, we must remember the words

00:13:34.149 --> 00:13:38.210
of St. John elsewhere. My little children, I'm

00:13:38.210 --> 00:13:41.250
writing to you so that you do not sin. But when

00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:44.230
you do sin, that is, when you miss the mark,

00:13:44.350 --> 00:13:47.029
when you stumble, when you fall flat on your

00:13:47.029 --> 00:13:50.129
face, when you fall before the glory of God,

00:13:50.330 --> 00:13:53.820
no! that you have an advocate with God the Father,

00:13:53.919 --> 00:14:01.519
Jesus Christ, the righteous one. But the idea

00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:05.539
behind the Lord's words is that we must no longer

00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:11.019
practice a life of sin. When we stumble, when

00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:15.179
we fall, we must always reorient our life toward,

00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:19.559
that is, we must always turn it toward the east.

00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:24.519
toward the Orient. We must always move toward

00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:28.700
the life of God, of course united to Christ and

00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:31.500
in the power of the Holy Spirit who helps us

00:14:31.500 --> 00:14:34.299
and guides us into the truth, Christ himself,

00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:38.179
so that we don't become crippled again, so that

00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:41.960
we don't disintegrate, so that we don't backslide,

00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.539
so that we don't believe those lies that the

00:14:44.539 --> 00:14:47.700
world would tell us, that our own hearts would

00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:53.600
tell us. the passions would tell us, that the

00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:57.480
demons would tell us, that the noise which is

00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:02.360
going on so much in this world, so much in our

00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:08.379
minds, we don't move toward nothingness and death

00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:12.919
and fear, but we move toward God. It's like that

00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:18.419
fresco of St. Anthony right over there. I always

00:15:18.419 --> 00:15:22.200
remember these words. I no longer fear God, but

00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:26.299
I love him. I am not afraid of what Christ can

00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:29.639
do in my life. I am not running from him. I am

00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:33.700
not lying there crippled, unable to do anything

00:15:33.700 --> 00:15:36.679
because Christ has taken me. Christ has raised

00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:39.879
me. Christ has lifted me. Christ has empowered

00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:45.220
me by his love. I too can love now. I can love

00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:51.509
God freely. just like I did in paradise. Brothers

00:15:51.509 --> 00:15:54.570
and sisters, sit with this question in your prayers.

00:15:55.470 --> 00:15:58.610
Sit with this question this week in your hearts.

00:15:59.230 --> 00:16:03.710
Let Christ's words penetrate and seep into our

00:16:03.710 --> 00:16:09.990
hearts. Do you want to become well? Do you want

00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:16.240
to become whole? Do you want to be healed? Christ

00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:22.179
is risen. Christ is risen. Christ is risen.