WEBVTT 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:16.160 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:21.059 of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Before we leave Pascha 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:26.460 time, this Wednesday, as we enter into the time 00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:30.620 of the Ascension. And there will be a lot to 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:34.759 say about ascension. The church gives us one 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:41.320 final Paschal lesson. The man born blind. Ninth 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:44.219 chapter of John. You just heard the account, 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:49.380 so I won't review it. I won't repeat it. You 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:54.039 know it's about vision, right? You know there 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:58.259 are all kinds of visions. I can see you all now. 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.020 Quite clearly, my eyes work. The light is shining, 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.680 the shadows and the light, so I can see you. 00:01:06.739 --> 00:01:08.640 There's that kind of vision. There's also the 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.299 kind of seeing as in, you tell me something, 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:16.739 I say, I see what you mean. Then there's the 00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:20.420 kind of sight. Spiritual vision, perception, 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:23.359 understanding, apprehension, whatever you want 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:29.459 to call it. They call it noetic sight. the faculty 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:35.599 of our nous, the eye of the heart. And only Christ, 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.900 only Christ can enable that kind of vision for 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:45.420 us. You can be a brilliant person, like the Pharisees 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:47.739 in the account we heard, brilliant, studied. 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:50.420 They knew their scriptures. They were disciples 00:01:50.420 --> 00:01:54.379 of Moses as they boasted, but they could not 00:01:54.379 --> 00:02:00.420 see. It was insane, actually. And this blind 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:04.299 man would start to teach them. Do you also, and 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:06.620 he says sarcastically, I believe, do you also 00:02:06.620 --> 00:02:08.900 want to be his disciples, which makes him very 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:12.479 angry. So we have this kind of vision, this kind 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.900 of spiritual vision, that Jesus confers on those, 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:21.780 on us. We had chrismations. That's the beginning 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:26.180 of that. That's the fulfillment of that. Those 00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:32.099 who really desire to know him. To keep his commandments. 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:36.580 To see his providence. To be obedient to him. 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:43.199 And it begins with seeing not visions and angels 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:46.639 and demons and crazy stuff. If that happens, 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:49.020 come to confession. We'll have a good conversation. 00:02:49.699 --> 00:02:54.840 No, it begins with seeing myself. Being accountable. 00:02:55.610 --> 00:02:59.189 to God, and to other people for my own actions, 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:02.009 my words, and my thoughts. It's that kind of 00:03:02.009 --> 00:03:05.310 seeing. It's our sins. Yes, we start to see our 00:03:05.310 --> 00:03:08.289 sins. But we also, at the same time, because 00:03:08.289 --> 00:03:11.270 it's the light of God, we start to see his love 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:14.469 and his providence, his guidance in our life, 00:03:14.550 --> 00:03:18.789 his mercy. We do not want to be in the position 00:03:18.789 --> 00:03:25.229 of saying, I see. But we're actually blind to 00:03:25.229 --> 00:03:29.189 the truth. We hear what Jesus says about that. 00:03:29.370 --> 00:03:33.689 Just after this selection ends, Jesus says this 00:03:33.689 --> 00:03:36.830 in the gospel. For judgment, that is for justice, 00:03:36.909 --> 00:03:39.669 to make things right. I came into this world 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:46.729 that those who do not see may see. And those 00:03:46.729 --> 00:03:52.800 who see, who say they see, may be blind. I read 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:57.979 about the late Father George Calciu, a Romanian 00:03:57.979 --> 00:04:03.800 priest and confessor for the faith, who suffered 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:07.080 for a long time in those frightening and brutal 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:12.020 Romanian communist prisons, being tortured for 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:17.420 years and years, witnessing to his faith, always 00:04:17.420 --> 00:04:22.180 witnessing to his faith. I read about how he 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:25.240 was given a gift of seeing truly the light of 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:32.379 God. He was brought up by his mother, a very 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:35.199 pious, devout woman, brought up in the church. 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:39.180 He learned to pray. She taught him how to pray. 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:41.680 She taught him how to pray and to be at the divine 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.019 liturgy, which is a very special thing, which 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:46.180 we need to teach ourselves and our children how 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:49.329 to do. to pay attention to the hymns and the 00:04:49.329 --> 00:04:53.509 prayers and the service and the action. He writes 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:59.209 about how he perceived God's light. And I'll 00:04:59.209 --> 00:05:05.110 quote. He says this. Before I read it, remember 00:05:05.110 --> 00:05:13.870 that this event in his life sustained him through 00:05:13.870 --> 00:05:17.779 terrible years of suffering. He said this, when 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:21.079 I was eight years old, I was standing in front 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.939 of my parents' land on their farm. I remember 00:05:24.939 --> 00:05:28.220 this exactly. I had been followed by this image 00:05:28.220 --> 00:05:30.660 all my life. It was especially strong during 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:34.259 my imprisonment. I was looking over the fence. 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:39.620 I was looking over the fence, and the field of 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:43.680 wheat was very great. And I was really moved 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.339 in my soul. thinking about God who created the 00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:51.000 world. And I was remembering what the priest 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:56.540 had said the previous Sunday at church. And I 00:05:56.540 --> 00:05:58.759 was remembering what my mother had said to me. 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:02.660 And then in a moment, in a moment, I realized 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:06.879 that the field was full of light. I could not 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:09.860 understand what it was. This light had no shadow. 00:06:15.209 --> 00:06:20.009 And I could see all the details. But only in 00:06:20.009 --> 00:06:23.470 light, not in shadow. I was petrified. I don't 00:06:23.470 --> 00:06:26.209 know how long I was there. Maybe a long time. 00:06:26.410 --> 00:06:29.790 And then I recovered. And the field was normal. 00:06:30.829 --> 00:06:33.189 When I was a student in high school, I told my 00:06:33.189 --> 00:06:36.709 mother about it. She ate what he had this. And 00:06:36.709 --> 00:06:40.750 she was not astonished. I suppose she knew something 00:06:40.750 --> 00:06:43.350 about it, but she only made the sign of the cross 00:06:43.350 --> 00:06:47.639 on me. Then to my surprise, she kissed my hand. 00:06:48.420 --> 00:06:51.740 I did not understand this at the time. Later 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:55.600 I understood that she was kissing not my hand, 00:06:55.740 --> 00:06:59.300 but the body of this child who had seen the light 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:04.660 of God and would be a priest. We hear repeatedly 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:09.240 during Great Lent, the light of Christ illumines 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:15.529 all. Saint Simeon says, he who does not see the 00:07:15.529 --> 00:07:20.629 light of God is not yet truly alive. This is 00:07:20.629 --> 00:07:23.829 not about seeing different things. This is about 00:07:23.829 --> 00:07:29.050 seeing things differently. God's light in all 00:07:29.050 --> 00:07:33.990 of creation. Once we had a baptism here. A number 00:07:33.990 --> 00:07:38.889 of people. And the young man, they had moved 00:07:38.889 --> 00:07:41.170 long ago. He's still very much in the church. 00:07:41.930 --> 00:07:44.990 He told me after we had come in from the church 00:07:44.990 --> 00:07:48.589 and circled the gospel, singing, as many as have 00:07:48.589 --> 00:07:50.569 been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, 00:07:50.750 --> 00:07:53.750 that when he entered the church, he said this 00:07:53.750 --> 00:07:57.129 to me later, a week later. He said, I saw all 00:07:57.129 --> 00:08:01.050 the people in the church, and I saw them with 00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:05.110 some kind of strange vision that God loves every 00:08:05.110 --> 00:08:10.180 single person. an immeasurable, infinite amount 00:08:10.180 --> 00:08:12.980 of love, and there was light around each person. 00:08:13.220 --> 00:08:15.399 He said it was just for a moment, but it was 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:20.660 so startling. He said it was from God. The light 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:24.699 of Christ illumines all. Can we begin to see 00:08:24.699 --> 00:08:30.279 how God's providence guides us? If we want to 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.320 see that, we not only need to remember to give 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.379 thanks to God for all things, like this eight 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:37.259 -year -old boy standing in front of this immense 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:40.879 wheat field. And then, all of a sudden, it's 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:45.419 just filled with God's grace. It's constant state. 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:48.460 It's not a new thing that he saw. It's the way 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:52.320 the world is all the time. We only see the garbage 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:57.159 because we watch, many of us, too much news. 00:08:57.669 --> 00:09:01.110 We're on the internet too much. We are becoming 00:09:01.110 --> 00:09:05.730 programmed by society rather than by the gospel. 00:09:05.889 --> 00:09:10.710 Leave that stuff aside and absorb the gospel 00:09:10.710 --> 00:09:13.049 and the writings of the fathers in the church. 00:09:13.730 --> 00:09:16.929 If it's so important in this world, you will 00:09:16.929 --> 00:09:19.389 find out. You don't need the news to tell you. 00:09:20.690 --> 00:09:23.269 In the account of the gospel, when Jesus takes 00:09:23.269 --> 00:09:26.570 the dust off the road and makes mud with his 00:09:26.570 --> 00:09:31.070 spit, The man in this gospel, born blind, he 00:09:31.070 --> 00:09:34.950 had no eyeballs. The man had no idea what was 00:09:34.950 --> 00:09:37.429 happening. Nobody's saying to you, oh, come here, 00:09:37.470 --> 00:09:39.549 fellow. We're going to do something for you. 00:09:39.649 --> 00:09:42.289 It just happened. And Jesus is saying, I am the 00:09:42.289 --> 00:09:44.350 light of the world. If any man comes after me, 00:09:44.409 --> 00:09:47.649 he lives. Otherwise, you're in darkness. This 00:09:47.649 --> 00:09:51.169 is what I mean by only Christ can confer this 00:09:51.169 --> 00:09:55.409 kind of noetic spiritual vision to us. And Jesus 00:09:55.409 --> 00:09:59.929 offers no explanation to this man. He says nothing 00:09:59.929 --> 00:10:02.889 about the reason for this man's blindness. He 00:10:02.889 --> 00:10:05.629 doesn't warn about what's going to happen with 00:10:05.629 --> 00:10:09.950 the Pharisees and that he will be kicked out 00:10:09.950 --> 00:10:15.190 of the synagogue. He's told to go and wash. And 00:10:15.190 --> 00:10:21.549 the man begins the difficult and crowded mile 00:10:21.549 --> 00:10:27.419 and a half. on a not even road, probably more 00:10:27.419 --> 00:10:30.500 potholes than Montgomery Drive, towards the pool 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:33.759 of water, to trust that there is water there. 00:10:34.100 --> 00:10:37.039 He does not argue. He does not negotiate. He 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:39.720 does not say, but what if it doesn't work? You're 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:41.519 telling me to do this thing. I have no idea. 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:44.379 What if my life becomes complicated? This is 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:46.919 just stupid. Just say the word. I'll be healed. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:52.039 But he puts himself under Christ's lordship. 00:10:53.129 --> 00:10:57.450 And he walks, and he washes, and he receives 00:10:57.450 --> 00:11:01.330 his sight, the eyes of his heart, his noetic 00:11:01.330 --> 00:11:04.389 sight, his vision, his true vision is restored 00:11:04.389 --> 00:11:08.129 to him. Why do I say that? Because he worships 00:11:08.129 --> 00:11:14.710 Christ at the end. Faith is given to him despite 00:11:14.710 --> 00:11:18.889 the resistance he meets. St. John Chrysostom 00:11:18.889 --> 00:11:22.250 reminds us that it is precisely in our trials 00:11:22.250 --> 00:11:24.950 and our difficulties that God is present with 00:11:24.950 --> 00:11:28.029 us. When we are struggling, God is present with 00:11:28.029 --> 00:11:30.909 us. And then we grow spiritually through what 00:11:30.909 --> 00:11:36.269 he permits to come to us, like this man. Like 00:11:36.269 --> 00:11:40.409 a carbon becomes a diamond under pressure, so 00:11:40.409 --> 00:11:43.830 we are formed by what we endure when God's grace 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:46.970 is with us. when we call upon him, when we say, 00:11:47.029 --> 00:11:50.870 O Lord, thou art ever present and a ready helper 00:11:50.870 --> 00:11:55.710 to me in my troubles. And that man, in a single 00:11:55.710 --> 00:12:00.149 day, in a single hour, became a theologian and 00:12:00.149 --> 00:12:04.529 a martyr, a witness before authorities of who 00:12:04.529 --> 00:12:07.629 Jesus was. And here's what makes this man remarkable 00:12:07.629 --> 00:12:14.679 for me. He witnessed, he said, he's a man. He 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:20.139 is a prophet. He is from God. He never saw Jesus 00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:24.860 until the very end. He never saw him. His faith 00:12:24.860 --> 00:12:28.940 was built entirely on what he experienced inwardly, 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:33.960 not by sight, and what he knows to be true. I 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:40.220 was blind, but now I see. That's our situation 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:42.679 too, is it not? We have not seen Christ with 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:48.480 our physical eyes. But we have seen those that 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:52.980 Christ dwells in. We have the God -inspired Gospels 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:56.899 from which Christ teaches us. We have the saints. 00:12:57.059 --> 00:12:59.639 We have the baptismal water. We have the holy 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:01.960 chrism. We have the bread and the wine changed 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:04.379 into the body and blood of the Savior. We have 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:06.419 confession. We have prayer. We have the Jesus 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:12.080 prayer. This is the last lesson now as we leave 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:17.610 Pascha behind. The Pascha celebration, the Paschal 00:13:17.610 --> 00:13:21.769 life, we never leave behind. And the church gives 00:13:21.769 --> 00:13:25.250 this gospel to us as a challenge for four things. 00:13:26.889 --> 00:13:32.169 Simple obedience. Honest testimony from what 00:13:32.169 --> 00:13:36.409 you know. Courage when resistance comes to you 00:13:36.409 --> 00:13:41.769 and reliance upon God. And worship. This is the 00:13:41.769 --> 00:13:45.779 last lesson of the Pascha season. We heard this 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:48.879 prayer this morning, the prayer to keep the baptismal 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:53.679 garment undefiled for the newly illumined. That's 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.139 not poetry. That's a description of the struggle. 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.720 If we are true to Christ, if we are authentic 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:03.799 in our faith, one thing I know, that's the key. 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:08.740 I was blind, but now I see. Yes, you may be strange 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:12.620 to others in the best possible way. But you will 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:15.460 be awake. You will be spiritually present. You 00:14:15.460 --> 00:14:17.720 will be aware of God's grace and love and truth, 00:14:17.779 --> 00:14:20.919 even in an ordinary situation, standing in front 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:24.679 of a field of wheat. And you can see the glory 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:27.779 of his name. Christ is risen.