WEBVTT

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Christ is risen. He is risen. In the name of

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the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

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glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to God. The Church

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has wisely, very carefully, given us this reading

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and all the readings that we've been hearing

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since, well, every week. But especially since

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Pascha, for a specific reason, and that is to

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remind us, each of us, about the meaning of our

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baptism, what's been given to us. The meaning

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of the reception of the Holy Spirit in chrismation

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as a gift, the gift of the Spirit. The meaning

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of what it is to be joined to the Church, the

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body of Christ, with Him at His head. and the

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fellowship of one another. The reading from Acts

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during this season tells us about the incredible

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deeds of the apostles, their travels, the persecutions

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that they just went through after the stoning

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of Stephen, and the growth of the church, the

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explosion, the amazing, amazing gift of God to

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this people. This is all a reminder for the newly

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baptized and chrismated. This is all a reminder

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for those preparing for that awesome event that

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will occur to them next week. We have baptisms

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then. And this is a reminder, especially for

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us, who perhaps have gotten tripped up in life

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and are still thirsting for the living water,

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that is the gift of the Holy Spirit and the peace

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of God in our heart, but have neglected or forgotten.

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or set things aside. The Lord is speaking of

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living water to this woman. He tells her what

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he's going to tell everybody in chapter 7, that

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out of her will flow unending grace of God, the

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Spirit of God. It's the birth from above, as

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Jesus told. in the chapter just before this that

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we read. It's not about getting a clean slate

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and doing a simple makeover of your life, getting

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some icons in an icon corner and changing your

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routines about fasting. That's life. That's not

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it. It's not life with a grace coupon. It's deeper.

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It's spiritually remedial. It's about healing.

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To repair what has been marred by our sin. So

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we have fellowship with God by becoming a new

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creation. A new creation. We hear this so much

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that perhaps it just sounds like interesting

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spiritual and religious words. But something

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new. We not only recover what was lost in Adam

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in the Garden of Paradise, but we gain what is

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the fullness of Christ, the Word of God. by the

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gift of the Spirit. This is worship in spirit

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and in truth. The Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ,

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the way, the truth, and the life. And all of

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this requires a new way of thinking and of acting,

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of believing. And it usually doesn't take very

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long, speaking of myself, even after such a grueling

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spiritual... exercises Lent and Holy Week and

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Pascha, by the way, grueling for the egotistical

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self. That's what it's grueling for. And the

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ego, after all this, begins to reassert itself.

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Even though we have drunk deeply of God's grace

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during the fast and the feasts and Pascha, which

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provides us with a way to overcome this self

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that just keeps wanting to come back. And tell

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us, relax. God is merciful. That's true. But

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relax. And we miss out. Today we hear the account

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of how Christ comes to a well in the heat of

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the day. And he's tired. And he's thirsty. And

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the disciples go off to find some food. You know,

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there's not a mini mart there. And a woman comes

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to get water at an odd time of the day for getting

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water. She comes alone to get her water. And

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one suspects, as we hear the reading go on, the

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reason for that, that the women are looking at

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her and gossiping about her when she does come

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with other people. She's an unconventional woman.

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Not only is she a woman, it was not usual for

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a man to gauge in a strange woman in conversation.

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Although, in the Old Testament, that's exactly

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what happens with Moses and his wife to be Zipporah.

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That's exactly what happens when Abraham sends

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his servant to find a wife for his son. That's

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exactly what happens when Jacob falls in love.

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And the scripture says, Jacob loved Rachel. Jacob

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falls in love with Rachel at a well, at this

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well, at Jacob's well. So things are happening

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at the well under the surface here, which there's

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no time to go into. But it's fascinating and

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it's inspiring and it's beautiful because Christ

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is reaching this woman. Out of his immeasurable

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love for mankind. And for her specifically on

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that day. You know, it's hard for us to imagine

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what can happen at a well. Because how many people,

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don't have to show your hands, get their water

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from a well every day? We go to the bathroom

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or the sink in the kitchen and we turn it on.

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There it is. That's beautiful. I'm very grateful

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for that. I'm not saying we shouldn't do that.

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In the scriptures, that well, and in the old

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world, that well, that fountain, that spring

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that's coming out. My wife and I were in Macedonia

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and Serbia. Every village had a beautiful place

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where spring water would come out, and it was

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completely pure. And it's a gathering place.

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It's where people meet one another. It's where

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this woman knows that the ladies are going to

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be gossiping about her. five husbands, and the

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one she has now is not her husband. And something

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amazing was happening in that world with Jesus.

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Since he is eternal and his love is eternal,

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you know, we can share. This is not just a story

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of history, sacred history. This is a story to

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enlighten and illumine us about what we can also

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acquire. Our Savior is love. God is love, wrote

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St. John. And all his interactions come from

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his infinite love. So he can safely reveal to

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Fotini, that's the woman's name, she becomes

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a martyr for Christ, and reveal to millions of

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others that he knows her. He knows her life.

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He knows you. He knows the disarray of our life.

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He knows our sorrows, our wounds, our broken

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hopes. He knows our failures. And when Christ

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reveals that he knows this, she does not become

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insulted and offended. On this fourth Sunday

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of Pascha, this noble, incredible woman is our

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example. Her graciousness, asking Christ more.

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Yes, she deflects a little. Oh, you're a prophet.

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And she starts asking about religious things.

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And Jesus brings it back to her. But she's gracious.

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She accepts without offense. She's humble. And

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those who are humble can receive the word of

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God. She has joy. She's our example of joy. When

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she learns that he is the Messiah, she runs and

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tells her kinfolk and all her friends in that

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village of Sychar. Her desire to share with others

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was infectious because she knew the truth and

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he was sitting there on the edge of that well.

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There's a fresco right there in which you can

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contemplate just a little bit. And she's our

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example for her courage to accept what Christ

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said. You know, Christ himself will die on the

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cross for her sins, for her salvation. And she

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died for him, too, as a witness of that crucifixion

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and that resurrection. This is amazing courage

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this woman has. And just as Jesus spoke to her

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about living water pouring out of her, this is

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God's light, his personal love for us. And this

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light... Yes, will give us joy, but the first

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thing this light will do, as I tell all the catechumens

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in the chapter that we have on sin, this light

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will reveal the sordidness of our fallen and

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sinful condition. And we can change. Whereas

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without Christ, an awareness would cause us to

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be paralyzed and useless, with Christ we have

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hope. We have expectation of being filled with

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more of the Spirit of God. We are pulled here

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and there, aren't we? So we don't bother to sit

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at the well at prayer. It's simple, brothers

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and sisters. Saturate yourself, says the elder.

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Father John Kristyankin of Russia, the modern

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elder. Saturate yourselves, dear friends, with

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the water of life, he says. Approach Christ,

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its source, and approach in spirit and in truth.

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It's simple to acquire. It's prayer. It's love

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of neighbor. It's keeping the commandments. And

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it's love of God. It's simple to acquire. Our

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parish should be like that well. where that woman

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was. And we are all like that woman. We're seeking

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more. But we've also been given the illumination.

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The word, their name, Futini, means the illumined

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one. So we congratulate Futini and Svetlana on

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their name day. Those that bear the name Claire.

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Our parish should be like that well of Jacob

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where Jesus met the woman, a place where a sinner

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meets Christ who is the truth and learns what

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repentance is by the Spirit, learns what joy

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is, learns what grief, learns knowledge. I hope

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this parish can be like Jacob's well, a place

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of encounter with Christ. You can go many places,

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my dear friends. You can try to worship God.

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When Jesus speaks to this woman about worship,

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they're speaking about the worship of a lamb,

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a sheep, or a bird, whatever, in the temple.

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Jesus is speaking of a new worship. That is what

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we have here in the Orthodox Church, the fullness

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of the Christian life, the fullness of the Christian

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worship, and the fullness of the Christian belief

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and doctrine. enabling us to worship God in spirit

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and in truth and not to leave here empty with

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just a lot of sermons. No, we have these divine

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services. They're called divine because they're

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infused with the grace of God. And as we stand

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in church and we hear those prayers, our hearts

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are lifted up. Or perhaps we're convicted of

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our sin and we have sorrow and we offer that

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to God. And then we come and we receive his holy

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body and blood. And the Spirit that we have called

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down at the altar, all of us, again, we pray

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to thee, O Lord. Send thy Holy Spirit upon us

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and upon these gifts here set forth. And make

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this bread the body of thy Christ. Make that

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which is in this cup the blood of the... And

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through the Spirit, we are not only illumined,

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we are fed. And that grace of God, we will never

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be thirsty for anything else except for that.

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To our Lord, who has revealed himself to us,

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be glory and honor now and ever, to ages of ages.

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Christ is risen.